A Dimly Burning Wick-Memoir from the Ruins of Hiroshima, by Sadako Teiko Okuda with Pamela Bea Wilson Vergun. Contributors include Ronald Takaki, Sok-Hon Ham and insights on Nuclear and Atomic issues from WWII and present draw from cognitive dissonance, social psychology, sociology, history, regarding hibakusha and the world's children.

Please help abolish nuclear weapons, one step, one discussion, at a time.

If you have other ideas you think would be even more effective at bringing about change, please email us your ideas and share them with others!

Individuals, Families, and Organizations:

1. If you haven't already, please read A Dimly Burning Wick.

2. Purchases of A Dimly Burning Wick made on Amazon.com through this link will help Dr. Vergun to share the book's stories and wisdom with others. Please click here to order A Dimly Burning Wick.

3. Recommend A Dimly Burning Wick to at least two people or organizations whom you know. Examples include friends, acquaintances, co-workers, congregations, book clubs, teachers, and students.

4. Order a copy for at least one other person, or as many as you can afford and send them to the people and organizations you think need to learn more about nuclear weapons. These extra copies can be precious gifts.

5. Consider giving a copy as a present for birthdays, for other holidays, for mothers and fathers days, and graduation. Use it to foster discussion and reflection, especially with older relatives who may have long buried memories from that time. This can be a horizon-expanding and affirming process, as many families found the discussions that followed seeing the movie “Saving Private Ryan” to be. Similarly, share it with friends from other countries, who may have their own insights to share with you.

6. If you can't afford to get as many copies to give to others as you'd like, write your name in your copy and share it with others, one reader at a time.

7. Consider making a financial donation in any amount to the work of A Dimly Burning Wick. Donations would be used primarily to promote and support the Verguns' work of raising awareness about nuclear weapons. This would enable further media appearances, for example, by supporting travel expenses for the Verguns in conjunction with speaking engagements. (Media outlets seldom reimburse for such expenses, nor does the publisher of the first English edition.) Please note: Though A Dimly Burning Wick is effectively a non-profit, it is not a registered non-profit, meaning that contributions are not tax deductible. If you are nonetheless considering such a donation, please contact us at admin@adimlyburningwick.com. Thank you for considering this.

8. Check out upcoming events on www.adimlyburningwick.com and call or email your contacts to attend talks when possible.

9. Give of your time and talents, even if only for a few hours—work with the staff of A Dimly Burning Wick, Pam and Rob Vergun, to arrange a speaking engagement or book club appearance by Dr. Pamela Vergun with an organization with which you are connected.

10. If you are interested in having Dr. Vergun speak in your area at community organizations, bookstore and library venues, and schools and to arrange TV interviews, please contact us for availability and fees: admin@adimlyburningwick.com.

11. Do you participate in a book club? Have a connection to a school (elementary through university)? Dr. Vergun is available for talks, as well as for print and broadcast media interviews and can help you to set up a talk for the organization of your choice. Also, book clubs and schools can make special arrangements for author discussion events conducted via teleconferencing. For more information, contact us for availability and fees at admin@adimlyburningwick.com.

12. Support—financially and also through easy internet-based advocacy—one of the many wonderful organizations working to bring an end to nuclear weapons and power. Even small donations can go a long way in letting these organizations show that they have the people's support behind them. Information about more of these nonprofits is available on the More Information page; the following are excellent ones with which to start.

Check out:

	Physicians for Social Responsibility http://www.psr.org
	International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War http://www.ippnw.org/
	Nuclear Age Peace Foundation http://www.wagingpeace.org/
	The Nuclear Threat Institute http://www.nti.org/
	Union of Concerned Scientitsts http://www.ucsusa.org/

Also consider supporting organizations that seek a more just and peace world through a different approach. For example, the work of Greg Mortenson, creator of Pennies for Peace and author of Three Cups of Tea offers a complimentary path toward peace and a nuclear free world:
http://www.penniesforpeace.org/home.html

13. Go to another level with A Dimly Burning Wick: Use the last chapter of A Dimly Burning Wick to help understand what your own personal barriers to action might be. Make cognitive dissonance work for you! Then, use this powerful knowledge to help those in your circle of acquaintances and within reach of your voice to understand the factors that are shaping their opinions about nuclear weapons and affecting their ability to act effectively. This knowledge can be used to facilitate the thoughtful and prudent action that our planet and people need.

14. Host a movie night for your friends and acquaintances and, in the tradition of honoring the stranger, strangers. Show one or more of these videos, talk about them, and inspire each other to action. Be sure to find a way to let parents with young children attend.

