News / Business
Community College Founding President Releases Memoir
Lessons for life are embodied in a new book entitled, An American Dream Comes True, (a community college founding president’s memoir), according to the author, Dr. Bob C. Burns. A few of these lessons involve motivation, achievement, improvement of the quality of life, and the benefits of the relentless pursuit of life’s goals.
Christine Fautheree, The Crowded Bookcase / Book Reviews, had this to say about this publication. “Generally, I have found memoirs to be a tad indulgent. But this book was different. The author, Dr. Burns, spoke with a genuine candor and an openness that was quite refreshing.” She went on to say that, “Aside from this very thorough account in history, I could see this as a great read for entrepreneurs everywhere! I would imagine that educators would also enjoy the read, for the exceptional and intentional standard that was raised in the educational setting of this college.”
The author’s dream in life began at eleven years old, in a cotton row furrow in eastern Arkansas in the Mississippi Delta. He grew up in a two-room farm house with a lean-to kitchen at the end of a dirt road. This book is in part the story of a life changing experience, an impression he had as he looked down a cotton row, the sun was beaming down, during a severe three-year drought. Here, he had an impression that someday he would go to college and get an education. That he did, and then he spent his career helping others take a similar path that he had taken. Poverty yielded itself to opportunity. The lesson Dr. Burns learned in the cotton field was this – no adversity, no hardship, nothing, if opposed by the human will can hold permanently captive the human spirit.
Book reviewer, Fautheree, ended her comments with the following quote: “As for me, I was touched by the power of a tiny spark, in the heart of a young boy, which ultimately became a living dream come true. If you are looking to be inspired, this story will take you there. In this book…the author’s anthem is clear – there is potential in every life, no matter the past.”
This publication is about the creation of opportunities for improving lives. Parallels portrayed in it culminated regionally in northwest Arkansas, but the themes contained in them apply to life in general, regardless of location. These parallels are drawn amongst three interlocking events, first, the thirty-year effort to create and develop a two-year college, second, educational opportunities that provided a way out of life circumstances for thousands of individuals, and, third, the author’s life pathway through poverty and hardship that eventually led him into education and ended with his becoming the founding president of an institution of higher education, NorthWest Arkansas Community College.
According to the book’s author, this college is part of the community college story in America, where people can pursue their life’s goals, in part, through an education, regardless of gender, race, ethnic background, religion, or socioeconomic status.
Among the chapters in this book are the following ones: A Commitment to Quality; Successes – How Our Team Did It; Responsibilities of a Community College Founding President; Some of the Things I Would Do Differently; and NWACC – An American Dream Comes True.
This publication may be obtained through the following bookstores:
The Barnes and Noble Bookstore on the campus of NorthWest Arkansas Community College, 1 College Drive, Bentonville, Arkansas; Barnes and Noble Bookstore, 4000 McCain Blvd., North Little Rock, Arkansas; and Barnes and Noble Bookstore, 261 N. 46th Street, Rogers, Arkansas. Also, it is available online at the three following websites:
http://www.anamericandreamcomestrue.com/, http://www.amazon.com/ and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ or, at your local bookstore.
Further assistance may be obtained by contacting the publisher at:
Yorkshire Publishing Group
7707 East 111th Street South, Suite # 104
Tulsa, OK 74133
918-394-2665
The book’s ISBN number is: 0-88144-324-7
