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Even If it Kills Me: Martial Arts, Rock, and Roll, and Mortality
by Donovan BlairBenjamin Franklin Award SILVER WINNER - 2017 This is the true story of a rock and roll musician who takes up taekwondo at forty-one years old. Doni Blair, bassist for the Toadies, knows he’s past his physical prime, but he’s determined to push himself and pursue his dream of becoming a martial artist—even if it kills him. As a kid Doni was obsessed with ninjas and kung fu movies. He and his brother took up taekwondo—there was no ninja school in Sherman, Texas. Classes were expensive, especially considering their parents’ tenuous employment status and fondness for alcohol. The family lived like “white-trash gypsies,” Blair writes, adding that he got good at moving furniture at three in the morning. The Blair kids loved taekwondo, but the family just couldn’t afford classes. Doni walked away from martial arts. Thirty years later, he’s walking back. “I’m not a kid anymore,” he writes. “I’m a middle-aged man trying to come to grips with being a middle-aged man. I’m not as fast as I used to be. It takes longer for the injuries to heal. I have to eat more bran.” Doni discovers the road to black belt is rough and, well, weird. He meets martial seekers of every sort. He has run-ins with a teenage savant who seems determined to break the author’s leg. He drives a van full of seven-year-olds for the dojang’s after-school program. They puke everywhere. Even If It Kills Me is smart and funny, introspective and irreverent. It blends rock and roll and taekwondo—two of the coolest things in the world.
Even if Your Heart Would Listen: Losing My Daughter to Heroin
by Elise SchillerIn January 2014, Elise Schiller&’s youngest child, thirty-three-year-old Giana Natali, died of a heroin overdose while a resident in a treatment program in Boulder County, Colorado. Even if Your Heart Would Listen is about Giana&’s life, which was full of accomplishments, and her mental illness, addiction, and death. Using excerpts from the journals, planners, and letters Giana left behind, as well as evidence from her medical records, Schiller dissects her daughter&’s treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) at the five residential and several outpatient programs in eastern Pennsylvania where she tried to recover, taking a close look at the lack of continuity and solid medical foundations in the American substance-use treatment system even as she explores the deeply personal experience of her own loss. Poignant and timely, Even if Your Heart Would Listen is a meditation on a family&’s grief, an intimate portrayal of a mother-daughter bond that endures, and an examination of how our nation is failing in its struggle with the opioid epidemic.
Even in Our Darkness: A Story Of Beauty In A Broken Life
by Jack S. Deere"Unmasked, unsettling, and unforgettable . . . this will change the landscape of your soul." —Ann Voskamp"Filled with the raw pain, beauty, mystery, and grace that our hearts were meant for." —Matt ChandlerPrepare yourself for an unvarnished look at the Christian life, told now for the first time. A powerful memoir of finding beauty and friendship through the pain of loss, tragedy, and brokenness, Even in Our Darkness explores what it means to know God and be known by him.Jack Deere tells the true story of his life growing up near Fort Worth, Texas in the 1950’s and the disintegration of his family following his father’s suicide. In his mid-twenties, Jack would rise to fame and success as a leading scholar, popular speaker, and bestselling author.But despite being rescued and exalted, Jack would ultimately be crushed in the years that followed. He would lose his son to suicide and his wife to alcoholism. Only then would Jack wrestle with his own addictions, surrender control, and experience true healing.An authentic story of the Christian life, Even in Our Darkness will serve as your own guide in overcoming life’s disappointments and learning to hear God speak in unbelievable ways."Jack Deere speaks on a vulnerable, raw, and honest level about his own narrative and the darkness he has encountered, both around him and within his own soul. He ultimately points the reader to the God who is always there and who always sustains." —Dr. John Townsend"Written beautifully and harrowingly—and so grippingly that you won’t want to stop reading—this story is everyone’s story." —Eric Metaxas"Raw, gritty, and transparent, Jack’s writing rings with effervescent joy and searing pain. I read the last seventy-five pages with my heart in my throat and tears in my eyes. If I could, I’d send every person reading this a copy myself. It’s that good. —Lynn Vincent
Even More Fantastic Failures: True Stories of People Who Changed the World by Falling Down First
