Historical novel of love, war, plague, Puritanism and murder: Read the latest book by Yorkshire author

Arts & Culture, Books

SuppliedA love story blighted by events in an England emerging from war, plague and the Puritan age, is a brand new novel, destined to set pulses racing.The Tombstone Maker’s Daughter is the latest paperback released by an acclaimed Yorkshire writer, who has already penned half a dozen successful novels.Set around the times of Cromwell, an age of Puritanism when the zealous Protestants and their spies were ready to condemn anyone who dared to stray from their strict regulations.It wasn’t an easy time for love, or even lust, to thrive, and yet, despite the many pitfalls and problems, it did. The Tombstone Maker’s Daughter, which is already getting five star reviews on Amazon, is a love story beset with challenges – war, separation and accusations of witchcraft for starters. There is plenty of drama with arson, plague and hysteria and a dark side in the world of crime, from sheep rustling to murder.About the authorAmanda Taylor’s books are a mix of historical dramas, crime thrillers, mysteries and true stories reimagined as fiction. When you learn of her background and her life it is no surprise to discover she has a rich seam of experience to draw on.Educated in Leeds, Amanda Taylor did some magazine work before winning a national poetry prize. She played squash for her county for nine years and successfully completed a relay swim of the English Channel.Amanda Taylor believes she was destined to write, and drama was never far away from her door. Writing is definitely in the genes, as both her parents were journalists.Her father was a crime reporter and he and her mum had met and fallen in love just after the Second World War. In the course of his work her dad had been alerted to a crime story – the discovery of a woman’s head, that of Ethel Wraithmell, in a village just outside Leeds. The head was in a hedge, near a house that was up for sale, and being a pragmatic Yorkshireman and needing a home he took the opportunity to enquire, and it became the couple’s first home.Today, she writes from her home between Wharfedale and Nidderdale, looking out from a small room across the grouse moor and distracted only by the wildlife and the call of the curlew.It’s a rustic, tranquil scene and full of history. It is here that she has penned this latest historical novel, The Tombstone Maker’s Daughter.SuppliedAbout the novelCharles I is executed with the words ‘I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown, where no disturbance can be.’ And his son, Charles II is set to replace him on the throne.Sir Thomas Huck, a Royalist army doctor is returning to Cornwall from exile, carrying scars from the Civil War. His heart still yearns with desire for Iben Hartmann, the tombstone maker’s daughter.But these are turbulent times, as the country emerges from that Puritanical grip, and he wants to know what makes the once free-spirited Iben love one minute and despise the next. Extracts from The Tombstone Maker’s DaughterA horseman watches a woman on the beach below. It had been all of eighteen years or more. The ending had come in autumn, a suitable season for endings. He had never known anyone who thought like her, expressed herself like she did. He had grown to love her deeply, yet she had given him so much more pain than kindness and love. He stood by his horse, high on the cliff, watching her. He was partially concealed in sand dunes and the grey-green tufts of marram grass. He never thought he would see this beach and sea again. He never thought he would live to see her again.Today he desperately wanted to see her without being seen. He traced his fingertips down the raised scar that ran from the corner of his left eye to his mouth. Not like this—never like this…Since his years of exile in France, he had to admit he was more than familiar with women’s plain gowns and petticoats, and regrettably what lay beneath them. Such pleasures were fleeting, never lasting, failed to fulfil him. The love of flesh alone, wasn’t love at all.The woman on the beachSomeone was watching her. She sat on a rush mat on the beach examining and separating stones. Her cream petticoat and green overdress billowing about her like an exotic nest. With Cromwell dead, it was a relief to have some colour back in her life. Gone were the drab greys and browns of the Puritan age. She jingled the pebbles together—orange, pink, red and blues. No rare gems to be had here. Disappointed, she threw them all back onto the sand. That is when she saw it. Reaching out she stretched forward, too lazy to get to her feet. She examined the hag stone carefully. A lucky fairy stone, a small perfect hole bored through the middle. She could do with some luck. Her village could do with a little luck at this moment in time. The whole of England could do with some luck going into the future. She rolled the stone in the palm of her hand and prayed silently that it would protect her against curses and pestilence.Buy the bookVisit the author’s website here for details of her other books, and how and where to buy The Tombstone Maker’s Daughter, including Waterstones, WH Smith and Amazon.

