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A Wild and Precious Life: A Memoir
by Edie Windsor Joshua LyonA lively, intimate memoir from a marriage equality icon of the gay rights movement, describing gay life in the 1950s and 60s New York City and her longtime activism."Brash, funny and brave." —NPR“A captivating and inspiring story of a queer woman who believed in her right to take up space and be seen.”—BuzzFeed"Windsor’s story fighting for what she believed in is one that will leave readers inspired." —NBC OUTEdie Windsor became internationally famous when she sued the US government, seeking federal recognition for her marriage to Thea Spyer, her partner of more than four decades. The Supreme Court ruled in Edie’s favor, a landmark victory that set the stage for full marriage equality in the US. Beloved by the LGBTQ community, Edie embraced her new role as an icon; she had already been living an extraordinary and groundbreaking life for decades. In this memoir, which she began before passing away in 2017 and completed by her co-writer, Edie recounts her childhood in Philadelphia, her realization that she was a lesbian, and her active social life in Greenwich Village's electrifying underground gay scene during the 1950s. Edie was also one of a select group of trailblazing women in computing, working her way up the ladder at IBM and achieving their highest technical ranking while developing software. In the early 1960s Edie met Thea, an expat from a Dutch Jewish family that fled the Nazis, and a widely respected clinical psychologist. Their partnership lasted forty-four years, until Thea died in 2009. Edie found love again, marrying Judith Kasen-Windsor in 2016. A Wild and Precious Life is remarkable portrait of an iconic woman, gay life in New York in the second half of the twentieth century, and the rise of LGBT activism.
Wild and Precious Life
by Deborah Ziegler"When twenty-nine-year-old Brittany is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, she thinks almost immediately about ending her life with dignity...In this painfully honest memoir, Deborah, Brittany's mother, records the surgeries, treatments, and soul-searching that went into honoring Brittany's path...Brittany's story...will have a ready audience, and Deborah's frank account of their struggles will be comforting to others facing this difficult decision." --Booklist (starred review)Written by Deborah Ziegler, the mother of Brittany Maynard--a twenty-nine-year-old woman with a terminal brain tumor--this touching and beautiful memoir captures and celebrates her daughter's spirit and the mostly untold story of Brittany's last year of life as she chose her right to die with dignity, a journey that inspired millions. On October 6, 2014, a video of my daughter, Brittany Maynard, was posted on YouTube. Brittany asked me to do the video with her, to support her. The first words my daughter uttered on the film were, "The thoughts that go through your mind when you find out you have so little time is everything you need to say to everyone that you love." Wearing a simple black sweater, her face already rounded and puffy from taking prescribed steroids, her once waist-length hair now grazing her shoulders after a craniotomy, Brittany described why she was choosing to end her life by her own hand rather than waiting for her brain tumor to rob her of everything that defined who she was. In this poignant, powerful book, Deborah Ziegler makes good on the promise she made to her only child: that she would honor her daughter and carry forward her legacy by sharing their story and offering hope, empowerment, and inspiration to the growing tens of millions of people who are struggling with end-of-life issues.
Wild Awakening: How a Raging Grizzly Healed My Wounded Heart
by James Lund Greg J. MatthewsA near-fatal attack by an enraged grizzly leads to an unexpected encounter with God for alpha male Greg Matthews in this gripping and engaging story of survival and faith. Greg Matthews was the ultimate poster-boy for masculinity. Avid hunter and outdoorsman, Air Force and civilian firefighter, EMT, rescue helicopter pilot, fugitive recovery agent, Ground Zero volunteer and more, Greg had spent his whole life striving to serve others but for all the wrong reasons. After his parents’ divorce when he was young, Greg believed deep down that the only way he could be loved and valued—by his father, by his family, and by God—was if he earned it through daring, high-stakes, high-risk—what society commonly refers to as “manly”—achievements. But everything changed when an idyllic hunting trip through the backwoods of Alaska turned into a harrowing fight for his life. Greg was attacked by a grizzly bear—but the gruesome, nearly fatal conflict offered an unexpected encounter with God. Greg’s eyes, and more importantly, his heart, were finally opened to the lie that he’d internalized as a child: that his dangerously high-risk achievements were the sole signifiers of his worth. The road to recovery was long and painful, but it forced Greg to come face-to-face with the long-held view of manhood he had absorbed as his own identity. The relentless grizzly uncovered something in Greg’s heart: that he was being pursued by an equally persistent God, who loved him unconditionally. A gripping tale of survival and a rebuttal to outmoded notions about masculinity, Wild Awakening offers an alternative way of living in the world, allowing them to finally see their value in God’s eyes.
Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage
by Douglas Waller&“Entertaining history…Donovan was a combination of bold innovator and imprudent rule bender, which made him not only a remarkable wartime leader but also an extraordinary figure in American history&” (The New York Times Book Review).He was one of America&’s most exciting and secretive generals—the man Franklin Roosevelt made his top spy in World War II. A mythic figure whose legacy is still intensely debated, &“Wild Bill&” Donovan was director of the Office of Strategic Services (the country&’s first national intelligence agency) and the father of today&’s CIA. Donovan introduced the nation to the dark arts of covert warfare on a scale it had never seen before. Now, veteran journalist Douglas Waller has mined government and private archives throughout the United States and England, drawn on thousands of pages of recently declassified documents, and interviewed scores of Donovan&’s relatives, friends, and associates to produce a riveting biography of one of the most powerful men in modern espionage. Wild Bill Donovan reads like an action-packed spy thriller, with stories of daring young men and women in the OSS sneaking behind enemy lines for sabotage, breaking into Washington embassies to steal secrets, plotting to topple Adolf Hitler, and suffering brutal torture or death when they were captured by the Gestapo. It is also a tale of political intrigue, of infighting at the highest levels of government, of powerful men pitted against one another. Separating fact from fiction, Waller investigates the successes and the occasional spectacular failures of Donovan&’s intelligence career. It makes for a gripping and revealing portrait of this most controversial spymaster.
Wild Bill Hickok: Legend of the American Wild West
by Larissa PhillipsJames Butler Wild Bill Hickok's antics as a gunslinger, spy, and abolitionist were part fact and part fiction. The famed sharpshooter, lawman, and Wild West showman lived during a time of unprecedented westward expansion, economic, development, and civil unrest. Providing information on the Civil War and the Underground Railroad, this easy-to-read book uses primary source images that reflect the life of a true American adventurer.
Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane: Deadwood Legends
by James D. Mclaird(back of book) Although Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane spent only a few weeks in Deadwood at the same time, their fame and fate have become intertwined and their relationship legendary. James D. McLaird examines the contemporary accounts that turned these two Wild West wanderers into dime-novel and motion-picture stars. Contemporary novelists and journalists created an astonishingly strong legacy for both Calamity Jane and Wild Bill, accounting for much of their notoriety. Gunfights, scouting missions, and daring escapes from enemies filled stories about the dashing pair; even their day-to-day existence seems to have been fraught with danger and excitement, teetering on the brink between lawful and unlawful. McLaird traces the role that writers and the city of Deadwood itself played in the creation of the legacies of the infamous couple. Fact and fiction have become so woven together that a definitive picture of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill is almost impossible. Their brief friendship and subsequent burial next to each other in Mount Moriah Cemetery simply added to their legendary status and made them stalwarts of Wild West pop culture and Deadwood mythology. Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane: Deadwood Legends is the second book in the South Dakota Biography Series, which highlights some of the state's most famous residents.
Wild Bill Hickok (Outlaws and Lawmen of the Wild West)
by Carl R. Green William R. SanfordChronicles the life of the Western lawman Wild Bill Hickok.
