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Biography: general
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Walk, Don't Run
A Rockin' and Rollin' Memoir
by Steven Jae Johnson
"An epic story of show-biz dreams."—Mike Foley "It's this generation's American Graffiti — it's Happy Days slammed into Resurrection Boulevard."—Rick Marcelli "Johnson's memory for the adventures we shared breaking into show business is seamless."—Edward James Olmos "Like a front-row seat to the action when rock 'n' roll was still young and exciting!"—Jason Liller Kids, This Is Rock 'N' Roll: A Rockin' and Rollin' Memoir Made on the 1960s Sunset Strip in Hollywood Here is a story that is glamorous, inspiring, and gritty — a marvelous fusion of the ups, downs, and in-betweens of life and music and passion in 1960s Hollywood, California, the place where dreams are made and chased and, sometimes, die. When Steven "Rusty" Johnson, Eddie Olmos, and Joey Zagarino met in high school in 1962, the sky was the limit and rock 'n' roll stardom was a record deal away. These three friends forged a life-long friendship that would take them through triumph and tragedy, victory and defeat, success and failure — all in the pursuit of reaching the rock 'n' roll dream. This is not only the story of three dreamers, it is a true tale that shows that success — and life — is about taking it from the top, catching a good groove, and taking it one beat at a time. SOUNDTRACK INCLUDED WITH BOOK AND EBOOK! Walk, Don't Run: A Rockin' and Rollin' Memoir is about passion and dreams — and music. That's why this incredible book comes complete with an incredible soundtrack! When you get the book, you'll also get the album that The Pacific Ocean featuring Edward James Olmos singin' and screamin' on vocals while Steven "Rusty" Johnson pounds away on the drums. All of it digitally remastered in high-quality mp3 format beautifully tagged and ready to be transferred to you favorite music device. It's a riveting and exciting album that will take you back to a time when the music was loud, the cars were fast, and dreams were a record deal away. Track List of Album: 16 Tons • Road to Hell • My Shrink • Subterranean Homesick Blues • Track of My Tears • I Can't Stand It • I Wanna Testify • 99 1⁄2 • Mickey's Monkey (If you purchased the book or ebook elsewhere, please visit www.WalkDontRunTheBook.com to claim your soundtrack. You're going to love it!)
Shopped
A True Story of Secret Shopping and Self-Discovery
by Emily Stott
'I headed alone for Knightsbridge – a strange choice for a skint teenager – and it was there that I fell in love for the first time. The dress was little, black and slightly frou-frou, and I knew on sight that it was the one.' Ever wondered why you have three versions of the same top but want to buy another? Or why some shop mirrors are more flattering than others? And whether we really only wear 20 per cent of our wardrobe 80 per cent of the time? Emily Stott is passionate about high street fashion. Her Saturday morning shopping trips as a child led to jobs both on the shop floor and in the offices of upmarket stores. But it was while writing about fashion brands for magazines and simultaneously spying as a mystery shopper that she gained a whole new insight into fashion retail. Now a stylist, Emily Stott writes with warmth and wit on the pleasures of dressing up, the trials of growing up and learning how to shop for yourself. Full of insider knowledge, Shopped is a funny and engaging story about the pursuit of style. You'll never shop in the same way again.
The Secret Lives of Ceramics
The Stories Behind our Favourite Family China
by Molly Hatch
Curated and illustrated by American artist and ceramicist Molly Hatch, this beautifully produced book explores the intimate family stories revealed by single, treasured pieces from our tables and shelves. Each exquisite artwork is combined with the tale of the dish, whether it be a rescued, chipped milk jug or a gold-plated platter. Drawn from kitchens across America, the UK, Europe and Asia, as well as her own, Molly evokes different cultures and past eras, as well as detailing the personal history behind potteries and patterns. Throughout the pages there is a pervading joy and generosity; a love of gatherings and family, of patterns and china. The Secret Life of Ceramics is a book for anyone who has cherished their grandmother's dinner service, admired cracked plates just for their pattern and memories, or asked for the story behind a beloved object.
by John Berger, Selcuk Demirel
'Once upon a time, men, women, and (secretly) children smoked.' Following the success of Cataract, John Berger, one of the great soothsayers of seeing, joins forces again with Turkish illustrator Selcuk Demirel. This charming pictorial essay reflects on the cultural implications of smoking.
