text:
Excerpted from Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, to be published this month by Random House; © 2010 by the author.
Adrift but Unbroken
When their bomber crashed into the vast Pacific, in 1943, Louis Zamperini, Russell Phillips, and Francis McNamara's odds were slim to none—even before their food and water ran out and the sharks began attacking. In an excerpt from her first book since Seabiscuit, the author reconstructs a historic struggle for survival.
In the late 1920s, a cunning boy named Louis Zamperini was wreaking havoc in his hometown of Torrance, California. A serial runaway and artful dodger, he robbed his neighbors' kitchens, put grease on streetcar rails and toothpicks in his teacher's tires, pelted policemen with tomatoes, and ran clever scams to part locals from their money. But when Louie reached his teens, he made a momentous discovery: he was an exceptionally gifted runner. From then on, he channeled his defiance into track, displaying prodigious talent that carried him to the 1936 Berlin Olympics and within sight of the fabled four-minute mile.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, the athlete became an airman, joining the Army Air Corps. While training to be a bombardier, he formed a close friendship with his roommate and pilot, a gentle-tempered pastor's son named Russell Phillips, known to all as Phil. In the fall of 1942, Louie and Phil were transferred to Oahu to begin their war journey together. Serving in a B-24 bomber they called Super Man, they saw months of harrowing combat, culminating in an epic battle with Japanese Zeros over the island of Nauru in April of 1943. With half of his crew severely wounded and his plane's brakes shot, steering crippled, right rudder blown half off, and fuselage blasted with 600 holes, Phil somehow nursed Super Man home.
Only a few weeks later, on May 27, 1943, an officer in Louie and Phil's squadron received an emergency call. A bomber piloted by a lieutenant named Clarence Corpening had taken off from Oahu the day before and had disappeared somewhere over the Pacific. Louie and Phil, on their way to Honolulu on their day off, were stopped at the base gate. A crew was needed to undertake a search. Super Man had been totaled in the Nauru mission, so the officer ordered them to take the only plane available, Green Hornet, a battered B-24 so ominously underpowered that it flew with its tail dangling well below its nose. No one on the Phillips crew wanted to go near the plane, but an order was an order. That morning, Louie, Phil, and their crew reluctantly boarded Green Hornet. Phil taxied the plane to the runway, took off, and flew south, headed for a search area some 200 miles north of a remote island called Palmyra.
At around two that afternoon, as Green Hornet flew low over the search area, one of its four engines suddenly died, and the bomber began dropping toward the sea. In the scramble to save the plane, a crewman made a fatal error, mistakenly shutting down a second engine. Green Hornet fell from the sky.
One Thought: Hopeless
When his plane hit the ocean, Louie heard nothing at all.
There were only soundless sensations: the plane tearing apart, his body hurtling forward, wires whipping around him, water over him, gravity dragging him under. He thrashed against the wires, and the plane carried him down.
Louie was drowning. He struggled uselessly, sinking deeper and deeper, the water growing darker and heavier around him. He thought: Hopeless. There was a bolt of pain in his head, then nothing.
He woke in total darkness, sensing the plane still around him, still deep underwater, sinking. Inexplicably, miraculously, the wires had vanished. He groped along the wreckage, found an opening, and kicked through. He pulled the inflation cords on his life vest and felt it lift him. He burst into dazzling daylight and breathed.
The ocean was a jumble of bomber remains. The lifeblood of the plane—oil, hydraulic fluid, and hundreds of gallons of fuel—slopped about on the surface. Curling among the hunks of wreckage were threads of blood.
Louie heard a voice. He turned toward it and saw Phil across the debris field, clinging to what looked like a fuel tank. With him was the tail gunner, Sgt. Francis McNamara, whom everyone called Mac. Neither man had a life vest on. Blood spouted in rhythmic arcs from Phil's forehead and washed in sheets down his face. His eyes lolled about in bewilderment. Louie looked around. None of the eight other crewmen had surfaced.
Louie saw a life raft, almost certainly deployed by a crewman before impact, bobbing on the water. He knew that he had to get Phil's bleeding stopped, but if he went to him, the raft would be lost and all three survivors would perish. He swam for the raft. His clothing and shoes weighed him down, and the current and wind carried the raft away faster than he could swim. As Louie looked back at Phil and Mac, sharing the recognition that their chance was lost, he saw a long cord trailing off the raft, snaking not two feet from his face. He snatched the cord, reeled the raft in, and climbed aboard. A second raft was sliding away. He grabbed his raft's oars, rowed as hard as he could, and just managed to catch its cord and pull the second raft to him. He tied the rafts together and rowed to Phil and Mac.
Realizing that the jagged hunk that he was clinging to might perforate the rafts, Phil pushed it away. Louie pulled him aboard, and Mac climbed in under his own power. Both men, like Louie, were filmy with fuel and oil. With all three men in one raft, it was cramped; the raft was only about six feet long and a little more than two feet wide inside.
There were two gashes on the left side of Phil's forehead. Blood was spurting from the wounds and, mixed with seawater, sloshing in the bottom of the raft. Remembering a lesson from Boy Scouts, Louie ran his fingers down Phil's neck until he felt a pulse, the carotid artery. He showed Mac the spot and told him to press down, slowing the bleeding. He yanked off his overshirt and T-shirt and asked Mac to do the same, then folded one T-shirt into a compress and pressed it to Phil's wounds. He took the other T-shirt and tied it tightly around Phil's head, then slid Phil into the second raft to rest.
Phil was woozy from the blood loss and blow to his head. He knew that he'd crashed, that someone had pulled him from the water, and that Louie was with him. As the pilot, he was officially in command, but he understood that he was in no condition to make decisions. He asked Louie to take over, and Louie agreed.
"I'm glad it was you, Zamp," Phil said softly.
From somewhere nearby, there was a small sound, a moan trailing off into a gargle, a mouth trying to form a word, a throat filling with water—then silence. Louie grabbed an oar and circled around as rapidly as he could, searching for the drowning man. Whoever had made the sound had slipped under. He didn't come up again.
With Phil's bleeding under control, Louie turned his attention to the rafts. Made of two layers of canvas coated in rubber and divided into two air chambers, each was in good condition. Storage pockets in the rafts contained some survival provisions. Untying the pocket flaps, Louie found several thick chocolate bars—probably Hershey's military-issue Ration D bars—divided into segments and packaged in waxed containers to resist gas attack.
With the chocolate, Louie found several half-pint tins of water, a brass mirror, a flare gun with flares, sea dye, a set of fishhooks, a spool of fishing line, and two air pumps in canvas cases. There was also a set of pliers with a screwdriver built into the handle. Louie pondered it for a long while, trying to come up with a reason why someone would need a screwdriver or pliers on a raft. Each raft also had a patch kit, to be used if the raft leaked. That was all there was.
The provisions were grossly inadequate. Adrift near the equator with little water and no shelter, Phil, Louie, and Mac would soon be in desperate trouble.
Maintaining Order
From the moment that he had come out of the water, Mac hadn't said a word. He had somehow escaped the crash without injury, but his face had never lost its glazed, startled expression.
Louie was bent over the raft when Mac suddenly began wailing, "We're going to die!" Louie reassured him that the squadron would come for them, that they'd be found very soon. Mac continued to shout. Louie, exasperated, threatened to report Mac when they returned. It had no effect. At his wit's end, Louie whacked Mac across the cheek with the back of his hand. Mac thumped back and fell silent.
Louie set up ground rules. Each man would eat one square of chocolate in the morning, one in the evening. Louie allotted one water tin per man, with each man allowed two or three sips a day. Eating and drinking at this rate, they could stretch their supplies for a few days.
With inventory taken and rules established, there was nothing to do but wait. Louie kept his hand on Phil's head, stanching the bleeding. The last trace of Green Hornet, the shimmer of fuel, hydraulic fluid, and oil that had wreathed the rafts since the crash, faded away. In its place, rising from below, came dark-blue shapes, gliding in lithe arcs. A neat, sharp form, flat and shining, cut the surface and began tracing circles around the rafts. Another one joined it. The sharks had found them. Fluttering close to their sides were pilot fish, striped black and white.
The sharks, which Louie thought were of the mako and reef species, were so close that the men would only have to extend their hands to touch them. The smallest were about six feet long; some were double that size. They bent themselves around the rafts as they swam, testing the fabric, dragging their fins along the bottom and sides, but not trying to get at the men on top. They seemed to be waiting for the men to come to them.
The sun sank, and it became sharply cold. The men used their hands to bail a few inches of water into each raft. Once their bodies warmed the water, they felt less chilled. Though exhausted, they fought the urge to sleep, afraid that a ship or submarine would pass and they'd miss it. Phil's lower body, under the water, was warm enough, but his upper body was so cold that he shook.
It was absolutely dark and absolutely silent, save for the chattering of Phil's teeth. The ocean was a flat calm, but a rough, rasping tremor ran through the men. The sharks were rubbing their backs along the raft bottoms.
Louie's arm was still draped over the side of his raft, his hand resting on Phil's forehead. Under Louie's hand, Phil drifted to sleep, attended by the sensation of sharks scraping down the length of his back. In the next raft, Louie, too, fell asleep.
Mac was alone in his wakefulness, his mind spinning with fear. Grasping at an addled resolution, he began to stir.
Louie woke with the sun. Mac was beside him, lying back. Phil lay in his raft, his mind still fumbling. Louie sat up and ran his eyes over the sky and ocean in search of rescuers. All he saw were sharks.
Louie decided to divvy up breakfast, a single square of chocolate for each man. He untied the raft pocket and reached in. All of the chocolate was gone. He looked around the rafts. No chocolate, no wrappers. His gaze paused on Mac. The sergeant looked back at him with wide, guilty eyes.
The realization that Mac had eaten all of the chocolate rolled hard over Louie. Mac was a recent addition to the crew, a replacement for a tail gunner who'd been wounded over Nauru, and Louie and Phil barely knew him. Back at the base, Mac had struck Louie as a decent, friendly guy, but a bit of a reveler, confident to the point of flippancy. The crash had undone him. Louie knew that Mac's consumption of the chocolate could cost them their lives, but he quelled the thought. By now, planes would be searching for them. Because the crew had not had time to send a distress signal or communicate their position as Green Hornet went down, the military would have little idea of where they were, and would be trying to find their tiny rafts in a search area of thousands of square miles. Louie was aware of this, but pushed the thought away. We'll be on Palmyra later today, maybe tomorrow, he told himself, and the loss of the chocolate won't matter. Curbing his irritation, Louie told Mac that he was disappointed in him. Understanding that Mac had acted in panic, he reassured him that they'd soon be rescued. Mac said nothing.
The chill of the night gave way to a sweltering day. Louie watched the sky. Phil slept. Mac, a shade short of being a redhead, burned in the sun. He remained in a dreamy, distant place. All three men were hungry, but they could do nothing about it. The fishhooks and line were useless. There was no bait.
As the men lay in silence, a purring sound began drifting gently between their thoughts. Then all three realized that they were hearing a plane. Searching the sky, they saw a B-25 bomber, high up and well to the east. Flying much too high to be a search plane, it was probably on its way to Palmyra.
Louie lunged for the raft pocket, retrieved the flare gun, and loaded a flare cartridge. He couldn't stand in the soft-bottomed raft, so he tipped up onto his knees and raised the gun. He squeezed the trigger, the gun bucked in his hand, and the flare, roaring red, streaked up. As it shot overhead, Louie dug out a dye pack and shook it hurriedly into the water; a pool of vivid greenish yellow bloomed over the ocean.
With the flare arcing over them, Louie, Phil, and Mac watched the bomber, willing the men aboard to see them. Slowly, the flare sputtered out. The bomber kept going, and then it was gone. The circle of color around the rafts faded away.
The plane left the castaways with an unnerving piece of information. They had known that they were drifting, but without points of reference, they hadn't known in which direction, or how fast. Since planes on the north-south passage between Hawaii and Palmyra followed a flight lane that ran close to *Green Hornet'*s crash site, the appearance of a B-25 far to the east almost certainly meant that the rafts were drifting west, away from the view of friendly planes. The chances of rescue were already dimming.
Over the rafts, the daylight died. The men took sips of water, bailed seawater around themselves, and lay down. The sharks came to the rafts again to rub their backs on the undersides.
Another Plane on the Horizon
Phil slept for most of the next day. Louie sipped water and thought about food. Mac continued to hunker down, speaking little. For another day, rescue did not come.
Early the next morning, Louie, Mac, and Phil heard a broad, deep rumble of bomber engines, the sound of home. There it was: a B-24, low and right overhead, plowing through the clouds. It was a search plane.
Louie grabbed the flare gun, loaded it, and fired. The flare shot straight at the bomber, making a fountain of red that looked huge from the raft. Louie reloaded and fired three more times. The men waited. The plane made a sharp turn, and for a moment the castaways thought they'd been spotted. But the bomber didn't circle back. The flares spent themselves, and the plane flew on. Louie, Phil, and Mac watched the twin tails grow smaller in the distance, then disappear. Louie had a sick feeling.
With every hour, the men were drifting farther west. If they weren't found, the only way they could survive would be to get to land. To their west, they knew, there wasn't a single island for some 2,000 miles. If by some miracle they floated that far and were still alive, they might reach the Marshall Islands. If they veered a little south, they might reach the Gilberts. If they were lucky enough to drift to those islands, rather than passing by and out again into the open Pacific, they'd have another problem. Both sets of islands belonged to the Japanese, who were notorious for murdering prisoners of war.
The castaways' bodies were declining. They were intensely thirsty and hungry. After the B-24 sighting, they floated for another frigid night, then another long day. Each man drank the last drops of his water. No rescuers came. If the search hadn't been called off, the men knew, it soon would be.