by Luke ReynoldsEven the most well-known people have struggled to succeed! This follow-up to Fantastic Failures offers up a second dose of fascinating stories featuring flops that turned into triumphs.Kids today are under a lot of pressure to succeed, but failure has an important place in life as young people learn how to be a successful person. In his teaching career, Luke Reynolds saw the stress and anxiety his students suffered, whether it was over grades, fitting in, or simply getting things right the first time. Even More Fantastic Failures is a second installment in Luke Reynolds&’s personal campaign to show kids it&’s okay to fall down or make mistakes, just so long as you try, try again! Kids will read about a host of inspiring, courageous, and diverse people who have accomplished—or still are accomplishing—big things to make this world a better place. A wide range of stories about Barack Obama, Greta Thunberg, Nick Foles, Emma Gonzalez, Beyoncé, Ryan Coogler, John Cena, Socrates, and even the Jamaican national women&’s soccer team, prove that the greatest mistakes and flops can turn into something amazing. In between these fun profiles, Reynolds features great scientists and other pivotal people whose game-changing discovery started as a failure. Readers will enjoy seeing stories they know highlighted in the new feature &“Off the Page and On the Screen,&” which showcases how failures and successes are presented in books and film. Each profile includes advice to readers on how to come back from their own flops and move forward to succeed.
Even on Days when it Rains: A True Story of Hardship and Maternal Love
by Julia O'DonnellIrish singing star Daniel O'Donnell's mother, Julia, grew up on a remote island off the northwest coast of Ireland, going barefoot and doing hard labour as as child during the poverty-stricken 1920s.The hard work continued through her teenage years as she picked potatoes in the fields and travelled to Scotland to gut fish in the ports. After she married, Julia's beloved husband, Francie, was forced to work away from home for months on end. Physically demanding, the work eventually took its toll and Julia found herself widowed and penniless with five children while still in her forties.In this classic and inspiring story of triumph over adversity, Julia tells how she battled through this dark period by knitting sweaters into the early hours of the morning to support her family. Then, in an amazing twist of fate, this hard-working woman and dedicated mother watched from the wings as her offspring flourished. Her daughter Margaret and son Daniel went on to achieve fame and fortune as chart-topping singers.Poignant, warm and laced with great humour, The Mother's Story is a tale of maternal love, hardship and sacrifice, and a fascinating insight into this remarkable Irish family's life.'I was six when my father died so my mother has been everything to me. Wherever I go I tell the world about my wonderful mother. I'm a singer today because of my mother's encouragement. She has been the biggest influence in my life.' Daniel O'Donnell
Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle
by Ingrid BetancourtIngrid Betancourt tells the story of her captivity in the Colombian jungle, sharing powerful teachings of resilience, resistance, and faith. Born in Bogotá, raised in France, Ingrid Betancourt at the age of thirty-two gave up a life of comfort and safety to return to Colombia to become a political leader in a country that was being slowly destroyed by terrorism, violence, fear, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. In 2002, while campaigning as a candidate in the Colombian presidential elections, she was abducted by the FARC. Nothing could have prepared her for what came next. She would spend the next six and a half years in the depths of the jungle as a prisoner of the FARC. Even Silence Has an End is her deeply personal and moving account of that time. Chained day and night for much of her captivity, she never stopped dreaming of escape and, in fact, succeeded in getting away several times, always to be recaptured. In her most successful effort she and a fellow captive survived a week away, but were caught when her companion became desperately ill; she learned later that they had been mere miles from freedom. The facts of her story are astounding, but it is Betancourt's indomitable spirit that drives this very special account, bringing life, nuance, and profundity to the narrative. Attending as intimately to the landscape of her mind as she does to the events of her capture and captivity, Even Silence Has an End is a meditation on the very stuff of life-fear and freedom, hope and what inspires it. Betancourt tracks her metamorphosis, sharing how in the routines she established for herself - listening to her mother and two children broadcast to her over the radio, daily prayer - she was able to do the unthinkable: to move through the pain of the moment and find a place of serenity. Freed in 2008 by the Colombian army, today Betancourt is determined to draw attention to the plight of hostages and victims of terrorism throughout the world and it is that passion that motivates Even Silence Has an End. The lessons she offers here - in courage, resilience, and humanity - are gifts to treasure.
