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When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man
by Jerry Weintraub Rich CohenHere is the story of Jerry Weintraub: the self-made, Brooklyn-born, Bronx-raised impresario, Hollywood producer, legendary deal maker, and friend of politicians and stars. No matter where nature has placed him--the club rooms of Brooklyn, the Mafia dives of New York's Lower East Side, the wilds of Alaska, or the hills of Hollywood--he has found a way to put on a show and sell tickets at the door. "All life was a theater and I wanted to put it up on a stage," he writes. "I wanted to set the world under a marquee that read: 'Jerry Weintraub Presents.'"In WHEN I STOP TALKING, YOU'LL KNOW I'M DEAD, we follow Weintraub from his first great success at age twenty-six with Elvis Presley, whom he took on the road with the help of Colonel Tom Parker; to the immortal days with Sinatra and Rat Pack glory; to his crowning hits as a movie producer, starting with Robert Altman and Nashville, continuing with Oh, God!, The Karate Kid movies, and Diner, among others, and summiting with Steven Soderbergh and Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen.Along the way, we'll watch as Jerry moves from the poker tables of Palm Springs (the games went on for days), to the power rooms of Hollywood, to the halls of the White House, to Red Square in Moscow and the Great Palace in Beijing-all the while counseling potentates, poets, and kings, with clients and confidants like George Clooney, Bruce Willis, George H. W. Bush, Armand Hammer, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, John Denver, Bobby Fischer . . .well, the list goes on forever.And of course, the story is not yet over . . .as the old-timers say, "The best is yet to come."As Weintraub says, "When I stop talking, you'll know I'm dead."With wit, wisdom, and the cool confidence that has colored his remarkable career, Jerry chronicles a quintessentially American journey, one marked by luck, love, and improvisation. The stories he tells and the lessons we learn are essential, not just for those who love movies and music, but for businessmen, entrepreneurs, artists . . . everyone.
When I Was a Nipper: The Way We Were in Disappearing Britain
by Alan TitchmarshIn When I Was a Nipper Alan Titchmarsh goes on a personal and nostalgic journey through post-War Britain in search of treasured values and traditions that were once the soul of society. With characteristic wit, warmth and humour he draws on the experience of his own childhood, and also takes a broader perspective, creating a wonderfully detailed and evocative portrait of a way of life that is fast disappearing, and asks what can we learn from this era of austerity to make our lives better today?Born in Yorkshire in 1949 and brought up in a Britain still recovering from World War 2, Alan remembers a time of relative calm, when it was enough to return home at night knowing that the house would still be standing. We were known throughout the world for our patience, resourcefulness and resilience. 'Mustn't grumble' was almost a national catchphrase, and queuing was second nature. Peppered with wonderful archive photographs and advertisements, When I Was a Nipper takes us back to those days, down high streets and through farmyards, on to trolley buses and into local pubs. As we move towards a global economy, as communities fragment and customs are lost, When I Was a Nipper captures a world that is fast receding into history. It's powerfully nostalgic for those who remember those days, but it's also Alan's timely call to all recession-hit Brits to heed the lessons of austerity Britain: 'make do and mend'; 'look on the bright side' and 'take the knocks on the chin'.
When in Rome: Chasing la dolce vita
by Penelope GreenWe've all dreamed of a new exotic life in a European city, but who actually goes? The delightful and award-winning WHEN IN ROME shows what can happen when you are courageous - and perhaps crazy - enough to chase this dream. With her thirtieth birthday on the horizon and a safe and comfortable life in Sydney outside her front door, Penelope Green decided it was now or never. Undaunted by the fact she spoke absolutely no Italian, had no job, no friends and nowhere to live and armed only with an Italian/English dictionary, irresistible optimism and a fair dash of bravery, she was determined to carve out her own slice of la dolce vita.
