Bird Dog Publishing
An Imprint of Bottom Dog Press, Inc.

 

Twelve Titles from Bird Dog Publishing

PO Box 425, Huron, OH 44839
http://smithdocs.net/BirdDogy/BirdDogPage.html
An Imprint of Bottom Dog Press, Inc.
Specializing in Midwest & Pacific Northwest Writing: Ficiton and Poetry
Lsmithdog@smithdocs.net

Printable Catalog of Books
 

Dogs and Other Poems

Paul S. Piper
 
These are fine poems of Nature, place, and community. Paul S. Piper is an intuitive poet with a Zen sense of language and wonder.
 
"In Paul Piper?s newest collection of poems, Dog, like a bodhisattva, leads the narrator and reader to a place that glistens with wonder and humor.?
-Charles Luckmann
"Powerful poetry here by Paul Piper?mystical and whimsical. These dog poems are fun yet meaty?definitely intellectual bones to gnaw on."
-Tim Pilgrim
Paul S. Piper is a native of Chicago who moved to the mountains and rivers and forests of Montana, where he eventually earned degrees in biology and creative writing. In 1992 he, his wife, and son moved to Hawaii where they lived on Oahu for five and-a-half years. He now works as a librarian at Western Washington University in Bellingham. His poems were included in America Zen:A Gathering; this is
his fifth book of poetry, following Now and Then (Flying Trout Press) and Winter Apples
(Bird Dog Publishing, see below).

978-1-93396445-4 80 pages  $15.00

 

The Mermaid Translation

Allen Frost



Allen Frost's latest book, a fantasy novel of our times.

This is one of those wonder books of old like William Blake
and Kenneth Patchen wrote--a magic fable, a novel in poetry.





 
From Chapter One
    It should have been a usual August night, creaking phosphorous clouds and crickets, but inside the dark, a round yellow eye glowed and echoed a bell-like gong through the quiet weight of the neighborhood.
    The sound came from a full moon shape, a bathysphere anchored in a lot filled with wild flowers and tall grass. Sanford was inside the big metal ball killing mosquitoes. Or trying to.
     The door let them in, the white cloth curtain wasn’t enough to keep them out. They came in with the breeze,
attracted by the lantern. Finally he touched out the candle with his fingertips. He was tired. Maybe the buzzing would stop. He pulled the sheet up over his head and tucked himself to fall asleep. He hoped.

 
 
 
 
Heart Murmurs: Poems

by John Vanek


 

 “With humor, sympathy, and an eye for what makes us most human, John Vanek offers us a far-ranging view of life that feels hard-earned and complete.”  —Elton Glaser, author of Here and Hereafter.



 

 “John Vanek’s poetry displays an admirable range of subject matter and style.  He charms the reader with imagery and wry humor. Heart Murmurs is a very welcome collection from a confident, compelling poet."  —Beth Ann Fennelly, author of Unmentionables.   

 “What I like most about the poems in John Vanek’s first collection is his commitment to the poetics of clarity.  Things are said straight in these poems, with careful attention to illuminating what the poet calls ‘a shelter for my shifting life,’ by which he means our lives as well.”  —Bruce Weigl, author of Song of Napalm.

John (Jack) Vanek was born and raised in the Cleveland, Ohio area. He received his bachelor’s degree from Case Western Reserve University, where his passion for creative writing took root. He received his medical degree from the University of Rochester, did his internship at University Hospitals of Cleveland, and completed his residency at the Cleveland Clinic.While practicing medicine for a quarter century, his interest in writing never waned. He began honing his craft by attending creative writing workshops and college courses. He has published four dozen poems, won many awards, shared his work in readings .This is his first book.

978-1933964-27-0   124 pgs.  $15.00

Frost is a master wizard of making the commonplace extraordinary.
These tales and poems of wonder by Allen Frost
connect us with the world, our feelings, our families,
and our private selves.

This is his fourth book.
His OHIO TRIO: FICTIONS appeared in 2001 
followed by BOWL OF WATER written between 1989-2002,
and ANOTHER LIFE: COLLECTED POEMS in 2007




Frost is much admired by fellow writers for his sheer imaginative whimsy
his original and resonant imagery. He provides the 16 drawings in the book.

Allen collects old recordings.