Sometime on the fifth day, Mac snapped again. After having said almost nothing for days, he suddenly began screaming that they were going to die. Wild-eyed and raving, he couldn't stop shouting. Louie slapped him across the face. Mac abruptly went silent and lay down, appearing strangely contented. Maybe he was comforted by Louie's assertion of control, thereby protected from the awful possibilities that his imagination hung before him.
That night, Louie prayed. He had prayed only once before in his life, in childhood, when his mother was sick and he had been filled with a rushing fear that he would lose her. That night on the raft, in words composed in his head, never passing his lips, he pleaded for help.
Phil felt as if he were on fire. The equatorial sun lay upon the men, scalding their skin. Their upper lips burned and cracked, swelling so dramatically that the flesh obstructed their nostrils, while their lower lips bulged against their chins. Their bodies were slashed with open cracks that formed under the corrosive onslaught of sun, salt, wind, and fuel residue. Whitecaps slapped into the fissures, generating an agonizing scalding sensation. Sunlight glared off the ocean, sending barbs of white light into the men's pupils and leaving their heads pounding. The men's feet were cratered with quarter-size salt sores. The rafts baked along with their occupants, emitting a bitter smell.
The water tins were empty. Desperately thirsty and overheated, the men could do no more than use their hands to bail seawater over themselves. The coolness of the ocean beckoned and couldn't be answered, for the sharks circled. One shark, six or eight feet long, stalked the rafts without rest, day and night. The men became especially wary of him, and when he ventured too close, one of them would jab him with an oar.
On the third day without water, a smudge appeared on the horizon. It grew, darkened, billowed over the rafts, and lidded the sun. Down came rain. The men threw back their heads, spilled their bodies back, spread their arms, and opened their mouths. The rain fell on their chests, lips, faces, tongues. It soothed their skin, washed the salt and sweat and fuel from their pores, slid down their throats, fed their bodies. It was a sensory explosion.
They knew the rain wouldn't last. They had to find a way to save the water. The narrow water tins, opened to the downpour, caught virtually nothing. Keeping his head tipped up and his mouth open, Louie felt around for something better and found one of the air pumps. It was sheathed in a canvas case about 14 inches long, stitched down one side. He tore the seam open, spread the fabric to form a triangular bowl, and watched happily as the rain pooled on the fabric.
He had collected some two pints of water when a whitecap cracked into the raft, crested over, and slopped into the canvas, spoiling the water.
Louie tried a new technique. Instead of allowing large pools of water to gather, he began continuously sucking the captured water into his mouth, then spitting it in the cans. Once the cans were full, he kept harvesting the rain, giving one man a drink every 30 seconds or so. They tore open the second pump case to form another rain catcher. When the sun emerged, they found that the canvas cases made excellent hats. They began rotations with them, two men in, one man out.
More days passed. The men were ravenous. It was now clear that Mac's binge on the chocolate, which had seemed only moderately worrisome at the time, was a catastrophe. Louie resented Mac, and Mac seemed to know it. Though Mac never spoke of it, Louie sensed that he was consumed with guilt over what he had done.
As hunger bleated inside them, the men found themselves unable to direct their thoughts away from food. They stared into the ocean, watching all of the edible creatures, but without bait, they couldn't catch even a minnow. Occasionally, a bird passed, always out of reach. The men studied their shoes and wondered if they could eat the leather. They decided that they couldn't.
One day, 9 or 10 days into their odyssey, Louie felt something alight on his canvas hat, and saw its shadow fall before him. It was an albatross. With Louie's head hidden, the bird hadn't recognized that he was landing on a man.
Slowly, slowly, Louie raised his hand toward the bird, his motion so gradual that it was little more noticeable than the turning of a minute hand on a clock. The bird rested calmly. In time, Louie's hand was beside the bird, his fingers open. Then Louie snapped his hand shut, clamping down on the bird's legs. The bird pecked frantically, slashing Louie's knuckles. He grabbed its head and broke its neck.
Louie used the pliers to tear the bird open. A gust of fetid odor rose from the body, and everyone recoiled. Louie handed a bit of meat to Phil and Mac and took some for himself. The stench hung before them, spurring waves of nausea. Gagging, they couldn't get the meat into their mouths. Eventually, they gave up.
Though they couldn't eat the bird, they finally had bait. Louie took out the fishing gear, tied a small hook to a line, baited it, and fed it into the water. In a moment, a shark cruised by, bit down on the hook, and severed the line. Louie tried with another hook, and again a shark took it. A third try produced the same result. Finally, the sharks let a hook hang unmolested. Louie felt a tug and pulled up the line. On its end hung a slender pilot fish, about 10 inches long. As Louie pulled it apart, everyone felt apprehensive. None of them had eaten raw fish before. They each put a bit of meat into their mouths and found it flavorless. They ate it down to the bones.
It was the first food to cross their lips in more than a week. Among three men, the small fish didn't go far, but the protein gave them a push of energy. Louie had demonstrated that if they were persistent and resourceful they could catch food, and both he and Phil felt inspired. Only Mac remained unchanged.
Phil felt uneasy about the bird, and reminded Louie that killing an albatross was said to bring bad luck. After a plane crash, Louie replied, what more bad luck could they have?
Coping Mechanisms
Several more days passed. The men floated in a sensory vacuum. In calm weather, the ocean was silent. There was nothing to touch but water, skin, hair, and canvas. Other than the charred smell of the raft, there were no odors, and there was nothing to look at but sky and sea. At some point, Louie stuck his finger in his ear and felt wax there. He smelled his finger, and by virtue of being new, the scent of the wax was curiously refreshing. He developed a habit of twisting his finger in his ear and sniffing it. Phil and Mac began doing it, too.
Louie and Phil, like all other airmen, had heard unsettling stories about men lost at sea without provisions. Under the stresses of dehydration, starvation, and exposure, many castaways went insane, hallucinating, arguing with imaginary foes, exhibiting bizarre behavior, sometimes even flinging themselves overboard and drowning in an effort to reach illusory rescue ships. Thinking about these stories, Louie was concerned more about sanity than he was about sustenance. He was determined that, no matter what happened to their bodies, their minds would stay under control.
A few days after the crash, Louie began peppering the other two with questions on every conceivable subject. Phil took up the challenge, and he and Louie turned the raft into a nonstop quiz show. They shared their histories, from first memories onward, recounted in minute detail. They described the best dates they'd ever had, and laid plans for what they'd do when they were home and the war was over. They told and retold stories of practical jokes that they'd played on each other. Every answer was followed with a question. Phil sang church hymns; Louie taught the other two the lyrics to "White Christmas." They sang it over the ocean, a holiday song in June, heard only by circling sharks.
For Louie and Phil, the conversations did more than keep their minds sharp. As they imagined themselves back in the world, they willed a happy ending onto their ordeal and made it their expectation. With these talks, they created something to live for.
As Louie and Phil grilled each other, Mac usually sat in silence. He shared few memories, and though the other two encouraged him, he couldn't imagine a future. To him, it seemed, the world was too far gone.
Given the dismal record of raft-bound men, Mac's despair was reasonable. What is remarkable is that the two men who shared Mac's plight didn't share his hopelessness. Though all three faced the same hardship, their differing perceptions of it appeared to be shaping their fates. Louie's and Phil's hope displaced their fear and inspired them to work toward their survival, and each success renewed their physical and emotional vigor. Mac's resignation seemed to paralyze him, and the less he participated in their efforts to survive, the more he slipped. Though he did the least, as the days passed, it was he who faded the most. Louie's and Phil's optimism and Mac's hopelessness were becoming self-fulfilling.
The men had been adrift for two weeks. The rafts were decomposing in the sun and salt water, bleeding vivid yellow dye onto the men's clothing and skin and making everything sticky.
The men's bodies slowly withered. Each day, Louie noticed an incremental difference in his weight, and the weight of his raftmates: the pants looser, the faces narrower. As they passed the fortnight mark, they began to look grotesque. Their flesh had evaporated. Their cheeks had sunken into concavity. Their bodies were digesting themselves.
They were reaching a stage of their ordeal that had been a gruesome turning point for other castaways. In 1820, after the whaling ship Essex was sunk by an enraged whale, the lifeboat-bound survivors, on the brink of death, resorted to cannibalism. Some 60 years later, after 19 days adrift, starving survivors of the sunken yacht Mignonette killed and ate a teenage crewman. Stories of cannibalism among castaways were so common that the British sailors considered the practice of choosing and sacrificing a victim to be an established "custom of the sea." To well-fed men on land, the idea of cannibalism has always inspired revulsion. To many sailors who have stood on the threshold of death, lost in the agony of starvation, it has seemed a reasonable, even inescapable solution.
For Louie, the idea of consuming a human being was revolting and unthinkable, even if the person had died naturally. All three men held the same conviction. Cannibalism wouldn't be considered, then or ever.
A second albatross fluttered onto Louie's head sometime around the 14th day. Again Louie slowly raised his hand, snatched it, and killed it. The men sat there looking at it, remembering the stench of the first bird. When Louie opened it up, they were happily surprised to find that it didn't smell that bad. Still, no one wanted to eat it. Louie portioned out the meat and insisted that everyone eat. All three men forced it down. Because Mac seemed to need food the most, they gave him all of the blood.
In the bird's stomach they found several tiny fish. Using them as bait, Louie caught a bigger fish. He also saved some of the bird for bait, and cleaned the bones and set them out to dry in hopes that they might be useful as fishhooks.
Time spun out endlessly. Occasionally, the men caught small terns that landed on the raft. Louie caught a few fish, once tying hooks onto his fingers like claws and snatching a pilot fish straight out of the ocean. On another day, he parlayed a tiny fish, thrown into the raft by a whitecap, into bait that yielded a comparatively fat pilot fish. Rains came intermittently, leaving the men sucking up every drop that fell into their rain catchers. Louie and Phil took turns leading prayers each night. Mac remained in his own world.
Then rains stopped coming and the water tins ran dry again. On their sixth day without water, the men recognized that they weren't going to last much longer. Mac was failing especially quickly.
They bowed their heads together as Louie prayed aloud for rain. The next day, by divine intervention or the fickle humors of the tropics, the sky broke open and rain poured down. Twice more the water ran out, twice more they prayed, and twice more rain came. The showers gave them just enough water to last a short while longer. If only a plane would come.
In the Line of Fire
On the morning of the 27th day, a plane came.
It began with a rumble of engines, and appeared as a spot in the sky. It was a twin-engine bomber, moving west at a brisk clip and so far away that expending the flares and dye would be a questionable move. The men conferred and voted. They decided to take a shot.
Louie fired one flare, reloaded, then fired a second, drawing vivid lines across the sky. He opened a dye container and spilled its contents into the ocean, then dug out the mirror and angled a square of light toward the bomber.
The men waited, hoping. The plane grew smaller, then faded away.
As the castaways slumped in the rafts, trying to accept another lost chance, over the western horizon there was a glimmer, tracing a wide curve, then flying toward them. The bomber was coming back.
Overcome with joy, Louie, Phil, and Mac tugged their shirts over their heads and snapped them back and forth in the air, calling out. The bomber leveled off, skimming over the water. Louie squinted at the cockpit. He made out two silhouettes, a pilot and co-pilot. Crying with joy, he thought of Palmyra, food, solid ground underfoot.
And then, all at once, the ocean erupted. There was a deafening noise, and the rafts began hopping and shuddering under the castaways. The bomber's gunners were firing at them.
Louie, Phil, and Mac clawed for the raft walls and threw themselves overboard. They swam under the rafts and huddled there in terror, watching bullets cut bright slits in the water around them. Then the firing stopped.
The men surfaced. The bomber had overshot them and was now to the east, moving away. Two sharks were nosing around. The men had to get out of the water immediately.
Clinging to the side of Louie and Mac's raft, Phil was completely done in. The leap into the water had taken everything that was left in him. He floundered, unable to pull himself over the raft wall. Louie swam up behind him and gave him a push, and Phil slopped up on board. Mac, too, needed Louie's help to climb over the wall. Louie then dragged himself up, and the three sat there, stunned but uninjured. They couldn't believe that the airmen, mistaking them for Japanese, would strafe unarmed castaways. Under them, the raft felt doughy. It was leaking air.
In the distance, the bomber swung around and flew toward the rafts again. Louie hoped that the crew had realized the mistake and was returning to help them. Flying about 200 feet over the water, the bomber raced at them, following a path parallel to the rafts. As its side passed into view, all three men saw it at once: behind the wing, painted over the waist, was a red circle. The bomber was Japanese.
Louie saw the gunners taking aim and knew he had to go back in the water. Phil and Mac didn't move. They were both exhausted. They knew that if they went overboard again they wouldn't be strong enough to get back in, and the sharks would take them. If they stayed on the raft, it seemed impossible that the gunners could miss them.
As the bomber flew toward them, they lay down. Phil pulled his knees to his chest and covered his head in his hands. Mac balled himself up beside him. Louie took a last glance at them, then dropped into the water and swam back under the rafts.