When Last on the Mountain
by Vicky Lettmann Carol Roan"When Last on the Mountain is an open look at the many and astonishing ways our bodies bear both curses and blessing and is a testament to our abiding need to address in language and image the body's sure and swift betrayals. From a vantage point of life after fifty, with grace and humor these writers peer soberly at the future while maintaining their gaze on the past."-Gina Ochsner, author of The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight"A fun and varied read. Insightful, witty, and sometimes heartbreaking selections, but all with an underlying fire for life."-Will Weaver, author of Sweet Land: New & Selected Stories"Who better to bear witness to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune than writers over 50? The voices of experience collected by Lettmann and Roan are generous in their honest specificity. Prospective readers can be assured of a good and meaningful time with these stories, essays and poems."-Sam Hodges, reporter for The Dallas Morning News and author of B-Four"When Last on the Mountain is a book full of treasures. From these writers comes work of substance, surprise, and death-defying candor. To read these pieces is to be inside an art that sifts through comedy, irony, and hard facts to offer the intensely interesting (yes) exhilarations of the long view."-Joan Silber, author of Ideas of Heaven: A Ring of Stories and The Size of the World"One day I will write my last downhill run, not on snow, but on paper. Not today. No. I dance, stop, dance, stop, dance, dance, dance down the mountain."-Kaye Bache-SnyderWhat sets these writers apart? Until we reach fifty, how we live and write is colored by our futures: those we expect to have and those we imagine. The perspective of the over-fifty writer takes on the hues of both past and future, tinted by memories of first loves, stained by memories of war and loss, and made more poignant by the knowledge that this spring's blooms or this morning's cup of coffee with a beloved husband may be the last and must be savored fully.These essays, stories, and poems were chosen from more than two thousand submissions of previously unpublished work. Some of the contributors-a poet laureate, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, a former foreign correspondent-have long literary histories; others-a social worker, a civil service employee, a clergywoman-began to write later in life. All of them were inspired by a call that asked for fresh and honest writing from the fullness of their lives.Vicky Lettmann, who writes fiction, essays, and poetry, served as an editor for the literary/arts magazines Speakeasy (the Loft Literary Center) and Under Construction (North Hennepin Community College). She received an MFA in fiction writing from Warren Wilson College. Her work has appeared in Twenty-Six Minnesota Writers (Nodin Press) and in Beloved on the Earth: 150 Poems of Grief and Gratitude (Holy Cow! Press).Carol Roan teaches voice and stage presence in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is the author of Clues to American Dance (Starrhill Press) and Speak Easy: A Guide to Successful Performances, Presentations, Speeches, and Lectures (Starrhill Press), and she writes a column on the "art of performance" for an online 'zine. She won a fellowship to Summer Literary Seminars, Russia, in 2006.
When My World Was Very Small: A Memoir of Family, Food, Cancer and My Couch
by Ruth RakoffIn the whirlwind of life with three young sons, an active member in her tight-knit community, Ruth Rakoff felt in supreme control of her wide world. But when a routine mammogram revealed a tumor, that world rapidly shrunk down to the size of one breast. And so begins the journey of biopsy, surgery, chemotherapy, all accompanied by tidal waves of anxiety and grief: how to tell the children? Should she consider having a healthy breast removed, in case the cancer returns? Will food ever taste good again? Amid all the worry and change, there is also overwhelming gratitude for a stalwart network of family and friends who strive to help and support, to comfort and delight -- even as everyone longs for the old normal of daily life. Through stories, confessions and anecdotes, Ruth Rakoff shows just what is at stake when cancer shows up at the party uninvited. There is no sugarcoating of either the physical or emotional pain of dealing with the disease or the effects of the poisons used to combat it. But for Rakoff, a life without laughter is not worth living. Brazen and irreverent, Ruth tells us that socks, no matter how luxurious, are not a cancer present. That no number of crystal-waving shamans can beat the healing power of good food, good friends and a raucous night on the town. And that just because you have cancer, you don't have to be a better person.Far more than just a recounting of disease and recovery, When My World Was Very Small is an intimate, colorful, one-of-a-kind memoir that celebrates life, love and family.From the Hardcover edition.
When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi (Biography Ser.)
by David MaranissIn this groundbreaking biography, David Maraniss captures all of football great Vince Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God.More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. The son of an Italian immigrant butcher, Lombardi toiled for twenty frustrating years as a high school coach and then as an assistant at Fordham, West Point, and the New York Giants before his big break came at age forty-six with the chance to coach a struggling team in snowbound Wisconsin. His leadership of the Green Bay Packers to five world championships in nine seasons is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a living legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning.
