Companies of all sizes have a social, economic, and environmental impact on their communities. It's easy to see that employees and stockholders are directly and negatively impacted when corporations and their executives are not held accountable for their actions. At the same time Corporate America creates jobs, provides benefits, and produces goods and services this country cannot do without. When people lose faith in Corporate America, every American is hurt. Author Stephen Smoke has written a business book that is different from any other book of its kind. Corporate Bill of Responsibilities (Jodere Group, ISBN 1-58872-080-2, $12.00) is an interactive experience that offers employers, employees, and the general public a template for bei... [More]

Torrance, California - The Bill of Responsibilities In-School Program was rolled out for the second school year in a row on December 7th, at the First Lutheran Church and (Middle) School in Torrance, California.   "This is very gratifying," said Stephen Smoke, author of the Teen Bill of Responsibilities. "This school was the first to do the program (January '03) and the fact that they're doing it again, I believe, shows that it works. In fact, I know it works because I attended more than a dozen of the classes last year and watched the course in action. "The thing that makes the Teen Bill of Responsibilities different from all other 'character-type courses,' is that this course doesn't try to superimpose a template of the author's ide... [More]

Justin Wright is a collector…of things and people. Nothing in his multi-billion dollar empire was more precious to him than his wife, Judy. And nothing had ever threatened that empire…until the night he discovered Judy’s dead body in the foyer of their Palos Verdes mansion. Sawyer Black is a retired LAPD homicide detective who now writes crime novels, some of which have been made into feature films. He leads an idyllic life in Palos Verdes and spends most evenings sipping brandy while petting fish in his koi pond and watching the sun melt into the Pacific. But his life, not unlike the lives of the characters in his novels, is not always what it seems. His marriage is in trouble, he’s drinking too much…and... [More]