Bullets showered the ocean in a glittering downpour. Looking up, Louie saw them popping through the canvas, shooting beams of intensely bright tropical sunlight through the rafts' shadows. But after a few feet, the bullets spent their force and fluttered down, fizzing. Louie straightened his arms over his head and pushed against the bottom of one of the rafts, trying to get far enough down to be outside the bullets' lethal range. Above him, he could see the depressions formed by Mac's and Phil's bodies. Neither man was moving.
As the bullets raked overhead, the current clutched at Louie, rotating his body horizontally and dragging him from the rafts. He kicked against it, but the effort was no use. He was being sucked away, and he knew that if he lost touch with the rafts he wouldn't be able to swim hard enough against the current to get back. Just as he was pulled loose, he saw the cord that strayed off the end of one of the rafts. He grabbed it and tied it around his waist.
As he held his breath and hung underwater, his legs being tugged in front of him by the current, Louie looked down at his feet. His left sock was pulled up on his shin; his right had slipped halfway off. He watched it flap in the current. Then, in the murky blur beyond it, he saw the huge, gaping mouth of a shark, emerging out of the darkness and rushing straight at his legs.
Louie recoiled in horror, jerking his legs to the side, away from the shark's mouth. The shark kept coming, directly at Louie's head. Louie rammed his palm into the tip of the shark's nose. The shark flinched, circled away, then swam back at him again. Louie waited until the shark was inches from him, then struck it in the nose again. Again, the shark peeled away.
Above, the bullets stopped coming. As quickly as he could, Louie pulled himself along the cord until he reached the raft. He grabbed its wall and lifted himself clear of the shark.
Mac and Phil were lying together in the fetal position. They were absolutely still, and bullet holes dappled the raft around them. Louie shook Mac, and Mac made a sound. Louie asked if he'd been hit. Mac said no. Louie spoke to Phil. Phil said he was O.K.
The bomber circled back for another go, and Louie tipped back into the ocean. As bullets knifed the water around him, two sharks came at him. Louie hung there, gyrating in the water and flailing his arms and legs, as the sharks snapped at him and the bullets came down. The moment the bomber sped out of firing range, he clambered onto the raft again. Phil and Mac were still unhit.
Four more times the Japanese strafed them, sending Louie into the water to kick and punch at the sharks until the bomber had passed. Though he had fought the sharks to the point of exhaustion, he was not bitten. Every time he emerged, he was certain that Phil and Mac would be dead. Impossibly, though there were bullet holes all around the men, even in the tiny spaces between them, not one bullet had hit either man.
The bomber crew made a last gesture of sadism. The plane circled back, and Louie ducked into the water again. The plane's bomb-bay doors rolled open, and a depth charge tumbled out. The men braced themselves for an explosion, but none came. Either the charge was a dud or the bombardier had forgotten to arm it. If the Japanese are this inept, Phil thought, America will win the war. The bomber flew west and disappeared over the horizon.
Phil's raft had been slashed in two. A bullet had struck the air pump and ricocheted across the base of the raft, slitting it from end to end. Everything stored in it had been lost in the water. Shrunken and formless, the ruined raft lapped about on the ocean surface.
The men were sardined together on what remained of Mac and Louie's raft. The canvas was speckled with tiny bullet holes, and both air chambers were punctured. Each time one of the men moved, air sighed out of the chambers and the canvas wrinkled a little more, leaving the raft sitting lower and lower in the water. The sharks whipped around it, surely excited by the bullets, the sight and smell of men in the water, and the sinking raft.
As the men sat together, exhausted and in shock, a shark lunged up over a wall of the raft, mouth open, trying to drag a man into the ocean. Someone grabbed an oar and hit the shark, and it slid off. Then another shark jumped on and, after it, another. The men gripped the oars and wheeled around, swinging at the sharks. As they turned and swung and the sharks flopped up, air hissed out of the bullet holes, and the raft sank deeper. Soon, part of the raft was submerged.
Frantic, Louie fumbled for the air pump, hooked it up to one of the two valves, and began pumping as hard as he could. Air flowed into the chamber and seeped out through the bullet holes, but Louie found that if he pumped very quickly just enough air passed through the raft to lift it up in the water and keep it mostly inflated. When Louie was too tired to go on, he passed the pump to one of the other two, and they took turns pumping. The sharks kept coming, and the men kept beating them away.
As Phil and Mac pumped and struck at the sharks, Louie groped for the provisions pocket. He grabbed the patch kit, and began repairing the bullet holes. As he worked, keeping his eyes on the patches, the sharks continued snapping at him. Growing wiser, they gave up flinging themselves haphazardly at the men and began stalking about, waiting for a moment when an oar was down or a back was turned before bulling their way aboard. Over and over again, they lunged at Louie from behind, where he couldn't see them. Mac and Phil smacked them away.
Hour after hour, the men worked, rotating the duties, clumsy with fatigue. All three were indispensable: had there been only two, they couldn't have pumped, patched, and repelled the sharks. For the first time on the raft, Mac was truly helpful. He had the strength to work the pump handle only a few times in a row, but with the oar he kept every shark away.
Night fell. In the darkness, patching was impossible, but the pumping couldn't be stopped. They pumped all night long, so exhausted that they lost the feeling in their arms.
In the morning the patching resumed. The rate of air loss gradually lessened, and they were able to rest for longer periods. Eventually, the air held enough for them to begin brief sleep rotations.
Finally, they could find no more holes to patch. With the raft now reasonably inflated, the sharks stopped attacking.
Losing Phil's raft was a heavy blow. Not only were all of the items stored on it gone, but now three men were wedged into a two-man raft, so close together that they had to take turns straightening their legs. At night, they slept in a bony pile, feet to head. Louie dragged the ruined raft aboard and pulled apart the layers of canvas, creating a large, light sheet. At last, they had a canopy to block the sun in daytime and the cold at night.
When they had a moment to collect themselves, Louie and Phil discussed the Japanese bomber. They thought that it must have come from the Marshall or Gilbert Islands. Estimating the bomber's cruising speed and range, they made rough calculations to arrive at how many hours it could remain airborne after it left them, and thus how far they were from its point of origin. They concluded that they were some 850 miles from the bomber's base. If their calculations were correct, then they had already drifted well over 1,000 miles.
Using their figures, Louie and Phil made educated guesses about when they'd reach the Marshalls or Gilberts. Phil guessed the 46th day; Louie guessed the 47th. This would mean that they would have to survive for three more weeks on a bullet-riddled raft. No castaways on an inflatable raft had ever survived for so long.
Louie sat awake, looking into the sea. Phil was asleep. Mac was virtually catatonic.
Two sharks, about eight feet long, were placidly circling the raft. Each time one slid past, Louie studied its skin. He had banged sharks on the nose many times, but had never really felt the hide. Curious, he dropped a hand into the water and laid it lightly on a passing shark, feeling its back and dorsal fin as it slid beneath him. It felt like sandpaper, just as everyone said. The shark swished on. The second shark passed, and Louie again let his hand follow its body. Beautiful, he thought.
Soon after, Louie noticed something odd. Both sharks were gone. Never in four weeks had the sharks left. Louie got up on his knees and leaned out over the water, looking as far down as he could, puzzled.
He was kneeling there, perched over the edge of the raft, when one of the sharks that he had touched leapt from the water at terrific speed, mouth wide open, lunging straight at his head. Louie threw both hands in front of his face. The shark collided with him head-on, trying to get its mouth around his upper body. Louie, his hands on the animal's snout, shoved as hard as he could, and the shark splashed back into the water. A moment later, the second shark jumped up. Louie grabbed an oar and struck the shark in the nose, and it jerked back and slid away. Then the first shark lunged for him again. Louie was recoiling when he saw an oar swing past, sending the animal into the ocean. To Louie's surprise, it wasn't Phil who had saved him. It was Mac.
Louie had no time to thank him. One of the sharks jumped up again, followed by the other. Louie and Mac crouched side by side, clubbing each shark as it lunged at them. Mac was a new man. A moment before, he had seemed almost comatose. Now he was infused with frenzied energy.
For several minutes, the sharks took turns bellying onto the raft with gaping mouths, always launching themselves from the same spot. Finally, they gave up. Louie and Mac collapsed. Phil, who had been startled awake but had been unable to help because there were only two oars, stared at them in groggy confusion.
"What happened?" he said.
Louie looked at Mac with happy amazement and told him how grateful and proud of him he was. Mac, crumpled on the bottom of the raft, smiled back. He had pushed himself beyond his body's capacities, but the frightened, child-like expression had left his face. Mac had reclaimed himself.
Saying Good-Bye
Around the 31st day, one last albatross landed. Louie caught it, wrenched its head off, and handed it to Phil, who turned it upside down over Mac's mouth, letting him drink the blood. As Louie and Phil ate the meat, dipping it into the ocean to give it flavor, they fed bits to Mac, but it didn't revive him. His eyes, sunken in their sockets, stared out lifelessly.
In subsequent days, he became a faint whisper of a man. His water tin ran dry. On the 33rd day, when Phil opened his tin and took a sip of the little he had left, Mac asked if he could drink from it. For Phil, thirst had been the cruelest trial, and he knew that the water left in his tin, essential to his own survival, couldn't save Mac. He told Mac that he didn't have enough left to share. Louie was sympathetic to Phil, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse Mac. He gave him a small sip of his own water.
That evening, Phil heard a small voice. It was Mac, asking Louie if he was going to die. Louie thought it would be disrespectful to lie to Mac, who might have something that he needed to say or do before life left him. Louie told him that he thought he'd die that night. Mac had no reaction. Phil and Louie lay down, put their arms around Mac, and went to sleep.
Sometime that night, Louie was lifted from sleep by a breathy sound, a deep outrushing of air, slow and final. He knew what it was.
Sergeant Francis McNamara had begun his last journey with a panicked act, consuming the rafts' precious food stores, and in doing so, he had placed himself and his raftmates in the deepest jeopardy. But in the last days of his life, in the struggles against the deflating raft and the jumping sharks, he had given all he had left. It wasn't enough to save him—it had probably hastened his death—but it may have made the difference between life and death for Phil and Louie. Had Mac not survived the crash, Louie and Phil might well have been dead by that 33rd day. In the last days of his brief life, Mac had redeemed himself.
In the morning, Phil wrapped Mac in something, probably part of the ruined raft. They knelt over the body and said aloud all of the good things they knew of him. Louie wanted to give him a religious eulogy but didn't know how, so he recited disjointed passages that he remembered from movies, ending with a few words about committing the body to the sea. And he prayed for himself and Phil, vowing that if God would save them, he would serve heaven forever.
When he was done, Louie lifted the shrouded body in his arms. It felt as if it weighed no more than 40 pounds. Louie bent over the side of the raft and gently slid Mac into the water. Mac sank away. The sharks let him be.
The next night, Louie and Phil completed their 34th day on the raft. Though they didn't know it, they had passed what was almost certainly the record for survival adrift on an inflated raft. If anyone had survived longer, they hadn't lived to tell about it.
The raft bobbed westward. Petulant storms came over now and then, raining enough to keep the water supply steady. Because the water ration was now divided by two instead of three, each man had more to drink. With no more small fishhooks left, Louie made a hook out of his lieutenant's pin and caught one fish before the pin broke.
Phil and Louie could see the bend of their thighbones under their skin, their knees bulging in the centers like birds' legs, their bellies hollow, their ribs stark. They had grown weedy beards, their skin glowed yellow from the leached raft dye, and their bodies were patterned with salt sores. They held their sun-scorched eyes to the horizon, searching for land, but there was none. Their hunger dimmed, an ominous sign. They had reached the last stage of starvation.
On the 40th day, Louie was lying beside Phil under the canopy when he abruptly sat up. He could hear singing. He nudged Phil and asked him if he heard anything. Phil said no. Louie slid the canopy off and squinted into the daylight. The ocean was a featureless flatness. He looked up.
Above him, floating in a bright cloud, he saw human figures silhouetted against the sky. He counted 21 of them. They were singing the sweetest song he had ever heard.
Louie stared up, astonished. What he was seeing and hearing was impossible, and yet he felt absolutely lucid. This was, he felt certain, no hallucination, no vision. He sat under the singers, listening to their voices, memorizing the melody, until they faded away.
Phil had heard and seen nothing. Whatever this had been, Louie concluded, it belonged to him alone.
On the men drifted. Several days passed with no food and no rain. The raft was a gelatinous mess, its patches barely holding on, some spots ballooning outward, on the verge of popping. It wouldn't bear the men's weight much longer.
In the sky, Phil noticed something different. There were more birds. Then the two men began to hear planes. Sometimes they'd see a tiny speck in the sky, sometimes two or more together, making a distant buzz. They were always much too far away to be signaled, and both men knew that, as far west as they had probably drifted, these planes were surely Japanese. As the days passed, more and more specks appeared, every day arriving earlier.
Louie had come to love sunrise and the warmth it brought, and each morning he'd lie with his eyes on the horizon, awaiting it. On the morning of July 13, the 46th full day, no sunrise came. There was only a gradual, gloomy illumination of a brooding sky. The wind caught them sharply, and Phil and Louie looked up apprehensively. A huge storm was coming. The sea began to arch its back under the raft, sending the men up to dizzying heights. Louie looked out over the churning water and thought how lovely it was.
To the west, something appeared, so far away that it could be glimpsed only from the tops of the swells. It was a low, gray-green wiggle on the horizon. Phil and Louie would later disagree on who saw it first, but the moment the sea tossed them up, the horizon rolled westward, and their eyes grasped it, they knew what it was.
It was an island. Louie and Phil's journey had only just begun.