Praise for ANOTHER LIFE:
I wish you could have seen me reading these poems of ANOTHER LIFE for the first time . . . A slight smile I didn’t even know was there surprised me. Ridiculously, I began making check marks in the margins of individual pages, as if I might never see them again. Now it’s difficult to find a single page I did not leave my mark on, and the other way around. Long ago I abandoned any hope of learning the mechanisms behind the nightingale’s song. Dissections always killed the bird, and in the end there was nothing to show for it. I will not allow this to happen to the poems of Allen Frost that you now hold in your hands. - T.L. Kryss 
ISBN- 9781933964249   124 pgs. : $14.00 (US)
 
 
Two Hundred Fifty-six
Zones of Gray

by Rob Smith




 

“Inspired by nature in his thoughtful and plain-spoken poems, Rob Smith reminisces and reflects on life, death, and the passage of time in 256 Zones of Gray. He takes us "Along the Shore," and we see barren trees through his eyes when the sky threaded/a blue ribbon between the trunks and a postcard moment in "Pittsburgh" when colors sliding back into the rivers/define the Point. Smith’s words often give us hope, a lighted window on the edge of color.”      - Laura Treacy Bentley, author of Lake Effect: Poems

Born in Youngstown, Ohio and raised in the Cleveland area, Rob Smith has been writing poetry and prose for over forty years. As with many young writers, his creative efforts developed beneath the requirements of career. Nonetheless, he quietly persisted in creating a body of work representative of his imagination. In 2006, he entered his first poetry competition and was awarded the Robert Frost Poetry Award for the poem “Catbird” and published his first novel, Night Voices.

100 pages,  paper, ISBN 978-1933964-16-4   $14.00
 
 
A Life in Poems

by
William C. Wright



 
Review from People's Weekly World:
"Whoever touches this book, touches a man," wrote the poet Walt Whitman, in his epic book Leaves of Grass. That is how I feel about the poetry book A Life in Poems by 93-year-old William C. Wright. . . Wright has an eye for detail and attention to poetic technique that make situations come to life, as in the short poem where he writes, "Last night in our furnace we burned a thousand years of sun and a quart of miners' swear to keep us warm." . . . It is clear that William C. Wright must be viewed as one of the most important working class poets of his generation." - Chris Butters.

"Plucking Scales from Eyes” – that’s what truthteller Bill Wright titles a poem contrasting the daily corporate papers with the leftist political weekly. Simple passion, remarkable clarity, precise insights mark this record of picket lines, devoted love, tough choices, steadfast activism, deep pleasures and powerful truths. This is a record to be wholly admired: one decade after another of reliable observation and intensely felt emotion. Wright has always woven experience into wisdom. I have often thought, “It would have been great to know Bill in his incarnations as farmer, boxer, family man, organizer, and unionist.”  Now we have the record.  Here is a spirit who easily embraces the poetic enthusiasm of Walter Lowenfels, the radical ministry of Maurice McCracken, as easily as the struggles of the current moment.  Here, finally, is the book that tells the tale. This is the book you have been waiting for, too.
                 – David Shevin, author of Three Miles from Luckey
152 pages,  paper,  ISBN 978-1933964-15-7  $10
 

Second Story Woman
A Memoir of Second Chances


by Carole Calladine







 
“In Second Story Woman Carole Calladine takes the reader along on her journey of self-discovery. Her authentic voice comes through as she comes to terms with the balance between her professional responsibilities and her need for a creative life. This strong memoir will speak to anyone charting life past 50.” – Doris Larson, founder of “A Writing Retreat: In the Company of Women”
A remarkable book of dealing with life's turnings as the author confronts her mid-life passage and diagnosis for Type 2 diabetes at the same time.

“Carole Calladine is a quintessential storyteller whose writing is entertaining, informative, and inspiring. Second Story Woman is a feast for the soul, a guide to mindfulness, and a tale of tender triumph over a huge life challenge.”
– Jan Phillips, author of The Art of Original Thinking-The Making of a Thought Leader

 “Likeable and candid, Calladine writes a lively account of her quest for second chances—while she becomes a 'second—story woman.'” —Akron Beacon Journal.

“F. Scott Fitzgerald famously quipped, ‘There are no second acts in American lives.’ Fitzgerald never met Carole Calladine." –Ben Saylor, West Life Newspaper

"A mid-life diagnosis of adult-onset diabetes was a wake-up call for author Carole Calladine, who up until that point defined success by the amount of time she devoted to her professional life. In “Second Story Woman”, Calladine redefines her life goals and approaches her diagnosis as a chance to pursue what is truly important. This book is a beautifully wrought narrative that explores the writer’s innermost thoughts and her observations of the world around her. Calladine is not afraid to let her readers see into her heart and that’s what a good story is all about."  -Donna Miller from Read Any Good Books Lately Blog
ISBN 978-1-933964-12-6    232 pages  $15.00
 
 

Another Life:

Collected Poems

by Allen Frost


 
 
I wish you could have seen me reading these poems of Another Life  for the first time . . .
A slight smile I didn’t even know was there surprised me. Ridiculously, I began making check marks in the margins of individual pages, as if I might never see them again. Now it’s difficult to find a single page I did not leave my mark on, and the other way around. Long ago I abandoned any hope of learning the mechanisms behind the nightingale’s song. Dissections always killed the bird, and in the end there was nothing to show for it.  I will not allow this to happen to the poems of Allen Frost that you now hold in your hands.

