Book picks similar to
Moonshiner's Daughter by Mary Judith Messer


biography-memoir
appalachia
biographies
southern-literature

Head Over Heels: A Story Of Tragedy, Triumph and Romance in the Australian Bush


Sam Bailey - 2006
    After months of struggle, he learned how to resume his life as a farmer, running a sheep and cattle property in northwest New South Wales. then he met and fell in love with Jenny Black, an ABC Rural journalist, proposed to her on air, and the rest is history. Jenny tells Sam's story in his own laconic, wry style. By turns romantic, funny and moving, it affirms the strength of iron-willed determination and the power of love.

It Wasn't Meant to Be Like This


Lisa Wilkinson - 2021
    One of Australia's most admired and respected journalists and media personalities, her warm, intelligent and elegant presence has graced our television screens for many years, where she has shared and shaped many important national conversations. Australians of all ages love and respect her warmth, empathy, humour, integrity and fighting spirit. But it all could have been so different... When she was at school, Lisa found herself wishing she could just disappear. Subjected to horrific bullying as a teenager, she survived by making herself as small as possible, but she swore when she left school that no one was ever again going to determine who she was - or limit what she was capable of. That determination and drive led to Lisa blazing an unprecedented and enormously successful trail through the Australian media and cultural landscape for more than four decades. She was only twenty-one when she became the editor of Dolly - the youngest ever appointed to a national women's magazine - and four years later, after almost tripling the circulation, Lisa was head-hunted by the late Kerry Packer, who offered her the editorship of the iconic Cleo magazine. which she transformed into the number-one bestselling women's lifestyle magazine per capita in the world. Moving to television, first on Channel Ten's Beauty and the Beast, then as host of the Seven Network's Weekend Sunrise, she went on to spend almost eleven years as co-host of the Nine Network's Today Show, becoming its longest-serving female co-host, and where her talents took the program to the number-one spot in breakfast television. Lisa then caused a media storm in Australia and the world when she moved to the Ten Network as co-host of its prime-time award-winning program The Project. Lisa's interviews with everyone from George Clooney to Lady Gaga to Sophia Loren to Kim Kardashian, to every one of the country's last eight prime ministers, always create headlines. But it is her most recent work and the leading role she took in uncovering the misogyny in Parliament House, with her powerful, exclusive interview with Brittany Higgins, of which Lisa says she is most proud. A fierce campaigner for women and gender equality, Lisa has fought her own personal battles on this front, and continues to lead the way. It Wasn't Meant to Be Like This, the story of how a young girl from Campbelltown came to be such a force in Australian cultural life, is honest, warm, funny, engaging - and powerfully inspirational.

Love, Alice: My Life as a Honeymooner


Audrey Meadows - 1994
    The book is full of many personal stories never told or published before. 16-page photo insert.

Rodeo In Joliet


Glenn Rockowitz - 2009
    The story takes us from Glenn's unexpected diagnosis of 'three months at best' just days before the birth of his only child, to his miraculous remission and the ironic death of his father. It is a journey that is by turns heartbreaking, painfully funny, misanthropic, loving and ultimately heroic. Rodeo In Joliet tramples the Hallmark cliches and platitudes of traditional cancer survival stories and presents in their place an experience that leaves the reader in awe and grateful for his or her every breath.

DW: A Lifetime Going Around in Circles


Darrell Waltrip - 2004
    Feared, loathed, and admired in equal measure, early on he drew the wrath of many fans, who literally wore their emotions on their sleeve, donning tee-shirts that read: I hate warm beer, cold women, and Darrell Waltrip. As the decade progressed, he won over their hearts and was voted NASCAR's most popular driver in 1989 and 1990-and his popularity has continued to soar ever since. Waltrip retired in 2000, tied for third all-time with eighty-four career victories, and immediately began attracting new fans with his folksy style as a color commentator for FOX Sports' NASCAR coverage. Now, with that same inimitable charm, he shares his memories of his life in racing. It's the tale of a man who lived his dream every time he stepped into a race car, and whose dreams got better every time he climbed out in Victory Lane. But it's also the story of NASCAR, as Waltrip serves as a bridge between its earlier days and its explosion into one of the world's most popular sports. Having raced against immortals like Richard Petty and David Pearson, modern-day legends Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon, and rising stars Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Waltrip provides a knowing look at the evolution of the sport and its greatest drivers and personalities.

