In the 1950s, New York City's Birdland was the center of the world of modern jazz--and a revelation to Bill Crow, a wet-behind-the-ears twenty-two-year-old from Washington State. Located on Broadway between 52nd and 53rd streets, the club named for the incomparable Charlie "Bird" Parker boasted lifesize photo murals of modern jazzmen like Dizzy Gillespie, Lennie Tristano, and, of course, Bird himself, looming large against jet black walls. Exotic live birds perched in cages behind the bar. The midget master of ceremonies, 3'9" Pee Wee Marquette, dressed in a zoot suit and loud tie, smoked huge cigars and screeched mispronounced introductions into the microphone. And the jazz-struck young Crow would park in the bleachers till 4 am, blissfully enveloped by the heady music of Bird, Bud Powell, Max Roach, and a host of other jazz giants. From Birdland to Broadway is an enthralling insider's account of four decades of a life in jazz. Bill Crow, journeyman bass player, superb storyteller, and author of the successful Jazz Anecdotes, here narrates many moving and delightful tales of the pioneers of modern jazz he played with and was befriended by. We find Dizzy Gillespie, with whom Crow, because of prior commitments, regretfully declined steady work, dancing at the Royal Roost, Stan Getz sadly teetering on the brink of losing himself to drugs, and Harry Belafonte (known then as "the Cinderella Gentleman") running a lunch counter in New York's Sheridan Square between music dates. And we also witness many of the highlights of Crow's career, such as in 1955 when the Marian McPartland Trio (with Crow on bass) was named "Small Group of the Year" by Metronome; Crow playing with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet at venues like Storyville in Boston and Harlem's Apollo Theater (where they appeared with Dinah Washington); and the tour of the Soviet Union with Benny Goodman, a journey that might have been a high point of Crow's travels abroad but was marred by Goodman's legendary mistreatment of his band. Moving beyond jazz clubs to the Broadway concert pit and a variety of studio gigs in the '60s, Crow encounters actors such as Yul Brynner and pop-rock acts like Simon and Garfunkel. From the great to the near-great, from Billie Holiday to Judy Holliday, Bill Crow's wealth of personal anecdotes takes the reader from Birdland, to the Half Note, to the Playboy Club, to the footlights of Broadway. This revealing book is a marvelous portrait of the jazz world, told by someone who's been there.
Bill Doolin was perhaps the last great American outlaw of the nineteenth century. Once part of the Doolin-Dalton gang, he rode and robbed in the wild Indian Territory that would become Oklahoma. The Daltons were eventually shot to ribbons in their failed attempt to rob two banks at once in Coffeyville, Kansas. But Doolin went on to form a new gang that included notables such as Bitter Creek Newcomb, Black Face Charlie Pierce, a remaining Dalton brother, and the Rose of the Cimarron, Rose Dunn, sister of the notorious Dunn Brothers. Pursuing the gang was a tenacious group of U.S. marshals led by the famed Bill Tilghman. Doolin was considered something of a Robin Hood to the locals—everybody but those he robbed and killed. The marshals were determined to end his reign of terror no matter how long it took. The country, after all, was heading into a new century, and outlaws like Doolin no longer had a place in the West.
IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE JUSTICE… AND SOMETHING LIKE REVENGE. GUNMAN They came to the frontier to escape their pasts and build their future. They came as cowhands, gamblers, homesteaders, and whores. Among them were those who would kill for pleasure or a price—and those, like Quint McCannon, who hunted killers down. LAWMAN It was a long, hard ride from Deadwood to Cheyenne, and when McCannon arrived, he was greeted by the worst news a man could hear: his best friend and partner had been murdered. Now, McCannon—a man who knows violence, friendship, and the empty places in between is heading on a trail across the frontier in search of a maddog killer. DEAD MAN Forced to choose between a good woman in Nebraska and the obsession that's eating away at his soul, McCannon shares his journey with a curious-minded Texan named Jake True, a lovesick whore named Sugar Brown, and a host of misfits, tale tellers, fugitives and gunslingers, from Roy Bean to an actor named Cody. For McCannon, it's a journey through the madness and glory of the West—to one moment with a gun...