Wild Bill Wellman
by William WellmanThe extraordinary life--the first--of the legendary, undercelebrated Hollywood director known in his day as "Wild Bill" (and he was!) Wellman, whose eighty-two movies (six of them uncredited), many of them iconic; many of them sharp, cold, brutal; others poetic, moving; all of them a lesson in close-up art, ranged from adventure and gangster pictures to comedies, aviation, romances, westerns, and searing social dramas. Among his iconic pictures: the pioneering World War I epic Wings (winner of the first Academy Award for best picture), Public Enemy (the toughest gangster picture of them all), Nothing Sacred, the original A Star Is Born, Beggars of Life, The Call of the Wild, The Ox-Bow Incident, Battleground, The High and the Mighty... David O. Selznick called him "one of the motion pictures' greatest craftsmen." Robert Redford described him as "feisty, independent, self-taught, and self-made. He stood his ground and fought his battles for artistic integrity, never wavering, always clear in his film sense." Wellman directed Hollywood's biggest stars for three decades, including Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, and Clint Eastwood. It was said he directed "like a general trying to break out of a beachhead." He made pictures with such noted producers as Darryl F. Zanuck, Nunnally Johnson, Jesse Lasky, and David O. Selznick. Here is a revealing, boisterous portrait of the handsome, tough-talking, hard-drinking, uncompromising maverick (he called himself a "crazy bastard")--juvenile delinquent; professional ice-hockey player as a kid; World War I flying ace at twenty-one in the Lafayette Flying Corps (the Lafayette Escadrille), crashing more than six planes ("We only had four instruments, none of which worked. And no parachutes . . . Greatest goddamn acrobatics you ever saw in your life")--whose own life story was more adventurous and more unpredictable than anything in the movies. Wellman was a wing-walking stunt pilot in barnstorming air shows, recipient of the Croix de Guerre with two Gold Palm Leaves and five United States citations; a bad actor but good studio messenger at Goldwyn Pictures who worked his way up from assistant cutter; married to five women, among them Marjorie Crawford, aviatrix and polo player; silent picture star Helene Chadwick; and Dorothy Coonan, Busby Berkeley dancer, actress, and mother of his seven children. Irene Mayer Selznick, daughter of Louis B. Mayer, called Wellman "a terror, a shoot-up-the-town fellow, trying to be a great big masculine I-don't-know-what. David had a real weakness for him. I didn't share it." Yet she believed enough in Wellman's vision and cowritten script about Hollywood to persuade her husband to produce A Star Is Born, which Wellman directed. After he took over directing Tarzan Escapes at MGM, Wellman went to Louis B. Mayer and asked to make another Tarzan picture on his own. "What are you talking about? It's beneath your dignity," said Mayer. "To hell with that," said Wellman, "I haven't got any dignity." Now William Wellman, Jr., drawing on his father's unpublished letters, diaries, and unfinished memoir, gives us the first full portrait of the man--boy, flyer, husband, father, director, artist. Here is a portrait of a profoundly American spirit and visionary, a man's man who was able to put into cinematic storytelling the most subtle and fulsome of feeling, a man feared, respected, and loved.From the Hardcover edition.
Wild Blessings: The Poetry of Lucille Clifton (Southern Literary Studies)
by Hilary HolladayWidely acclaimed for her powerful explorations of race, womanhood, spirituality, and mortality, poet Lucille Clifton has published thirteen volumes of poems since 1969 and has received numerous accolades for her work, including the 2000 National Book Award for Blessing the Boats. Her verse is featured in almost every anthology of contemporary poetry, and her readings draw large and enthusiastic audiences. Although Clifton's poetry is a pleasure to read, it is neither as simple nor as blithely celebratory as readers sometimes assume. The bursts of joy found in her polished, elegant lines are frequently set against a backdrop of regret and sorrow. Alternately consoling, stimulating, and emotionally devastating, Clifton's poems are unforgettable. In Wild Blessings, Hilary Holladay offers the first full-length study of Clifton's poetry, drawing on a broad knowledge of the American poetic tradition and African American poetry in particular. Holladay places Clifton's poems in multiple contexts -- personal, political, and literary -- as she explicates major themes and analyzes specific works: Clifton's poems about womanhood, a central concern throughout her career; her fertility poems, which are provocatively compared with Sylvia Plath's poems on the same subject; her relation to the Black Arts Movement and to other black female poets, such as Gwendolyn Brooks and Sonia Sanchez; her biblical poems; her elegies; and her poignant family history, Generations, an extended prose poem. In addition to a new preface written after Clifton's death in 2010, this updated edition includes an epilogue that discusses the poetry collections she published after 2004.Readers encountering Lucille Clifton's poems for the first time and those long familiar with her distinctive voice will benefit from Hilary Holladay's striking insights and her illuminating interview with the influential American poet.
The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s over Germany 1944-45
by Stephen E. AmbroseThe very young men who flew the B24s over Germany in World War II against terrible odds were an exemplary band of brothers. In The Wild Blue, Stephen Ambrose recounts their extraordinary brand of heroism, skill, daring, and comradeship. Stephen Ambrose describes how the Army Air Forces recruited, trained, and chose those few who would undertake the most demanding and dangerous jobs in the war. These are the boys -- turned pilots, bombardiers, navigators, and gunners of the B24s -- who suffered over 50 percent casualties. Ambrose carries us along in the crowded, uncomfortable, and dangerous B24s as their crews fought to the death through thick, black, deadly flak to reach their targets and destroy the German war machine or else went down in flames. Twenty-two-year-old George McGovern who was to become a United States senator and a presidential candidate, flew thirty-five combat missions (all the Army would allow) and won the Distinguished Flying Cross. We meet him and his mates, his co-pilot killed in action, and crews of other planes -- many of whom did not come back. As Band of Brothers and Citizen Soldiers portrayed the bravery and ultimate victory of the American soldier from Normandy on to Germany, The Wild Blue makes clear the contribution these young men of the Army Air Forces stationed in Italy made to the Allied victory.
The Wild Boy: A Memoir
by Paolo CognettiA young man escapes his painful past by retreating to the rustic comfort of the Italian Alps in this gorgeously wrought memoir from the internationally bestselling author of the “exquisite” (Annie Proulx) novel The Eight Mountains.When life in the city becomes too overwhelming for Paolo, he decides to take refuge high in the Italian mountains. Returning to the breathtaking Valle d’Aosta—known for its snowcapped mountain peaks—after a decade’s absence, he rediscovers a simpler life and develops deep human connections with two neighbors. In this stunning landscape, he begins to take stock of his life and consider what he truly values. With lyrical and evocative prose, The Wild Boy is a testament to the power of the natural world, the necessity of an ever-questioning mind, and the resilience of the human spirit.
Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran
by Andy TaylorWild Boy is the explosive first inside account of the rise and fall of Duran Duran. The band rose to conquer the globe with a string of unforgettable hits such as "Rio," "Hungry Like the Wolf," and "The Reflex." With Simon Le Bon as their frontman, they were the defining pop act of the 1980s, but Andy Taylor, the enigmatic lead guitarist, is widely acknowledged to have been their musical driving force.Then, at the very height of their achievement in 1985, Duran Duran imploded. Now Andy shares the story of what went wrong. With searing honesty, he charts every moment of Duran Duran's roller-coaster rise from their early days as club musicians through to international superstardom. He captures the glamour and excitement of the band's epic video shoots and the opulence of their world tours.He reveals the truth about the allegations of drug abuse and wild hedonism that dogged Duran Duran. Packed with more than twenty-five years worth of rock 'n' roll anecdotes, Andy tells of his time in the band The Power Station, and explains why Duran Duran reformed with its original line-up in 2003. But Wild Boy is also a moving story on a human level, as Andy describes how the pressures of fame took a terrible personal toll on him and his family. Moving from hilarious to harrowing at the turn of a page, WILD BOY is a must-read for anyone who lived through the 1980s, or who cares about music.
Wild Boy: My Life with Duran Duran
by Andy TaylorThe first member of Duran Duran to write his memoirs tells the full story of the excesses, glamour and excitement they lived through in the 1980s.When 19-year-old Andy Taylor returned from his band's tour of military bases in Germany and saw an advert in Melody Maker in April 1980 asking for a 'live wire guitarist' to audition in Birmingham, he saw his chance. Even he could not have predicted what happened next. The group, Duran Duran, released their first single, 'Planet Earth', ten months later and soon became the biggest band since the Beatles. Emerging in the post-punk era, Duran headed the New Romantic movement and with their stunning videos and style consciousness, they set the trend for the consumerist 1980s. Popular with everyone from rockers to Princess Diana, they had a string of massive worldwide hits such as 'Rio', 'The Reflex' and 'A View to a Kill'. They won Grammys and an Ivor Novello award among many other things.By Live Aid, in 1985, they were at their very pinnacle of success - and then the band began to fall apart. At the centre of it all, giving the group its musical pulse, was lead guitarist Andy Taylor. In this revealing and raw memoir, Taylor recalls the highs and lows of an unbelievable period where the squeaky clean facade hid the truth of wild partying as five young men took just about every opportunity that was offered to them.Andy Taylor's story is of an era when MTV was new, the media allowed superstars to get away with lots and rock stars knew how to party like there was no tomorrow. Wild Boy is a book that millions of fans of Duran Duran around the world will want to read to know the full story of what really happened.
