The Pit of Success

Survivors often feel alone in their experiences, with emotions that linger long after the trauma is over. As a survivor of incest, Robin Lynn Brooks understands the feelings. In her ground-breaking poetic memoir, The Blooming of the Lotus, she takes you on her deeply personal journey of healing.

After a long journey, Philip arrives at the Usher mansion seeking his loved one, Madeline. Upon arriving, however, he discovers that Madeline and her brother Roderick Usher have been afflicted with a mysterious malady: Roderick's senses have become painfully acute, while Madeline has become catatonic. That evening, Roderick tells his guest of an old Usher family curse: any time there has been more than one Usher child, all of the siblings have gone insane and died horrible deaths. As the days wear on, the effects of the curse reach their terrifying climax.

For 170 years they have met in secret. From out of their initiates come presidents, senators, judges, cabinet secretaries, and plenty of spooks. They are the titans of finance and industry and have now installed a third member as United States President George W. Bush. This intriguing behind-the-scenes look documents Yale's secretive society, the Order of the Skull and Bones, and its prominent members, numbering among them Tafts, Rockefellers, Pillsburys, and Bushes. Far from being a campus fraternity, the society is more concerned with the success of its members in the post-collegiate world. Included are a verified membership list, rare reprints of original Order materials revealing the interlocking power centers dominated by Bonesmen, and a peek inside the Tomb, their 140-year-old private clubhouse.

The Need Of Love is the 1971 album (their second) by Earth, Wind & Fire. This album is more jazz in nature than their debut, which lead to the group taking a break when Warner Bros. allowed them to leave. This CD was released as part of Warner Bros.' Black Music Ol' Skool series in 1997.