In the summer of 2013, Mystery Writer and Radio Personality Chuck Collins was diagnosed with a deadly form of brain cancer. This is the story of how he and a special community of professionals, friends and family made the best of a very bad situation. Portions of proceeds (60%) will go to aid families dealing with brain health issues. Go to RobbingMind.com for more information.

Class Lives is an anthology of narratives dramatizing the lived experience of class in America. It includes forty original essays from authors who represent a range of classes, genders, races, ethnicities, ages, and occupations across the United States. Born into poverty, working class, the middle class, and the owning class and every place in between the contributors describe their class journeys in narrative form, recounting one or two key stories that illustrate their growing awareness of class and their place, changing or stable, within the class system.

The stories in Class Lives are both gripping and moving. One contributor grows up in hunger and as an adult becomes an advocate for the poor and homeless. Another acknowledges the truth that her working-class father's achievements afforded her and the rest of the family access to people with power. A gifted child from a working-class home soon understands that intelligence is a commodity but finds his background incompatible with his aspirations and so attempts to divide his life into separate worlds.

Together, these essays form a powerful narrative about the experience of class and the importance of learning about classism, class cultures, and the intersections of class, race, and gender. Class Lives will be a helpful resource for students, teachers, sociologists, diversity trainers, activists, and a general audience. It will leave readers with an appreciation of the poignancy and power of class and the journeys that Americans grapple with on a daily basis."

Class Lives is an anthology of narratives dramatizing the lived experience of class in America. It includes forty original essays from authors who represent a range of classes, genders, races, ethnicities, ages, and occupations across the United States. Born into poverty, working class, the middle class, and the owning class and every place in between the contributors describe their class journeys in narrative form, recounting one or two key stories that illustrate their growing awareness of class and their place, changing or stable, within the class system.

The stories in Class Lives are both gripping and moving. One contributor grows up in hunger and as an adult becomes an advocate for the poor and homeless. Another acknowledges the truth that her working-class father's achievements afforded her and the rest of the family access to people with power. A gifted child from a working-class home soon understands that intelligence is a commodity but finds his background incompatible with his aspirations and so attempts to divide his life into separate worlds.

Together, these essays form a powerful narrative about the experience of class and the importance of learning about classism, class cultures, and the intersections of class, race, and gender. Class Lives will be a helpful resource for students, teachers, sociologists, diversity trainers, activists, and a general audience. It will leave readers with an appreciation of the poignancy and power of class and the journeys that Americans grapple with on a daily basis."

"We are the 99%" is the rallying cry of millions of people involved in the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. This is the first book to pull together in once place detailed information about the 1% and the 99% in all realms of society, the causes and consequences of this deep inequality, and what can be done about it. The focus of the worldwide "Occupy" protests is creating a world that works for 99% of people and businesses, not just the richest and most powerful 1%. But who are the 99%? Who are the 1%? How extensive and systemic is inequality in different areas of society? What are its causes and consequence? How is inequality changing in our world? And what can be done about it? For many years Chuck Collins has been a top leader in studying, speaking about, and writing about these questions. In this book he brings together in one place, for the first time, information that has been widely scattered in many different articles, reports, and websites. He provides revealing and powerful information about inequality in all realms of today's world, including individual wealth and power, corporate wealth and power, media control, political influence, and other areas. He then describes the functioning of the "Wall Street Inequality Machine" and describes how inequality wrecks everything we care about. And he tells how people and groups are pushing back against inequality and taking action to reduce inequality and create a world that works for the many and not just the few.

Holding Onto Love blends an anguished father's heartfelt experience with advice from respected authors to offer comfort and hope to parents reeling from the death of a child. Chuck Collins' refreshing, down-to-earth writing style explores the anguish and hopelessness of child loss and exposes the myriad of emotional landmines grieving families face.

The author rejects the common belief that bereaved fathers and mothers must "move on" or "get over it" to have normal lives. In contrast, Chuck offers a strategy for survival and healing that recognizes a new sense of normal and renewed purpose in life. A special chapter educates relatives and friends how to reach out to a grief-stricken family, what not to say or do, and includes a checklist of helpful suggestions.

