In 1974, lured by good wages, a 22-year-old African American college student from suburban Minneapolis started work as a pipefitter trainee for Minnegasco, a Minnesota natural-gas utility. Peggie Samples was one of the first four women hired by the company into non-secretarial jobs after the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. On the job, she met men who were hostile, men who were helpful, and men who were simply flummoxed to find 'girls' in their midst. "S'long as a guy does his job," one told her, "it don't matter ta me if he's a gal." This memoir is the sometimes hilarious story of how they learned to work together -- and what they all learned about stereotypes. In this memoir, Carlson tells sometimes shocking, sometimes funny, anecdotes of her efforts to break new ground for working class women.

Citing health concerns as the number one reason why people adopt a vegetarian diet, this collection makes important scientific connections between good health and vegetarianism. The Complete Vegetarian examines the diet's impact on chronic diseases and serves as a nutritional guide and meal-planning resource. Leading vegetarian nutritionists and medical doctors devote entire chapters to nutritional aspects that include fats, protein, and fiber; to diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure; and to vegetarian meal planning, including specialized diets for children, pregnant women, and athletes. The contributors' cutting-edge research finds that it is not only an absence of meat that accounts for the health effects of a vegetarian diet; other contributing factors include less saturated fat and more fiber, antioxidants, and unsaturated fats than other diets. The Complete Vegetarian promises to be an essential resource for health professionals and the growing number of people who have adopted or are thinking about adopting a vegetarian lifestyle. Contributors include John J. B. Anderson, Dina Aronson, Peggy Carlson, James Craner, Brenda Davis, Simon K. Emms, Jeanene Fogli, Suzanne Havala Hobbs, Michael A. Klaper, Erin L. Kraker, Valerie Kurtzhalts, D. Enette Larson-Meyer, Reed Mangels, Carol M. Meerschaert, Virginia Messina, Mary Helen Niemeyer, Carl V. Phillips, Sudha Raj, and Cheryl Sullivan.