Amarillo’s Storybridge Wants Your Children’s Outgrown Books

Arts & Culture, Books

As we are making our way into 2025 here in Amarillo you might be finding yourself fighting the clutter. Too many Christmas gifts and not a place for everything. This is the time to start clearing out the mess. Everything has a place and sometimes that place is not in your house.It seems the main offender of clutter is all the stuff your kids have. Yes, you have to take some of the blame for that, of course. If you could just look at their room or play area and not feel anxious that would be a success.credit: Melissa Bartlettcredit: Melissa Bartlettloading…Of course, books are an important part of their lives and they need them. The precious time you have to spend reading with them and the time they spend doing it on their own is important. They have their favorites. They also have a lot of books they read once and then done. Then, of course, there are those books they simply outgrow.credit: Melissa Bartlett/TSMcredit: Melissa Bartlett/TSMloading…Those books are taking up a lot of precious room and adding to your anxiety. How about spending some time cleaning off that bookshelf?What Can You Do With Children’s Books That Are Cluttering Your Amarillo Home?The best thing is now is the perfect time to get those kids’ books cleaned off of your shelf. There is a great place to take them on January 25th. Storybridge is hosting its Dream and Donate Community Children’s Book Drive at the United Supermarket on 45th.A perfect time to help out other kids in our area. Storybridge is a great program and they need gently used books to hand out to kids in our area. So this is what we call a win-win situation. You get your house in order and kids in Amarillo have books to read.To find out more about Storybridge, check it out HERE.Birthday Parties For The Kiddos in AmarilloEvery year you have to come up with the best place for a birthday party. This can help.Gallery Credit: Melissa BartlettAmarillo’s Little Bee’s a Fun Place For Kids to PlayHave you been to Little Bee’s? A fun place to bring your kids to play in Amarillo.Gallery Credit: Melissa Bartlett/TSM

The U.S. Announces an Israel-Hamas Deal

2024 Election

Happy Thursday! The coyote scourge continued in Chicago this week after United Airlines confirmed that one of its flights was forced to return to O’Hare International Airport after striking one of the varmints during takeoff. We thought they would’ve learned by now not to mess with airplanes.  Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories President Joe Biden…

A Responsible Guide To Bangkok For Sustainably Minded Travelers

Travel

Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedinWhen it comes to places that have it all, few cities can compete with Bangkok. Thailand’s vibrant capital offers a sensory overload of bright colors, pungent odors, eye-popping structures and streets teeming with cars, tuk-tuks and food vendors.

Sustainable Travel To Bangkok
While Thailand may have made its name as a budget travel destination, modern-day Bangkok is better known for its ultra-luxury hospitality, with no fewer than 181 Michelin-approved food spots, not to mention the world’s number one hotel 2024, according the World’s 50 Best Hotels ranking.

Yet, for all its superlatives, buzzy Bangkok is not often associated with sustainability. Traffic congestion, air, water and noise pollution, excessive plastic usage, flooding, and unsatisfactory refuse collection processes, are just some of the problems the Thai capital has to contend with.