Wild Boy: My Life with Duran Duran
by Andy TaylorThe first member of Duran Duran to write his memoirs tells the full story of the excesses, glamour and excitement they lived through in the 1980s.When 19-year-old Andy Taylor returned from his band's tour of military bases in Germany and saw an advert in Melody Maker in April 1980 asking for a 'live wire guitarist' to audition in Birmingham, he saw his chance. Even he could not have predicted what happened next. The group, Duran Duran, released their first single, 'Planet Earth', ten months later and soon became the biggest band since the Beatles. Emerging in the post-punk era, Duran headed the New Romantic movement and with their stunning videos and style consciousness, they set the trend for the consumerist 1980s. Popular with everyone from rockers to Princess Diana, they had a string of massive worldwide hits such as 'Rio', 'The Reflex' and 'A View to a Kill'. They won Grammys and an Ivor Novello award among many other things.By Live Aid, in 1985, they were at their very pinnacle of success - and then the band began to fall apart. At the centre of it all, giving the group its musical pulse, was lead guitarist Andy Taylor. In this revealing and raw memoir, Taylor recalls the highs and lows of an unbelievable period where the squeaky clean facade hid the truth of wild partying as five young men took just about every opportunity that was offered to them.Andy Taylor's story is of an era when MTV was new, the media allowed superstars to get away with lots and rock stars knew how to party like there was no tomorrow. Wild Boy is a book that millions of fans of Duran Duran around the world will want to read to know the full story of what really happened.
The Wild Boy of Waubamik: A Memoir
by Thom Ernst“An inspiring story of resilience, told with a vivid sense of character and humour.” —RICHARD CROUSE, CTV host and film criticFilm critic, writer, and broadcaster Thom Ernst chronicles his life growing up with an abusive father in rural Ontario.The residents of Waubamik know about the Wild Boy, a somewhat feral child, standing nearly naked in a rusty playground of weeds and discarded metal, clutching a headless doll. They know the boy has been plucked from poverty and resettled into a middle-class family. But they don’t know that something worse awaits him there.This is the story of a system that failed, a community that looked the other way, and a family that kept silent. It is also a record of the popular culture of the 1960s — a powerful set of myths that kept a boy comforted. But ultimately, The Wild Boy of Waubamik is a story of triumph, of a man who grew up to become a film critic and broadcaster despite his abusive childhood. It reminds us that life, even at its darkest, can surprise us with moments of joy and hope and dreams for the future.
The Wild Bunch
by Ernest HaycoxBLOOD JUSTICEFrank Goodnight set out to track down Theo McSween—the man who had run off with his pretty sister and left her high and dry. He had been on McSween’s trail for weeks when he rode into Sherman City, Wyoming, a tough town at the base of the Owlhom hills, on a hunch the varmint was hidin’ up there with the Wild Bunch, a gang of outlaws Who been preying on prideful ranchers. While Goodnight sampled the rotgut at the local saloon, the Wild Bunch rode into town with their Colts ablazin’ and suddenly he was a stranger caught plumb in the middle of a range war. But he survived, dodging the hot lead and even gettin’ a good look at his man ridin’ with that bunch of gun toughs. All he could think of now was putting McSween six feet under, but that would have to wait a spell. He wanted the chance to meet that scummy nightrider alone and man to man—and make him sweat blood!
