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Sellout: Musings From Uncle Tom's Porch by Ron Miller


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A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat


Zell Miller - 2003
    As part of a stinging critique of the Democratic Party, Miller outlines key positions on important issues that can again make the party relevant for the entire nation. From tax cuts to welfare, gun control to the environment, the arts to education, immigration to terrorism, Miller identifies values that make sense to a growing majority of Americans. Miller�s candid analysis of the campaigns of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton further underscores his conclusion that the Democratic Party can no longer field a serious presidential challenge. Many party loyalists will not like what Senator Miller writes; yet his credentials are beyond question, for few Democrats have worked longer or stronger for the party and its candidates. Zell Miller has served in an elective office in each of the last six decades. When he left office as governor after two terms, he had an 85 percent approval rating, prompting the Washington Post to call him the most popular governor in the country. After getting to Washington, he became President Bush�s biggest Democratic supporter, but steadfastly refused to switch parties. A National Party No More is a firsthand account from the enigmatic senator who has confounded his Democratic colleagues. Driven by conscience and common sense, Senator Miller names the self-destructive direction of his party and stubbornly pulls the Democratic family toward reform.

Churchill in the Trenches


Peter Apps - 2015
    As First Lord of the Admiralty at the start of the First World War, Churchill found himself blamed for the catastrophic military fiasco of the Dardanelles. Thrown for the first time into the political wilderness, he decided to rejoin the British Army and take his place on the Western Front.The first standalone account of this period of his life since the 1920s, Churchill in the Trenches reconstructs his six months near the Belgian town of Ypres. It reveals he how he gradually won over the troops he commanded -- the tough but traumatized 6th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. And it tells the largely unknown story of how amid mud and squalor, one of the 20th century's most memorable characters became one of its greatest leaders.Peter Apps is global defense correspondent for Reuters news. In 2006, he broke his neck in a minibus accident while covering the civil war in Sri Lanka, leaving him largely paralyzed from the shoulders down. Of the 20 or so countries he has reported from, more than half have been since the injury. He is currently on sabbatical as executive director of the Project for Study of the 21st Century (PS21) www.projects21.com.Cover design by Kerry Ellis.

When I Married My Mother:A Daughter's Search for What Really Matters--and How She Found It Caring for Mama Jo


Jo Maeder - 2012
    What unfolds in this best-selling memoir is a hilarious, heartbreaking love story that sees eldercare and making peace with the past in a most unexpected way. Bonus material includes an author Q&A, Mama Jo's Favorite Cookie award-winning recipe, caregiving tips, discussion questions, and links to the trailer and short film "The Doll Dilemma" by Jacob Rosdail. Suitable for age 15+

Tomorrow, We Ride


Jean Bobet - 2008
    This story brings alive the romance of the great races and star riders of those post war days whose exploits lifted the public spirit after years of conflict and economic hardship.

The First Time I Got Paid For It: Writers' Tales From The Hollywood Trenches


Peter Lefcourt - 2000
    Linked by the theme of a writer's "first time" -- usually the first time he got paid for his work, but sometimes veering off into other, more unconventional, "first times" -- these always entertaining (and sometimes hilarious) pieces share what it takes to succeed, what it takes to write well, and other aspects of maintaining creativity and integrity while striving for a career in Hollywood. Richard LaGravanese (The Fisher King, The Horse Whisperer, Living Out Loud) confesses that his first paid writing job was crafting phone-sex scripts. Nicholas Kazan (Reversal of Fortune, Matilda) explains why, in Hollywood, an oral "yes" often turns out to be a written "no." Peter Casey writes about the unparalleled pitch meeting for the award-winning series Frasier. Virtually every big-name writer in Hollywood has contributed to this collection, making it essential research material for anyone trying to make it in the entertainment industry, and a perfect read for movie and television buffs everywhere.

