In an account of his adventurous life and career, one of America's top jockeys reveals his childhood, his work with horses, and his behind-the-scenes experiences over the course of thirty-seven years of racing
Bill Hartack won the Kentucky Derby five times, and seemed to hate every moment. "If only Bill could have gotten along with people the way he got along with horses," a trainer said. His impoverished upbringing didn't help: his mother was killed in an automobile accident; the family home burned down; his father was murdered by a girlfriend; and he was estranged from his sisters for most of his life. Larry King, his friend, said it was just as well Hartack never married, because it wouldn't have lasted. Hartack was one of racing's most accomplished jockeys. But he was an inveterate grouch and gave the press a hard time. At 26, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Whenever the media tried to bury him, he would win another Derby. At the end of his life, he was found alone in a cabin in the Texas hinterlands. Drawn from dozens of interviews and conversations with family members, friends and enemies, this book provides a full account of Hartack's turbulent life.
Breaking through pervasive misconceptions, Jazz in the 1970s explores a pivotal decade in jazz history. Many consider the 1970s to be the fusion decade, but Bill Shoemaker pushes back against this stereotype with a bold perspective that examines both the diverse musical innovations and cultural developments that elevated jazz internationally. He traces events that redefined jazz’s role in the broadband arts movement as well as the changing social and political landscape. Shoemaker immerses readers in the cultural transformation of jazz through: official recognition with events like Jimmy Carter’s White House Jazz Picnic and the release of The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz; the market validation of avant-garde musicians by major record labels and the concurrent spike in artist-operated record labels and performance spaces; the artistic influence and economic impact of jazz festivals internationally; the emergence of government and foundation grant support for jazz in the United States and Europe; and the role of media in articulating a fast-changing scene. Shoemaker details the lives and work of well-known innovators (such as Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton and Sam Rivers) as well as barrier-breaking artists based in Europe (such as Derek Bailey, Peter Brötzmann and Chris McGregor) giving both longtime fans and newcomers insights into the moments and personae that shaped a vibrant decade in jazz.
Radical Music in the United Kingdom during Brexit and the Pandemic examines the work of select composers, improvisers, and interpreters during the upheaval of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic and places them in contemporary and historical contexts"--
World-famous jockey-turned-mystery writer Bill Shoemaker is back in the winner's circle with his newest racing mystery. In Dark Horse, Shoemaker thrusts his amateur sleuth, Coley Killebrew, into the toughest, tensest case of his career--a case that begins and ends with the Triple Crown, the most famous and lucrative trio of races in the thoroughbred business. At the behest of his gorgeous fiancee Lea Starbuck, Coley jets off to observe the season get underway at the Kentucky Derby. But he's barely on the ground before he learns that prize race horses confiscated in drug busts are being undervalued and sold at auction. And no less a personage than Jim Carmody, a ruthless billionaire and arch-conservative powermonger, is involved. Carmody blows his stack when his filly, For Cupid's Sake, loses the Derby. But after an upset at the Preakness, Coley suspects that Carmody's passion for racing is a cover for a far deeper game--a game whose other players include the Drug Enforcement Administration, vicious South American drug lords, and the CIA. As For Cupid's Sake streaks across the finish line at Belmont, the whole unbelievable truth comes out--but even a last minute victory may not be enough to recoup Carmody's investment, or save Lea Starbuck's life. . . . In Dark Horse, Bill Shoemaker sets an ingenious timebomb of a plot ticking against the glamorous, dangerous world of thoroughbred racing. The behind-the-scenes deal-cutting, the jockeys and trainers, the beautiful women, the priceless horses, the desperation to finish first at any price, and, of course, the coveted prize of the Triple Crown--it's all here, re-created with the flair and mastery of a true insider.
Straight from the Winner's Circle, the greatest jockey of all time draws on his vast experience on and off the track to spin one of the most suspenseful mysteries of the year.... Coley Killebrew was one of the best jockeys in the business -- until a race-fixing scandal got him barred from the track. Now the man responsible for blackening his name, racing steward Raymond Starbuck, offers Coley a chance to redeem his reputation. All Coley has to do is investigate some underworld characters who are muscling in on a track in New Orleans, resist the irresistible redhead he loved and lost. Francie Dorn, and reckon with Lea, Starbuck's leggy blonde daughter, who's its adept at seducing men as she is at blowing them away....
Celebrates the tradition and spectacle of the Kentucky Derby with photographs and text devoted to the legends, heroes, memorable moments, and rivalries of the past 125 years.