When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison
by Greil Marcus"Van Morrison," says Greil Marcus, "remains a singer who can be compared to no other in the history of modern popular music. " When Astral Weeks was released in 1968, it was largely ignored.<P><P> When it was rereleased as a live album in 2009 it reached the top of the Billboard charts, a first for any Van Morrison recording. The wild swings in the music, mirroring the swings in Morrison's success and in people's appreciation (or lack of it) of his music, make Van Morrison one of the most perplexing and mysterious figures in popular modern music, and a perfect subject for the wise and insightful scrutiny of Greil Marcus, one of America's most dedicated cultural critics. This book is Marcus's quest to understand Van Morrison's particular genius through the extraordinary and unclassifiable moments in his long career, beginning in 1965 and continuing in full force to this day. In these dislocations Marcus finds the singer on his own artistic quest precisely to reach some extreme musical threshold, the moments that are not enclosed by the will or the intention of the performer but which somehow emerge at the limits of the musician and his song.
When you stop laughing - go home!
by Paul CoghlanIn 2010 to assist his recovery from too many years as a Victorian Public Servant - the land where good ideas go to die - the author took up two consecutive volunteering assignments - over two and a half years in what was then the world's youngest country and youngest democracy - Timor Leste. When you stop laughing go home is a book of personal impressions of modern day Timor Leste told through the prism of the authors daily life in a small township in the hills of Timor Leste. This is a series of stories telling of how an ageing Australian in a transitional time in his life met a young nation in a transitional time in their life and how over two and a half years they worked together, laughed together, came to understand each other and helped rebuild each other. The impressions while sometimes critical of the Government, some foreign consultants and some foreign aid programs tell of the respect gained by the author for the people of Timor Leste and his hope that at last they may experience the freedom to be themselves, govern themselves and build their own future in their own image and likeness.
Where Does It Hurt?: What The Junior Doctor Did Next
by Max PembertonThe Junior Doctor is back! He's into his second year of medicine, but this time Max is out of the wards and onto the streets, working for the Phoenix Outreach Project. Fuelled by tea and more enthusiasm than experience, he attempts to locate and treat a wide and colourful range of patients that somehow his first year on the wards didn't prepare him for . . . from Molly the 80-year-old drugs mule and God in a Tesco car park, to middle-class mums addicted to appearances and pain killers in equal measure. His friends don't approve of the turn his career is taking, his mother is worried and the public spit at him, but Max is determined to make a difference. Despite warnings that miracles are rare, and that not everyone's life can be turned around, Max is still surprised by those that can be saved. Funny, touching and uplifting, Max goes from innocence to experience via dustbin-shopping-trips without ever losing his humanity.
Where The Hell Have You Been?: Monty, Italy and One Man's Incredible Escape
by Tom CarverIn November 1942 a young British army officer was captured. This gripping story tells of Richard"s internment in a POW camp in northern Italy and of his subsequent escape.
Where is the Justice?: Media Attacks, Prosecutorial Abuse, and My 13 Years in Japanese Court
by Hiromasa EzoeOn June 19, 1988, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper broke the story: Recruit Co. Ltd, a media conglomerate founded by Hiromasa Ezoe, was alleged to have bribed the deputy Mayor of Kawasaki City. Thus began what became known as the Recruit Affair, a scandal that shook Japanese politics to the core, just at the height of the Bubble Economy and brought down the long-entrenched Liberal Democratic Party and the government of Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita.As the other mainstream newspapers also began reporting on seemingly-suspicious stock transfers by a Recruit subsidiary to bureaucrats and prominent politicians, an angry public turned on founder and President Ezoe., setting him up as the villain, although the transactions were, actually, legal. Soon, Ezoe was detained by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, and harshly interrogated. There was no concrete evidence against Ezoe, but the sensational reports in the newspapers, TV new programs, and weekly magazines fanned the public's fury and encouraged the prosecutors to pressure a confession out of him. Ultimately, many top LDP politicians were linked to the scandal, and the Takeshita cabinet quit en masse the following year. Mentally and physically exhausted, Ezoe signed the interrogation records. He was given a suspended sentence, and resigned from the business he had founded as a Tokyo University student.Where is the Justice? is Hiromasa Ezoe's detailed and candid look at the Recruit Affair and the part he played in it. More than that, however, it is a sharp indictment of what the Los Angeles Times called, "the pervasive political dishonesty and rampant profiteering at the heart of the system..." Many experts on contemporary Japanese politics say that, in retrospect, the Recruit Affair was a significant turning point in Post-War Japan, as the Bubble Economy became the Lost Decade. Ezoe offers a unique perspective on these events, from which we, today, can draw important lessons about ethics, accountability, transparency, and the often dangerously entwined roles of policy makers, policy enforcers - and those who report and manipulate public opinion.
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman
by Jon KrakauerThis edition has been updated to reflect new developments and includes new material obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the Army and became an icon of post-9/11 patriotism. When he was killed in Afghanistan two years later, a legend was born. But the real Pat Tillman was much more remarkable, and considerably more complicated than the public knew. A stunning account of a remarkable young man's heroic life and death, from the bestselling author of Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given
by Laura Morton Duane Dog ChapmanThe incredible story of struggle, redemption, and bounty hunting--which has catapulted Duane "Dog" Chapman into the hearts of millions, sparked a #1 rated television show, and inspired a #1 New York Times bestselling book--continues in Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given."Who is going to give them the ride, Duane? Who will give them the cigarette and who will give them 'the talk'?"When the preacher posed those questions to me, I realized he was right. If not me, then who? Whether I had planned it or not, I was leading a backseat ministry, one ride at a time.--from Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is GivenConsidered by many to be the world's greatest bounty hunter, Duane "Dog" Chapman has become famous for capturing fugitives on Dog the Bounty Hunter, his #1 rated show on A&E.But his job doesn't end when he cuffs his man--or woman.Having personally struggled against abuse, addition, and a life of crime, Dog knows a thing or two about the path that these fugitives cuffed in the back of his car are on--and he has a good idea of the bad news they'll find at the end of it. As someone who has succeeded in beating the odds and finding a way to live on the right side of the law, Dog also knows what the person in the backseat needs to hear in order to straighten out his or her life."This is your wake up call. You either answer it now, or pay for it later and for the rest of your life. You're being given another shot at things, but only if you take the risk to make the right decision. The choice is yours. What's it going to be, brotha?"While he is himself a mentor to many, Dog draws strength from the great teachers in his own life to face the surprising and difficult challenges that have come his way. Through hard work, unflinching faith, and the acknowledgment of his own flaws--along with the overwhelming desire to fix those flaws--Dog has been through the fire again and again, and come out the stronger for it.Revealing, behind-the-scenes looks at Dog's most significant challenges, along with seat-of-your-pants accounts of his most breakneck bounty hunting stories, makes Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given a must-read for any fan.
Where Mercy is Shown, Mercy is Given: Star of Dog the Bounty Hunter
by Duane ChapmanIn Dog We Trust. More tales from the world's most famous bounty hunter.'This is your wake up call. You either answer it now, or pay for it for the rest of your life. The choice is yours.'Duane 'Dog' Chapman is the world's most famous bounty hunter. During his hard-hitting and often controversial career, he has rounded up more than 6,000 criminals, and inspired and entertained millions on his top-rated TV show, DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER. But his job doesn't end when the cuffs go on...Having been on the wrong side of the law himself - abuse, addiction, crime, gangs, prison - and turned his life around to become an American icon, Dog knows how to get fugitives back on the straight and narrow. And he makes it his business to help.This is an action-packed account of life on the front line, bringing dangerous criminals to justice. It is also the incredible story of a man who has struggled with his own flaws and made the transition from hell-raiser to peacekeeper.
Where's My Wand?: One Boy's Magical Triumph over Alienation and Shag Carpeting
by Eric Poole"Gut-splittingly funny...a deeply moving account of a boy's attempt to control his world with his own brand of magic." --People magazine, 4 stars. Tracey Ullman once described Eric Poole as "the best undiscovered writer I ever met." Now the world can enjoy his achingly honest wit and gift for capturing real life characters in this memoir about growing up in the 1970's with an obsessive-compulsive mother and a crush on Endora from Bewitched.
White Hand Society
by Peter ConnersIn 1960 Timothy Leary was not yet famous-or infamous-and Allen Ginsberg was both. Leary, eager to expand his psychedelic experiments at Harvard to include accomplished artists and writers, knew that Ginsberg held the key to bohemia's elite. "America's most conspicuous beatnik" was recruited as Ambassador of Psilocybin under the auspices of an Ivy League professor, and together they launched the psychedelic revolution and turned on the hippie generation. A who's who of artists, pop culture, and political figures people this story of the life, times, and friendship of two of the most famous, charismatic, and controversial members of America's counterculture.Peter Conners is the author of Growing Up Dead, The Hallucinated Confessions of a Teenage Deadhead.