Out of Zion: Meeting Jesus in the Shadow of the Mormon Temple


Lisa Brockman - 2019
    That’s exactly what happened to Lisa Brockman, a six-generation Mormon with lineage tracing back to the early church. In college, Lisa found herself challenged to defend her faith, and the beliefs she knew to be true began to unravel.  In Out of Zion, Lisa shares her journey of discovering the biblical Jesus and the key conversations that led her from the faith of her ancestors to conversion to Christianity. If you have reached a place of questioning what you believe, or you long for confidence to share your faith with others, Lisa provides the framework you need to…understand the nuances of the history and evolution of Mormon culturelearn to identify the vital differences between the Mormon and biblical plans of salvationcompassionately engage in conversation with your Mormon friends and neighborsAs you follow the evolution of Lisa’s faith, you will face the same challenge to defend what you believe and, ultimately, learn to share the gospel effectively with others.

Murder in Paradise


Greg Wilson - 2013
    One of them is a murderer. An advertisement in a newspaper brings a disparate group of people to a tropical paradise. They will live together for a year, work and build a community, and film everything that happens for a documentary that will only see the light of day at the end of the trip. Almost at once, things begin to go wrong. They are meant to be strangers, but some of them have met before. They are meant to receive regular visits by the company funding the documentary, but nobody ever comes. And their only link with the outside world - a small portable radio transmitter - is incapable of transmitting anything...

Beauty Before Comfort: A Memoir


Allison Glock - 2003
    '"Beauty before comfort," she would say as she trimmed her brows and cinched her belts corset-tight. My grandmother is so beautiful she has never once been comfortable, a cross she bears with the subtlety of Liberace.'So writes Allison Glock at the start of her remarkable memoir, the story of her maternal grandmother, Aneita Jean Blair, and the extraordinary life she led growing up in Chester, West Virginia, a sooty factory town wedged between the unforgiving Appalachians and the Ohio River. As a girl, a young woman, and even late in life as a grandmother, Aneita Jean had a magnetism that attracted and enchanted all she came into contact with. Allison Glock takes us through the stages of her life, capturing not only the irrepressible vitality of a woman born ahead of her time, but also the eccentricities of a small-town, working-class West Virginia family, trying to survive the Great Depression and the Second World War.Aneita, blessed with 'the body of Miss America' was determined that she would escape the town that was holding her back. That she never made it, and the pattern that her life ended up taking, is just another small-town tragedy of the vanished dreams of one extraordinary person. Allison Glock writes with humour, lyricism and beauty to create a truly unforgettable portrait of a remarkable person.

Unsinkable


Debbie Reynolds - 2013
    After two broken marriages, this third, she believed, was her lucky charm. But within a few years, Debbie discovered that he had betrayed her emotionally and financially, nearly destroying her life.Today, she writes, "When I read the optimistic ending of my last memoir now, I can't believe how naive I was when I wrote it. In Unsinkable, I look back at the many years since then, and share my memories of a film career that took me from the Miss Burbank Contest of 1948 to the work I did in 2012. . . . To paraphrase Bette Davis: Fasten your seatbelts, I've had a bumpy ride."Unsinkable shines a spotlight on the resilient woman whose talent and passion for her work have endured for more than six decades. In her engaging, down-to-earth voice, Debbie shares private details about her man and money troubles, including building and losing her Las Vegas dream hotel and her treasured Hollywood memorabilia collection. Yet no matter how difficult the problems, the show always goes on.Debbie also invites us into the close circle of her family, speaking with deep affection and honesty about her relationships with her children, Carrie and Todd Fisher. She looks back at her life as an actress during Hollywood's Golden Age—"the most magical time you could imagine"—including her lifelong friendship with (and years-long estrangement from) the legendary Elizabeth Taylor. Here, too, are stories that never reached the tabloids about numerous celebrities, such as Ava Gardner, Clark Gable, Frank Sinatra, Mick Jagger, Gene Kelly, and many more. She takes us on a guided tour through her movies with delightful, often hilarious behind-the-scenes anecdotes about every film in which she was involved, from 1948 to the present.Frank and forthright, and featuring dozens of previously unseen photos from Debbie's personal collection, Unsinkable is a poignant reminder that there is light in the darkest times. It is a revealing portrait of a woman whose determination is an inspiration.