Bill Hartack won the Kentucky Derby five times, and seemed to hate every moment. "If only Bill could have gotten along with people the way he got along with horses," a trainer said. His impoverished upbringing didn't help: his mother was killed in an automobile accident; the family home burned down; his father was murdered by a girlfriend; and he was estranged from his sisters for most of his life. Larry King, his friend, said it was just as well Hartack never married, because it wouldn't have lasted. Hartack was one of racing's most accomplished jockeys. But he was an inveterate grouch and gave the press a hard time. At 26, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Whenever the media tried to bury him, he would win another Derby. At the end of his life, he was found alone in a cabin in the Texas hinterlands. Drawn from dozens of interviews and conversations with family members, friends and enemies, this book provides a full account of Hartack's turbulent life.
Former horse jockey Randy Romero, winner of the Breeders' Cup, is a Louisiana sports legend still well loved in racing circles today. In 1985 he was at the top of his game, ranked number two in the country. This gripping biography covers the triumphs and tragedies in his exciting career, until his retirement in 1999.
A Presidio of San Francisco Closure Study began after the controversial Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1988 (BRAC 88) was enacted and placed the Presidio of San Francisco on the BRAC 88 Base Closure list. The required Presidio of San Francisco Closure Study, prepared by the Headquarters, Sixth US Army staff, tried to justify the continuance of the Presidio Post. This study continued for several years but eventually was ineffective bowing to political and military pressure and interference. This Case Study complements the Presidio of San Francisco Closure Study that overlaps the same time period that planned and programmed a systematic process where both management theory and assumptions could be applied to justify improvements in management competence, organizational improvements, and cost effectiveness. This Case Study contains a chronological history of events at the Presidio of San Francisco, and reviews a crisis precipitated by the Department of Defense (DOD) action under a Congressional mandate for Post and Base closures. This caused an administrative dilemma while concurrently, trying to plan the realignment of the Headquarters, Sixth US Army staff; discontinuance of the Presidio Garrison; closing the Presidio of San Francisco as a US Army military Installation; and transferring the Presidio Post operations, repair, and maintenance activities to the US National Park Service.
One of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer. In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand -- and, if possible, answer -- the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, travelling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.
The Asian tsunami of Christmas 2004 killed more than a quarter of a million people and shattered the lives of many more. The ruthless indifference of the forces of nature to our fragile existence on the surface of the planet could not have been more shockingly demonstrated, nor the sheer scale of their power more tragically displayed. Massive earthquakes and super-eruptions, collision with vast boulders from space, the insidious, potentially catastrophic dangers of global warming: what can mere humans do against these natural hazards, which have devastated life on Earth in the past and could do so again? Are there real alternatives to simply awaiting our doom? Bill McGuire believes there are. Following on from A Guide to The End of the World, in which he presented a frightening vision of the hazards that face us, in Surviving Armageddon he guides us through the major threats, assessing the solutions that have been proposed, from the reasonable to the bizarre. There really are ways in which we can, perhaps not prevent, but limit the damage caused by future disasters, he concludes. As a volcanologist, McGuire has sensed at first hand the dangers of volcanic eruptions, and he was deeply involved in the scientific analysis of the Asian tsunami. In this lively narrative, he combines the science behind natural hazards with enthralling accounts of his own experiences and narrow escapes while working in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. He gives us a down-to-Earth view of how we might (just) deflect Armageddon, and live to tell the tale.
Handsome hardcover reprint of original edition, featuring all 29 stories of the program's pioneers and the key to the solution claimed by founder Bill Wilson, a vital spiritual experience that allows followers to rediscover God.
Nestled along the banks of the Susquehanna River, Muncy first situated itself within the dynamic beginnings of America as the center of action during raids and battles on the frontier. Following the American Revolution, the town prospered as the lumber industry profited from its bountiful mountains and waterway accessibility, leaving Muncy with a competitive legacy of commerce. When the Civil War erupted in America, Muncy became both a key stop on the Underground Railroad and a hotbed for abolitionist activity. This colorful history remains preserved in the architecture of the town, as numerous buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. These houses are not museum properties, rather the buildings serve as integral parts of the community as both homes and businesses. Opened in 1936, the Muncy Historical Society remains a unifying presence in the town, acting as a gatekeeper to the community's history. Today, Muncy serves as a portal between America's revolutionary past and the future of small-town America.
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