Out of My Depth


Anne Darwin - 2016
    

Shang-a-lang: Life as an International Pop Idol


Les McKeown - 2003
    It is a remarkable story of extremes, and a no-holds barred account of Rollermania.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Hiding from Myself


Bryan Christopher - 2014
    This book will stay with me the rest of my life. ...I wish this book could be distributed to every church and made required reading." Amazon Reviewer AndreamsCan a gay person change--with the help of Hugh Hefner and Jesus Christ? Few social issues ignite such passion from all sides. For those who see homosexuality as immoral and a sin, the notion of "gay marriage" is intolerable. For those who are gay, being demonized and shamed is simply intolerant. Bryan Christopher's life has been spent straddling this great divide.As a boy raised under the blinding Friday Night Lights of the Bible belt of Texas--from the playground to the pulpit--one message was clear: "queers" deserved to be smeared. And at the dawn of puberty, Bryan knew he was in trouble: he was staring limply at the pages of his dad's Playboy. That's when the hiding began. And in his neck of the woods, it left him with one option: change! "Hiding from Myself: A Memoir" chronicles the author's zealous crusade: from ringing doorbells for Jesus in the Castro of San Francisco to sorting through Hugh Hefner's dirty laundry as a butler at the Playboy Mansion; from the beer-soaked trenches of his UCLA fraternity house to wholehearted immersion into "ex-gay" conversion therapy.With this raw and moving testimony, the author offers healing and a fresh perspective on perhaps the most divisive cultural issue of our time. Bryan's story is not a "gay" story or even an "ex-gay" story; his is a human story--a testament to the innate universal need for love. And the things that can sometimes get in the way...

Not Without a Fight: The Autobiography


Helen Zille - 2016
    She documents her early days in the Democratic Party and the Democratic Alliance, at a time when the party was locked in a no-holds-barred factional conflict. And she chronicles the intense political battles to become mayor of Cape Town, leader of the DA and premier of the Western Cape, in the face of dirty tricks from the ANC and infighting within her own party.This is a story about political intrigue and treachery, floor-crossing and unlikely coalitions, phone tapping and intimidation, false criminal charges and judicial commissions. It documents Zille’s courageous fight against corruption and state capture and her efforts to realign politics and entrench accountability. And it describes a mother’s battle to raise children in the pressured world of South African politics.This book is as frank, honest and unflinching as Helen Zille herself, and will appeal to anyone interested in the story of South African politics over the past fifty years.

Never Settle: Sports, Family, and the American Soul


Marty Smith - 2019
    The guy who visits Nick Saban's lake house and somehow gets Coach to jump in the lake. The guy who sits down with Dale Jr. at Daytona to talk through tears about his miraculous return to racing. The guy who interviews Tiger Woods, Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning and Jimmie Johnson -- the guy who gets paid to live the fantasy of every sports fan in America.Never Settle is the funny but oh, it's true story of how Marty got here, and a revealing look at his journey. Never Settle includes all the best stories and behind-the-scenes moments from Marty's wild life, covering topics including: college football, racing, fathers and sons, how sports can bring us together, and how it all goes back to growing up on a farm and playing high school ball in Pearisburg, Virginia.

My Name Used to Be Muhammed: The True Story of a Muslim Who Became a Christian


Tito Momen
    

Life in a Jungle: My Autobiography


Bruce Grobbelaar - 2018
    And yet, question marks have followed him around; question marks about his goalkeeping suitability after arriving on Merseyside; question marks about his integrity after match fixing allegations were laid against him. Here, Grobbelaar takes you to Africa, where nothing is at it seems; he takes you back to an era when Liverpool ruled Europe; he takes you to the benches of the Anfield dressing room, where only the strongest personalities survived. For the first time, he takes you inside the court room, detailing the draining fight to clear his name.

We Are a Muslim, Please


Zaiba Malik - 2010
    And, of course, there's her mother - whether she's writing another ingratiating letter to the Queen or referring to Tom Jones as 'Thumb Jone'.But Zaiba's story is also one of anxiety and seemingly irreconcilable opposites. Growing up she is constantly torn between two identities: 'British' and 'Muslim'. Alienated at school and confused at home, the racism she encounters as a child mirrors the horrors she experiences at the hands of Bangladeshi interrogators as a journalist years later.Five years after the 7/7 attacks galvanized debates about Muslim-British identity, We Are A Muslim, Please is a stirring and enchanting memoir. We see, through Zaiba's childhood eyes, the poignancy of growing up in a world whose prejudices, contradictions and ambiguities are at once distressing and utterly captivating.

Remembering Diana: A Life in Photographs


National Geographic Society - 2017
    Page after page of inside photos from the legendary National Geographic archives document the royal's most memorable moments in the spotlight; a luminous, personal remembrance by Diana friend and biographer Tina Brown adds context and nuance to a poignant life twenty years after her tragic death. Float down memory lane through more than 100 remarkable images of Diana, from her days as a schoolgirl to her engagement to Prince Charles, the birth of Princes William and Harry, and her life in the media as an outspoken advocate for the poor, the sick, and the downtrodden. This elegant book features reflections from those who knew her best, recollections from dignitaries and celebrities like Nelson Mandela and Elton John, and personal insight through the princess's own words. This richly illustrated book is a beautiful ode to one of the world's most beloved women.

Running Down Red Dog Road


Rita Wendell - 2013
    Follow the author as she takes you on a personal journey disclosing a hard-scrabble life in the coal camps nestled in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia.