Biographies & Memoirs
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Shadow Warrior: William Egan Colby and the CIA
Author/Actors/Director/etc.: Randall B. Woods
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books (2013, Apr 9th).
Pages: 576
World War II commando, Cold War spy, and CIA director under presidents Nixon and Ford, William Egan Colby played a critical role in some of the most pivotal events of the twentieth century. A quintessential member of the greatest generation, Colby embodied the moral and strategic ambiguities of the postwar world, and first confronted many of the dilemmas about power and secrecy that America still grapples with today.In Shadow Warrior, eminent historian Randall B. Woods presents a riveting biography of Colby, revealing that this crusader for global democracy was also drawn to the darker side of American power. Aiming to help reverse the spread of totalitarianism in Europe and Asia, Colby joined the U.S. Army in 1941, just as America entered World War II. more
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Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods
Author/Actors/Director/etc.: Christine Byl
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Beacon Press (2013, Apr 16th).
Pages: 256
A lively and lyrical account of one woman’s unlikely apprenticeship on a national-park trail crew and what she discovers about nature, gender, and the value of hard work Christine Byl first encountered the national parks the way most of us do: on vacation. But after she graduated from college, broke and ready for a new challenge, she joined a Glacier National Park trail crew as a seasonal “traildog” maintaining mountain trails for the millions of visitors Glacier draws every year. Byl first thought of the job as a paycheck, a summer diversion, a welcome break from “the real world” before going on to graduate school. She came to find out that work in the woods on a trail crew was more demanding, more rewarding—more real—than she ever imagined. more
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Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And all the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic
Author/Actors/Director/etc.: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (2013, May 7th).
Pages: 320
When writer-producers James L. Brooks and Allan Burns dreamed up an edgy show about a divorced woman with a career, the CBS executives they pitched replied: “American audiences won’t tolerate divorce in a series’ lead any more than they will tolerate Jews, people with mustaches, and people who live in New York.” Forty years later, The Mary Tyler Moore Show is one of the most beloved and recognizable television shows of all time. It was an inspiration to a generation of women who wanted to have it all in an era when everything seemed possible. Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted tells the stories behind the making of this popular classic, introducing the groundbreaking female writers who lent real-life stories to their TV scripts; the men who created the indelible characters; the lone woman network executive who cast the legendary ensemble—and advocated for this provocative show—and the colorful cast of actors who made it all work. more
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What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars (Columbia Business School Publishing)
Author/Actors/Director/etc.: Jim Paul
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Columbia University Press (2013, Apr 23rd).
Pages: 192
Jim Paul's meteoric rise took him from a small town in Northern Kentucky to Governor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, yet he lost it all -- his fortune, his reputation, and his job -- in one fatal moment of excessive economic hubris. In this honest, frank analysis, Paul and Brendan Moynihan revisit the events that led up to Paul's disastrous decision and examine the psychological factors behind bad financial practices in a number of economic sectors.The book begins with the unbroken string of successes that helped Paul achieve a jet-setting lifestyle and land a key spot with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It then describes the circumstances leading up to Paul's $1.6 million loss and the essential lessons he learned from it -- primarily that, although there are as many ways to make money in the markets as there are people participating in them, there are very few ways to produce a loss. more
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A Woman's Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot
Author/Actors/Director/etc.: Mary Walton
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (2010, Aug 17th).
Pages: 304
Alice Paul began her life as a studious girl from a strict Quaker family in New Jersey. In 1907, a scholarship took her to England, where she developed a passionate devotion to the suffrage movement. Upon her return to the United States, Alice became the leader of the militant wing of the American suffrage movement. Calling themselves "Silent Sentinels," she and her followers were the first protestors to picket the White House. Arrested and jailed, they went on hunger strikes and were force-fed and brutalized. Years before Gandhi's campaign of nonviolent resistance, and decades before civil rights demonstrations, Alice Paul practiced peaceful civil disobedience in the pursuit of equal rights for women. With her daring and unconventional tactics, Alice Paul eventually succeeded in forcing President Woodrow Wilson and a reluctant U. more
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Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander
Author/Actors/Director/etc.: Mark Schlabach
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Howard Books (2013, May 7th).