text:
Update: Young boy allegedly locks self in car, dies
at scene
Tragedy struck a Bethel Acres family this week when a 3-year-old boy was found dead in a vehicle on the family's property.
by Carmen Bourlon
Updated Jun. 16, 2013 @ 12:15 pm
Tragedy struck a Bethel Acres family this week when a 3-year-old boy was found dead in a vehicle on the family's property.
Initial reports from authorities said the boy was with his father, however, updated reports confirmed the child was being watched by his mother's fiancé.
The Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office has not released the name of the boy. However, his name was confirmed as Kashen Michael Oaks through an obituary in Sunday's edition of The Shawnee News-Star.
When authorities arrived at the scene, the mother's fiancé said the child often climbed in and out of cars while playing. He reported he had been working in his shop while the child played and watched television. According to the mother's fiancé, Kashen apparently wandered and began climbing in and out of cars, but couldn't get back out of the car once he had closed the door.
The man found him and called 911. However, Kashen reportedly had already died before help could arrive.
Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Detective Mike Carnell said he measured the temperature inside the car, and it was at 125 degrees and climbing. Carnell said the mother's fiancé estimated Kashen had been in the car less than 15 minutes before he was found.
Carnell encouraged families to keep their cars locked, even at home, so that children cannot climb into them and become stuck.
Carnell added the investigation is ongoing, and the Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause of death. The investigation will continue and once a report is completed, it will be handed over to the Pottawatomie County District Attorney's Office, Carnell said.
From there, the D.A. will decide whether or not any charges are warranted.
Read more: http://www.news-star.com/article/20130616/NEWS/130619774/0/SEARCH#ixzz2WbZlK3qO