No author has attempted to write the history of all the newspapers on the North Olympic Peninsula—until now. Strait Press: A History of the News Media on the North Olympic Peninsula does that. There have been books that detailed the newspaper history in Clallam County, and two books covered the media history in Jefferson County. Now Strait Press encompasses both counties. This book is about not only newspapers but also radio stations and even television. The reader will learn which president came to Port Angeles in 1937 and was instrumental in establishing Olympic National Park. Creating that park was perhaps the most divisive issue in the history of the Port Angeles newspapers. You will discover why. Learn which newspaper owner in Sequim arrived and vowed to run the Sequim Press out of town and did it. Find out what well-known author spent a night in a Port Townsend jail on his way back from gold panning in the Klondike. In Forks, the reader will learn which newspaper owner became part of a quad marriage in which four sisters were wed in the same ceremony. The history of each area is discussed. Learn about mastodons, the Great Blowdown, devastating fires, oil spills, and how each paper handled 9/11. And whenever possible, the author infuses the discussion with humorous anecdotes. So pull up a chair and start your education of North Olympic news media.
My Pursuit of the Axis of Evil is about meetings and adventures with interesting people in Asia and Alaska. I followed the advice of a long-ago traveler named Pythagoras, who admonished us to check your prejudices at every port of entry." As a result, I mostly traveled solo, merged with the locals, and got to see, experience, and understand things that would not have been otherwise possible. Plus, the locals can keep you out of trouble and get you out of trouble if you get into it! In Alaska, I sought out native elders and others in the far corners of this enormous state, street people, and the many interesting and famous people visiting or passing through. And high-level politicians—often at the opposite end of the political and social issues spectrum than me. I learned a lot, made new friends, and often got to see things from a different perspective. Encounters were overwhelmingly positive, and it is these people to whom I dedicate My Pursuit of the Axis of Evil. I commend you for your natural curiosity and desire to go out into the world and see for yourself. Pursuit of the Axis of Evil is a great primer on how to engage and interact with the incredible variety of people we meet on international travel - people that appear on the surface to be very different from you and me. Robert DeLaurentis, Polar and Equitorial Circumnavigator/Citizen of the World.
Sheriff Dan Rhodes is back again in Bill Crider's thrilling Dead, to Begin With. "Readers will cheer Rhodes along as he sorts through a tangle of old secrets and personal relationships en route to the satisfying solution." Publishers Weekly In Clearview, Texas, a wealthy recluse has joined the community and is leading the restoration of an old opera house. When he falls to his death, Sheriff Dan Rhodes suspects that he’s been murdered, but there doesn’t seem to be a motive. Who would want to kill someone who’s helping the town and hasn’t been around long enough to make any enemies? The Sheriff’s suspicion proves to be true, however, and he begins to look for motives buried in the past, meanwhile having to deal with people fighting over baseball cards at a yard sale, writers who want to talk to him about his sex life, and the Clearview Ghost Hunters, headed up by Seepy Benton, who believes that the old theater is haunted. Clearview might be a small town, but there’s no shortage of excitement.
Capturing the hearts of a beleaguered nation, the fighter pilots of World War II engaged in a kind of battle that became the stuff of legend. They cut through the sky in their P-38s to go one-on-one against the enemy—and those who survived the deadly showdowns with enough courage and skill earned the right to be called aces. But two men in particular rose to become something more. They became icons of aerial combat, in a heroic rivalry that inspired a weary nation to fight on. Richard “Dick” Bong was the bashful, pink-faced farm boy from the Midwest. Thomas “Tommy” McGuire was the wise-cracking, fast-talking kid from New Jersey. What they shared was an unparalleled gallantry under fire which won them both the Medal of Honor—and remains the subject of hushed and reverent conversation wherever aerial warfare is admired. What they had between them was a closely watched rivalry to see who would emerge as the top-scoring American ace of the war. What they left behind is a legacy of pride we will never forget, and a record of aerial victories that has yet to be surpassed anywhere in the world.