	Last Best Chance Originally televised on HBO, produced by the Nuclear Threat Institute Available free currently at http://www.lastbestchance.org/
	Nuclear Weapons and the Human Future: How You Can Make a Difference Produced by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Available free currently at http://www.wagingpeace.org/nuc_weapons_human_future.php
	*Hiroshima Maiden* A beautiful yet appropriately striking movie appropriate for children (produced by Feature Films for Families) that tells the story of a young woman affected by the bombing of Hiroshima and the Americans family who volunteers to be her host family when she comes to the U.S. for surgery. This movie puts you right in the middle of 1950s America, complete with boys wearing coon skin caps and playing World War II, and shows the impact of increasing understanding about what nuclear weapons are really about. Staring Tamlyn Tomita. 1988.
	*Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes* This is a powerful movie with actors such as Max von Sydow, Tamlyn Tomita, Judd Nelson, Mako, and Stan Egi. The characters include a range of experiences among those who where there at the time of the bombing: American aircrewmen, Catholic priests, a Japanese-American woman, and Japanese doctors, and Japanese children. 1990.

15. Imagine you are a Presidential candidate (or President, or Senatorial candidate, or...). You have just taken a stand for nuclear abolition. Only a few voices speak out in support of your decision. Will it make you question its viability? Would it make it easier for you to help achieve this goal if you hear that you have solid support for abolition? So, until you become one yourself, give your representatives who have taken this stand and candidates running for office your vocal and repeated support! Make it a popular position—like improving schools.

16. Ask libraries to order one or more copies of A Dimly Burning Wick for their patrons. Contact especially the libraries in your area and with which you are connected (for example, the libraries at the college you went to, your child’s high school’s library, your church, mosque, or synagogue’s library).

17. Request that local independent and chain bookstores carry the book, including airport bookstores.

18. Write a personal note to your elected representatives (Senators, Representatives, the President, Governor, etc.) and ask them to read A Dimly Burning Wick to get a better intuitive feel for the importance of nuclear abolition and ask them to support all initiatives that lead toward abolition and to a safer world in other respects too, such as global and regional education initiatives.

19. Write one or more letters to the editor of newspapers, magazines, and newsletters that your read. Suggest A Dimly Burning Wick, to their readers and ask the editorial staff to publish their own review of this important book. (If possible, send them a copy with your personal note to help the process along.) Ask them to support the work for nuclear abolition and the many steps toward a truly safer and more just and equitable world. This newspapers, magazines, and newsletters to contact include the ones that are focused on topics besides news (magazines about being older, being younger, working for the environment, participating in a particular religious denomination, etc.)—reach the audiences who both share attitudes and characteristics with you and those who are different.

20. Contact radio stations and ask them to review A Dimly Burning Wick and to request an interview with Dr. Vergun.

21. Contact your local library and ask them how you can recommend A Dimly Burning Wick be chosen for local and other regional “One Book” projects. (These are sometimes called “Community-wide” or “One Book, One Community” projects.) A good starting place to learn more about these projects is the Library of Congress website: http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/onebook/.

22. Recommend A Dimly Burning Wick as the One Book for a university or college-wide reading project, or ask that it be placed on college freshman (First Year Experience) or other summer reading lists. Although not yet reflected on the Library of Congress website, these programs are becoming increasingly popular.

23. Want to learn more about current options for nuclear arms reduction and/or reducing reliance on nuclear power? Check out the websites featured on the More Information page.

24. If you would like extra encouragement for volunteering your time with us, you can learn more about grassroots book promotion in 'Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers' by Shel Horowitz (2007). Together let’s use Ms. Okuda’s experiences and testimony to change the world.

25. Raise money from others for building peace. Anyone can do this! Start Pennies For Peace in your school, library, or place of worship, or if you know a principal, teacher or student, ask them to visit www.adimlyburningwick.com and www.penniesforpeace.org.

26. For a big way to help, no matter who you are, that doesn’t require money or much time—write a "blurb" or book review for A Dimly Burning Wick to share your insights. Even if others have said similar things, your voice should be heard—this is one of the factors that affect whether many readers will ever hear about a book, as companies like Borders are reported to use the number as a tool in deciding which books to carry in their stores. Send your review directly to pamvergun@adimlyburningwick.com for a chance to be included on the book’s website. We will acknowledge it with a return email, and then you can post it as well on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca (Canada), other international Amazon sites, bn.com, borders.com, booksamillion.com, independent bookstore websites, and similar places.