Wild by Nature: From Siberia to Australia, Three Years Alone in the Wilderness on Foot
by Sarah Marquis Stephanie HellertOne woman 10,000 miles on foot 6 countries 8 pairs of hiking boots 3,000 cups of tea 1,000 days and nights "The only way to survive three years of walking was to embrace the moment of now."--from Wild by Nature Not since Cheryl Strayed gifted us with her adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail in her memoir, Wild, has there been such a powerful epic adventure by a woman alone. In Wild by Nature, National Geographic Explorer Sarah Marquis takes you on the trail of her ten-thousand-mile solo hike across the remote Gobi desert from Siberia to Thailand, at which point she was transported by boat to complete the hike at her favorite tree in Australia. Against nearly insurmountable odds and relying on hunting and her own wits, Sarah Marquis survived the Mafia, drug dealers, thieves on horseback who harassed her tent every night for weeks, temperatures from subzero to scorching, life-threatening wildlife, a dengue fever delirium in the Laos jungle, tropic ringworm in northern Thailand, dehydration, and a life-threatening abscess. This is an incredible story of adventure, human ingenuity, persistence, and resilience that shows firsthand what it is to adventure as a woman in the most dangerous of circumstance, what it is to be truly alone in the wild, and why someone would challenge themselves with an expedition others would call crazy. For Marquis, her story is about freedom, being alive and wild by nature.
Wild Card
by Susan AmarillasActive in Hollywood from the 1920s through the 1940s, Dudley Murphy was one of the industry's first independent filmmakers. In this biography, independent scholar Delson pays particular attention to Murphy's visually oriented and musically inspired cinematic style, which was looser and more evocative than that of more mainstream directors. The volume is illustrated with b&w movie stills and photographs from the Murphy family collection. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
Wild Card Quilt: The Ecology of Home (The\world As Home Ser.)
by Janisse RaySeventeen years after she'd left home "for good," Janisse Ray pointed her truck away from Montana and back to the small southern town where she was born. Wild Card Quilt is the story, by turns hilarious, heartbreaking, and ambitious, of the adventures of returning home. For Ray, it is a story of linking the ecology of people with the ecology of place - of recovering lost traditions as she works to restore the fractured ecosystem of her native South. Her story is filled with syrup boils, quilt making, alligator trapping, and the wonderful characters of a place where generations still succeed each other on the land. But her town is also in need of repair, physical and otherwise. Ray works to save her local school, sets up a writing group at the local hardware store, and struggles with whether she can be an adult in a childhood place.
Wild Child: Coming Home to Nature
by Patrick Barkham&“Quiet but compelling arguments about the importance of kids getting out more and connecting to nature . . . A book that deserves to flourish.&” —The Guardian From climbing trees and making dens, to building sandcastles and pond-dipping, many of the activities we associate with a happy childhood take place outdoors. And yet, the reality for many contemporary children is very different. The studies tell us that we are raising a generation who are so alienated from nature that they can&’t identify the commonest birds or plants, they don&’t know where their food comes from, they are shuttled between home, school and the shops and spend very little time in green spaces—let alone roaming free. In this timely and personal book, celebrated nature writer Patrick Barkham draws on his own experience as a parent and a forest school volunteer to explore the relationship between children and nature. Unfolding over the course of a year of snowsuits, muddy wellies, and sunhats, Wild Child is both an intimate story of children finding their place in the natural world and a celebration of the delight we can all find in even modest patches of green. &“Entrancing . . . If ever there was a book to fuel the ecological interest of future generations, this is it.&”—Isabella Tree, author of Wilding &“Barkham takes us through a year giving his children an education in wildness. He encourages them that a physical relationship with wildlife is of the utmost importance . . . His memoir reveals the abundance of wildlife that can be explored in our own back gardens.&” —The Herald
The Wild Child: The Unsolved Mystery of Kaspar Hauser
by Jeffrey Moussaieff MassonKept in a dungeon for his entire childhood, Kaspar Hauser appeared in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1828 at age sixteen, barely able to walk or talk. When he was killed in 1833, his true identity and the motives for his unsolved murder became the subjects of intense speculation. This provocative essay sheds new light on this mystery and delves into fundamental questions about the long-term effects of child abuse.
