Reed Environmental Writing Award Finalist, Southern Environmental Law Center, 2021 More than ten thousand known caves lie beneath the state of Tennessee according to the Tennessee Cave Survey, a nonprofit organization that catalogs and maps them. Thousands more riddle surrounding states. In Hidden Nature, Michael Ray Taylor tells the story of this vast underground wilderness. In addition to describing the sheer physical majesty of the region’s wild caverns and the concurrent joys and dangers of exploring them, he examines their rich natural history and scientific import, their relationship to clean water and a healthy surface environment, and their uncertain future. As a longtime caver and the author of three popular books related to caving—Cave Passages, Dark Life, and Caves—Taylor enjoys (for a journalist) unusual access to this secretive world. He is personally acquainted with many of the region’s most accomplished cave explorers and scientists, and they in turn are familiar with his popular writing on caves in books; in magazines such as Audubon, Outside, and Sports Illustrated; and on websites such as those of the Discovery Channel and the PBS science series Nova. Hidden Nature is structured as a comprehensive work of well-researched fact that reads like a personal narrative of the author’s long attraction to these caves and the people who dare enter their hidden chambers.
Michael Ray Taylor and his team penetrate up to a mile underground- lugging as much paraphernalia as an Everest assault team - in a quest to find the oldest life on the planet - organisms that could provide the key to life on earth. Taylor names these organisms 'dark life', and reports that they 'form complex ecosystems and food chains wholly independent of sunlight, photosynthesis, oxygen and other standard requirements for life as we know it'. Dark life resemble the headline-grabbing organisms, known as nanobacteria, discovered in a Martian meteorite in 1996, thereby adding to the debate on the possibility of life elsewhere in the solar system.
Taylor (journalism, Henderson State U.) takes us spelunking around the world in flooded and dry caves and, something the caving books of past decades missed, in China. Good writing, high (low?) adventure. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
This book provides student journalists, artists, designers, creative writers and web producers with the tools and techniques they need to tell nonfiction stories visually and graphically. Weaving together history, theory, and practical advice, seasoned nonfiction comics professors and scholars Randy Duncan, Michael Ray Taylor and David Stoddard present a hands-on approach to teach readers from a range of backgrounds how to develop and create a graphic nonfiction story from start to finish. The book offers guidance on: -how to find stories and make use of appropriate facts and visuals; -nonfiction narrative techniques; -artist's tools and techniques; -print, digital, and multimedia production; -legal and ethical considerations. Interviews with well-known nonfiction comics creators and editors discuss best practices and offer readers inspiration to begin creating their own work, and exercises at the end of each chapter encourage students to hone their skills.
Reed Environmental Writing Award Finalist, Southern Environmental Law Center, 2021 More than ten thousand known caves lie beneath the state of Tennessee according to the Tennessee Cave Survey, a nonprofit organization that catalogs and maps them. Thousands more riddle surrounding states. In Hidden Nature, Michael Ray Taylor tells the story of this vast underground wilderness. In addition to describing the sheer physical majesty of the region’s wild caverns and the concurrent joys and dangers of exploring them, he examines their rich natural history and scientific import, their relationship to clean water and a healthy surface environment, and their uncertain future. As a longtime caver and the author of three popular books related to caving—Cave Passages, Dark Life, and Caves—Taylor enjoys (for a journalist) unusual access to this secretive world. He is personally acquainted with many of the region’s most accomplished cave explorers and scientists, and they in turn are familiar with his popular writing on caves in books; in magazines such as Audubon, Outside, and Sports Illustrated; and on websites such as those of the Discovery Channel and the PBS science series Nova. Hidden Nature is structured as a comprehensive work of well-researched fact that reads like a personal narrative of the author’s long attraction to these caves and the people who dare enter their hidden chambers.
The author tells of adventures that include New Mexico's Lechuguilla Cave and dark life below Washington State that resembles "micro-fossils" found in a Martian meteorite.
This revised and greatly expanded edition of a well-established reference book presents 5105 feature length (four reels or more) Western films, from the early silent era to the present. More than 900 new entries are in this edition. Each entry has film title, release company and year, running time, color indication, cast listing, plot synopsis, and a brief critical review and other details. Not only are Hollywood productions included, but the volume also looks at Westerns made abroad as well as frontier epics, north woods adventures and nature related productions. Many of the films combine genres, such as horror and science fiction Westerns. The volume includes a list of cowboys and their horses and a screen names cross reference. There are more than 100 photographs.
From the beginning of the sound era until the end of the 1930s, independent movie-making thrived. Many of the independent studios were headquartered in a section of Hollywood called "Poverty Row." Here the independents made movies on the cheap, usually at rented facilities where shooting was limited to only a few days. From Allied Pictures Corporation to Willis Kent Production, 55 Poverty Row Studios are given histories in this book. Some of the studios, such as Diversion Pictures and Cresent Pictures, came into existence for the sole purpose of releasing movies by established stars. Others, for example J.D. Kendis, were early exploitation filmmakers under the guise of sex education. The histories include critical commentary on the studio's output and a filmography of all titles released from 1929 through 1940.
Giving deserved attention to nearly 150 neglected films, this book covers early sound era features, serials and documentaries with genre elements of horror, science fiction and fantasy, from major and minor studios and independents. Full credits, synopses, critical analyses and contemporary reviews are provided for The Blue Light, The Cat Creeps, College Scandal, Cosmic Voyage, The Dragon Murder Case, The Haunted Barn, Lost Gods, Murder in the Red Barn, The New Gulliver, Return of the Terror, Seven Footprints to Satan, S.O.S. Iceberg, While the Patient Slept, The White Hell of Pitz Palu and many others.
A close look at Man Ray's interwar portraiture, as well as the friendships between the photographer and his subjects: the international avant garde in Paris Shortly after his arrival in Paris in July 1921, Man Ray (1890-1976)--the pseudonym of Emmanuel Radnitzky--embarked on a sustained campaign to document the city's international avant-garde in a series of remarkable portraits that established his reputation as one of the leading photographers of his era. Man Ray's subjects included cultural luminaries such as Berenice Abbott, André Breton, Jean Cocteau, Marcel Duchamp, Ernest Hemingway, Miriam Hopkins, Aldous Huxley, James Joyce, Lee Miller, Méret Oppenheim, Pablo Picasso, Alice Prin (Kiki de Montparnasse), Elsa Schiaparelli, Erik Satie, and Gertrude Stein. As this lavishly illustrated publication demonstrates, Man Ray's portraits went beyond recording the mere outward appearance of the person depicted and aimed instead to capture the essence of his sitters as creative individuals, as well as the collective nature and character of Les Années folles (the crazy years) of Paris between the two world wars, when the city became famous the world over as a powerful and evocative symbol of artistic freedom and daring experimentation.
Taylor (journalism, Henderson State U.) takes us spelunking around the world in flooded and dry caves and, something the caving books of past decades missed, in China. Good writing, high (low?) adventure. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
The bible of B-movies is back--and better than ever! From Abby to Zontar, this book covers more than 9,000 amazing movies--from the turn of the century right up to today's Golden Age of Video--all described with Michael Weldon's dry wit. More than 450 rare and wonderful illustrations round out thie treasure trove of cinematic lore--an essential reference for every bad film fan.
Ray Charles: Man and Music is a complete biography of this seminal singer/pianist who has been active on the American music scene since the mid-'50s. Originally published in 1995 by Penguin Books, and universally hailed as the definitive biography, this new edition will bring Charles's life up to date, covering the last 7 years of his life.There are only a few legendary singers who have developed mass audiences while pursuing their own artistic visions: Sinatra is one; Ella Fitzgerald another. Ray Charles undoubtedly belongs in this pantheon of major musical stars. Ray Charles: Man and Music begins with Charles's impoverished childhood in Greenville, Florida, where tragedy struck early when the young Charles went blind at age 6 and was orphaned at age 14. Driven by his enormous talent and determination, Charles landed work playing some of the toughest juke joints in the state, fought heroin addiction, and finally landed a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Unlike other R&B singers, Charles took control of his career from its earliest days, moving on from his gospel-soul stylings of the mid-'50s to break through musical barriers, recording two country albums in the late '50s (at a time when the black presence in country music was barely felt), pure jazz, and then the powerful pop hits of the '60s. Famed music journalist Michael Lydon - a founding editor of Rolling Stone - is uniquely qualified to document Charles's career, having interviewed Charles and followed the star's performances since the 1960s. Originally published in 1995, and universally hailed as the definitive biography, this new edition brings Charles's life up to date, covering the last 7 years of his life. It coincides with the release of a made-for-TV movie starring Jamie Fox as Charles, currently in production by Taylor Hackford. Charles has also issued a new CD recently and remains active as a touring artist throughout the world.
This book provides student journalists, artists, designers, creative writers and web producers with the tools and techniques they need to tell nonfiction stories visually and graphically. Weaving together history, theory, and practical advice, seasoned nonfiction comics professors and scholars Randy Duncan, Michael Ray Taylor and David Stoddard present a hands-on approach to teach readers from a range of backgrounds how to develop and create a graphic nonfiction story from start to finish. The book offers guidance on: -how to find stories and make use of appropriate facts and visuals; -nonfiction narrative techniques; -artist's tools and techniques; -print, digital, and multimedia production; -legal and ethical considerations. Interviews with well-known nonfiction comics creators and editors discuss best practices and offer readers inspiration to begin creating their own work, and exercises at the end of each chapter encourage students to hone their skills.
This book not only includes chapters on more than twenty new screen sleuths but also updates information on several detectives included in the first two volumes of Famous Movie Detectives. Author Michael Pitts also provides new material on sleuths in silent films and serials, as well as a listing of radio and television detective programs.
Many believe Max Steiner's score for King Kong (1933) was the first important attempt at integrating background music into sound film, but a closer look at the industry's early sound era (1926–1934) reveals a more extended and fascinating story. Viewing more than two hundred films from the period, Michael Slowik launches the first comprehensive study of a long-neglected phase in Hollywood's initial development, recasting the history of film sound and its relationship to the "Golden Age" of film music (1935–1950). Slowik follows filmmakers' shifting combinations of sound and image, recapturing the volatility of this era and the variety of film music strategies that were tested, abandoned, and kept. He explores early film music experiments and accompaniment practices in opera, melodrama, musicals, radio, and silent films and discusses the impact of the advent of synchronized dialogue. He concludes with a reassessment of King Kong and its groundbreaking approach to film music, challenging the film's place and importance in the timeline of sound achievement.
King Kong and The Thing from Another World are among the most popular horror and science fiction films of all time and both were made by RKO Radio Pictures. Between 1929 and 1956, RKO released more than 140 genre features, including The Most Dangerous Game, The Phantom of Crestwood, Before Dawn, The Monkey's Paw, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, You'll Find Out, The Spiral Staircase, The Enchanted Cottage, It's a Wonderful Life, Captive Women and Killers from Space. RKO is remembered for its series of psychological horror movies produced by Val Lewton, including Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The Seventh Victim and The Body Snatcher. The studio also produced films in the adventure, comedy, fantasy, mystery and western genres. They released many Walt Disney classics--Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Cinderella, Peter Pan--as well as several "Tarzan" features. This volume covers these movies in detail with critical and historical analysis, in-depth plot synopsis and numerous contemporary reviews.
Most teens love to watch movies—whether a young adult fantasy or the latest comic-book-to-screen adaptation. Alongside the usual summer blockbusters, though, are more down to earth fare, movies that best define what it means to be an adolescent. Such films provide insight and depth into the challenges and issues that many teens experience as they move from childhood into adulthood. In Movies to See before You Graduate from High School, Michael Howarth examines sixty coming-of-age films that are essential viewing for teenagers. Whether serious or silly, scary or profound, the films discussed here comment on the trials and tribulations of adolescence. Each entry provides a plot summary, identifies key themes, and includes other useful details such as running time and MPAA rating. Most important in each entry is the “gist” section—a relaxed and informal discussion of the film’s merits and why teens should add it to their viewing list. The films discussed here span five decades, but many of the titles are recent features that contemporary teens will appreciate—from Easy A and Edge of Seventeen to Lady Bird and Love, Simon. The films also represent a range of genres, including comedy, horror, animation, and drama. Additional elements include classic lines of dialogue, “double feature” suggestions, and more than 30 photos. And with five dozen titles to choose from, some teens will want to catch up as soon as possible! Movies to See before You Graduate from High School is the guide to some of the best films for young adult audiences.
In King Biscuit, Michael Loyd Gray returns once again to the fictional small town of Argus, Illinois, (the setting of his novels Well Deserved and The Last Stop), to tell a coming-of-age story set in 1966. With the Vietnam War hovering in the background. Seventeen-year-old Billy Ray Fleener, frustrated by the narrow confines of Argus, seeks adventure and a look at the wider world in a novel that puts him on a collision course with the famous as well as infamous.
This work covers Bronson's entire output in film and on television, and includes many film stills and photographs. Alphabetical entries list film or episode, complete cast and credits, and year of release. Accompanying each entry's plot synopsis and discussion is a survey of the critical responses to the work. The great Charles Laughton once said Bronson "has the strongest face in the business, and he is also one of its best actors." Pretty high praise for an actor who, though loved by fans worldwide, has been consistently underestimated by critics. Bronson's career has spanned five decades, from such television appearances in The Fugitive, Rawhide, Bonanza and Have Gun, Will Travel as well as the telemovie A Family of Cops (1995) and its two sequels. He will long be remembered for his role as urban vigilante Paul Kersey in the Death Wish films. Bronson is one of the most enigmatic, and also most recognizable, of all film stars.
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