View from the Roof - Lessons for Life and Business

by Calvin Mackie

Book Overview

A university professor. A restaurateur. A Hollywood leading man. The Mackie Men of New Orleans have made success a family tradition. In A View from the Roof, Presidential Award-winning speaker Dr. Calvin Mackie reveals just how they did it. Through a slideshow of poignant stories involving the Mackie brothers' tough-as-nails roofer dad Willie, readers will learn the hands-on, humorous lessons that propelled Calvin and his brothers to the top of their...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0975481037
• ISBN13: 9780975481035
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Acanthus Publishing
• Length: 150 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

This should be required reading in today's high school classrooms!

Dr. Mackie is the true embodiment of the American Dream. His book provides an effective roadmap not only for yourself, but for those whose lives you touch. As an educator, I see many young people who have become discouraged about their own future and the possibilities they face. Dr. Mackie provides hope, methodology, humor and wit. Every young person should read this book.

Thanks for the Blueprint!

"A view from the roof" has come along and provided a rare road map to seeking your full potential! Thank you for providing the blueprint for success in a simple format that encourages. You've allowed me to dream again!!

How to find your hidden talents

I've known Dr. Mackie for over 7 years and everytime he has something to say I have paid close attention. He has always had a way with bringing out the best in individuals. Dr. Mackie's energy, spirit, and attitude is contagious. This book is an accurate example of how true, raw talent and simplified understandings of life, where some people find life awfully complicated, can give birth to a new person from within. I highly recommend this book to any person from all walks of life; from the jobless to the high ranked executive, from the single to the married. We all should find the best 'view' we can find from the roof of the tallest building or from the ground beneath our feet.

Reviewing the View

In ten easily readable lessons, Dr. Calvin Mackie inspires his readers to achieve more than they dreamed possible. "A View from the Roof" provides as its subtitle promises, "Lessons for Life and Business". Through a series of powerful personal vignettes, Mackie tells how his father transformed what could have been a bleak childhood into a character developing adventure. Mackie reveals how to instill discipline and orchestrate personal and professional success. He clearly shows, how as his father "worked hard just to give you [Mackie] boys the chance to do whatever it was you wanted, and you shouldn't take that lightly." Straightforward prose clearly demonstrates the messages Mackie illumines. A quick enjoyable journey, the ten self contained chapters brim with wisdom from a variety of sources. Willie's View provides yet another perspective. Parents can profit from what he presents. A must read for educators and anyone who works in unlocking human potential.

A mentor's opion of "A View from the Roof"

As a mentor to young, disadvantaged, and often impoverished inner-city African-American males, I am always on the watch for new ways to reach the hearts and minds of my "kids." I was very excited when I learned that Dr. Mackie, a wonderfully dynamic motivational speaker, had finally put onto paper his inspirational and hope-filled message. The author's growth from Calvin the grandson of a sharecropper and son of a hard-working but un-educated roofer to Dr. Mackie Phi Beta Kappa, tenured professor, and business entrepreneur is a veritable roadmap of success (especially for young black men). "A View from the Roof" provides its readers with the skills to accelerate their spiritual, educational, physical, and emotional growth. Dr. Mackie uses humorous and poignant anecdotes to drive his messages home. Every chapter ends with clearly enumerated steps to achieve any of a number of objectives from conquering fear, to accepting and inviting criticism, to becoming a master of your "craft." Although Dr. Mackie has a PhD in mechanical engineering, the text does not read like an academic treatise. Instead, the reader flows from page-to-page effortlessly. I plan to purchase copies of "A View from the Roof" for all the young men I work with. I highly recommend this book for anyone with a desire to succeed or help others to achieve their goals.