I received the following correspondence from Carol Schaefer earlier this week regarding her new book Grandmothers Council the World. Carol has authored and/or co-edited a few books the most popular and well known being The Other Mother: A Woman’s Love for the Child She Gave Up for Adoption.

Carol Schaefer is a natural mother, and an awesome person. I have read all of her books as well as seen her off broadway play a few years ago called A Sacred Virgin. She also presents at conferences for the American Adoption Congress, Concerned United Birth Parents, to name a few organizations.

Carol and I have a special connection. A few years back in some excitement and in my relief I turned to Carol asking for her help as a last minute keynote speaker for the conference a local organization was hosting because the keynote we had originally scheduled had changed her mind due to the events of September 11th. She was afraid to fly across the country and we were left to find another keynote speaker. At any rate, I had told her that she had made my millennium.

The reality though to my statement is that it was very true at the time and she has continued to do so through the year. I can’t tell you how many times Carol has made a difference in my life and in the adoption community. For me it all started with my reading The Other Mother.

Below is her correspondence regarding Grandmothers Council The World. I hope that you will all put this on your Christmas wish lists. I for one can’t wait to read it. Look for my review in future blogs but I have not doubt that it will meet my very high expectations as Carol has always done.

In a magical valley, protected by the ancient spirits of the towering Catskill Mountains, a sacred fire was lit. Surrounded by golden woods and in the cool, still evening air of mid-October 2004, the fire initiated an unprecedented and historic gathering of thirteen remarkable indigenous Grandmothers from around the world, keepers of their tribes' teachings from original times. The Grandmothers had come to fulfill an ancient prophecy, known by many of the world's indigenous tribes: "When the Grandmothers from the four directions speak, a new time is coming."

The urgency of the world's perilous situation requires a global response. As the wise women, curanderas, shamans, and healers of their tribes, each Grandmother brought to the council new visions and prophecies for humanity, their tribes' rich and varied sources of wisdom, and each tribe's unique and secret teachings for living within the Divine Order of all things. Their International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers met with other wise women elders - Alice Walker, Gloria Steinem, Carol Mosely Braun, Wilma Mankiller, Tenzin Palmo and H.H. Sai Ma, among others - whose insightful contributions are also included in this book.

This new book, Grandmothers Council the World, by Carol Schaefer, author of The Other Mother: A Woman's Love for the Child She Gave Up for Adoption, introduces these extraordinary women, their views on relationships and women's wisdom, their ideas for healing the Earth as well as ourselves, their plans for ending war and poverty, for bettering life on our planet, and their revelations about the importance of prayer.

Publication date is this Tuesday, November 14. The book can be found or ordered now at bookstores, and on Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com. If you would like a review copy for your publication, please contact Carol Schaefer at CarolSch1@aol.com.

Thank you so much for posting this notice on your lists and passing the information along.

With all my best wishes,

Carol Schaefer