Overtourism also poses a challenge to the city recently revealed as 2024’s most-visited city in the world, according to market research company Euromonitor International. The report placed Bangkok’s 2024 arrival numbers at 32 million, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
Bangkok has been named the world’s most visited city in 2024, with 32 million arrivals.getty

Bangkok’s Sustainable Future
Bangkok has multiple sustainability initiatives in the works, including Bangkok250, a project that seeks to make the inner city more ‘liveable’ by 2032, and Green Bangkok 2030, launched in 2019 as part of Thailand’s objective to reduce greenhouse gases by 20-30% by 2030. Meanwhile, at grassroots level, the city is brimming with climate-conscious creatives.
Like Deepanker Khosla, the visionary chef behind Bangkok’s trailblazing HAŌMA, known for its modern, sustainable approach to Indian cuisine. This exceptional fine-dining restaurant has not only been awarded a Michelin star and a Michelin Green Star, it also won the Sustainable Restaurant Award at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024.Chef DK of Haoma says Bangkok’s green journey has to “begin somewhere”.Photo Sahil Rattan
“Being self-sufficient and sustainable in a city like Bangkok may look like a far-fetched dream but we must begin somewhere to contribute to a better tomorrow,” says Khosla, affectionately known as Chef DK, adding:
“In the heart of Bangkok, young entrepreneurs are transforming the hospitality industry by blending innovative food initiatives with eco-conscious practices, creating hotels where sustainability is not just a trend, but a way of life—offering locally sourced, organic cuisine, zero-waste operations, and green initiatives that empower guests to experience luxury without compromising the planet’s future.”
Here are Chef DK’s top tips for eco-conscious travelers visiting Bangkok:
Best Sustainable Restaurants In BangkokRock lobster in a creamy, tangy curry infused with tender coconut and South Indian spices, topped with caviar, at Haoma.Image courtesy Haoma
Haoma
Set in a leafy soi, or alley, not far from the bright lights of Sukhumvit Road, Haoma is like an oasis in the heart of Bangkok. Here, at Thailand’s first urban farm and zero-waste restaurant, sustainability is the driving force behind everything: from the produce sourced from its organic farm, to the rainwater harvested and reused in its aquaponics system, not to mention its commitment to supporting the local community.
And then there’s the food. Haoma’s tasting menus all about about reimagined Indian recipes made with homegrown Thai ingredients. Like the Chicken Kakori made with juicy minced chicken sourced from the restaurant’s farm or the lush rock lobster from Pranburi in southern Thailand, punched up with tender coconut and South Indian spices, and topped with sustainable borax-free Thai caviar for an undeniably luxurious finish.Omelet made from organic eggs, shallots, and sweet basil, topped with tiger prawns.Image courtesy Sorn
Sorn
Not far from Haoma, charismatic self-taught Chef-Owner Supaksorn “Ice” Jongsiri can be found flexing his considerable culinary muscle at Sorn. His celebration of native, seasonal Thai produce sourced from a carefully curated network of suppliers from southern Thailand—from Tapi River prawns transformed into delicate prawn crackers, to Phuket lobster and blue swimmer crab from Samut Sakhon—has earned him global recognition. So much so that the 2025 Michelin Guide Thailand edition named Sorn as Thailand’s first and, so far, only three-star Michelin restaurant.Warm Rainbow. A stock made of shells enriched with dried shellfish, served with crispy sticky rice cooked with gac fruit and shellfish, a puree made from preserved calamansi, several varieties of grilled and pickled chilies, fresh Vietnamese coriander, and seasonal mustard flowers.Photo Tada Hengsapkul
Canvas