The Vagabond Lover
by Garry O'Connor
In The Vagabond Lover, author Garry O'Connor performs a delicate balancing act, writing his own life vis-à-vis that of his father, Cavan O'Connor, the famous 'Vagabond of Song'. The result is a memoir that fully explores the father-son relationship. It's an account that takes as its backdrop the theatrical, financial, psychological and emotional course of both lives, on a plot line threading both popular and 'high' culture. Older readers will remember Cavan as the legendary 'Vagabond of Song', who from a poor Nottingham background, after serving in the Great War, won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. He married the niece of soprano Dame Maggie Teyte. His heyday coincided with the earliest days of radio, when his broadcasts reached listening figures of over thirteen million. He appeared on thousands of records under a range of different names, with the great bands of his era. As a stage performer he topped Variety bills from the late 1920s to his death at nearly a hundred. He never stopped singing. Intercut with these chapters are the author's growing up and work, tinged with his reluctance to write his life at all. Much turns on his traumatic early days when he rounded on his family, in all its domestic tensions, the only palliative for which was in the plays he wrote, first using as a veil the characters he invented, then explicitly drawing on personal experience as the veil on those characters fell. These chapters touch on episodes surrounding the Paris Odéon Theatre siege in 1968, the scene of early love affairs entered into by the son, but in the shadow of the image and reputation of the father, by then a romantic, legendary figure. Against the family portraits, the beau monde is treated to the author's asides and vignettes. There is the little aired affair of Harold Macmillan and Eileen O'Casey. There are further revelations of Peggy Ashcroft and Harold Pinter. We glimpse the correspondence of Margaret Drabble. There are sketches of Iris Murdoch and Samuel Beckett. As a student O'Connor was fully immersed in that great flowering famed as Cambridge's theatrical 'Mafia'. From that we see sketches of Derek Jacobi, Ian McKellen, Corin Redgrave, Peter Cook, David Frost, Peter Hall, and many, many more, and are given an insight into the ethos of King's College, Cambridge. The profound and main theme, and unifying force of the book, emerge from O'Connor's initial reluctance to enter into his father's life, a preference that in the end gives way to its polar opposite. The Vagabond Lover is a probing search into the nature of celebrity, and for its author reaches its catharsis in shrugging off the flaws and setbacks packaged as part of the celebrity deal. The climax is dramatic, when Cavan suffers a mighty fall.
Mittens, Miep, and Shovelfuls of Dirt
by Alison Leslie Gold
Starting with supervision of her primary school's 'Lost andultimately led to her salvation Found' depot, Gold charts her need to save objects, stories, and people - including herself - that she sensed to be on a road to perdition. Following the deaths of those closest to her, including her great friend Miep Gies (who risked her life to shelter the Frank family), Gold begins to write her way out of grief. In this compelling mem oir, told through letters, Gold relates her descent into addiction, and the fateful meeting that ultimately led to her salvation.
Fierce Imaginings
The Great War, Ritual, Memory and God
by Rachel Mann
From Rachel Mann, Canon Poet-in-Residence at Manchester cathedral, comes a lyrical and very personal story of remembrance, faith, family and identity shaped by the chaos and trauma wrought by the Great War and the flux in early twentieth century Europe. Rachel brilliantly explores the significance of the War to all of us today who live under its long shadow – our shared memories, culture and the symbols and relics that linger on all around us, as well as the influence of the Great War on her grandparents and how it echoed through her childhood in 1970s Britain discovering her authentic self in God, undergoing a change of sex and experiencing chronic illness and disability. ;
Queer and Catholic
A life of contradiction
by Mark Dowd
This superb memoir of a gay, working class boy from Manchester exploring how to reconcile his sexuality with his Catholicism is all the more powerful because of his deep knowledge of and commitment to his faith. Spanning the late 1960s to the present day, Mark Dowd's Queer and Catholic chronicles a changing attitude to same-sex attraction over more than half a century and is packed with stories in turn funny, deeply moving and spiritually insightful, including: coming out to his parents by talking in his sleep, training to become a Dominican priest before eloping from a religious order with an ex friar, and attending the funeral of his father – accompanied by his father!
The Unknown Kimi Räikkönen
Tuntematon Kimi Räikkönen
by Kari Hotakainen
The first and last authorized book about Kimi Räikkönen What does a normally silent man talk about? What does he think, a man whom many people have heard about but few really know? The Unknown Kimi Räikkönen is the story of a man of humble origins, who made his way to the top of an unusual profession. In this book we hear, apart from Kimi himself, from his mother, brother, wife and trusted friends. Others have their say, too: drivers, team bosses, mechanics, his physiotherapist, his manager, and an ordinary Formula 1 fan. The book tells about Kimi's driving, family, trust, leisure, and the dramatic moments of his life up to now. The story in the making is going to be fantastic, humorous and moving, and will also open up a breathtaking world for those with no interest in motor sport. "'It would be brilliant to drive in Formula 1 incognito,' Kimi says, and I can confirm that this first sentence is on record in my dictaphone. And when he says it, Kimi knows that no such world exists or will ever exist. 'It's possible to move a razor, or drive a lawnmower incognito, but not a racing car worth seven million euros.'"