The White House Boys: An American Tragedy
by Roger Dean KiserHidden far from sight, deep in the thick underbrush of the North Florida woods are the ghostly graves of more than thirty unidentified bodies, some of which are thought to be children who were beaten to death at the old Florida Industrial School for Boys at Marianna. It is suspected that many more bodies will be found in the fields and swamplands surrounding the institution. Investigations into the unmarked graves have compelled many grown men to come forward and share their stories of the abuses they endured and the atrocities they witnessed in the 1950s and 1960s at the institution. The White House Boys: An American Tragedy is the true story of the horrors recalled by Roger Dean Kiser, one of the boys incarcerated at the facility in the late fifties for the crime of being a confused, unwanted, and wayward child. In a style reminiscent of the works of Mark Twain, Kiser recollects the horrifying verbal, sexual, and physical abuse he and other innocent young boys endured at the hands of their "caretakers." Questions remain unanswered and theories abound, but Roger and the other 'White House Boys' are determined to learn the truth and see justice served.
White House Diary
by Jimmy CarterThe edited, annotated diary of Jimmy Carter, former President of the U.S. is filled with insights into his presidency, his relationships with friends and foes, and his lasting impact on issues that still preoccupy America and the world.
Whittaker Chambers: The Spirit of a Counterrevolutionary
by Richard M. Reinsch IIWhat Chambers Can Teach Us Whittaker Chambers is rightly remembered for his pivotal role in the electrifying Alger Hiss spy case. But as Richard Reinsch reminds us in this volume of the acclaimed Library of Modern Thinkers series, Chambers was more than just a government informant; he was a profoundly important thinker who grappled with the nature of modern man's predicaments. Whittaker Chambers: The Spirit of a Counterrevolutionary shows that Chambers's thought posed—and still poses—a challenge to American conservatism and its typical focus on markets and small government. In his journalism, essays, personal correspondence with the likes of William F. Buckley Jr., and landmark autobiographical tome Witness, Chambers engaged more broadly, analyzing the fundamental question of who man is and the classical and spiritual foundations of civilization. Defying conventional thinking, Reinsch argues that the former Communist spy may have been more right than wrong when he predicted that the West would lose the Cold War. While the Soviets' Communist system did of course collapse, the spiritual and philosophical sickness that Chambers identified, Reinsch suggests, has not been cured.
Who On Earth is Archie Carr: Protector of Sea Turtles
by Christine WebsterDetails Archie Carr's life, with chapters devoted to his early years, life, work, writings, and lasting contributions.
Who Was Elvis Presley? (Who Was?)
by John O'Brien Geoff EdgersPut on your blue suede shoes and get ready for another addition to the Who Was…? series! The King could not have come from humbler origins: Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, during the Depression, he grew up with the blues music of the rural South, the gospel music of local churches, and the country-western classics. But he forged a sound all his own—and a look that was all his own, too. With curled lip, swiveling hips, and greased pompadour, Elvis changed popular music forever, ushering in the age of rock and roll. Geoff Edgers’s fascinating biography of this icon of American pop culture includes black and- white illustrations on nearly every spread.
Who Was Franklin Roosevelt? (Who was?)
by Nancy Harrison John O'Brien Margaret FrithAlthough polio left him wheelchair bound, Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office during the Great Depression and served as president during World War II. Elected four times, he spent thirteen years in the White House. How he led the country through tremendously difficult problems, much like the ones facing America today, makes for a timely and engrossing biography.
Who Was Franklin Roosevelt? (Who was?)
by Margaret FrithAlthough polio left him wheelchair bound, Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office during the Great Depression and served as president during World War II. Elected four times, he spent thirteen years in the White House. How he led the country through tremendously difficult problems, much like the ones facing America today, makes for a timely and engrossing biography.
Who Was Jim Henson? (Who was?)
by Joan Harrison Nancy HolubJim Henson broke into television with a five-minute puppetry segment when he was only a freshman in college. He created puppets like none ever seen before, with expressive fabric faces and rod-controlled arms. His Muppets became world-renowned celebrities and formed the backbone of a media empire. With black-and-white illustrations throughout, this easy-to-read biography will be published twenty years after Henson's untimely death. .
Who Was Rosa Parks? (Who was?)
by Stephen Mcdonough Yona Zeldis Harrison Nancy MarchesiIn 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. This seemingly small act triggered civil rights protests across America and earned Rosa Parks the title ÒMother of the Civil Rights Movement. Ó This biography has blackand- white illustrations throughout. .