subset: commoncrawl


text:
This custom story came about while I was working on my other custom story (which is discontinued). This is the first chapter of hopefully many.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


text:
Helen A. Varno
MIDDLEBURY — Helen A. Varno, 79, died Friday evening Aug. 1, 2008, at Helen Porter Nursing Home in Middlebury. She was born June 23, 1929, in Middlebury, the daughter of Harry and Mabel (Tatro) Varno.
She attended local schools in Middlebury.
She worked many years as a cashier for Stan's IGA and Greg's Meat Market. According to family she was an avid bowler and loved to play bingo and was a very loving person who was always willing to help anyone in need; taking care of her son, Butch, was her life.
She is survived by her son, Butch Varno, of Middlebury; her granddaughters, Darcy Turner of Oakwood, Ga., and Marlie Fredette of East Middlebury; her grandson, Willis Varno of Salisbury; her three great-grandchildren; and by numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
She was predeceased by her son, Paul "Yogi" Varno, who died April 16, 2006; her sisters, Ruth and Betty Varno, and her brother, Richard Varno.
Funeral services were held on Monday, Aug. 4, at Sanderson-Ducharme Funeral in Middlebury. The Rev. William R. Beaudin officiated.
Burial followed in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven.
Memorial contributions may be made to the activities fund at Helen Porter Health and Rehab, 30 Porter Drive, Middlebury VT 05753.
Gary Scott Taylor
CLAREMONT, N.H. — Gary Scott Taylor, 41, of Charlestown, N.H., died Sunday evening, Aug. 3, 2008, in North Walpole as a result of a motor vehicle accident. He was born in Middlebury on Sept. 14, 1966, the son of Edgar Scott and Arlene (Dumas) Taylor.
He owned and operated the business Mylos, specializing in carpentry and painting.
He is survived by his wife, Patricia Taylor of Charlestown, N.H.; his mother, Arlene Dumas Denis, and step-father, Anthony Denis, both of Bristol; his three children, Gary Briggs and Sarah Briggs, both of Bristol, and Amanda Smith and her boyfriend, Curtis Corse, of Burlington; a stepdaughter, Leslie LeClair and her husband, Joseph Scardina; one grandson; one granddaughter; and several aunts, uncles, and cousins.
He was pre-deceased by his father, Edgar Scott.
Funeral services will be held at the Charlestown Memorial Chapel at 34 Main St. in Charlestown, N.H., on Friday, Aug. 8, at 2 p.m. with Rev. Dr. Winn Alley officiating. Friends may call at the chapel on Friday from 1 to 2 p.m. prior to the services.
Anyone who wishes too view an online memorial, send a message of condolence or obtain more information may visit www.stringerfh.com.
Fonda Lee Salls
RUTLAND — Fonda Lee Salls, 40, died Thursday, July 31, 2008, following a long battle with cancer, at the home of her brother in Rutland. She was born in Rutland on March 13, 1968, the daughter of Albert D. and Beatrice (Burke) Prescott Sr.
She grew up in East Clarendon where she received her early education. She graduated from Mill River High School in 1987. She graduated from Stafford Technical College as a licensed nurses aide in 1999. She did private duty nursing for several years. She later worked at the Red Roof Inn in the housekeeping department.
She was a member of Brandon American Legion Unit 55 Ladies Auxiliary. According to family, she enjoyed bingo, fishing and working in her flower garden, and she loved county music.
She is survived by two sons, Jesse Hale and Christopher Hale, both of Rutland; two brothers, Albert D. Prescott Jr. of Rutland and Eric J. Prescott of Wallingford; her mother, Beatrice Shaw of North Clarendon; and several nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins.
She was predeceased by her father.
The funeral service was held on Monday, Aug. 4, at the Miller and Ketcham Funeral Home in Brandon. The Rev. Richard White, pastor of the Brandon Congregational Church, officiated. The graveside committal service and burial followed in the family lot at Pine Hill Cemetery in Brandon.
Memorial gifts may be made to The Community Cancer Center, 160 Allen Street, Rutland, VT 05701.
Whorley John Neff Jr.
EAST MIDDLEBURY — Mr. Whorley John Neff Jr., 91, died early Saturday morning, Aug. 2, 2008, at Porter Medical Center. He was born March 25, 1917, in Red Lion, Pa., the son of Whorley John Sr. and Agnes Kaultreider.
He married Barbara Benton Edwards May 11, 1945, in St. Bartholomew's Church in New York, N.Y.
John attended Cornell and Cornell Law School for seven years. He graduated in 1938 and enlisted in the United States Army to serve his country. Upon returning from the army as a captain, John was employed as a corporate lawyer/engineer at MacDonald Aircraft Corp., RCA, Singer Corp. and finally at Grumman Aerospace before retiring in 1978.
John lived at various times in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, and Long Island, N.Y., before moving to Vermont with his wife Barbara, of 46 years, in 1980.
After becoming a widower John lived in Orwell and most recently in East Middlebury with his son Peter and daughter-in-law Naomi.
He is survived by his son, Peter Neff and his wife, Naomi, of East Middlebury; his grandchildren, Sarah Neff and Nickolas Neff of Orwell; his step-grandchildren, Stephanie Clavelle, Elizabeth Clavelle, Benjamin Ferris and Zachary Ferris, all of East Middlebury; by his sister-in-law, Marguerite Foley of Virginia; and numerous nieces and nephews.
John was predeceased by his wife Barbara, who died June 12, 1991, also by four sisters and one brother.
Funeral services were held on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008, at Sanderson-Ducharme Funeral Home at 117 South Main St. in Middlebury. Private burial followed at Lake View cemetery in Shoreham.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Project Independence, P.O. Box 581, Middlebury, VT 05753.
Online condolences may be made at www.sandersonfuneral
Arrangements are under the direction of Sanderson-Ducharme Funeral Home.
Hattie Cram
LINCOLN — Hattie Cram, 94, died on Monday, Aug. 4, 2008, at her home in Lincoln. She was born on Feb. 18, 1914, the daughter of Arthur and Edith (Brooks) Varney.
She attended school in Lincoln, and graduated from Bristol High School. She worked for 25 years as a seamer for the Van Raalte Company in Bristol and Middlebury. She was married on April 25, 1935, to Herman Cram, son of Warren and Cornelia (Pushta) Cram.
She is survived by two sons, Roderick N. Cram and his wife, Judy, of Medina, Ohio, and Rudolph H. Cram and his wife, Rosemary, of Lincoln; six grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and four nieces.
She was predeceased by her husband Herman in 1966; her brother, Robert; her sister, Mildred; and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were held on Wednesday, Aug. 6, at Lincoln United Church. Interment was in Maple Cemetery in Lincoln.
Memorial contributions may be made to Addison County Home Health and Hospice, P.O. Box 754, Middlebury, VT 05753.


text:
Toggle navigation
Remember me
Law School Discussion
Specific Groups
Minority and Non-Traditional Law Students
US Law entry with UK LLB degree
Pages: [
US Law entry with UK LLB degree
2 Replies
4805 Views
US Law entry with UK LLB degree
January 23, 2011, 05:10:56 AM »
I am new here and hoping perhaps some of you may be able to share some knowledge, and suggestions for my situation!
Currently I am halfway through my first year of an LLB degree at a UK University. It is not a particularly fancy University, but it does the job. I am originally from the US, and came to the UK when I was 16 and finished the last two years of high school level education here. I completed AS levels in Law, Business, and History. My results were very satisfactory, consisting of ABB. I completed the A2 levels, but did very poorly due to some personal problems in my life at that time. Following that, I took one year to complete a Foundation in Law course, I did very well and that allowed me to gain entry to my current University.
Basically, I am wondering what the best path to take to a career in the US would be. I plan on becoming a qualified solicitor in the UK before I return, and then becoming qualified in the US to have dual qualifications. I have been doing some research, and realise that perhaps employers would prefer to employ someone with a JD. I considered taking a JD after I am qualified in the UK, but it would be quite redundant and I would be over 30 by the time I completed it! My other idea would be to take an LLM, perhaps in general law, and then take the Bar exam in the desired state.
However, I realise I may not be able to take the Bar in some states without a JD? I do not really desire to live or work in NY or CA.
What would be the advantages/disadvantages of my situation? Are these routes I proposed viable? Thanks in advance!
Re: US Law entry with UK LLB degree
Reply #1 on:
January 23, 2011, 02:44:22 PM »
Hi, and thank you for the reply.
Ultimately, I am really trying to get a feel for what is the optimal path to take. Yes, my ultimate plan is to practice more in the US than in the UK. I definitely do not want to spend all of my career in the UK. I realise that might not be feasible straight away. My reason for wanting to be dual qualified, is to be enabled to work internationally. I enjoy travelling - and I thought a dual qualification would give me a good chance of being able to do that.
As for the field of law, I am not really entirely sure what interests me most yet - probably along the lines of anything international, intellectual property, real estate, litigation, and family law (although I would think that would be more country specific).
In regard to the markets, I know that there are actually a large amount of US firms in London, which are popping up frequently. I am hoping I will be attractive to those type of firms when it comes time for me to secure a training contract.
I am also interested in what entry process into US law would give me the most benefit, or edge. There is actually a UK program which leads into and awards a JD, and I am looking into more information about that. I do believe some sort of further study would give me more of a benefit in the US than simply getting an admission, or taking the NY or CA bar exam. I am more inclined to consider an LLM in the US, simply because once I gain qualification in the UK I will be about 26, and I estimate I would be about 30 by the time I would complete a JD. Although, I would be mostly inclined to do whatever was necessary in order to be able to go for the best employment opportunity of my ability. Maybe that means getting more experience while I am able, eg. before I am 30, or maybe it means continuing my study. Cost is not so much an issue to me, it is more a case of time. However, I am still quite unsure about these areas and I need to do a lot more research.
I was also considering that perhaps by the time I have completed my LLB, if I feel so inclined it may be a better idea for myself personally to go back to the States and take a JD. I would then be on the same time schedule as the others on the JD, and would be around 24-25 by the time I finished. I could always go back to the UK to do an LPC/TC if I felt I wanted to go in that direction.
- I do like your suggestion of starting with the CA or NY bar, and gaining admission to other states that way. Perhaps that would be a good area to look into as well, it would certainly be more time efficient than the other routes.
Do you think there are significant benefits to having an LLB+JD+UK qualification, over an LLB+LLM+UK qualification in terms of employability attractiveness?
Apologies if my entire question is quite vague - its a bit difficult to get much solid advice on this sort of situation, so I appreciate anything you can throw out there! Thanks!
Re: US Law entry with UK LLB degree
Reply #2 on:
January 23, 2011, 04:14:29 PM »
I haven't looked into the details, but all of the foreign laws I know who practice in the states did LLM's here then took whatever bar they needed (nearly all are NY). My guess, and this would be best confirmed by more serious research, is that your best bet is to finish your LLB as planned, practice for a bit in the UK, then come to the US and get an LLM at the best US law school you can find (HLS has an awesome LLM community
fyi... ).
Pages: [
Law School Discussion
Specific Groups
Minority and Non-Traditional Law Students
US Law entry with UK LLB degree


text:
Book your theory test
Book your driving theory test for:
- cars
- motorcycles
- lorries, buses and coaches, including the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) part 1 (theory) and part 2 (case studies) tests
This page is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).
Start now on the theory test booking service
Before you start
You need your:
- UK driving licence number
- email address - you have to book by phone if you don't have one
- credit or debit card
When you don't need a theory test
You don't need to take a theory test before you book a driving test to upgrade a:
- car licence, eg from automatic to manual, or to tow a trailer
- motorcycle licence, eg from category A1 (small motorcycle) to category A2 (medium motorcycle)
- lorry or bus licence licence, eg from category C1 (medium) to category C (large), or to tow a trailer
You don't need to take a theory test before you book a:
Help with your booking
Contact the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to get help booking your theory test, or book if you don't have an email address.
DVSA theory test booking support
Telephone: 0300 200 1122
Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm
Find out about call charges
There's a different service to book your theory test in Northern Ireland.