Even Silence Has An End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle
by Ingrid BetancourtIngrid Betancourt's story - her exemplary courage, spirit and resilience - has captured the world's imagination. A politician and presidential candidate celebrated for her determination to combat the corruption and climate of fear endemic in Colombia, in 2002 she was taken hostage by FARC, a terrorist guerrilla organisation. She was held captive in the depths of the jungle for six and a half years, chained day and night for much of that time, constantly on the move and enduring gruelling conditions. She was freed and reunited with her children and relatives in 2008.It is Betancourt's indomitable spirit that drives this important and deeply moving book, telling in her own words the extraordinary drama of her capture and eventual rescue, and describes her fight to survive, mentally and physically. As she confronts the horror of what she went through, her story also goes beyond the specifics of her own confinement to offer an intensely intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate reflection on what it means to be human.
Even So, Joy: Our Journey Through Heartbreak, Hope, and Triumph
by Lesa BrackbillIn life's toughest moments joy and heartache fight for our undivided attention. You determine which one prevails. Stories are supposed to go a certain way or so were told. You are supposed to grow up, get an education, find your dream job, meet the love of your life, get married and start a family, and then live happily ever after. So when Brennan and Lesa Brackbill had their first child, they never imagined that they would soon lose her. In Even So, Joy, author Lesa Brackbill shares the touching and inspiring story of her first daughter, Victoria, who would sadly be lost to an impossible situation after being diagnosed with Krabbe leukodystrophy when she was only six months old. Victoria was everything Lesa and her husband, Brennan, had hoped for, but faced with her terminal disease, their world was turned upside down. Though their story could have been filled with sorrow and despair, God was there to fill the story instead with gratitude and joy. The Lord has a purpose for everything, and even though that purpose is not always fully revealed, we can learn to walk daily in the hope that God is going to redeem our sorrows. Lesa and Brennan wont be the last couple to lose a child to an impossible situation, but through Tori's life and with God's faithfulness and helpit will be a story that can encourage us to remember that God is good, God is sovereign, and God is faithful. Always.
Even The Stars Look Lonesome
by Dr Maya AngelouLessons of a lifetime from the author of I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS'A brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman' BARACK OBAMAWith her customary courage and humour - and always with style and grace - Maya Angelou reflects on the people and places she has known. She talks about Africa and ageing, she gives us a profile of her great friend and 'daughter' Oprah Winfrey, she sings the praises of sensuality. But here too are her thoughts on the end of a much-wanted marriage, confessions of rage and the importance of solitude. EVEN THE STARS LOOK LONESOME is the work of a wonderful woman who is not afraid to admit to the mistakes and vulnerabilities that make us human.'She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace . . . She will always be the rainbow in my clouds' OPRAH WINFREY 'She was important in so many ways. She launched African American women writing in the United States. She was generous to a fault. She had nineteen talents - used ten. And was a real original. There is no duplicate' TONI MORRISON
Even the Stars Look Lonesome
by Maya AngelouEssays on life, aging, fame, rage, marriage, sensuality, written in the poetic prose of Maya Angelou.
