From a young age, Patty Saldivar McClain knew she wanted to work in viticulture. "I grew up on Spring Mountain, where my father managed York Creek vineyard," said Saldivar McClain, director of vineyard operations for Hall Wines. "I knew in high school this is what I wanted. I even took my father, who was self-taught, to a seminar on phylloxera."

The huge-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code" has given Mary Magdalene more fame lately than any biblical personality except Jesus. There's even a "Complete Idiot's Guide" to Mary and a forthcoming film version of the "Magdalene" comic books' woman warrior.

The fashion world loves petite things, skinny things, colorful things -- except when it comes to its books.

Eighth grade 4.0

During the 42 years since his death, the prolific C.S. Lewis has never failed to lure hordes of fans through his writings -- nor has the Oxford and Cambridge literature scholar ceased to rouse antipathy from religious skeptics.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Evangelist Rod Parsley wants to gather voters as he wins souls, a mixture that's causing a stir in the state that put President Bush back in the White House.

Education

The words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt were, "a day that will live in infamy". Infamy resonates in a haunting way: something criminal, brutal and shocking as it is defined. This thread weaves through the memories of many Americans as on December 7, 1941, Sunday morning, Pearl Harbor was attacked. Admiral Yamamoto led the Japanese Combined Fleet and delivered the U.S. Navy its greatest defeat. The attack was to immobilize the Pacific Fleet and prevent American interference as the Japanese expansion into Asia and the western Pacific moved forward.

We don't know the exact day Christ was born, so why celebrate on Dec. 25?

PRINCETON, N.J.-- In a marriage of new technology and old documents, a vast treasure trove of information about life in the early Islamic world is about to go online, enabling Muslims, scholars and the merely curious to peer into a window on the faith's rich history.

NEW YORK -- The prestigious Jewish Theological Seminary has sponsored dialogues with all sorts of American religious and ethnic groups over the past 67 years, but never with evangelical Protestants -- until last week.