text:
Stars are just like us — in that they're always getting caught with a suitcases full of butt plugs.
Take Jennifer Lawrence, for example. A friend once gave her a collection (a murder? a heard?) of butt plugs as "a joke" and Lawrence, worried that the cleaner might find them, hastily stuffed them under her hotel bed before leaving for the day. What she didn't consider is that cleaners generally do clean under the bed, so the maid found her stash right away.
So what did the maid do? Shame her? Call TMZ? No! She arranged them in a nice little display on the night stand, just like they do with those swans made of bath towels and flower petals. How quaint!
And here's another cute story from her interview on Conan about her unstoppable hyper activity and the time she wet the bed as a teenager.


text:
Search results for: Nokia 6233 Price List
Nokia 6233 Price List
Mailing List Company (Rating: 14) , Votes:Marketing Lists Direct is a full-service direct marketing mailing list broker provider that supersedes the industry in turnaround time, quality, and experience.http://www.marketing-lists-direct.com
MobileExpress: Cheap Mobile Phones (Rating: 142) , Votes:UK based phone company sells mobile phones, contracts and accessories. Includes information and news regarding cell phones including, Nokia, Samsung, and Motorola.http://www.mobileexpress.co.uk/
Silver Price India - Daily Updated Silver Prices (Rating: 105) , Votes:The latest updates of silver price using through this web portal. You can get the silver price of India through your email, RSS and sms. You can also check the variations in silver prices through silver charts.http://www.silverpriceindia.comCategory: Directory/Asia/India
Haggle Point - Price Comparison Shopping (Rating: 15) , Votes:Price comparison shopping providing shoppers with customer reviews and product ratings.http://www.hagglepoint.comCategory: Directory/Shopping/General Merchandise
KCovers: Tonneau Covers (Rating: 2) , Votes:Specializes in offering Advance Cover folding and hard tonneau covers for truck beds. Includes product features, price list by model, and installation information.http://www.kcovers.com/
1000+ SE Friendly Directories (Rating: 64) , Votes:Directory Critic is a free SEO friendly directory list, directory rating, directory submission tracking and info site. Directory Critic gives webmasters a chance to rate web directories based on their experiences. Offers details like backlinks, PR and indexed pages.http://www.directorycritic.com
MMOBUX - Price Comparison for MMORPG Currencies (Rating: 8) , Votes:MMOBUX is a price comparison site for MMORPG currencies. It spiders and displays prices for EVE Online ISK, LotRO Gold and other MMOs. Sorted by price, buyers can access a list of sellers and also see the ratings that other buyers gave them.http://www.mmobux.com/
Tesco mobiles (Rating: 86) , Votes:Pay as you go deals on Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and Sony Ericcson mobiles from Tesco Mobile.http://www.tescomobile.com
Gagets & Electronics Reviews (Rating: 4) , Votes:Zwee offers deals & consumer reviews of gadgets and electronics. Zwee offers all the latest consumer electronics from unlocked cellphones to game consoles and PCs to laptops.http://www.zwee.com
Mobile Phone Reviews UK (Rating: 63) , Votes:Read mobile phone reviews for the latest Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, LG and Samsung handsets. Search and compare mobile phone deals and best buys.http://mobilefonereviews.co.uk
The Car Buying Service (Rating: 1) , Votes:Sell your car with confidence at The Car Buying Service & get the price quoted. Try our online car valuation tool for an instant, honest & fair price.http://www.thecarbuyingservice.co.uk
Home Remedy (Rating: 0) , Votes:Looking to sell your house fast in Kansas City? We buy houses in any condition or price range and offer a very fair price.https://www.homeremedykc.com/
Best Price Supplements (Rating: 9) , Votes:Choose from the top brands of bodybuilding supplements, nutritional vitamins, herbs and health products.http://www.bestpricenutrition.comCategory: Directory/Shopping/Health & Fitness
Online Shopping Price Engine (Rating: 5) , Votes:Extremely fast web crawler and search engine helping users to find and compare products and prices worldwide: computers, server equipment, consumer electronics and more.http://www.tokenizer.org
Textbooks (Rating: 2) , Votes:Compare prices of textbooks online. Textbook price comparison site that find the best price online for textbooks. Find new textbooks, used textbooks, rental textbooks & international textbooks.http://textbooks.fmCategory: Directory/Shopping/Books
Delivery in Toronto and Quebec - 4tires.ca (Rating: 1) , Votes:Tire website dedicate in offering top brands of tires at the lowest price. All winter and summer tire size are available. Top brands tire manufacturer like: Toyo tires, Yokohama Tires and Michelin tire at discount price.http://www.4tires.caCategory: Directory/North America/Canada
Villeroy and Boch (Rating: 14) , Votes:Iittala, Villeroy and Boch, Dartington Crystal and Arthur Price specialists. China Chaps offer huge stocks at the good prices.http://www.chinachaps.co.ukCategory: Directory/Europe/United Kingdom
Judges & Commissioners in WA state (Rating: 1) , Votes:Provides a list of judges, commissioners in Washington State family and custody law, difference between commissioners and judges.http://www.starklawoffices.com/washington-judge-commissioner-king-county-and-family-law.aspxCategory: Directory/Business/Law
Dial A Phone (Rating: 68) , Votes:UK based supplier of mobile phones for a range of major carriers. Includes contract information, pay as you go options, and mobile phone accessories.http://www.dialaphone.co.uk
Telefoane Mobile (Rating: 139) , Votes:Provides a mobile telephony portal with free classifieds, a mobile phones top, news and a complete PDA evaluation guide.http://www.mobilissimo.ro
Milesgallon.com - Gas Milage Calculator (Rating: 118) , Votes:Find out the real gas mileage of you car, van or suv with this gas mileage calculator. Then easily improve your gas mileage by using our top ten fuel economy improvment list. The calculator supports both miles, gallons, kilometers and liters and there is also a total cost per mile calculator mode including things like insurance, repairs and vehicle cost.http://www.milesgallon.com
Arizona Zip Code Map (Rating: 12) , Votes:List of all zip codes in each state of the United States.http://www.zipcodesexplorer.com/Arizona/Category: Directory/North America/Arizona
Mobile Phone Deal UK (Rating: 360) , Votes:Mobile Phone Store, the ultimate website for all things Three Mobile. Includes latest mobile phone news, detailed mobile phone reviews, comprehensive phone feature listings, user discussion and best deal recommendationhttp://www.mobilephonestore.net/
Blackberry Videotones App (Rating: 85) , Votes:Offers the latest Sports video ringtones on your Android, Blackberry or Nokia. Download our app and receive free videotones. There is only one app like ours.http://www.sporton.com/
Accredited Online College Degrees (Rating: 4) , Votes:Features a list of courses available through the University of Phoenix online including business, technology, and health care degrees. Includes accreditation information, admission requirements, and list of offered courses.http://www.accredited-online-college-degrees.com/Category: Directory/Education/Distance Learning
Compare 3G Broadband and 3G Internet (Rating: 49) , Votes:Nucleus Networks compare 3G broadband tariffs & prices for deals from Vodafone, 3 Mobile, T-Mobile and O2 3G Broadband Providers in the UK. Also provides list PC and Mac compatibility and compare features such as 3G broadband speed & Skype support. More over, the company list Pay as You Go (PAYG) 3G mobile internet prices, so you can connect to the internet without a contract.http://www.nucleusnetworks.co.uk
San Diego Real Estate (Rating: 2) , Votes:San Diego Real Estate Group is an experienced, knowledgeable team of San Diego Realtors who list and negotiate short sales, locate properties for home buyers, locate REO and trustee sale properties for investors, list and market homes for our clients.http://www.sandiegorealestategroup.com/
Web Directories (Rating: 51) , Votes:This site was created as a list of the most quality and popular free, paid and article directories. The site offer submission services into web directories with high PR.http://www.greatdirectories.org
Go Hotels (Rating: 7) , Votes:Global hotel reservation service with price comparison system and hotel reviews for 100,000 hotels around the world.http://www.gohotels.com
Technology News Weblog (Rating: 2) , Votes:Providing the latest technology news and updates. Also featuring reviews of gadgets like mobile phones, plasma tvs, laptops and more.http://technews.in/
Norman Freeman: Internet Marketing Blog (Rating: 5) , Votes:Search Engine Optimization Company providing information on list building optimization as well as viral and affiliate marketing to increase Website traffic. Contains articles on keyword research, Internet marketing strategies and Adsense.http://www.normanfreeman.com/
Japanese Used Car Exporter & Auto Auction Agent (Rating: 7) , Votes:KarsJapan Co., Ltd. is an exporter of japanese used car based in Kanagawa-prefecture, Japan. We are member and authorized agents of major used car auction house in Japan. Our auction system enables you access to over 150, 000 vehicles every week from 85 major auction houses. You can search and bid your favorite cars from enormous variety of cars available. Also we take care of all the paperwork for export including de-registration, custom clearance and shipping arrangement.http://www.karsjapan.com
Your Mobile Phone Reviews & Best Buys (Rating: 60) , Votes:Read independent mobile phone reviews, consumer product reviews, features, specifications and find the best buys for mobile phones, camera phones, 3G phones and SmartPhones.http://www.yourmobilephonereviews.co.uk
Wooden Toys | Baby Toys | Kids Toys | Educational Toys | Toys Online (Rating: 3) , Votes:Greenie Toys has a wide range of natural wooden toys for babies , toddlers and preschoolers at market leading price. All of toys we have are beautifully crafted and made of non-toxic materials.http://www.greenietoys.com.au/Category: Directory/Shopping/Babies and Children
Stock Prices (Rating: 0) , Votes:Stock Prices Today - Live quotes, stock charts, market news and prices for Dow Jones and NYSE listed companies.http://www.stockpricetoday.com/Category: Directory/Business/Resources
Web Directory List - Directory of Directories (Rating: 6) , Votes:Highly promoted, organized, and useful resource that lists high quality web directories and directory-related sites, sorted by bid amount. The top 10 directories are shown on the homepage, and the top 20 on the top links page for greater exposure.http://www.webdirectorylist.com
Home shopping and price comparison for Christmas gifts (Rating: 3) , Votes:Allows you to compare prices on popular products. We also have product reviews by consumers. Shop smarter with Exspecto.http://exspecto.comCategory: Directory/Shopping/General Merchandise
Virtual Currency Price Comparison - WoW Gold, Eq2 plat, FFXI Gil (Rating: 11) , Votes:Compare prices of wow gold, eq2 plat, ffxi gil and other virtual currencies among the top suppliers in the industry at BuyGameCurrency.com! We offer price comparison charts so you can monitor the changing of virtual currency prices among the most popular MMORPG's.http://www.buygamecurrency.com
PosterGroup: Vintage Poster Online Store (Rating: 15) , Votes:Connecticut company offering a selection of original vintage posters available for online purchase. Browse gallery by poster size, artist or price.http://www.postergroup.com/Category: Directory/Arts & Humanities/Visual Arts
UK Biz Listings - UK Business Directory (Rating: 0) , Votes:UK Biz Listings for a SEO Friendly Web Directory and business listings for the whole of the United Kingdom. A range of categories are available, providing search engine friendly links and listings for a very competitive price.http://www.ukbizlistings.co.uk
List Building Academy (Rating: 2) , Votes:Discover tools you can use to grow and manage your email lists!http://www.advertisesments.com/
Cell Phones, Consumer Electronics, Computers Components (Rating: 35) , Votes:Established in 2002, the consumer electronics company has been providing stellar service to customers throughout the United States and the rest of the world by marketing cell phones, computer components and other consumer electronics.http://www.netfreez.com
Simple Search Apartments (Rating: 8) , Votes:Search for apartments in Austin or Houston, Texas using our database. Search Texas apartments by price, area, zip code, school district, pet policy, and amenities.http://www.simplesearchapartments.com
DirectoryofSchools: Online Degrees (Rating: 0) , Votes:Provides list of government accredited online High Schools, Colleges, and Trade and Technical Schools in United States. Offers educational articles, homework helps, and an education related blog.http://www.directoryofschools.com/Category: Directory/Education/Resources
Florida Area Codes Lookup (Rating: 20) , Votes:Offers a full list of area codes in the United States by state and city.http://www.areacodesexplorer.com/Florida/Category: Directory/North America/Florida
Back Link Development (Rating: 3) , Votes:Gain relevant inbound links for SEO/rank purposes, increase targetted traffic, site relevancy and pagerank.http://www.interester.com
Billiga Flygresor (Rating: 1) , Votes:Live scanning of airline ticket offers across a large selection full-frill airlines ,no-frills carriers and online ticket booking providers. Web interface available in English and in addition Swedish.http://www.billigaflygbiljetter.se
Ultimate Top 200 Game Sites (Rating: 0) , Votes:A top list of mmorpg websites with over 40 categories including Lineage 2, Ragnarok Online, World of Warcraft, and more.http://www.ultimatetop200.com
Perimenopause List of Symptoms (Rating: 12) , Votes:Learn the 34 symptoms and signs of menopause, and read reviews on products that help treat hormonal imbalance and minimize the most common symptoms.http://www.perimenopause.wsCategory: Directory/Health & Fitness/Women
Buy DVD Movies (Rating: 215) , Votes:Shopping for the latest Blu-ray and DVD movies and tv shows? Read reviews and compare pricing online.http://www.buymovies.ccCategory: Directory/Entertainment/Movies
Related searches:
Webotopia provides a business directory designed to promote Nokia 6233 Price List companies, products and services whilst helping it's users find the Nokia 6233 Price List information they need. Webotopia business directory, with the help of it's dedicated support specialists and reviewers, enables delivery of Nokia 6233 Price List quality content, excellent customer support as well as value added services such as content publishing and press releases for it's users.