Even This I Get to Experience
by Norman Lear"This is, flat out, one of the best Hollywood memoirs ever written... An absolute treasure." --Booklist (STARRED)In my ninety-plus years I've lived a multitude of lives. In the course of all these lives, I had a front-row seat at the birth of television; wrote, produced, created, or developed more than a hundred shows; had nine on the air at the same time; founded the 300,000-member liberal advocacy group People For the American Way; was labeled the "no. 1 enemy of the American family" by Jerry Falwell; made it onto Richard Nixon's "Enemies List"; was presented with the National Medal of the Arts by President Clinton; purchased an original copy of the Declaration of Independence and toured it for ten years in all fifty states; blew a fortune in a series of bad investments in failing businesses; and reached a point where I was informed we might even have to sell our home. Having heard that we'd fallen into such dire straits, my son-in-law phoned me and asked how I was feeling. My answer was, "Terrible, of course," but then I added, "but I must be crazy, because despite all that's happened, I keep hearing this inner voice saying, 'Even this I get to experience.'"Norman Lear's work is legendary. The renowned creator of such iconic television programs as All in the Family; Maude; Good Times; The Jeffersons; and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Lear remade our television culture from the ground up. At their peak, his programs were viewed by 120 million people a week, with stories that dealt with the most serious issues of the day--racism, poverty, abortion --yet still left audiences howling with laughter. In EVEN THIS I GET TO EXPERIENCE, Lear opens up with all the candor, humor, and wisdom to be expected from one of America's greatest living storytellers.But TV and politics are only a fraction of the tale. Lear's early years were grounded in the harshness of the Great Depression, and further complicated by his parents' vivid personalities. The imprisonment of Lear's father, a believer in the get-rich-quick scheme, colored his son's childhood. During this absence, Lear's mother left her son to live with relatives. Lear's comic gifts were put to good use during this hard time, even as they would be decadeslater during World War II, when Lear produced and staged a variety show for his fellow airmen in addition to flying fifty bombing missions.After the war, Lear tried his hand at publicity in New York before setting out for Los Angeles in 1949. A lucky break had a powerful agent in the audience the night Danny Thomas performed a nightclub routine written by Lear, and within days his career in television began. Before long his work with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (and later Martha Raye and George Gobel) made him the highest-paid comedy writer in the country, and he was spending his summers with the likes of Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. Movies followed, and soon he was making films starring Frank Sinatra, Dick Van Dyke, and Jason Robards. Then came the '70s, and Lear's unprecedented string of TV hits.Married three times and the father of six children ranging in age from nineteen to sixty-eight, Lear's penetrating look at family life, parenthood, and marriage is a volume in itself. A memoir as touching, funny, and remarkable as any of Lear's countless artistic creations, EVEN THIS I GET TO EXPERIENCE is nothing less than a profound gift, endlessly readable and characteristically unforgettable.ey Parker "Fantastic stories from one of the wisest, most subversive, and most beautiful human beings the comedy world has ever known. Like the man himself, this book is charming, awe-inspiring, and hilarious."
Even This I Get to Experience
by Norman Lear"This is, flat out, one of the best Hollywood memoirs ever written... An absolute treasure." --Booklist (STARRED)<P> In my ninety-plus years I've lived a multitude of lives. In the course of all these lives, I had a front-row seat at the birth of television; wrote, produced, created, or developed more than a hundred shows; had nine on the air at the same time; founded the 300,000-member liberal advocacy group People For the American Way; was labeled the "no. 1 enemy of the American family" by Jerry Falwell; made it onto Richard Nixon's "Enemies List"; was presented with the National Medal of the Arts by President Clinton; purchased an original copy of the Declaration of Independence and toured it for ten years in all fifty states; blew a fortune in a series of bad investments in failing businesses; and reached a point where I was informed we might even have to sell our home. Having heard that we'd fallen into such dire straits, my son-in-law phoned me and asked how I was feeling. My answer was, "Terrible, of course," but then I added, "but I must be crazy, because despite all that's happened, I keep hearing this inner voice saying, 'Even this I get to experience.'" <P> Norman Lear's work is legendary. The renowned creator of such iconic television programs as All in the Family; Maude; Good Times; The Jeffersons; and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Lear remade our television culture from the ground up. At their peak, his programs were viewed by 120 million people a week, with stories that dealt with the most serious issues of the day--racism, poverty, abortion --yet still left audiences howling with laughter. In EVEN THIS I GET TO EXPERIENCE, Lear opens up with all the candor, humor, and wisdom to be expected from one of America's greatest living storytellers. <P> But TV and politics are only a fraction of the tale. Lear's early years were grounded in the harshness of the Great Depression, and further complicated by his parents' vivid personalities. The imprisonment of Lear's father, a believer in the get-rich-quick scheme, colored his son's childhood. During this absence, Lear's mother left her son to live with relatives. Lear's comic gifts were put to good use during this hard time, even as they would be decadeslater during World War II, when Lear produced and staged a variety show for his fellow airmen in addition to flying fifty bombing missions. <P> After the war, Lear tried his hand at publicity in New York before setting out for Los Angeles in 1949. A lucky break had a powerful agent in the audience the night Danny Thomas performed a nightclub routine written by Lear, and within days his career in television began. Before long his work with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (and later Martha Raye and George Gobel) made him the highest-paid comedy writer in the country, and he was spending his summers with the likes of Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. Movies followed, and soon he was making films starring Frank Sinatra, Dick Van Dyke, and Jason Robards. Then came the '70s, and Lear's unprecedented string of TV hits. <P> Married three times and the father of six children ranging in age from nineteen to sixty-eight, Lear's penetrating look at family life, parenthood, and marriage is a volume in itself. A memoir as touching, funny, and remarkable as any of Lear's countless artistic creations, EVEN THIS I GET TO EXPERIENCE is nothing less than a profound gift, endlessly readable and characteristically unforgettable. ey Parker "Fantastic stories from one of the wisest, most subversive, and most beautiful human beings the comedy world has ever known. Like the man himself, this book is charming, awe-inspiring, and hilarious."