                                                - T.L. Kryss

Allen Frost lives in Bellingham, Washington, with wife,Laura, daughter Rosa and son Rustle. He has lived and worked in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Huron, Ohio. He works in the library at Western Washington University. His Ohio Trio: Fictions appeared in 2001 from Bottom Dog Press, followed by Bowl of Water written between 1989-2002. Another Life is drawn from limited edition poetry chapbooks written 2002-2007.

Another Life: Collected Poems by Allen Frost
ISBN 9781933964102   176 pages  $14.00
 

Winter Apples: Poems

by Paul S. Piper

"So this is what Paul Piper has been up to, walking the dog, spying from trees, meeting mountains, testing the water, writing it down for us to see. Now you can know. You've picked up a book like a stone from a river. You're lucky you found this beauty, turn it round, open the seams and read."
                                           -Allen Frost, author of Bowl of Water: Poems

Paul S. Piper is a native of Chicago who moved to the mountains and rivers and forests of Montana, where he eventually earned degrees in biology and creative writing. In 1992 he, his wife, and son moved to Hawaii where they lived on Oahu for five and-a-half years. He now works as a librarian at Western Washington University in Bellingham. His poems were included in America Zen:A Gathering; this is his fourth book of poetry, following Now and Then (Flying Trout Press).
                            ISBN 978-1-933964-08-9    88 pgs.  $14.00 




Faces and Voices: Tales by Larry Smith
 



 
In Larry Smith’s Faces and Voices, the work of telling stories is the work of both healing wounds and shaping the world....After you read these stories, you will take a closer look at the waitress who refills your coffee, the man who cashes your check at the bank, the couple in the car that passes you on the secondary highway. What these monologues, letters and phone calls share is an urgency; with only the bare truth to guide them, Smith’s characters struggle to make some sense in the world, and through telling their stories, they succeed.   
 
-Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of Q Road

 1-933964-04-9 Paperback 136 pgs. $14.00
 
 


Lake Effect: Poems
by
Laura Treacy Bentley

“Everywhere I look these days no poetry is being written. There is a lot of pretend poetry, but nothing really this fine. With this book it makes it very easy for me to say: Laura Bentley, I dub thee poet supreme.”    - Ray Bradbury
Laura’s love of the people and landscapes of West Virginia, western Maryland, and Ireland is evident in her work. From earth to sky, this collection merges a lake effect of meditations that creates its own weather.

"Laura Bentley's eye is drawn to what others often overlook or refuse to examine, the detritus and back rooms and alleyways of a frightening and frightened world. Here are portraits of the broken and the maimed; here are narratives of hopelessness and redemption; here are strong lyric engagements with landscape; and here is the solace of geological time. This book charts a pilgrim's journey in language with growing assurance and control. It is a journey already rich with achievement."   
- Paula Meehan

Lake Effect: Poems by Laura Treacy Bentley
 
ISBN 1-933964-05-7   108 pgs. $14.00
 
 

Depression Days

On an Appalachian Farm

Poems by Robert L. Tener

 “Robert Tener’s early years on a farm in southern Ohio and his later years of teaching, travel, and deep-hearted living turned him into a poet whose best work is muscular and tender and bursting with life.Tener builds poems the same way he once built a house for his family--with his own two hands, one brick and one board at a time.”  -Steven DaGama

1-933964-03-0   Paperback 80 pages   $14.00
 
 
120 Charles Street:
The Village,
Journals 1949-1950


by Holly Beye

 
                                                                                    

Holly Beye’s journals are a remarkable record of a period long gone—post-World War II in the “Village,” New York City’s downtown enclave of artists, sculptors, writers, musicians and playwrights.... It was a time when the entire Village was your neighbor, a cauldron of hopefuls pulsing with the life and determination that would produce a generation of creative artists. You could walk anywhere, and usually did because it was cheaper...and all New York was a neighborhood.  -Betty Ballentine  

     
Holly Beye & David Ruff in the Village 1940's    

 
240 pages, 0-933087-99-3  $15.00
 
 
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Bird Dog Publishing/ Bottom Dog Press/
PO Box
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/ Huron, OH 44839.

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