text:
11 Gluten-Free Grains
More and more people are realizing that they either have celiac disease, or gluten sensitivity, or just don't do well on wheat.
This at first seems overwhelming since wheat is everywhere in our culture, but a little research will show there are many great alternatives.
1. Millet:
Gluten free millet provides a host of nutrients, has a sweet nutty flavour, and is considered to be one of the most digestible and non-allergenic grains available. It is one of the few grains that is alkalizing to the body. Millet has always been a favorite grain of mine since I discovered it in my hippy days in the 70s!
Read about millet's 12 health benefits, some interesting trivia and history, 10 tips how to use it, and 3 delicious millet recipes.
We use millet in our Healthy BootCamps. Besides all the health benefits, it is tasty and economical.
2. Quinoa:
Quinoa is a Powerfood Vegetable Seed! Although referred to as a grain, it is actually a seed from a vegetable related to Swiss chard, spinach and beets. Quinoa is pronounced keen-wa not kwin-o-a. Learn its benefits, history, tips and cautions. Read all here: 8 Health Benefits of Quinoa – the Mother Food
3. Brown Rice:
Rice feeds the world! Three billion people worldwide depend on rice for over half of their daily calorie intake. Most of them eat white rice. Find out all the benefits of rice and which is better, white or brown at Brown Rice vs White Rice: Benefits and Cautions
4. Cornmeal whole grain (not corn starch):
Cornmeal is an excellent source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and vitamin B-6. And cornmeal is good for: weak digestion, heart disease, high blood pressure, edema and gallstones.
Because corn is often genetically modified, one should only purchase organic corn or corn products. However, even organic-labeled corn does not guarantee it is GMO free. Most individuals get exposed to corn in so many products, often as a sweetener. If you are not eating it in packaged or junk food-form, corn can be a healthy addition.
5. Buckwheat:
Buckwheat is rich in flavonoids like rutin and a good source of magnesium. Buckwheat is good for your cardiovascular system. It's a valuable food for those with diabetes, as it can be helpful for regulating blood sugar.
Note: These grains are the most common grains that a person tries when they start going gluten free. Read more less-known grains on the next page.
6. Oats (make sure they are pure and uncontaminated):
Your grandma and the Scots ate oats because its inexpensive and grows anywhere. I eat oatmeal for its taste and nutrition and its many other benefits. Read all the benefits here: 10 Smart Reasons to Enjoy Oatmeal
There is some controversy about whether oats is really gluten free. Read here: Is Oats Gluten Free?
7. Sorghum (whole grain):
Sorghum contains large amounts of fiber, protein and nutrients. In studies it has been shown to possibly inhibit cancer growth, protect against diabetes and help manage cholesterol. Sorghum is significantly more nutritionally dense than ordinary white flour. It is often eaten as a porridge but can also be ground into flour.
8. Teff:
Teff leads all the grains in its calcium content, with a cup of cooked teff offering 123 mg, about the same amount of calcium as in a half-cup of cooked spinach. It's also an excellent source of vitamin C, a nutrient not commonly found in grains. It can be grown in areas that won't support other crops. The seed is so small it cannot be refined so is always a whole grain.
9. Amaranth:
Amaranth contains significant amounts of B vitamins, calcium, iron and Vitamin C. Amaranth may help lower cholesterol. At about 13-14 percent, it easily trumps the protein content of most other grains. Amaranth was a major food crop of the Aztecs, domesticated between 6,000 and 8,000 years ago. The Aztecs didn't just grow and eat amaranth, they also used the grains as part of their religious practices.
10. Popcorn:
Movie lovers will be happy about this one! Popcorn has an abundant source of fiber and it has B vitamins and minerals such as manganese, magnesium, iron, zinc and phosphorous. Popcorn's crunchy hull is rich in polyphenols—antioxidants that provide several important health benefits such as protection from coronary artery disease, protection from cancers, healthy blood sugar levels and prevention from premature aging.
10. Montina (Indian Rice Grass):
Indian rice grass was a staple of Native American diets. Pure Indian rice grass flour is super high in protein and fiber with 17 grams of protein, 24 grams of dietary fiber, and 24 grams of insoluble fiber in just 2/3 of a cup. It has a strong wheat-like taste.
All the above grains are recommended by the Canadian Celiac Association.
Note:If you are considering going gluten free or wondering if you should:
- Read Diana's article on the Dangers of Common Gluten Free Products .
- Read the article: Do You Need to Eat a Gluten Free Diet with Dr. Oz's self test.
- Consider doing a Healthy BootCamp. All of the recipes your receive for the BootCamp will be gluten free and particularly the upcoming Healthy Baking BootCamp which focuses on gluten free healthy baking.


text:
Check out this incredible video of Swordplay & Pierre the motionless performing Saul Williams' track "Twice the first time"!!
If you haven't already, I highly recommend checking out their 2013 album "Tap Water"… This was also one of our Choices of 2013. Get your copy here:
For more information and to stay in touch with Swordplay & Pierre the motionless this is where to look:
Peace! ~dhh


text: British actor Robert Pattinson starred as Hogwarts heartthrob Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter films before achieving worldwide fame as vampire Edward Cullen in "Twilight." Fans of Stephenie Meyer's books first balked at the choice of Pattinson for the role, but they were soon swayed, and he became 2008's biggest teen sensation. Pattinson and co-star Kristen Stewart have signed on for "New Moon," the sequel to "Twilight."