Even to the Edge of Doom: A Love that Survived the Holocaust
by William Schiff Rosalie Schiff Craig HanleyIn 1943 William and Rosalie Schiff, newly married in the Krakow Ghetto, were forcibly separated and sent on individual journeys through a 'surreal maze of hate'. Saved by the legendary Oscar Schindler, they were reunited at the Plaszow work camp, where they were at the mercy of the bestial SS commandant Amon Goth. When Rosalie was shipped out for a work detail at another camp, William stowed away on a train, desperate to catch up with her; but the train took him to the notorious Auschwitz death camp. Even to the Edge of Doom tells the story of two young people who stayed alive against all the odds to find one another again.
The Evening Crowd At Kirmser's: A Gay Life In The 1940s
by Ricardo Brown William Reichard Allan H. SpearSet in 1945-1946, documentary of a WWII vet discharged for homosexuality and gay life at the time period.
Evening in the Palace of Reason
by James R. GainesFrederick The Great had a conflicted youth. His mother taught him to love art, luxury and intrigue. His father beat him mercilessly and often as he trained his son to be a dedicated leader and warrior. Bach knew and was fulfilled by his lifelong career as a brilliant composer and performer, though he often felt that he was underpaid and that the work he so loved wasn't appreciated. This historic novel illuminates the motives and goals of these major figures in the age of enlightenment. Fascinating and challenging facts about music and history abound. The novel is followed by a discography guiding the reader to J. S. Bach's recordings.
An Evening with Blowers
by Henry BlofeldHenry Blofeld is one of the greatest characters in cricket. For nearly thirty years his distinctive rich, plummy voice and his famous expression 'My dear old thing!' have delighted the millions of listeners to BBC Radio's Test Match Special.In his entertaining one-man show An Evening with Blowers Henry takes his audience on a hilarious journey from his eccentric childhood in Norfolk to his schooldays as a prolific batsman at Eton and his successful career as an international cricket writer and broadcaster. He tells many colourful anecdotes about the game of cricket and his BBC colleagues including John Arlott and Brian Johnston and reveals what really happened when the Queen presented the TMS team with a special cake!(p) 2002 BarryMour Productions
An Evening with Richard Nixon
by Gore VidalGore Vidal puts Tricky Dick on trial for his political career... but this was written a year before Watergate became known, so it has even more piquant quality to think that the past was just so much prologue to his real crimes.
Evening's Empire: The Story of My Father's Murder
by Zachary LazarWhen he was just six years old, Zachary Lazar's father, Edward, was shot dead by hit men in a Phoenix, Arizona parking garage. The year was 1975, a time when, according to the Arizona Republic, "land-fraud artists roamed the state in sharp suits, gouging money from buyers and investors." How did his father fit into this world and how could his son ever truly understand the man, his time and place, and his motivations? In Evening's Empire, Zachary Lazar, whose novel Sway was named one of the Best Books of 2008 by Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications, brilliantly attempts to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to his father's murder. How did Ed Lazar, a fun-loving but meticulous accountant, become involved in a multi-million dollar real-estate scandal involving politicians and Mafia figures? How much did he know about his colleagues' illegal activities? Why had he chosen to testify against his former business partner, Ned Warren, Sr.? Warren was "a mystery man," according to 60 Minutes, widely known as "the Godfather of land fraud." The day before Ed Lazar was scheduled to appear in front of a grand jury he was killed in a "gangland-style murder," as reported by Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News. Four hundred mourners attended a memorial service for him the next day. Evening's Empire is based on archival research and interviews--introducing a cast of characters as various as Senator Barry Goldwater and Cesar Romero--and is clarified by scenes imagined in the context of this evidence. It is a singular and haunting story of American ambition and its tragic cost. Of Zachary Lazar's previous book, Sway, the reviewer for The New York Times Book Review wrote, "This brilliant novel is about what's to be found in the shadows." The same can be said of Evening's Empire's true story, but here the shadows are very close to home.
An Event, Perhaps: A Biography of Jacques Derrida
by Peter SalmonPhilosopher, film star, father of &“post truth&”—the real story of Jacques DerridaWho is Jacques Derrida? For some, he is the originator of a relativist philosophy responsible for the contemporary crisis of truth. For the far right, he is one of the architects of Cultural Marxism. To his academic critics, he reduced French philosophy to &“little more than an object of ridicule.&” For his fans, he is an intellectual rock star who ranged across literature, politics, and linguistics. In An Event, Perhaps, Peter Salmon presents this misunderstood and misappropriated figure as a deeply humane and urgent thinker for our times. Born in Algiers, the young Jackie was always an outsider. Despite his best efforts, he found it difficult to establish himself among the Paris intellectual milieu of the 1960s. However, in 1967, he changed the whole course of philosophy: outlining the central concepts of deconstruction. Immediately, his reputation as a complex and confounding thinker was established. Feted by some, abhorred by others, Derrida had an exhaustive breadth of interests but, as Salmon shows, was moved by a profound desire to understand how we engage with each other. It is a theme explored through Derrida&’s intimate relationships with writers sucheven as Althusser, Genet, Lacan, Foucault, Cixous, and Kristeva. Accessible, provocative and beautifully written, An Event, Perhaps will introduce a new readership to the life and work of a philosopher whose influence over the way we think will continue long into the twenty-first century.
Events (The\olympics Ser.)
by Moira ButterfieldEach title of The Olympics examines the the Olympic Games from ancient times, then the revival of the 1890s through to today's multi-million pound business. From the history of the games to which events are included and why, and from scandals to record breakers, The Olympics puts the reader at the centre of the action with fact-packed text, dramatic full-colour photos, facts and statistics.
Events (The Olympics #2)
by Moira ButterfieldEach title of The Olympics examines the the Olympic Games from ancient times, then the revival of the 1890s through to today's multi-million pound business. From the history of the games to which events are included and why, and from scandals to record breakers, The Olympics puts the reader at the centre of the action with fact-packed text, dramatic full-colour photos, facts and statistics.