The Facts of Life: And Other Lessons My Father Taught Me


Lisa Whelchel - 2001
    Now the actress recounts the journey she's made in real life, from a shy, small-town girl in Texas to the glamorous life of fame and fortune in Hollywood -- and finally to suburban life as a pastor's wife and homeschooling mother of three. Poignant autobiographical stories reveal the developing trust in God that has enabled Lisa to grow in grace through seasons of pressure, pain, and prosperity.

Positively Page: The Diamond Dallas Page Journey


Diamond Dallas Page - 2000
    From his earliest recollections, Page Falkinburg wanted to be like the Saturday afternoon heroes that he watched on TV from the floor of his grandmother's living room. He defied the odds and swayed his critics along the way, climbing the ladder of the largest spectator entertainment sports production in the world today. It was in 1985 that I met a guy who told me his name was Page ... like a book. Like most people who meet him, I knew that there was something very different about Page Falkinburg. He is cocky, and at the same time, he's humble. He is "over the top," but somehow remains "down to earth." One of the toughest "sons of bitches" you'll ever meet, Page can shock you with his sensitivity and compassion. He is an example of good old-fashioned hard work and personal commitment, but at the same time, is able to help create and better the futures of others. Almost fifteen years later, Positively Page serves as a look at that unforgettable guy who possessed the power to rise above adversity and reach his dream.

Sailing Close to the Wind: Reminiscences


Dennis Skinner - 2014
    Fiery and forthright, with a prodigious recall, Skinner is one of the best-known politicians in Britain. He remains as passionate and committed to the causes he champions as on the first day he entered the House of Commons back in 1970. In an age of growing cynicism about politicians, the witty and astute Skinner is renowned as a brightly burning beacon of principle. He has watched Prime Ministers come and go - Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown - and yet remains uncorrupted by patronage and compromise. Cameron discovered Skinner's popularity when a public backlash forced the current PM to apologise in Parliament for calling Skinner a dinosaur who should be in a museum. Skinner at eighty has a unique take on post-war Britain. A combatant in the great social, industrial and political upheavals of the last half century, he's resisted telling his extraordinary story. Until now.

For a Girl: A true story of secrets, motherhood and hope


Mary-Rose MacColl - 2017
    Secrets are different from privacy. They are things you are forced to keep to yourself, by family, friends, by your own shame. Secrets like these come to the surface one day and demand an airing.Emerging from an unconventional, boisterously happy childhood, Mary-Rose MacColl was a rebellious teenager. And when, at the age of fifteen, her high-school teacher and her husband started inviting Mary-Rose to spend time with them, her parents were pleased that she now had the guidance she needed to take her safely into young adulthood.It wasn't too long, though, before the teacher and her husband changed the nature of the relationship with overwhelming consequences for Mary-Rose. Consequences that kept her silent and ashamed through much of her adult life. Many years later, safe within a loving relationship, all of the long-hidden secrets and betrayals crashed down upon her and she came close to losing everything.In this poignant and brave true story, Mary-Rose brings these secrets to the surface and, in doing so, is finally able to watch them float away.

No Off Switch


Andy Kershaw - 2011
    This account does not go out of its way to endear us to him. With digs at everything from Rastafarianism and the smoking ban to musicians he doesn't care for. From his pioneering work as entertainments officer at Leeds University in the 1980s, to his introduction of many foreign artists to British ears, to his latter-day work as a foreign reporter, Kershaw has had a fascinating life.

Willie: An Autobiography


Willie Nelson - 1988
    Told with frankness, warmth and earthy humor, here is Willie's story: his depression ere childhood; his stormy marriages; his will experiences with drugs, booze and women; his long rise to stardom; his musical and personal experiences with Waylon Jennings, Julio Iglesias, Kris Kristopherson, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Frank Sinatra and Linda Ronstadt.