text:
The Hotel Broughty Ferry4
Price FromView Rooms
- Excellent
- 64 guest reviews
"Stayed for one night on business. Room was fine with an excellent shower. Iron and board in the room is always a good thing. A small but use..."
"I can certainly recommend this hotel. The Service was first class. The staff can't do enough to help with anything from assisting with lugga..."
"Exceptional hotel in lovely town and handy for Dundee and surrounding area..."
"The hotel is a few minutes walk from the esplanade and the centre of the village. Car parking is a bit tight, especially if there is a funct..."
"Very homely hotel, staff friendly and helpful, meals superb especially evening Indian Cuisine,portions enormous. We shall return. Thank you..."
About the hotel
The Hotel Broughty Ferry is a family run hotel and is the ideal place to stay for Short Breaks, Business Travel, Golfing Tours, Weekend Breaks or a relaxing holiday.
The Hotels 16 luxury bedrooms are individually designed with full en-suite facilities. The bedrooms have been designed to meet the highest standard of excellence to satisfy our most discerning guests.
The award winning restaurant in the hotel boasts a reputation which is the envy of many a restaurateur in this part of the country. Not only are we renowned for our majestic Asian cuisine, but we also offer an equally impressive European flavour, all adding to the eating experience. We offer lunches and suppers which are served in the bar or conservatory and our full a la carte dinner menu is served in our dining room.
The hotel boasts an impressive leisure complex which residents have full access to. If relaxation is what you need then why not also try out our Swedish style sauna or if you need somewhere to keep up your fitness routine whilst away, our gymnasium can offer you the facility to do so! Please note that children under 16 are not permitted to use the complex unless supervised by an adult.
The hotel is ideally suited for business stop overs, holiday makers, weekend breaks and of course golf lovers. St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Rosemount (we could go on forever) are all within 30 minutes travel distance by car. The nearby city of Dundee and it's surrounding countryside offer guests a wealth of attractions and things to do.
Read MoreLess
Facilities Show/hide
- Main
- Hotel Non-Smoking Throughout, Disabled Facilities, 24 Hour Reception, Cots available, Wedding Licence, Tea/Coffee making facilities in each room, Hairdryer in each room, Iron And Board In Each Room, Telephone In Each Room, Limited Hours Room Service, Limited room service for hot food, Concierge, Laundry/Valet Service, Wake Up Call Available, Currency Exchange, Interconnecting rooms available, Doctor on call, Porter, Ground floor bedrooms, Public Air Conditioning
- Parking
- Car parking available onsite, Airport Shuttle, Car Parking Available Offsite
- Business
- Wi-Fi Available, Meeting Facilities, In-room Broadband, Wi-Fi Available In Public Areas, Wi-Fi Available In Rooms, Translation Service, Private dining services
- Dining
- Restaurant, Lounge Menu, Bar, Breakfast to go
- Leisure
- Gymnasium, Indoor Pool, Fitness Centre, Sauna, Bowls, Snooker/Billiards, Fishing, Quad Biking, Horse Riding, Clay Pigeon Shooting, Sailing, [Channels] News
- In Room Entertainment
- TV, Radio
- Accessibility
- Disabled Access Public Areas, Disabled Access Bedrooms, Disabled toilets on ground floor, Wheelchair Access, Wheelchair Access To Restaurant, Wheelchair Access To Bar, Wheelchair Access To Conference Rooms, Wheelchair Access To Disabled Car Parking Spaces
Useful Info Show/hide
- 14:00 23:00
- 11:00
- Up to 16 years old
- The price shown is based on the occupancy and dates you have searched for. Prices and availability are subject to change based on the arrival date, number of nights and occupancy searched for. All prices are inclusive of all local taxes.
- Pets are not allowed
Customer Reviews
Our reviews are from genuine LateRooms.com customers. We verify that the customer has stayed before leaving a review.
95% would recommend it to a friend
Customer service
Food quality
Room quality
Enjoyable Stay
Stayed for one night on business.
Room was fine with an excellent shower. Iron and board in the room is always a good thing. A small but use...
Read More Less
Weekend in Broughty Ferry
I can certainly recommend this hotel.
The Service was first class. The staff can't do enough to help with anything from assisting with lugga...
Read More Less


text:
Don't see your question? Visit our help section.
Get access to great in-store deals and local pick-up
Sign up for our email deals newsletter!
EXPERIENCE THE TRUE THRILL OF SKATEBOARDING Tony Hawk: RIDE's revolutionary motion sensing skateboard controller (not included) allows players to physically control the action by performing movements and gestures that directly translate into amazing tricks in the game. The game's intuitive controls and multiple difficulty levels make it easy to pick up and play, making this an exciting party game for people of various ages and skill levels.


text:
Business is so good for Legacy Paddlesports, the kayak manufacturer is hiring twice as many workers as originally anticipated for its new plant in Fletcher.
FLETCHER — Business is so good for Legacy Paddlesports, the kayak manufacturer is hiring twice as many workers as originally anticipated for its new plant in Fletcher.
In January, CEO Bill Medlin said the $4.5 million facility would initially employ about 50 workers, but now he's looking to hire as many as 100 employees to start. The manufacturing plant is expected to be in full operation by September.
"We've seen a dramatic uptick in our business, and we are currently growing at three times the industry growth," Medlin said last week.
Legacy Paddlesports plans to hire an additional 18 to 26 employees for 2013 and 2014, respectively, and will continue to bring in qualified people for years to come, Medlin said.
He attributes much of this year's explosive growth to the mild winter, which allowed people to participate in more outdoor activities.
Legacy Paddlesports has ramped up new employment in a shorter period of time than any company that Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development has worked with in the past five-plus years, said Andrew Tate, president and CEO of HCPED.
"That immediate impact to persons seeking employment is of considerable value," Tate said. "Their decision to relocate here adds new dollars to the local economy and encourages a sense of optimistic momentum that is exciting and contagious."
He said the company's move to Henderson County has caught the attention of like-minded companies, and HCPED is working to continue to grow the outdoor industry sector.
"Beyond the positive benefits of traditional economic-development measures, Legacy and their management team are friends to Henderson County," Tate said. "Their impact to the community and economy will be considerable; they are a natural and welcome fit."
The workforce will encompass employees in manufacturing, administration, mold maintenance, facility maintenance, kayak molding and assembly, as well as shipping and warehousing.
Legacy Paddlesports is working with Blue Ridge Community College at the Henderson County JobLink Career Center to recruit team members. Joblink Director Jason Chappell is encouraging interested individuals to come into the center.
"We are excited to be partnering with Legacy Paddlesports and assisting them with their needs regarding pre-screening, work keys testing and setting up the actual interviews," Chappell said.
The company is moving from Greensboro to the 130,000-square-foot Fletcher location at 210 Old Airport Road, and Medlin said he is looking forward to making the company home in Western North Carolina.
Legacy currently owns an outpost for paddlers in Flat Rock, liquidlogic, which will also be housed in the new building. Medlin has wanted to have a stronger presence in the area that is home to several kayaking destinations.
"Green River is in our veins," Medlin said.
And Legacy is well on its way to pumping out its product — the plant should be 50 percent operational by July, Medlin said.
In August, Henderson County commissioners approved $93,555 in economic incentives for Legacy, and the town of Fletcher added another $46,777 for the recruitment effort. Those incentives are intended to spread over the next five years.
In addition to liquidlogic, Legacy brands include Native Watercraft and Heritage Kayaks.
For more information and job opportunities, visit www.legacypaddlesports.com or call JobLink at 828-694-1753.
Reach Schulman at 828-694-7890 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
the amazing remake of an amaizing game is here and fully working on R4 cards by using r4 wood:
1. download ad extract "root_r4" (Attached).
2. copy the contents of "root_r4" to the root of your r4 card replacing all files.
3. copy the game normally and enjoy the game AND the new frameware!
remote controller wii
nintendo ds r4


text:
Home > News & Events > Wayland Press Release Archives > 2004 News Releases > November 2004 > Theatre production features metaphor for journey of life
Theatre production features metaphor for journey of life
PLAINVIEW – Most people can identify with the experience of a family road trip and the wealth of emotions evoked by such events.
Scott Crew prefers to think of those experiences as a metaphor for life's journey, and the newest production from the Wayland Baptist University theatre department reflects his belief as well as the playwright.
Approaching Zanzibar, a drama by Tina Howe, will provide audiences with many comedic moments, said Crew, who is serving as guest director for the production. But the subtext is much deeper and more poignant.
The play involves the Blossom family of New York, undertaking a cross-country car trip to visit dying Aunt Olivia in New Mexico. The family meets many characters along the way and also learns a lot about each other in the process.
"The play is really about our legacies and what we leave behind," Crew said. "That's what's most important as we go through this journey of life."
A native of Oklahoma, Crew is pursuing a doctorate in theatre at Texas Tech and serving as visiting assistant professor there. He's also served as an adjunct instructor at Wayland in past years and responded affirmatively to WBU Theatre Director Marti Runnels' request to return as guest director.
The role has been a challenge, both for Crew and for the student actors under his tutelage. For one, Runnels chose the play while picking his season lineup, meaning Crew had to become familiar with Howe's style and the text. It's also been a challenge for Crew to juggle his teaching duties at Tech with late-night rehearsals in Plainview and working around the university's fall break in late October.
Though Crew is no stranger to directing, noting he's even picked up direction on two shows at Tech due to extenuating circumstances, he welcomed the chance to step into the role again and said the experience at Wayland has stretched him by allowing him to work with students trained in different methods and processes.
"It's been a wonderful challenge, but it has been work for me," he said. "Some plays you can just take the humor and run with it, but you can't really do that with this one. There are parts of this play that are serious sand I felt it necessary to balance that."
The students have been challenged as well, Crew said.
"This shows them a different perspective," he said. "Marti's style is going to be different than mind and this gives them a chance to see how others do things. They have different understandings and I have to convey my own style to them."
Crew admits his style is still evolving. After earning a bachelor's degree in theatre from Cameron University in Lawton, Okla., Crew worked as a professional actor for two years before joining the ranks in the business world and serving as a buyer and manager for the JCPenney Company. The death of a friend made him realize how fleeting life is, and Crew said he did the unheard of – quitting his job to pursue a calling to theatre.
He then earned a master's degree from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) and taught at Southwestern Oklahoma State before coming to Lubbock to pursue the doctorate. He intends to teach on the college level after graduating in 2005.
Approaching Zanzibar, which Crew notes is a relatively short play with two 45-minute acts, will be performed Nov. 12, 13 and 18, 19 and 20 in the Harral Studio Theatre. Performances will begin at 8 p.m., with tickets priced at $8 for adults and $4 for students. The second weekend of performances are held in conjunction with Wayland's homecoming events, with show tickets priced at $4 for WBU alumni.
Billy Boone, WBU senior theatre major, plays Wally Blossom, with senior theatre veteran Jennifer Riley playing wife Charlotte. Freshman theatre newcomer Jeff Raines fills the role of son Turner, with sophomore theatre major Mary Feril playing daughter Pony. Milea Simpson, junior theatre major and veteran as well, plays Aunt Olivia.
A cast of characters met along the way are played by an ensemble featuring theatre veterans Jennifer Rutherford, Andrew Oglesby, Timothy Fisher and Kelley Dunn.
Reservations are encouraged by calling the theatre box office at (806) 291-1087.