Events Management: Principles and Practice
by Razaq Raj Paul Walters Mr Tahir RashidThe new edition of this popular accessible text gives students a thorough and contemporary grounding in both the fundamentals and strategic responsibilities of successful event management. Purposefully broad in scope, the text combines theory with practical knowledge and terminology, ensuring readers develop a flexible and commercially-acute skill set. <P><P> Topics covered range from law, marketing and finance to introductory guides to sound, lighting and multimedia equipment, providing students with the practical knowledge they need for a career in Events Management. Theory is brought to life in a range of case studies and examples throughout the text. <P> As well as updated examples and legislation, this edition introduces new chapters on:<P> * Event entrepreneurship<P> * Project management and financing<P> * New Multimedia technology for events organisers<P> * Sustainable festivals and events<P> * Long term legacy and impacts<P> * The future of the industry<P> An accompanying Companion Website provides students with discussion questions and video links. The website also provides an Instructor's Manual and PowerPoint slides for lecturers. <P> This text is an ideal resource for undergraduate students who are studying Events Management for the first time. <P> Visit the Companion Website at www.sagepub.co.uk/raj
Ever After: Diana and the Life She Led
by Anne Edwards"Diana's many fans are sure to be delighted by Edwards's intimate prose and detailed descriptions." -Publishers Weekly. Perfect for fans of Netflix's The Crown."This is the stuff of fairy tales," said the Archbishop of Canterbury on July 23, 1981, after the 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer arrived in a glass coach for her wedding to Prince Charles. But everyone knows how that fairy tale ended. Drawing upon intensive research and interviews, acclaimed biographer Anne Edwards, well-known for her revelatory and incisive books on members of Britain's royal family, here uncovers new details of Diana's life and her search for love; of her family background; and of a betrayal, historic in its outcome. What the public did not know at the time of her storybook wedding was the true story of Diana's troubled childhood-of the cold, autocratic grandfather who disdained her father, who was himself an abusive husband obsessed with having a son to inherit the Spencer wealth and title.When Diana married Prince Charles, she joined the equally troubled House of Windsor, and was caught up in a plot Shakespearean in its deception and eventual tragic ending. Anne Edwards paints a vivid portrait of a woman desperate in her marriage, fearful of her life, who became devious-and often brilliant-in the moves she played in a treacherous royal chess game.As in her superb biographies of other royal and celebrated women, Anne Edwards's Ever After transcends the one-sided views of Diana in a work that must be called definitive. At long last, and with all of the insight and narrative drama that have marked her previous bestsellers, Edwards brings us the first full-scale, authoritative portrait of a more intelligent, more resourceful, and sometimes more ruthless woman than we have seen before.
Ever After
by William Wharton"I've become convinced the physical life we must live out is but ephemeral. It gives me much comfort and has allowed for new experiences of a spiritual nature I've never had before. " -William Wharton, from the Epilogue In August of 1988, heavy black smoke engulfed an Oregon highway, causing a massive 23-car pileup that claimed the lives of novelist William Wharton's 36-year-old daughter, her husband, and their two infant daughters. They'd been victims of field burning, a routine agricultural practice, and were burned alive in their van. How could such a thing happen? And how could a father come to terms with such a loss? Ever After, Wharton's first memoir, is his search for answers to these questions, written with the inspired simplicity that won him great acclaim for his novels.
Ever By My Side
by Nick Trout"The lessons that these animals taught me have been subtle, startling, and inspirational, playing a small but vital part in helping to shape the person you see with the stethoscope around his neck." --Dr. Nick Trout New York Times bestselling author Nick Trout has captivated readers by taking them behind the scenes into the heartwarming--and sometimes heartrending--world of veterinary medicine. In Ever By My Side, Nick turns the lens inward to offer a funny, moving, and intimate memoir about how the pets he has had throughout his life have shaped him into the son, husband, father, and doctor he is today. Using his relationships with those beloved animals to tell his life story, Nick shares the profound lessons he's learned about friendship, loyalty, and resilience. The result is a moving story that speaks not just to animal lovers, but to any reader who appreciates the bonds we have with our loved ones, be they animal or human, and the lengths to which we go to nurture those bonds. Nick waxes nostalgic about his boyhood in a working-class British suburb, where a large German shepherd named Patch was the perfect companion to a scrawny, bookish boy in a neighborhood full of bullies. He writes about his relationship with his father, the man who nurtured Nick's dream of becoming a vet, even though he couldn't have imagined the career would lead his only son 3,000 miles away. He describes wooing his future wife and stepdaughter and (perhaps most difficult of all) their ornery cat. And he offers a poignant chronicle of his daughter's devastating diagnosis of cystic fibrosis and how a little yellow Labrador retriever played an important role in bringing joy to their family when they needed it most. Alongside Nick's warm reflections, the pets in these pages come alive as irresistible characters in their own right and showcase the power of animals to offer a lifetime of consolation, guidance, and abiding affection.Tender, wry, and ruminative, Ever By My Side is a tribute to the power and beauty of ordinary life and a celebration of how pets make it all the sweeter and richer.From the Hardcover edition.