2019 SABR Baseball Research Award Few people have influenced a team as much as did Tom Yawkey (1903-76) as owner of the Boston Red Sox. After purchasing the Red Sox for $1.2 million in 1932, Yawkey poured millions into building a better team and making the franchise relevant again. Although the Red Sox never won a World Series under Yawkey's ownership, there were still many highlights. Lefty Grove won his three hundredth game; Jimmie Foxx hit fifty home runs; Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941, and both Williams and Carl Yastrzemski won Triple Crowns. Yawkey was viewed by fans as a genial autocrat who ran his ball club like a hobby more than a business and who spoiled his players. He was perhaps too trusting, relying on flawed cronies rather than the most competent executives to run his ballclub. One of his more unfortunate legacies was the accusation that he was a racist, since the Red Sox were the last Major League team to integrate, and his inaction in this regard haunted both him and the team for decades. As one of the last great patriarchal owners in baseball, he was the first person elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame who hadn't been a player, manager, or general manager. Bill Nowlin takes a close look at Yawkey's life as a sportsman and as one of the leading philanthropists in New England and South Carolina. He also addresses Yawkey's leadership style and issues of racism during his tenure with the Red Sox.
True Story is Maher's debut novel about the wild and crazy life of the stand-up comedian -- a bawdy, rowdy tell-all report from the front line. Set in New York, circa 1979, in the late-night, neon-lit comedy clubs when the comedy boom was just heating up, True Story features five would-be comics, their shticks, their chicks, their rampant egos. These guys are desperate for celebrity, desperate for money, and—what else?—desperate to get laid. Which means they're also required to become "road comics," shacking up in low-rent condos provided by sleazy club owners as the comedy scene spreads to the heartland in the early '80s. The result is a hilariously funny novel about the peculiar world of stand-up, where the ultimate prizes are fame, fortune, and fornication -- and the ultimate aspiration is, quite simply, to be laughed at. With perfect-pitch delivery, in classic sardonic style, Maher gives us a bona fide look at these resilient comedians and the scumbag promoters, hostile audiences, and die-hard groupies who make up their warped and twisted world. Only Bill Maher could have written True Story. And lucky for us he did. Because True Story is hilarious. It's offensive. At times it's even touching. So sit back as Maher puts you stage side at the very birth of the comedy boom. You'll laugh in all the right places. Hey, it's a True Story.
Penthouse and Pavement is not a book for glory-hunters. It is a book about pain. It's about the anguish of watching your team lose 9-2 in the very first game you ever saw, about the horrible inevitability of defeat that so many feel so often. It's about despair, dismay and black, frightening, deathly gloom. But it's also about hope. About dreams. And about dreams which sometimes, just sometimes, come true. Like the once-in-a-lifetime ecstasy of winning the Cup or a league. And as anyone who's had that moment-of-a-lifetime knows, the joy is even greater because you've known the pain. For Bill Leckie, who has followed St Mirren since 1964, it all became worthwhile when they won the Scottish Cup in 1987. This book is about these clubs and the people who love them. It's about the kind of fan who doesn't go to games expecting to win . . . or, worse, demanding it. This book is about being willing to accept a lifetime of frustration in return for one day of utter wonderment.
Don’t you want the Haunt?! Collecting issues #7–12 of the classic terrifying cult horror series, and features gorgeous new digital colors—using Marie Severin’s original palette as a guide, this volume includes unforgettable stories drawn by all-star comic artists Johnny Craig, Graham Ingles, Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, George Roussos, Ed Smalle, and Joe Orlando!
The old Mexican called him "Mano," but the family knew that was short for La Mano de Dios. They also knew La Mano de Dios was Spanish for The Hand of God. That was all they knew. Whenever they asked the reason for the name, they were told it was a personal thing between the old man, who was their father, and the old Mexican. Perhaps it's time, his wife thought as the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren were gathered for the old man's 90th birthday, for them to know the kind of a man he was. Maybe it's time they knew about the Comanches and the Apaches; about the horse thieves and cattle rustlers; about the haciendados and the big ranchers; and about the range war. Maybe, she thought, it's time they know who they are.