Texas-born Chef Riley Sanders is another champion of local, seasonal Thai produce. Michelin starred since 2019, Canvas uses 100% Thai ingredients sourced from small farms, local markets, and sustainability focused suppliers. One of Sanders’ favorite things about being a chef in Thailand is sharing these ingredients with his guests, “elevating them to an art form, inspired by their unique qualities”. His latest 28-course tasting menu is entitled ‘Oomph,’ to leave you in no doubt as to the intensity of the flavors.Kill the Kapi with Herbs. Kapi (fermented shrimp paste) tamed with herbs, using organic, homegrown lemon basil and mint, freshly picked from Baan Tepa’s garden and transformed into an aromatic herb oil, with citrusy notes from the lemon basil, and paired with local horse mackerel.Photo Pantila Debhakam
Baan Tepa
Bangkok’s only other Michelin Green Star restaurant (apart from Haoma), Baan Tepa is led by Chef Chudaree “Tam” Debhakam who is cooking up a storm in her magnificent family home. Her exquisitely crafted dishes—like the black squid ink with lemongrass, or the tender lamb curry with pickled condiments—are made from seasonal ingredients sourced from independent, organic Thai suppliers, along with herbs and vegetables from the restaurant’s organic garden.
Where To Drink In BangkokCow at Mahaniyom.Photo JTran Photos LLC
Mahaniyom
You’ve heard of nose-to-tail restaurants but what about nose-to-tail cocktails? Quirky, forward-thinking Mahaniyom is set inside 100 Mahaseth, an eatery that takes single ingredients and uses them in multiple ways. The bar does the same, mixing drinks based on everything from Cacao to Squid, Orange or Cow. Like Corn, made from corn kernels, corn silk, corn husk and corn milk, mixed with Thai young chili cordial and served with toasted dehydrated corn.
Where To Shop In BangkokThere is more to Bangkok’s shopping scene than luxury malls and floating markets.getty
Patom Organic Living
Just a short stroll from Haoma, Patom is a sustainable coffee shop and retail outlet. Its organic farm supplies herbs, vegetables and fruits for the Patom line of fully traceable organic body care products. The organic produce can also be sampled in Patom’s sustainably designed café set in a verdant garden in the leafy Thong Lor district.
Folkcharm
With a studio and store in the Bang Kapi district, Folkcharm makes clothing and accessories from organic cotton. The 100% Thai village-grown, chemical-free cotton is hand-spun using traditional handloom weaving methods and carefully tailored for a soft, durable finish. The brand also allocates 50% of its profits to supporting the local community.
What To Do In Bangkok
Bangkok’s skyline seen from the jetty in Bang Krachao .getty
Bang Krachao
Chef DK describes Bang Krachao, a manmade island in Bangkok’s River of Kings, as the “green lung of Bangkok”. It is easy to get to: hop on board a small boat from Wat Klong Toei Nok Pier and enjoy a five-minute cruise to this urban jungle full of wetlands and mangroves. Bang Krachao is best explored by bike with a stop for lunch at Ounjai riverside restaurant.Take the slow route along Bangkok’s canals and visit the Phra Buddha Dhammakaya Thep Mongkol, a giant 69-meter Buddha statue located at Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen temple.getty
Hidden Bangkok Canal Tour
Skip the loud, polluting long-tail boats that plow up and down the Chao Praya and, instead, take the slow route along the local waterways on a classic wooden canal boat. Catch glimpses of everyday life and peek inside hidden temples as your boat slowly chugs along, before stopping off at the Khlong Bang Luang Artist Village and Wat Paknam with its giant golden Buddha. Private tours with English-speaking guides are available.
Where To Stay In BangkokWith The Siam’s vintage riverboat ready to drop you off anywhere on the Chao Praya River, you will never need to contend with Bangkok traffic.Image courtesy The Siam
The Siam
Compared with the hustle and bustle of central Bangkok, a stay at this Art Deco gem by Bangkok-based hotel design guru Bill Bensley feels a world away. Things seem to move more slowly at The Siam—except the service, of course, which is lightning fast. And while the verdant riverside location may seem a little remote, the hotel’s vintage riverboat will get you from A to B faster than trying to navigate Bangkok’s endless traffic jams. Since 2019, the Siam has been part of the ‘Refill Not Landfill’ initiative, eliminating single-use plastics like straws, to-go boxes and cups, and replacing plastic water bottles with refillable containers.

