It's the hard that makes it great.” – Tom Hanks Tom Hanks is a much-beloved American film actor whose cheerful everyman persona made him a natural for starring roles in many popular films. He is one of the most critically acclaimed actors in Hollywood today and with good reason. Throughout the span of his successful and impressive career, Hanks has excelled in nearly every genre, heading the casts of some of the most well-received films in history. Widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s nicest actors, Hanks is known for his amiable, approachable personality and his ability to portray characters audiences can relate to and love. His characters are often immensely likeable ordinary guys. Despite the fact that he originally wanted to be an astronaut, Hanks has enjoyed great success and fulfillment as an actor. He may even have predicted his future career in film when he was just a teenager. In 1974, Hanks wrote a letter to industry big shot George Roy Hill, the Oscar-winning director of the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), with the hope that he might one day be “discovered.” Hanks was eighteen years old at the time and most likely wrote the letter before studying theatre at a junior college in Hayward, California. Hanks was grateful for his community college experience, describing himself as an underachieving high school student with lousy SAT scores and the junior college as one that was humble, but offered salvation and opportunity for many young men and women just like him, all with simple, hometown America roots, and a desire to do something great. In the letter, Hanks introduces himself to Hill as “a nobody.” he continues, saying that no one has ever heard of him, that his looks are not stunning, and that he can’t even grow a mustache. He outlines the details of his future discovery for Hill so that he might recognize the opportunity in the future. Toward the end, Hanks reminds Hill, “I do not want to be some big time, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling all over me, just a hometown American boy who has hit the big time, owns a Porsche, and calls Robert Redford 'Bob'." Hanks was indeed discovered, albeit not by Hill, and has enjoyed enormous success. But the part of Hanks’ prediction that has held remarkably true is that he never has strayed far from his beginnings. Hanks has indeed remained that likeable hometown boy who rubs elbows with – and, in fact, has become friends with – some of the greatest names in movie making history... Buy Now and Discover the Entertaining Story of Tom Hanks

    The Boys' Club is the must-read inside story behind the power and politics of AFL, Australia's biggest sport.Revealing how the fledgling state administrative body evolved into the Australian Football League and its meteoric rise to become one of the richest and most powerful organisations in the land, award-winning investigative journalist Mick Warner delivers a fascinating insight into key figures and their networks.Tracking the rise of the game and the AFL figureheads, The Boys' Club lifts the lid on the scandals, secrets and deal making that have shaped the Australian game.

    Kata, the formal exercises of karate training, were the essence of practice in Okinawa and China, and are the core training method even today.Detailed here in 1500 sequential photos are the five Heian and three Tekki kata, mastery of which is necessary to attain first dan.Demonstrated by the author and Yoshiharu Osaka.

    From humble beginnings in a barn in Pennsylvania to soaring victories in the French Alps, Team 7-Eleven is the complete history that has never been fully told-until now.

    No other Hollywood star has been so closely linked with cars and bikes. It is this connection that McQueens Machines explores, giving readers a close-up look at the cars and motorcycles McQueen drove in movies, those he owned, and others he raced.From the 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback he drove in Bullitt (in the greatest car chase of all time) to his Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow in "The Thomas Crown Affair", from the Triumph motorcycle of "The Great Escape" to the Gulf-Porsche 917K he actually raced in "Le Mans", the cars and bikes that McQueen made famous in films make another appearance here.The book also features the cars, motorcycles, and even airplanes that McQueen owned over the years, including two motorcycles that fetched record prices at a recent auction: a 1937 Crocker "Hemi-head" V-Twin and a 1920 Indian Powerplus Daytona. Among notable cars profiled in the book are a 1959 Porsche Speedster bought new by McQueen, a 1957 Jaguar XKSS, a 1963 Ferrari 250 Lusso, a 1953 Siata 208S, a 1965 Ferrari 275 NART Spyder, and a 1969 "Le Mans" Porsche 911S.With a foreword by Steve's son, Chad McQueen, and a wealth of details about the stars amateur racing career, his movie stunt work, and his car and motorcycle collecting, McQueens Machines draws a fascinating picture of one outsized mans driving passion. See Motorbooks author Matt Stone interviewed by Jay Leno on JayLenosGarage.com: http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/j...