A go-getting, red-headed college kid eager to break into the music business, Phil Gernhard produced a handful of singles for South Carolina doo-wop group Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs. One of these songs, "Stay," reached number one on the charts in 1960. Gernhard was just 19 years old. Phil Gernhard, Record Man is the story of a self-made music mogul who created nearly fifty years' worth of chart-topping songs. From a tiny office and studio in Florida, he co-wrote the Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron," America's fastest-selling single of 1966. He revived the career of singer Dion DiMucci with the ballad "Abraham, Martin and John"--a million seller. He discovered and produced hit records for Lobo, Jim Stafford, and the Bellamy Brothers. Through a long collaboration with music business icon Mike Curb, he launched to fame many others, including country superstars Tim McGraw and Rodney Atkins. In Nashville and Los Angeles, Phil Gernhard was a legend. Yet Gernhard's private life was crumbling. He battled physical and emotional demons that he simply couldn't overcome, struggling with alcoholism, drug addiction, and a bad past with his father. He filed for his fourth divorce just months before taking his own life in 2008. Through interviews with Gernhard's musicians, business partners, family members, and ex-wives, Bill DeYoung offers an intimate portrait of a brilliant yet troubled man who channeled his talent, ego, and ambition into the success of others. A true "record man," Gernhard did it all. He lived to make records into gold, to make unknowns into stars, and above all, to make music.
Winner, Southwest Book Award, Border Regional Library Association, 2015 The Texas of vast open spaces inhabited by independent, self-reliant men and women may be more of a dream than a reality for the state’s largely urban population, but it still exists in the Big Bend. One of the most sparsely settled areas of the United States, the Big Bend attracts people who are willing to forego many modern conveniences for a lifestyle that proclaims “don’t fence me in.” Marcia Hatfield Daudistel and Bill Wright believe that the character traits exemplified by folks in the Big Bend—including self-sufficiency, friendliness, and neighborliness—go back to the founding of the state. In this book, they introduce us to several dozen Big Bend residents—old and young, long-settled and recently arrived, racially diverse—who show us what it means to be an authentic Texan. Interviewing people in Marathon, Big Bend National Park, Terlingua, Redford, Presidio, Alpine, Marfa, Valentine, Balmorhea, Limpia Crossing, and Fort Davis, Daudistel and Wright discover the reasons why residents of the Big Bend make this remote area of Texas their permanent home. In talking to ranchers and writers, entrepreneurs and artists, people living off the grid and urban refugees, they find a common willingness to overcome difficulties through individual skill and initiative. As one interviewee remarks, you have to have a lot of “try” in you to make a life in the Big Bend. Bill Wright’s photographs of the people and landscapes are a perfect complement to the stories of these authentic Texans. Together, these voices and images offer the most complete, contemporary portrait of the Texas Big Bend.
The tape measure home run is the greatest single act of power in the game of baseball, and the tales of these homers are the most cherished legacies players and fans hand down through the generations. Fully illustrated with photos of the players and aerial ballpark photos showing the landing spots of each stadium's longest homers.
Set in the tiny Native village of Egegik on the shores of Alaska's Bristol Bay, Bill Carter's Red Summer is the thrilling story of one man's journey from novice to seasoned fisherman over the course of four beautiful, brutal summers in one of the earth's few remaining wild places. As millions of salmon race toward their annual spawning grounds, Carter learns the ancient, backbreaking trade of the set net fisherman, one of the most exhilarating and dangerous jobs in the world."--Page 4 of cover
A fast-paced, riveting and vividly told story of unknown and true aviation adventure in the spirit of the legendary Air America. An abundance of actual photos accompany the 328 pages of text. Throughout, the author entertains with gut busting laughs and anecdotes of some truly extraordinary aviating the likes of which will never be seen again. Summer 1984. A lone, desperate pilot arrives in the blistering heat of the south Texas border city of McAllen. Searching for a flying job, he finds old aircraft flying south in the dead of night, their cabins overloaded with electronic contraband. They were headed for clandestine airstrips deep into Mexico's interior. With pockets full of hope and not much else, the pilot's fragile lives hung literally on both engines running. Read about the incredible adventures, the hair raising escapes, the long prison terms and death that await them south of the border. Read about the inherent danger in flying the dark, sinister Sierras and landing at blacked out, improvised airstrips. Dealing with corrupt and ruthless Mexican authorities, pilots found their well-being hung by a tenuous thread. Everyone, north and south, had a price. For more than a few, that price was death. While not exactly a fountain of information, Chuck did manage to leave me with an uplifting reflection as I ambled away from his esteemed presence. I think he had sensed my apprehension. Offhandedly, he said that no one had been killed since early June. My pace slowed a bit as that uncertain benediction hit home like a June bug smackin' a Harley driver's eyeball. Whap! I took a quick look at my Seiko watch, a long-lived holdover from another asylum of anxiety called Vietnam. The day/date showed Jun/21. Maybe he meant last June? I thought. I turned to ask but changed my mind. With a somewhat dampened spirit, I returned to my metal abode for more contemplation. Keeping my options open grew more appealing for now.