Holding Onto Love tackles difficult topics including spousal and sibling grief, returning to work, handling holidays, grieving through investigations, civil or criminal litigation, and shares the author's attempts for after-death communication. This candid, but gentle account finds hope through the tears and is a "must read" for grieving families and their loved ones.

When Wealth and Our Commonwealth was first published in hardcover, coverage was intense and widespread: virtually all of the national broadcast and print media ran interviews and reviews. The adamant argument for reform, not reversal, of the most progressive tax in our nation continues to resonate. This edition, with a new preface by the authors, is sure to continue to fuel the debate.
"Gates, a happy warrior and a bear of a man, has thrown his formidable resources into making sure that he and people like him pay a decent share of the cost of government. He and Collins are doing urgent work. . . . Inheritance taxes would fall only on the largest estates. That, said Gates, is entirely just. As he puts it, those who were best able 'to take advantage of what society has to offer' have a debt to pay. It's a concept no less worthy for being old-fashioned." --E. J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post
"If you doubt whether there are any truly public-spirited Americans left, let me introduce Bill Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins. Their new book is worth reading for its fascinating history of the conservative estate-tax repeal movement alone. But more than that, Wealth and Our Commonwealth challenges us all, rich and not-so-rich, to a more strenuous and farsighted notion of citizenship."--Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
"Bill Gates and Chuck Collins provide a clear rationale for retaining the estate tax in this helpful and unselfish analysis."--Jimmy Carter, Winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize
"As this book reminds us, inheritance taxes are not about raising tax revenue. They are about 'What Kind of a Nation Do We Want to Be?' Economics is inevitably a relay race where participants do not start from the same point, but we can limit how large those gaps are. This book gets our thoughts back on the right issues."--Lester Thurow, author of The Future of Capitalism and Building Wealth: New Rules for Individuals

Revised following the 2004 presidential election, a graphic portrait of the growing gap between the rich and everyone else in America.
- In 1968, African Americans earned 55 cents for every dollar of white income. At the current pace, it would take 581 years for African Americans to achieve income parity.
- States including Alabama, Tennessee, and Virginia tax food and basic needs at a higher rate than income from investments.
- Welfare for very low income people totaled $193 billion in 2004. Aid to "dependent corporations" exceeded $800 billion.
This updated edition of the widely touted "Economic Apartheid in America" looks at the causes and manifestations of wealth disparities in the United States, including tax policy in light of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and recent corporate scandals.
Published with two leading organizations dedicated to addressing economic inequality, the book looks at recent changes in income and wealth distribution and examines the economic policies and shifts in power that have fueled the growing divide.
Praised by "Sojurners" as "a clear blueprint on how to combat growing inequality," "Economic Apartheid in America" provides "much-needed groundwork for more democratic discussion and participation in economic life" ("Tikkun"). With "a wealth of eye-opening data" ("The Beacon") focusing on the decline of organized labor and civic institutions, the battle over global trade, and the growing inequality of income and wages, it argues that most Americans are shut out of the discussion of the rules governing their economic lives.
Accessible and engaging and illustrated throughout with charts, graphs, and political cartoons, the book laysout a comprehensive plan for action. Charts, graphs, and black-and-white illustrations throughout.

Last year, Americans donated $150 billion to charity. Giving has never been more popular, possible or, for many, more confusing. There are oceans of need, mountains of requests, and often little time for the consideration needed to give thoughtfully and effectively. "Change, not charity " is this book s enthusiastic theme. Long-time activists and givers, authors Chuck Collins and Pam Rogers show that traditional charity most often reinforces the status quo and maintains the dynamics of dependency and control. The progressive ethic of giving endorsed in this book, on the other hand, offers detailed ways to address the root causes of societal problems. With numerous organizational listings and hundreds of helpful suggestions, Robin Hood Was Right is a fun, user-friendly guide for the socially conscious giver, whether one is able to give annually $500 or $5,000,000."