Children’s book author Katherine Rundell tries to find joy in a ‘world on fire’

Arts & Culture, Books

Open this photo in gallery:Author Katherine Rundell says: ‘I believe a great children’s book has to be able to acknowledge all that we know about the human heart, both its capacity for snide and jealousy and violence and anger and dread, because if you acknowledge those, the children will believe you when you speak to them of joy, of hope, of what it is to love and care and endure.’Nina Subin/Getty ImagesNot so long ago, Katherine Rundell was accused of murder.Before you go looking for this children’s author’s mugshot, however, you should know that her alleged crime was against a fantastical creature of her own creation: Gelifen, a baby griffin who is the last of his kind in a world where magical things are rapidly disappearing, and whose tragic death – spoiler alert – caused one young correspondent to dash off an accusatory missive to Rundell.Books we’re reading and loving this week: Globe staffers and readers share their book picks“I got a fantastic piece of fan mail from a kid. It was very sweet, and then at the bottom, there was just a little portrait of me and underneath it just said, ‘Murderer,’ ” says Rundell, laughing across a video call from her office in England.To provoke the kind of reaction that motivates a child to put pen to paper – particularly when your competition is algorithms and screens – speaks to the phenomenon that is Rundell’s No.1 internationally bestselling children’s fantasy novel Impossible Creatures.In the tradition of all great children’s literature, it is not a book that coddles its readers, young or old: The stakes are high – two children tasked with finding out what is killing all of the magical creatures before it’s too late – and there is as much darkness as there is light.“I believe very passionately that children are not strangers to grief or sorrow or their own cruelty,” says Rundell, who’s published several award-winning children’s books and non-fiction for adults while also working as a fellow of two Oxford colleges. “I believe a great children’s book has to be able to acknowledge all that we know about the human heart, both its capacity for snide and jealousy and violence and anger and dread, because if you acknowledge those, the children will believe you when you speak to them of joy, of hope, of what it is to love and care and endure.”We live, Rundell continues, in a very bleak time – “a world on fire, with more flames to come” – where the ferocious hope in the triumph of good over evil that undergirds those same great children’s novels has never been more necessary.“One of the things I love about great children’s books is they insist over and over that it is still worth teaching children how to rejoice,” she says.The Globe chatted with Rundell about particularities of writing for children – especially those in the digital age – and why the stories children hear can have such a profound impact on the rest of their lives.Would you say kids are a tougher crowd than adults?They’re a different crowd. One thing is that they’re a mystery to us. I remember very vividly what it was to be a child, but there is still a block between me and my childhood self, and that is the block of 20 years. I’m more connected to my childhood than most, partly because it’s my job. I have booklets of things that I adored as a kid, those passions and profoundly child-like behaviours and eccentricities – the desire to make a potion, to keep a secret. But because children do not have the vocabulary to express all of their hinterland, it’s harder to know a child in some ways than it is to know an adult. Their passions are more opaque, both to them and to us, but their passions are colossal, and their thirst for justice is perhaps the greatest it is at any point in their human existence. Their capacity for love is so deep and so profound. I wanted to write a book that would salute them.In Impossible Creatures, the highs are so high and the lows are so low. Were you mirroring that emotional range kids have?Exactly that. Children experience the world so intensely. Part of that is the “first-time” quality. Every year of your life, you are doing thousands of things for the first time. Big things like taking the train for the first time, or small things like unlocking the door at home. It’s this constant state of discovery and adjustment. It’s why for children, the world feels so vivid and bold and beautiful, but also so bewildering. That’s one of the reasons children need books. The world itself is too big to read, but in a children’s book, you can understand the entirety of the fictional world, and it gives you the experience of understanding. It gives you the experience of gaining knowledge.Open this photo in gallery:Rundell’s children’s fantasy novel Impossible Creatures is an international bestseller.Nina Subin/Getty ImagesDo you have a gauge for what might be “too much” to include in a children’s book?It’s something I think about all the time. You want to make sure that when a child is reading a book of yours, they’re trusting you totally, and you have to try to not let down that trust. I will always make sure that because of the age I’m writing for, which is 9 to 12, there might be violence but there won’t be the kind of graphic violence that will haunt a child. There will be sorrow, but it will be the sorrow of real life, of real loss.And then there’s this really crucial idea of the mismatch between a sanitized children’s book and a child’s experience of the internet and of television. I want to give them some iterations of dread and of fear, because with a book you can tame it and shape it for them, and you can take them gently by the hand and say, “Look, there will be loss, but there will be such huge glory.” Whereas kids by the time they reach age 12 will have seen many profoundly graphic murders on the television, on the internet, on the news. We have to accept we live in a moment where children see darkness, so if we’re going to offer them darkness in books we need to do it as humanely as possible.Are you conscious of being in competition with television and the internet?When I write, I’m mostly propelled by the interior engine that was built over the last 37 years, and which was built by quite big, complicated books. The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Emma, Dickens, Trollope, Baldwin, Nabokov. It’s so important, not just for generosity but for democracy, that we do not talk down to children. That we do not allow ourselves as a society to lose the capacity for the stamina of approaching a big text. Within a big text, you find nuanced ideas that cannot be summarized in a paragraph.I am also very aware that we are writing for our time. I’m not writing for the kids of the 1950s. I’m writing for kids who are right now 10 or 12 years old. What I think they need is wooing. They need to be lured in. For instance, my book starts with two very short chapters. They do get longer, and they also get more complicated. What I think you do is lay a path before them, and you scatter the breadcrumbs, and you hope that by the time you’ve hooked them, you can start to stretch their attention, their stamina, what they think they’re capable of.You’re also writing for the children of the pandemic. Do you think there is something specific to being born in, say, 2014 that you react differently to this book?It’s such an interesting question. How different is this generation because of the sacrifices that we as a culture asked them to make? My hunch is that there are more universals than differences, but the differences are very real. Children still want comfort, love, adventure, jokes, passion, but I think the comfortableness with reading has probably shifted with this generation because we as a generation of parents perhaps left them to more screens than any other generation because it was the only way to get through the time to do work. For these kids who have been deprived of certain forms of community and of rest, how do we give it back to them? And how do we make sure that lack doesn’t become for them something in adulthood that is really painful and destructive?