Bill Warren's Keep Watching the Skies! was originally published in two volumes, in 1982 and 1986. It was then greatly expanded in what we called the 21st Century Edition, with new entries on several films and revisions and expansions of the commentary on every film. In addition to a detailed plot synopsis, full cast and credit listings, and an overview of the critical reception of each film, Warren delivers richly informative assessments of the films and a wealth of insights and anecdotes about their making. The book contains 273 photographs (many rare, 35 in color), has seven useful appendices, and concludes with an enormous index. This book is also available in hardcover format (ISBN 978-0-7864-4230-0).
...one of the most heart-felt baseball books to come out in the last few months, written not by a journalist with nice advancement but by a simple fan who put up his own money, got it self published, and got himself heard." - Tom Hoffarth, columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News "His take on some of baseballs major events and personalities are refreshingly different from the conventional wisdom of baseball insiders." - Jeffrey Stuart, author of Twilight Teams "...the purest fan memoir Ive yet read...Lewers is...everyfan USA." - Nicholas Croston, Lit Bases website "...Lewers book reminds us why we love the game so much." - Matt ODonnell, Fenway West website "Every fan has his or her memories, but not everyone can express them as well as Lewers has." - Ron Kaplan, Ron Kaplans Baseball Bookshelf website "...Lewers is the pioneer for the personal baseball narrative." - Bill Jordan, Baseballreflections.com website "Covering a broad sweep of personal and baseball history, Lewers democratically recognizes many unsung heroes and ventures some refreshingly candid opinions." - Judy Johnson, Watching the Game website There is no shortage of books written by baseball insiders players, managers, and writers. What seems to be lacking are books by ordinary fans. Six Decades of Baseball will not put you on the field or in the dugout. Rather it will put you in the cheap seats of the upper deck where baseball can be viewed through lens of Bill Lewers. This book is not just a recitation of baseball history (although a lot of baseball history is included). Rather it is a narrative of a relationship between a fan and a game a relationship that has evolved through the years. Bill has been hooked on baseball ever since his first outing at the Polo Grounds in 1951. Not content with the three local choices offered by his native New York, Bill decided at a very early age that he would root for the Boston Red Sox. Much of what follows in this decade-by-decade narrative is a consequence of that monumental choice. The book starts in the 1950s with Bills formative years as he grew up in the awesome shadow of the New York Yankees and experienced Five oclock Lightning first hand. A healthy amount of Red Sox minutiae is presented not because these were things that Bill memorized but rather that they were the reality that he lived. Greats like Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle are remembered but also recounted are tales of the more obscure including the Red Sox Youth Movement of the early 1950s, the Never-Never-Boys, and the Fastest Man in the Majors. There is even an all too brief encounter with the Boys of Summer at Ebbets Field. As the narrative moves to the 1960s the new team in town, the New York Mets enters the picture and those special early days at the Polo Grounds are recalled. So too are visits to Bostons Fenway Park at a time when tickets were $1.50 and attendance was frequently below 10,000. All this changed with the 1967 Impossible Dream which Bill recalls from the vantage point of a New Yorker. The decade ends with a baseball adventure gone amuck and the tragic end of one of the mainstays of Bills Red Sox youth. The 1970s sees changes as Bill moves to Maryland and encounters a new home team, the highly successful Baltimore Orioles. Both Boston and Baltimore heroes are recalled as well as both the Red Sox triumph of 1975 and collapse of 1978. Much of the 1980s revolve around the Red Sox almost World Championship of 1986. A young buck achieves dominance even as an aging superstar makes his last stand. Bill also examines the managerial decision that may have cost the Red Sox the championship (its not the one you think). The 1990s sees the unveiling of an exciting new ballpark as
Why should the digital bring about ideas of progress in the theatre arts? This question opens up a rich seam of provocative and original thinking about the uses of new media in theatre, about new forms of cultural practice and artistic innovation, and about the widening purposes of the theatre's cultural project in a changing digital world. Through detailed case-studies on the work of key international theatre companies such as the Elevator Repair Service and The Mission Business, Bill Blake explores how the digital is providing new scope for how we think about the theatre, as well as how the theatre in turn is challenging how we might relate to the digital.