Honesty by Nature
The Personal Narration of Xin Fengxia
by Xin Fengxia
She is the Queen of Ping Opera. She were spoken highly by President Zhou Enlai: "I'd rather not drink tea than not to watch Xin Fengxia." She is also a fashion woman, and the most fashion experience she had ever done is to have a crash on the "Drama Prodgy", Mr. Wu Zuguang. This book is written by Xin Fengxia herself, most of the words are taken and rearranged from her manuscripts, 19 years after she passed away. The first edition of this book was published in 1980s, also the first book of Xin Fengxia.
The Self: Between Existence and Creation
by Bensalem Himmich
Far more than a straightforward autobiography, celebrated Moroccan writer and former minister of culture Bensalem Himmich diffuses life with literary and intellectual dimensions. Himmich opens his book with a discussion on autobiographical writing, followed by chapters on the author's early life, starting with his childhood in Meknes. In Paris, he completes a doctorate degree and there marries a Greek woman, Paneyota. The heroic figures of his "rebellious youth" are Marx and Sartre, and the challenges of these and other radical thinkers, in both Arabic and European languages, find their way into his doctoral thesis, Ideological Patterns in Islam: Ijtihad and History (in Arabic, 1990). Subsequent chapters move into the domain of creation, with four categories reflecting the author's literary, intellectual, linguistic, and cultural interests. Starting with an epigraph of Italo Calvino, the "literary" chapter focuses on the novel, its history, and its complexities. The chapter on the "intellectual" dimension turns on the author's lifelong interest in the two pillars of philosophy and history. For Himmich, philosophical thought is "the creative and innovative force through which truths and meanings are sought." The two-part "linguistic" chapter opens with a discussion of identity as "a constantly developing entity". In the second part he expresses disapproval of the worldwide prevalence of "Anglo-American English" and the weakening effects that a lack of language authority has on the sense of national identity. The "cultural" chapter includes Himmich's observations from his career, including the poor state of public education and a decline in reading in Morocco. He also considers his time as the Moroccan Minister of Culture and the inevitable complexities of the political system within which he had to operate. The penultimate chapter entitled "My Polemics" offers four of his own polemical stands: on fundamentalist trends—specifically Islam and "Islamism"; on the prevalence in Moroccan publications of the Latin alphabet; and specific issues with the well-known littérateurs Adonis and Youssef Ziedan. The work closes with the author's reflection on the emergence of a new and negative kind of cultural "hegemony", the awareness of which he attributes with gratitude to Edward Said and the latter's interpretation of the work of Franz Fanon.
A GIRL CALLED RENEE
by Ruth Uzrad
This is the unbelievable autobiographical story of Ruth Uzrad, a Jewish teenager whose life was turned upside down by the Nazi regime. After her father was arrested one night from their Berlin apartment by the Gestapo, Ruth's mother sends 13 year-old Ruth and her two younger sisters out on their escape route across Europe by train to the safety of Belgium.
Raking Light from Ashes
by Relli Robinson
When Relli was just a baby, the Nazis occupied Poland and she, together with her parents, were imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto, a way station before death. This is the amazing story of Relli Robinson, who, thanks to kindhearted, courageous people and a tenacious capacity for survival, was able to get through the most difficult times in the history of humankind. An orphan girl, the sole survivor of her entire family.
Sorbonne Confidential
by Laurel Zuckerman
After losing her high tech job in Paris, Alice Wunderland dreams of a new, unemployment-proof career as English teacher and decides to dedicate a year to training for France's prestigious competitive exam; After all, she reasons, how hard can it be for an educated American to pass a test in English? She enrolls at the Sorbonne, but her Arizona English fails to impress. Even Shakespeare's English falls short. Only one English will do: Sorbonne English! Even while learning this new language, Alice vows to investigate: Why devise an English exam that few native speakers can pass ? Could this explain why French schoolchildren rank last for English skills in Europe? Is it true that Frenchness is a question of formatting? If so, can a foreigner even one with French nationality ever become truly French? As riots break out in France among the children of immigrants, Alice cannot help but wonder: could there be any connection between her bewildering experience and theirs? A hilarious, hair-raising insider's look at the esoteric world of French Education. (Harriet Welty Rochefort --author of French Toast).