    Tom Seaver is “among the greatest pitchers of all time” (Bob Costas). He is one of only two pitchers with 300 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, and an ERA under 3.00. He was a three-time Cy Young award winner, twelve-time All Star, and was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame with the highest percentage ever at the time. Popular among players and fans, Seaver was fiercely competitive but always put team success ahead of personal glory. Born in Fresno, California, Seaver signed with the New York Mets in 1967, leading them to their stunning 1969 World Series victory. After a legendarily lopsided trade, he joined the Cincinnati Reds, then later played for the White Sox and the Red Sox before ending his career following the 1986 season. After his playing days, Seaver retired back to California to establish a successful vineyard. The in 2013, a recurrence of Lyme disease severely affected his memory, which Madden was the first to report. In 2019, Seaver’s family announced that he had been diagnosed with dementia and was withdrawing from public life. Tom Seaver died on August 31, 2021. Madden began following Seaver’s career in the 1980s. Seaver came to trust Madden so completely that, eager to return to New York from Chicago, he asked Madden to explore a possible trade to the Yankees which never materialized. Drawing in part on their long relationship, Madden “has crafted a biography as terrific as the subject” (Jane Leavy, New York Times bestselling author of Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy).

    Written with his wife, Christian singer Julianna Zobrist, and MikeYorkey, best-selling author of Every Man's Battle and Linspired: The Remarkable Rise of Jeremy Lin, the book gives fans a first look into the heart of an athlete whose talent and devotion to God, family, and baseball make him one of the most loveable figures in the Major League today.

    My grandfather, my father, Maria Eugenia, my sister, were all considered mad and I was as well. The reason was that we took a different path to everybody else.'Rafael Bielsa, Marcelo's brother, Foreign Secretary of Argentina, 2003-05. Marcelo Bielsa is one of football's greatest eccentrics and greatest enigmas. He is described by Pep Guardiola as: 'the greatest football manager in the world'. To the Tottenham manager, Mauricio Pochettino, he is 'my footballing father, the reason I became a player, the reason I became a manager.' This will be the first English biography of one of football's most contradictory characters. This is a definitive and comprehensive biography from growing up in Argentina under a military dictatorship to reviving the stricken power of Leeds United.

    The result is an explosive book that takes us, for the first time, deep inside a shadowy, fascinating, and surreal world of unscrupulous doctors, anything-goes team directors, and athletes so relentlessly driven to succeed that they would do anything—and take any risk, physical, mental, or moral—to gain the edge they need to win.Tyler Hamilton was once one of the world’s best-liked and top-ranked cyclists—a fierce competitor renowned among his peers for his uncanny endurance and epic tolerance for pain. In the 2003 Tour de France, he finished fourth despite breaking his collarbone in the early stages—and grinding eleven of his teeth down to the nerves along the way. He started his career with the U.S. Postal Service team in the 1990s and quickly rose to become Lance Armstrong’s most trusted lieutenant, and a member of his inner circle. For the first three of Armstrong’s record seven Tour de France victories, Hamilton was by Armstrong’s side, clearing his way. But just weeks after Hamilton reached his own personal pinnacle—winning the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics—his career came to a sudden, ignominious end: He was found guilty of doping and exiled from the sport.From the exhilaration of his early, naïve days in the peloton, Hamilton chronicles his ascent to the uppermost reaches of this unforgiving sport. In the mid-1990s, the advent of a powerful new blood-boosting drug called EPO reshaped the world of cycling, and a relentless, win-at-any-cost ethos took root. Its psychological toll would drive many of the sport’s top performers to substance abuse, depression, even suicide. For the first time ever, Hamilton recounts his own battle with clinical depression, speaks frankly about the agonizing choices that go along with the decision to compete at a world-class level, and tells the story of his complicated relationship with Lance Armstrong.A journey into the heart of a never-before-seen world, The Secret Race is a riveting, courageous act of witness from a man who is as determined to reveal the hard truth about his sport as he once was to win the Tour de France.