Many Indiana University fans have heard the name Branch McCracken, after whom the hallowed court at Assembly Hall is named, but how many of them know about the legendary coach himself? Before Tom Crean, before Bob Knight, IU basketball relied on this man to make the school famous for its hoops stars. And boy did he--with two national titles, four Big Ten titles, and numerous other accolades, McCracken defined Hoosier Hysteria for a generation. However, his greatest legacy remains the example of good character he set and the way he touched the lives of everyone around him. Fans remember him as the coach who helped IU break the color barrier in Big Ten basketball, and players remember him as a second father. If, as McCracken once wrote, "A coach is not paid in money or winning teams, but in the men his players become," he was a rich man, indeed. Branch McCracken made Indiana University basketball a force to be reckoned with, and this is his story.
Bird-loving Americans share a common problem: squirrels! These fast, greedy, incredibly crafty, fluffy-tailed rodents pillage birdfeeders before owners' very eyes. For 25 years, Outwitting Squirrels has been leading the charge to help bird lovers defend their feeders. This classic defense manual for the besieged birder has been fully updated to deal with the more tech-savvy twenty-first-century squirrel. It provides 101 cunning strategies, both serious and hilarious, for outsmarting these furry, but not so cute, creatures. Adler discusses the different bird personalities and the best seed to attract them. He rates birdfeeders based upon how squirrel-proof, or squirrel-vexing, they are and discusses creative antisquirrel structures and devices. Spooker poles, Perrier bottles, baffled fishing line, Teflon spray, Vaseline, water bombs, cayenne pepper, and Nixalite—the author has tried them all, and here he regales intrepid bird feeders with his squirrel-thwarting adventures and misadventures.
With the rise of new technologies and media, the way we communicate is rapidly changing. Literacies provides a comprehensive introduction to literacy pedagogy within today's new media environment. It focuses not only on reading and writing, but also on other modes of communication, including oral, visual, audio, gestural and spatial. This focus is designed to supplement, not replace, the enduringly important role of alphabetical literacy. Using real-world examples and illustrations, Literacies features the experiences of both teachers and students. It maps a range of methods that teachers can use to help their students develop their capacities to read, write and communicate. It also explores the wide range of literacies and the diversity of socio-cultural settings in today's workplace, public and community settings. With an emphasis on the 'how-to' practicalities of designing literacy learning experiences and assessing learner outcomes, this book is a contemporary and in-depth resource for literacy students.
Despite their centuries-old history and traditions, witchcraft and magic are still very much a part of modern Anglo-American culture. In Lucifer Ascending, Bill Ellis looks at modern practices that are universally defined as "occult," from commonplace habits such as carrying a rabbit's foot for good luck or using a Ouija board, to more esoteric traditions, such as the use of spell books. In particular, Ellis shows how the occult has been a common element in youth culture for hundreds of years. Using materials from little known publications and archives, Lucifer Ascending details the true social function of individuals' dabbling with the occult. In his survey of what Ellis terms "vernacular occultism," the author is poised on a middle ground between a skeptical point of view that defines belief in witchcraft and Satan as irrational and an interpretation of witchcraft as an underground religion opposing Christianity. Lucifer Ascending examines the occult not as an alternative to religion but rather as a means for ordinary people to participate directly in the mythic realm.