Wild Coast: Travels on South America's Untamed Edge
by John GimletteGuyana, Suriname, and French Guiana are among the least-known places in South America: nine hundred miles of muddy coastline giving way to a forest so dense that even today there are virtually no roads through it; a string of rickety coastal towns situated between the mouths of the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers, where living is so difficult that as many Guianese live abroad as in their homelands; an interior of watery, green anarchy where border disputes are often based on ancient Elizabethan maps, where flora and fauna are still being discovered, where thousands of rivers remain mostly impassable. And under the lens of John Gimlette--brilliantly offbeat, irreverent, and canny--these three small countries are among the most wildly intriguing places on earth. On an expedition that will last three months, he takes us deep into a remarkable world of swamp and jungle, from the hideouts of runaway slaves to the vegetation-strangled remnants of penal colonies and forts, from "Little Paris" to a settlement built around a satellite launch pad. He recounts the complicated, often surprisingly bloody, history of the region--including the infamous 1978 cult suicide at Jonestown--and introduces us to its inhabitants: from the world's largest ants to fluorescent purple frogs to head-crushing jaguars; from indigenous tribes who still live by sorcery to descendants of African slaves, Dutch conquerors, Hmong refugees, Irish adventurers, and Scottish outlaws; from high-tech pirates to hapless pioneers for whom this stunning, strangely beautiful world ("a sort of X-rated Garden of Eden") has become home by choice or by force. In Wild Coast, John Gimlette guides us through a fabulously entertaining, eye-opening--and sometimes jaw-dropping--journey.
Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature
by Kathleen Dean MooreIn an effort to make sense of the deaths in quick succession of several loved ones, Kathleen Dean Moore turned to the comfort of the wild, making a series of solitary excursions into ancient forests, wild rivers, remote deserts, and windswept islands to learn what the environment could teach her in her time of pain. This book is the record of her experiences. It's a stunning collection of carefully observed accounts of her life--tracking otters on the beach, cooking breakfast in the desert, canoeing in a snow squall, wading among migrating salmon in the dark--but it is also a profound meditation on the healing power of nature. To learn more about the author, visit her website at www.riverwalking.com.
Wild Company: The Untold Story of Banana Republic
by Mel Ziegler Patricia ZieglerIn the tradition of Pour Your Heart Into It and How Starbucks Saved My Life, a surprising and inspiring memoir from the founders of Banana Republic.With $1,500 and no business experience, Mel and Patricia Ziegler turned a wild idea into a company that would become the international retail colossus Banana Republic. Re-imagining military surplus as safari and expedition wear, the former journalist and artist created a world that captured the zeitgeist for a generation and spoke to the creativity, adventure, and independence in everyone. In a book that&’s honest, funny, and charming, Mel and Patricia tell in alternating voices how they upended business conventions and survived on their wits and imagination. Many retail and fashion merchants still consider Banana Republic&’s early heyday to be one of the most remarkable stories in fashion and business history. The couple detail how, as &“professional amateurs,&” they developed the wildly original merchandise and marketing innovations that broke all retail records and produced what has been acclaimed by industry professionals to be &“the best catalogue of all time.&” A love story wrapped in a business adventure, Wild Company is a soulful, inspiring tale for readers determined to create their own destiny with a passion for life and work and fun.
Wild Dances: My Queer and Curious Journey to Eurovision
by William Lee AdamsA memoir of glitz, glamour, geopolitics, and the power of pop music, following a misunderstood queer biracial kid from small-town Georgia who became the world's foremost Eurovision Song Contest blogger.As a boy, William Lee Adams spent his days taking care of his quadriplegic brother, while worrying about his undiagnosed bipolar Vietnamese mother, and steering clear of his openly racist and homophobic father. Too shy and anxious to even speak until he was six years old, it seemed unlikely William would ever leave small-town Georgia. He passed the time alone in his room, studying maps and reading encyclopedias, dreaming of distant places where he might one day feel free.In time, William discovered that learning was both a refuge and a ticket out. So even as he struggled to understand and to get others to accept both his sexuality and his biracial identity, William focused on his schoolwork, his extracurricular activities, and building community with the students and teachers who embraced him for who he truly was. Though his scholarship to Harvard parachuted him into a whole new world, he still carried a lifetime of secrets and unanswered questions that would haunt him no matter how far he traveled.Years later, as a journalist in London, William discovered the Eurovision Song Contest—an annual competition known for its extravagant performers and cutthroat politics. Initially just a fan, he started blogging about the contest, ultimately becoming the most sought-after expert on the subject. From Albania, Finland, and Ukraine, to Israel, Sweden, and Russia, William was soon jetting across the Continent to meet divas, drag queens, and aspiring singers, who welcomed him to their beautiful, if dysfunctional, family of choice.An uplifting memoir about glitz, glamour, geopolitics, and finding your people, no matter how far you must travel, Wild Dances celebrates the power of pop music to help us heal and forgive.