Department of Commerce Announces Preliminary Terms with Analog Devices, Coherent Corp., Intelligent Epitaxy Technology, Inc. and Sumika Semiconductor Materials Texas Inc., to Strengthen U.S. Semiconductor Leadership

Technology

Department of Commerce Announces Preliminary Terms with Analog Devices, Coherent Corp., Intelligent Epitaxy Technology, Inc. and Sumika Semiconductor Materials Texas Inc., to Strengthen U.S. Semiconductor Leadership – Technology Today – EIN Presswire

Building Success in Oklahoma: How Patrick Delehanty Thrives in the State’s Business and Tech Ecosystem

Business News

Oklahoma has long been known for its resilient economy, powered by industries like energy and agriculture. However, in recent years, the state has quietly transformed into a hub for innovative businesses and technological advancements.

Entrepreneurs like Patrick Delehanty, founder of Delco Holdings, LLC, Delco Devgru, Villa Homes, and Express Redi Mix, are at the forefront of this shift, leveraging Oklahoma’s evolving business climate to drive success across multiple industries.
Delehanty, a veteran, engineer, and entrepreneur based in Coweta, Oklahoma, exemplifies the state’s growing reputation as a place where innovation meets opportunity. His ventures span land development, federal contracting, luxury home construction, and advanced manufacturing—fields traditionally associated with larger tech hubs. By embracing Oklahoma’s unique advantages, Delehanty has built a portfolio that not only generates economic growth but also highlights the state’s potential as a leader in business and technology.

The Oklahoma Advantage

Delehanty credits much of his success to Oklahoma’s supportive business environment. The state offers competitive incentives for startups and established businesses, including low tax rates, affordable land, and resources aimed at fostering entrepreneurship. “Oklahoma’s affordability and central location make it an ideal place for businesses like mine to thrive,” says Delehanty.
The rise of technological infrastructure and resources, such as business incubators and partnerships with state universities, has also played a pivotal role. Oklahoma State University, Delehanty’s alma mater, is a key player in promoting innovation through research initiatives and strong ties to industries like engineering and manufacturing.