While many film fans may not be familiar with Bill Duke’s name, they most certainly recognize his face. Dating back to the 1970s, Duke has appeared in a number of popular films, including Car Wash, American Gigolo, Commando, Predator, and X-Men: The Last Stand. Fewer still might be aware of Duke’s extraordinary accomplishments off-screen—as a talented director, producer, entrepreneur, and humanitarian. Bill Duke: My 40-Year Career on Screen and behind the Camera is the memoir of a Hollywood original. In an industry that rarely embraces artists of color, Duke first achieved success as an actor then turned to directing. After helming episodes of ratings giants Dallas, Falcon Crest, Hill Street Blues, and Miami Vice, Duke progressed to feature films like A Rage in Harlem, Deep Cover, Hoodlum, and Sister Act 2. In this candid autobiography, Duke recalls the loving but stern presence of his mother and father, acting mentors like Olympia Dukakis, and the pitfalls that nearly derailed his career, notably an addiction to drugs. Along the way, readers will encounter familiar names like Danny Glover, Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Whoopi Goldberg. From his Broadway debut in 1971 to the establishment of the Duke Media Foundation, which trains and mentors young filmmakers, Duke has been breaking the rules of what it means to triumph in the entertainment industry. Recalling pivotal moments in his life, Bill Duke: My 40-Year Career on Screen and behind the Camera is the story only Bill Duke could tell.
Passionate, spirited, and brimming with enthusiasm, Croce's can-do keys to success in business and in life speak volumes about positive achievement. Croce, a personal trainer who overcame odds to become president of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team, shares the winning attitude that has helped him realize stunning goals.
Born of a Palestinian father and a British mother, Rezak has always been intrigued by the different worlds from which his parents came. His father’s ancestors were highwaymen on the Arabian Peninsula in the eighteenth century. They sparred unsuccessfully with ruling Ottoman Turks and escaped with their families to America. His mother’s parents were sent separately from Great Britain into indentured servitude in Canada, alone at the ages of ten and sixteen. They worked off their servitude, met, married, and moved to New York State. In The Arab and the Brit, a memoir that spans multiple generations and countries, Rezak traces the remarkable lives of his ancestors. Narrating their experiences against the backdrop of two world wars and an emerging modern Middle East, the author gives readers a textured and vivid immigrant story. Rezak recalls his paternal grandmother apprehending would-be Russian saboteurs during World War I, his grandfather’s time at Dr. Bernardo’s home, a shelter for destitute children, and his father’s work with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Association following World War II. Told with humor and captivating detail, The Arab and the Brit chronicles the trials and triumphs of one family’s struggle to succeed in the New World.
“Brilliantly reveals the extraordinary courage of those who fought the final, bitter, bloody, costly days of the Korean War” (Gen. Jack I. Gregory, USAF Ret.). By the summer of 1953, the Korean War had long since reached a stalemate. As peace negotiations dragged on, units of the US 7th Infantry Division rebuilt the defenses of Hill 255, one of numerous outposts in front of the Main Line of Resistance extending across the peninsula. Better known by its nickname, Pork Chop Hill, the outpost had twice been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the spring. Now, the soldiers tasked with its rebuilding and defense hoped they would not be the last men to die in what had already become known as “the Forgotten War.” On the night of July 6th, under the cover of a heavy monsoon rainstorm, forces of the Chinese 23rd Army attacked. For five hellish days, the opposing forces engaged in devastating artillery assaults, brutal hand-to-hand fighting, and round-the-clock attacks and counterattacks. Less than three weeks after the smoke on Pork Chop Hill cleared, the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. On Hallowed Ground is the riveting story of this epic battle. Drawing on previously classified documents, interviews, and letters from survivors, author Bill McWilliams details the strategy and tactics behind the conflict and pays stirring tribute to the heroic soldiers and medics who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to hold “the Chop.”