Pages: 240
LIVING THE DREAM Duck calls—though the source of his livelihood—are not what makes Phil Robertson the man he is today. When asked what matters in his life, he’s quick to say, “Faith, family, ducks—in that order.” It isn’t often that a person can live a dream, but Phil Robertson, aka The Duck Commander, has proven that it is possible with vision, hard work, helping hands, and an unshakable faith in the Almighty. Phil’s is the remarkable story of one man who followed the call he received from God and soon after invented a duck call that would begin an incredible journey to the life he had always dreamed of for himself and his family. In the love of his country, his family, and his maker, Phil has finally found the ingredients to the “good life” he always wanted. more
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The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family
Author/Actors/Director/etc.: Josh Hanagarne
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Gotham (2013, May 2nd).
Pages: 288
An inspiring story of how a Mormon kid with Tourette’s found salvation in books and weight-lifting Josh Hanagarne couldn’t be invisible if he tried. Although he wouldn’t officially be diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome until his freshman year of high school, Josh was six years old and onstage in a school Thanksgiving play when he first began exhibiting symptoms. By the time he was twenty, the young Mormon had reached his towering adult height of 6’7” when—while serving on a mission for the Church of Latter Day Saints—his Tourette’s tics escalated to nightmarish levels. Determined to conquer his affliction, Josh underwent everything from quack remedies to lethargy-inducing drug regimes to Botox injections that paralyzed his vocal cords and left him voiceless for three years. more
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VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave
Author/Actors/Director/etc.: Gavin Edwards
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Atria Books (2013, May 7th).
Pages: 336
MTV’s original VJs offer a behind-the-scenes oral history of the early years of MTV, 1981 to 1987, when it was exploding, reshaping the culture, and creating “the MTV generation.” Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn (along with the late J. J. Jackson) had front-row seats to a cultural revolution—and the hijinks of music stars like Adam Ant, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, and Duran Duran. Their worlds collided, of course: John Cougar invited Nina to a late-night “party” that proved to be a seduction attempt. Mark partied with David Lee Roth, who offered him cocaine and groupies. Aretha Franklin made chili for Alan. Bob Dylan whisked Martha off to Ireland in his private jet. But while VJ has plenty of dish—secret romances, nude photographs, incoherent celebrities—it also reveals how four VJs grew up alongside MTV’s devoted viewers and became that generation’s trusted narrators. more
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A Passion to Lead: Theodore Roosevelt in His Own Words
Author/Actors/Director/etc.: Laura Ross
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Sterling; 1 edition (2012, May 1st).
Pages: 372
Outdoorsman, politician, patriot, soldier, bestselling author, naturalist, winner of the Medal of Honor and the Nobel Peace Prize, Theodore Roosevelt was both a consummate man of action and a prolific author. A Passion to Lead is a collection of excerpts from his writings--his autobiography, memoirs such as Rough Riders, speeches, articles, and letters--that bring the man to life in his own eloquent words. Along with the text are images (some never before published) that give added dimension to the man and his era. more
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American Honor Killings: Desire and Rage Among Men
Author/Actors/Director/etc.: David McConnell
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Akashic Books (2013, Mar 5th).
Pages: 240
"Utilizing an empathetic narrative nonfiction approach, novelist McConnell, co-chair of the Lambda Literary Foundation, casts a humanizing eye upon monstrous deeds…a journalistic tour de force made all the more impressive by jailhouse interviews…McConnell's unquestionable skill as a writer gives both literary helot and immediacy to the narratives."--Publishers Weekly"McConnell convincingly shows how fluid terms like 'gay' and 'straight' can actually be… The author's case studies reflect an intensive investigation into the economic and cultural backgrounds of a wide variety of extremist cultures, research that involved interviews with law enforcement officials, families of victims and the convicted criminals themselves. A shocking look at the subculture of violent crime, not for the fainthearted. more
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