Innovation in Practice

One of Delehanty’s standout achievements came during the COVID-19 pandemic when his engineering firm pivoted to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to soaring demand. “We were able to leverage existing resources and supply chains to meet a critical need,” he recalls. The pivot generated $30 million in revenue and showcased how Oklahoma-based businesses could adapt quickly to market demands.
His work with Villa Homes has also redefined luxury home construction in the region, blending advanced technologies like smart home systems with timeless design principles. Delehanty believes that integrating sustainability and innovation into construction is not just a trend but the future of the industry—a vision he has realized in several high-profile residential and neighborhood developments.

Tech and Federal Contracting in Oklahoma

Through Delco Devgru, Delehanty has tapped into the state’s growing involvement in federal contracting and defense technology. Oklahoma’s proximity to military bases and its emphasis on engineering and manufacturing make it a strategic location for businesses like Delco Devgru, which specializes in Department of Defense contracts.
Delehanty has collaborated with high-profile clients such as the U.S. Special Operations Command and DARPA, providing innovative solutions that bridge the gap between advanced manufacturing and practical application. His ability to deliver results from the heart of Oklahoma demonstrates the state’s capability to compete with larger tech ecosystems.

Challenges and Opportunities

While Oklahoma offers many advantages, Delehanty acknowledges the challenges of operating in a state still developing its tech reputation. “Attracting top-tier talent can be harder here than in places like Silicon Valley or Austin,” he notes. However, he views this as an opportunity to invest in local education and training programs, helping to cultivate a skilled workforce that can support the state’s ambitions.
Delehanty is also an advocate for sustainable practices in business, a growing focus in Oklahoma’s tech ecosystem. By incorporating eco-friendly materials and energy-efficient technologies into his projects, he aligns with the state’s push toward environmental responsibility.

A Vision for the Future

Patrick Delehanty’s story is a testament to Oklahoma’s potential as a fertile ground for business and innovation. His success highlights how the state’s resources, combined with an entrepreneurial spirit, can create opportunities across diverse industries. Looking ahead, Delehanty plans to continue expanding his ventures while championing Oklahoma as a center for business excellence.
For aspiring entrepreneurs and established businesses alike, Delehanty’s journey serves as both an inspiration and a roadmap for leveraging the unique advantages of Oklahoma’s business and tech environment. As he puts it, “This state has the tools and the talent—it’s up to us to build something great.”

The Democrat Who Defied The Trump Wave

2024 Election

It’s a bleak winter morning in Millvale, a tiny municipality just outside of Pittsburgh. As one bypasser puts it, with the frankness lovingly associated with western Pennsylvania: “What a shitty, rainy day, huh?” But inside the diner where second-term Democratic congressman Chris Deluzio is sitting, the lights are auspiciously bright. Tucked into a booth, Deluzio…

Walker Books appoints Andrew Stanley as sales and marketing director

Arts & Culture, Books

Walker Books has appointed Andrew Stanley as sales and marketing director in the UK. He will have responsibility across UK and export sales, marketing and PR. Stanley began his career in editorial at Simon & Schuster, before moving to special sales where he spent 18 years, latterly at Random House where he was promoted to vice-president and director of special markets and proprietary publishing.
In the UK, Andrew worked in international sales for Transworld and Random House Children’s Books before joining Thames & Hudson as deputy director of sales. He led the UK sales team and ran key initiatives, including the launch of their e-book programme and the T&H Gift Line. In 2017, Andrew joined the Quarto Group as group sales director, later moving to SVP, director of group sales and marketing. In that role he oversaw global trade sales and marketing operations.
Stanley said: “I am very happy to be joining Walker Books as sales and marketing director. It is an incredible opportunity to work with some of the finest children’s books being published today and to help shape the company’s exciting future. I’m looking forward to working with such a talented and passionate team and contributing to the continued success of this extraordinary publisher.”
He will report to Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, president and publisher, Walker Books Group and join the Global Leadership team.
Continues…