Which American First Lady never cooked a meal? Was accused of looting the White House? Was once a professional dancer? Find out in this accessible, illustrated reference packed with history and revelations. The First Ladies Fact Book is a comprehensive, fascinating, and intimate look at the life of each first lady from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama. Each profile includes a portrait, key biographical information, and several additional photographs. For each of this historically important women, you'll learn key facts about their childhood and upbringing, early careers, the path to the White House, their impact on the role and the country, and post-FLOTUS highlights. Whether you're browsing, preparing for a tough quiz night or for a classroom report, The First Ladies Fact Book combines the rich facts with fascinating details for history buffs of all ages. Pick-up the companion title, The President's Fact Book -- Revised and Updated.
The Neighborhoods by William (Bill) Holland The Neighborhoods is a genealogy starting with an emigration from Ireland to the Michigan upper peninsula and the tough individuals meeting the challenges of the first half of the twentieth century. Nineteen young men from a small neighborhood were closely bonded and went off to World War II. This novel depicts their experiences and a synopsis of American involvement in the war itself.
Arguing about the merits of players is the baseball fan's second favorite pastime and every year the Hall of Fame elections spark heated controversy. In a book that's sure to thrill--and infuriate--countless fans, Bill James takes a hard look at the Hall, probing its history, its politics and, most of all, its decisions.
Bill Crawford follows up his hit books Rock Stars do the Dumbest Things and Movie Stars do the Dumbest Things with a volume that reinforces what we've known all along - Republicans do the Dumbest Things. From George Bush barfing on the Japanese prime minister to Ronald Reagan's announcement of nuclear war, Republicans do the Dumbest Things is the first book to celebrate and catalogue the hilarious heritage of the GOP. This collection includes all the misguided actions, bizarre statements, and embarrassing moments of notable GOP members, including Bob Dole, Helen Chenoweth, Pat Buchanan, George W. Bush, David Duke, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Rudolph Giuliani, Jesse Helms, Strom Thurmond, Richard Nixon, and Dan Quayle. Republicans do the Dumbest Things is the perfect book for Election 2000, a funny, edgy examination of Republican antics this is sure to be as controversial as it is entertaining. Democrats will love it. Republicans will hate it. And everyone will want it.
A fascinating story of growing up as a gay fan of comic books in the 1960s, building a fifty-year career as an award-winning writer, and interacting with acclaimed comic book legends Award-winning writer Bill Schelly relates how comics and fandom saved his life in this engrossing story that begins in the burgeoning comic fandom movement of the 1960s and follows the twists and turns of a career that spanned fifty years. Schelly recounts his struggle to come out at a time when homosexuality was considered a mental illness, how the egalitarian nature of fandom offered a safe haven for those who were different, and how his need for creative expression eventually overcame all obstacles. He describes living through the AIDS epidemic, finding the love of his life, and his unorthodox route to becoming a father. He also details his personal encounters with major talents of 1960s comics, such as Steve Ditko (co-creator of Spider-Man), Jim Shooter (writer for DC and later editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics), and Julius Schwartz (legendary architect of the Silver Age of comics).
Drawing on a rich verbal tradition, bassist and jazz writer Bill Crow has culled stories from a wide variety of sources, including interviews, biographies and a remarkable oral history collection to paint fascinating and very human portraits of jazz musicians. Organized around general topics--teaching and learning, life on the road, prejudice and discrimination, and the importance of a good nickname--Jazz Anecdotes shows the jazz world as it really is.--From publisher's description.
Truth is stranger than fiction. If you've imagined famous writers to be desk-bound drudges, think again. Writers Gone Wild rips back the (book) covers and reveals the seamy underside of the writing life. Insightful, intriguing, and irresistibly addictive, Writers Gone Wild reveals such fascinating stories as: * The night Dashiell Hammett hired a Chinese prostitute to break up S. J. Perelman's marriage (and ran off with his wife). * Why Sylvia Plath bit Ted Hughes on the cheek. * Why Ernest Hemingway fought a book critic, a modernist poet, and his war correspondent/wife Martha Gellhorn (but not at the same time). * The near-fatal trip Katherine Anne Porter took while high on marijuana in Mexico. * Why women's breasts sent Percy Bysshe Shelley screaming from the room. * The day Virginia Woolf snuck onto a Royal Navy ship disguised as an Abyssinian prince. Pull up a chair, turn on good reading light, and discover what your favorite writers were up to while away from their desks. Sometimes, they make the wildest characters of all.
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