    I had only vaguely heard of Lance Armstrong. I had no idea what I was doing there. Yet, that day I was broadcasting live on television. I fumbled my way through a few platitudes, before summing up with the words, "...Dave Millar just missing out on the Yellow Jumper." Yes, the Yellow Jumper.'Follow Ned Boulting's (occasionally excruciating) experiences covering the world's most famous two-wheeled race. His story offers an insider's view of life behind the scenes of the Tour, as well as detailing the complexities and absurdities of reporting on the race and confronting the most celebrated riders - Cavendish, Wiggins, Armstrong et al - seconds after they cross the line.Eight Tours on from Ned's humbling debut, he has grown to respect, mock, adore and crave the race in equal measure. What's more, he has even started to understand it. Funny and frank, How I Won the Yellow Jumper is the account of Ned's journey - that same journey undertaken by many tens of thousands of cycling enthusiasts - from tour trainee to incurable fanatic.

    But many of those bicycles disappear into basements and garages when the warm months end, parked there by owners fearful of the cold, snow and ice that winter brings. But does it have to be that way?Canadian writer and journalist Tom Babin started questioning this dogma after being stuck in winter commuter traffic one dreary and cold December morning and dreaming about the happiness that bicycle commuting had brought him all summer long. So he did something about it. He pulled on some thermal underwear, dragged his bike down from the rafters of his garage and set out on a mission to answer a simple but beguiling question: is it possible to happily ride a bike in winter? That question took him places he never expected. Over years of trial and error, research and more than his share of snow and ice, he discovered an unknown history of biking for snow and ice, and a new generation designed to make riding in winter safe and fun. He unearthed the world's most bike-friendly winter city and some new approaches to winter cycling from places all over the world. He also looked inward, to discover how the modern world shapes our attitudes toward winter. And perhaps most importantly, he discovered the unique kind of bliss that can only come by pedalling through softly falling snow on a quiet winter night.

    Live large. Love like there’s no tomorrow.Life rarely goes according to plan. Sometimes the unexpected is even better than we could have ever imagined …For as long as he can remember, Mason has wanted to pursue his dream of being a musician. He’s been chomping at the bit to jump into the industry for years, but his daddy has been holding him back, claiming that Mason still has some growing up to do. As far as Mason is concerned, he’s plenty grown, and just as talented and driven as his older brother Cash.Mason knows that he has what it takes to soar. He only needs his shot.Just when his life takes the turn he always wanted, love and life open up a new path of possibilities that could be even better than he imagined. If only Mason can summon the courage to embrace the unexpected.

    This is the first time this novel has been available as an ebook and the first time it has been available outside the UK. Vernon Coleman is also the author of the bestseller Too Many Clubs and Not Enough Balls and the hugely successful bestselling Bilbury series. `As captain of my golf club I thought your book was a hoot.' - H.D. `An excellent and amusing story and I'm not even a golfer.' J.H. `Light hearted entertainment - very readable.' - Golf World `Thank you for providing me with hours of happy reading.' E.M. `Hugely enjoyable, in the best tradition of British comic writing.' Evening Chronicle `The scenario is tailor made or Vernon Coleman's light and amusing anecdotes about country life and pursuits. His fans will lap it up.' Sunday Independent Vernon Coleman has written over 100 books (many of which are now available as Kindle books on Amazon). His books have sold over two million copies in the UK in hardback and paperback and have been translated into 25 languages. His novel Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War was turned into an award winning movie. What the readers say about Vernon Coleman and his books: Coleman is a very funny writer - This England Laugh out loud funny - Golf World He writes lucidly and wittily - Good Housekeeping Superstar - Independent on Sunday Vernon Coleman writes brilliant books - The Good Book Guide Compulsive reading - The Guardian etc etc For a list of books by Vernon Coleman please visit his author page on Amazon. For more information please visit www.vernoncoleman.com