The Coconut Comes in Due Season
by David Hurd
Once the only man, black or white, to be taken into Somalia by the Shifta and live to tell the tale. Author of Kidnap at Kiunga. Mombasa Malindi Kenya Africa. biography, entrepreneurship, trial and error. Hut, restaurant, sail, fishing. Malindi's Robinson Crusoe. Lion, hippo, snake, velvet monkeys, wild animals. Indian Ocean, dhow, creek, island. Swahili culture, Giriama tribes. Palm wine, biriani, ugali. Foreword by Aamera Jiwaji.
by Hayley Okines, Alison Stokes
Shooting Stars Are The Flying Fish Of The Night
by Lynn Michell & Stefan Gregory
If you dream or plan to sail off into the blue, you will learn from this book. A great read.— Sir Chay Blyth We dreamed for years of crossing an ocean. Then we did it in a blue boat called Scarlet. A book of many voyages, this account of crossing the Atlantic is much more than a book about sailing. As one reviewers says, 'It is an endearing human story of a family battling to survive, physically and emotionally.' There is the meandering trail of nights spent on the internet and trips across the globe hunting for the perfect boat for blue water sailing and for crossing oceans. There is the preparation – stalled in a sweltering American boatyard - while arguments about equipment and finance combine with the narrowing of the hurricane window. There is the crossing itself which starts with the wrong weather, broken boat parts, torn sails, serious leaks and a very seasick crew as Scarlet gets blown off course in unkind seas. Male and female monologues form the internal voyages. The skipper's thoughts range from the challenges of fitting a wind vane to almost losing an arm in a tangled genoa to the navigational system of the Puluwat Islanders. His wife describes diminishing food supplies, the damp, bruises, blue eggs, jellyfish and her anxiety about the deteriorating health of her son who, suffering from ME, should not have been persuaded to go with them. External and internal journeys criss-cross as Scarlet sails on across 3000 miles of ocean. She would have told a different story. Lynn Michell has published 14 books with HarperCollins, Longman and The Women's Press. They include a writing scheme for schools, an account of life with ME and two books about mothering adolescents with The Women's Press, one of which received massive media attention and was translated into several languages. Her debut novel, White Lies, was runner up for Scotland's Robert Louis Stevenson award, and has received rave reviews. Her second novel is being published in 2015 by Inspired Quill. A third novel is in preparation. Stefan Gregory fell in love with boats at the age of four while dangling his head over the side of a skiff. He is an experienced sailor who has voyaged eventfully with Lynn off the North Wales coast, in Majorca, Croatia and the Caribbean. This was his first ocean crossing. In his day job, he pursues equally dangerous philosophical theories.
Through Grown-up Eyes
Living with childhood fame
by Robert Henrey
Bobby Henrey was eight when he was improbably chosen by film director Carol Reed and producer Sir Alexander Korda to star alongside Sir Ralph Richardson in The Fallen Idol in 1948. The film was an instant success and his performance was singled out for critical acclaim and it remains one of the classics of British cinema. Through Grown-up Eyes is a remarkably moving and candid account of coping with childhood stardom and the vicissitudes of later life in the USA, tragedy and loss. It is ultimately about survival.
Lunch with Charlotte
by Leon Berger (author)
NEW 2ND EDITION WITH PHOTO ARCHIVETHE TRUE SAGA OF AN EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN, SET AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF HISTORYEvery Friday for the last 25 years of her life, I had lunch with Charlotte and each week she told me more of her extraordinary story. To all appearances, she was a strong and dignified survivor, with old-world courtesies, a twinkling sense of humor, and a lilting Austrian syntax.Yet deep within, she'd been scarred by a profound personal trauma. Finally, just before she died at the age of 91, she chose to entrust me with this profound secret and all at once I understood how it had affected her entire adult life.
Pain and Gain-The Untold True Story
by Marc Schiller
The True Story Behind The Movie Pain & GainThis book proves that sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction! What if you were kidnapped, tied to a wall for a month, starved, humiliated, tortured and then they tried to murder you, but you survived? What stories would you tell of how you were able to survive and the struggles you went through? What if you went to the police and they did not believe you? What would you do to evade those trying to kill you and how would you bring the criminals to justice before they struck again? How would that change your life and the way you perceived the world and people? Read this amazing book to find out! The year was 1994, Marc and his family lived and ordinary middle class life in Miami, Florida. Little did he know that in November of that year his life and that of his family would change forever. The events that were to unfold could not be conceived by the wildest imagination. In this amazing book he narrates the events that led to his kidnapping and his attempted murder. It will transport and place you in the warehouse where he was held and give you a unique perspective of the events that transpired during that horrific month and the physical and mental struggle to beat the odds and survive. Marc chronicles his story in torturous detail. His humiliation, pain and suffering at the hands of the Sun Gang Gym and his miraculous survival. You will understand how and why he survived and that everything can be taken from a human being, but the one's spirit and determination to survive can never be. No one believed his story, not the police or anyone else. Nevertheless, he maintained steadfast and determined to bring the criminals to justice before they struck again. Truly a harrowing tale and one that not only you soon won't forget but will uplift and inspire you!!