    He never had good intentions with my heart from the beginning. Novah, Billie and Normani navigate through life with their heads held high despite their tumultuous relationships with the men they fathered kids with. Novah fell into love quickly with Carter. They were young. He was a rising NFL star and she was a popular video vixen. Years skate by and Novah realizes he isn’t the man she thought he was. After ending their love affair, she learns of their twin sons. Novah does the best she can to keep the peace. While the media makes her out to be the bitter, gold digging baby momma she takes it to the chin. For her sons, she will eat up any negative accusation the world has to say about her. Her only aspiration in life is to give her sons a good one. When Novah begins to stand up to Carter and his demanding ways things go left. He shows her a side of him that she’s never seen before and Novah is left with two choices. Turn another blind eye to his foul ways or finally expose him for the hateful person that he really is. Billie was born to model. It flowed through her being effortlessly. Billie only wanted two things in life. That was to model and be with Dreux. Dreux, however. wanted out of Detroit. He watched his brother fall victim to the streets and vowed to be different. Despite Billie’s love for him he left Detroit and attended college out of state. While being apart from Dreux, Billie found comfort with his cousin Malachi. Malachi was Billie’s yes man. Whatever she needed he was there to make it happen. Billie wasn’t attracted to him but was grateful for his presence. One lonely night Billie found herself in bed with Malachi. From that encounter, a child was created. Billie immediately regretted her decision to be with him and because she wanted nothing else from him Malachi turned bitter. Billie allowed for her broken heart over Dreux to lead her down a dangerous path. She partied more and ended up losing her son to Malachi. It was a mistake that he refused to let her live down. Now that Billie is better than ever and ready to get her son back Malachi is fighting her at every turn. Billie wants peace in her life but with Malachi constantly bringing her chaos she’s fearful that the old Billie might resurface and that’s the last thing she needs. Normani is young and full of life. While in her first year of college she met the popular DJ to the stars Tru. Tru was like a dream come true for her. The unattainable man that somehow wanted her and immediately she became engrossed by him. Without having to think about it she gave up school and allowed for her life to revolve around Tru. She became his biggest fan and after being together for a few years their daughter was born. Suddenly Normani began to see things in Tru that she hadn’t seen before. He was controlling, distant and selfish. Normani had only known two parents. She had an amazing childhood and wanted her daughter to have the same but Tru was making it hard for her to do so. When Normani’s childhood friend Azariah comes home for good and starts to garner her attention Tru takes notice. He makes big strides to show Normani that he is a changed man but for Normani it may be too late. This is a two-part series.

    Decorated extensively, he secured a total of 16 'kills' over the course of the conflict, with 10 of these occurring during the Battle of Britain. Pivotal moments in his career include the time, in August 1940, when his flight encountered around a hundred enemy aircraft, including Messerschmitt 110's; he led the flight in attack against them, and soon found himself in a stalled position, out of which he spun, only to be confronted by a Dornier 215, which he shot down, before later destroying a Messerschmitt 109. Scores of these kind of risky maneuvers and winning victories punctuated a career defined by great courage, leadership and initiative in the face of fierce opposition.This new and engaging biography profiles a pilot who, until now, hasn't been the subject of such a thorough book-length study. The story of his career is incredibly entertaining, featuring a number of hair-raising episodes, and is sure to appeal to fans of aviation history as well as the more general reader seeking out an action-packed biography offering fresh insights into one of the most pivotal conflicts of the twentieth century.