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Grocery Shopping with My Mother
by Kevin Powell&“Kevin Powell returns with a poetic time capsule written with love in honor of his mother&’s evolution. Powell investigates the nature of our country's oppression through the generational wounds survived and passed on. These poems are a testament to the healing work of Kevin Powell, as they revel in the power of forgiveness, abundance, and lineage.&” —Mahogany L. Browne, Lincoln Center's inaugural poet in residence and author of Vinyl MoonWhen Kevin Powell&’s elderly mother became ill, he returned home every week to take her grocery shopping in Jersey City. Walking behind her during those trips, Powell began to hear her voice, stories, and language in a new way—examining his own healing while praying for hers.Grocery Shopping with My Mother originated as social media posts about these visits and evolved into a breathtaking collection of thirty-two new poems, crafted like an album, plus four bonus tracks celebrating a great love of wordplay. Culturally rooted in the literary traditions of Ntozake Shange and Allen Ginsberg, Powell&’s poems honor the likes of V (formerly Eve Ensler), bell hooks, and Sidney Poitier. Grocery Shopping with My Mother dives into the complexities of relationships and contemporary themes with honesty and vulnerability. Creatively and spiritually inspired by Stevie Wonder&’s Songs in the Key of Life, Powell&’s poems shift in form and style, from praise chants to reverential meditations to, most importantly, innovative hope.
My Mother. Barack Obama. Donald Trump. And the Last Stand of the Angry White Man.: An Autobiography Of America
by Kevin PowellWritten in the tradition of works by Joan Didion, bell hooks, Toni Morrison, and Eve Ensler, a provocative and soul-searching “autobiography of America”—the past, the present, and the future Kevin Powell wants for us all, through the lens and lives of three major figures: his mother, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. Ten short years ago, Barack Obama became president of the United States, and changed the course of history. Ten short years ago, our America was hailed globally as a breathtaking example of democracy, as a rainbow coalition of everyday people marching to the same drum beat. We had finally overcome. But did we? Both the presidencies of Obama and Donald Trump have produced some of the ugliest divides in history: horrific racial murders, non-stop mass shootings, the explosion of attacks on immigrants and on the LGBTQ community, the rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, a massive gap between the haves and the have-nots, and legions of women stepping forth to challenge sexual violence—and men—in all forms. In this gripping new collection of thirteen essays, My Mother. Barack Obama. Donald Trump. And the Last Stand of the Angry White Man., Kevin Powell interweaves brutally honest personal stories with the saga of America, then and now. Be it politics, sports, pop culture, hip-hop music, mental health, racism, #MeToo, or his very complicated relationship with his mother, these impassioned essays are not merely a mirror of who we are, but also who and what Powell thinks we ought to be.
California Classics: Essays on the Books and Their Writers
by Lawrence Clark PowellEssays by 31 writers, from California, about California, or who at least passed through California and the books they wrote that have had some lasting impact on how California is viewed; from its discovery to the 1970s (when the book was published). Herbert E. Bolton, ANZA'S CALIFORNIA EXPEDITIONS; Walter Nordhoff, THE JOURNEY OF THE FLAME; William L. Manly, DEATH VALLEY IN '49; Mary Austin, THE LAND OF LITTLE RAIN; George Wharton James, THE WONDERS OF THE COLORADO DESERT; Louisa Smith Clapp, THE SHIRLEY LETTERS; Bret Harte, THE LUCK OF ROARING CAMP; Mark Twain, ROUGHING IT; Gertrude Atherton, THE SPLENDID IDLE FORTIES; William H. Brewer, UP AND DOWN CALIFORNIA IN 1860-64; Clarence King, MOUNTAINEERING IN THE SIERRA NEVADA; John Muir, THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA; Richard Henry Dana, Jr., TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST; Robert Louis Stevenson, THE SILVERADO SQUATTERS; Frank Norris, MCTEAGUE; Jack London, MARTIN EDEN; Smeaton Chase, CALIFORNIA COAST TRAILS; Robinson Jeffers, GIVE YOUR HEART TO THE HAWKS; John Steinbeck TO A GOD UNKNOWN; Charis and Edward Weston, CALIFORNIA AND THE WEST; Idwal Jones, THE VINEYARD; Robert Glass Cleland, THE CATTLE ON A THOUSAND HILLS; Helen Hunt Jackson, RAMONA; Horace Bell, REMINISCENCES OF A RANGER; Charles E Lummis, LAND OF SUNSHINE; Lincoln Steffens, BOY ON HORSEBACK; Upton Sinclair, OIL!; Harry Leon Wilson, MERTON OF THE MOVIES; Nathanael West, THE DAY OF THE LOCUST; Aldous Huxley, AFTER MANY A SUMMER; Raymond Chandler FAREWELL, MY LOVELY.
Augustus at War: The Struggle for the Pax Augusta
by Lindsay PowellA penetrating assessment of Augustus as ancient Rome&’s military commander-in-chief. The words Pax Augusta—or Pax Romana—evoke a period of uninterrupted peace across the vast Roman Empire. Lindsay Powell exposes this as a fallacy. Almost every year between 31 BC and AD 14 the Roman Army was in action somewhere, either fighting enemies beyond the frontier in punitive raids or for outright conquest; or suppressing banditry or rebellions within the borders. Remarkably, over the same period, Augustus succeeded in nearly doubling the size of the Empire. How did this second-rate field commander, known to become physically ill before and during battle, achieve such extraordinary success? Did he, in fact, have a grand strategy? Powell reveals Augustus as a brilliant strategist and manager of war. As commander-in-chief (imperator) he made changes to the political and military institutions to keep the empire together, and to hold on to power himself. His genius was to build a team of loyal but semi-autonomous deputies (legati) to ensure internal security and to fight his wars for him, while claiming their achievements as his own. The book profiles more than 90 of these men, as well as the military units under their command, and the campaigns they fought. The book is lavishly illustrated with 23 maps, 42 color plates, 13 black-and-white figures and five order of battle schematics. With a foreword by Karl Galinsky, this book breaks new ground in explaining the extraordinary achievement of Caesar Augustus.
Eager for Glory: The Untold Story of Drusus the Elder, Conqueror of Germania
by Lindsay Powell&“The first biography of an important personality from the beginnings of Rome&’s empire&” (Graham Sumner, coauthor of Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier). Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (Drusus the Elder) was the first conqueror of Germania (the Netherlands and Germany) and one of ancient Rome&’s most beloved military heroes. Yet there has never been a full volume dedicated to his remarkable story, achievements, and legacy. Eager for Glory brings this heroic figure back to life for a modern audience. Drusus was a stepson of Augustus through his marriage to Livia. As a military commander he led daring campaigns by sea and land that pushed the northern frontiers of Rome&’s empire to the Elbe River. He oversaw one of the largest developments of military infrastructure of the age. He married Marc Antony&’s daughter, Antonia, and fathered Germanicus, Rome&’s most popular general, and the future emperor Claudius. He was grandfather of Caligula. He died when he was only twenty-nine and was revered in death. Drawing on ancient texts, evidence from inscriptions and coins, the latest findings in archaeology, as well as astronomy and medical science, Lindsay Powell has produced a long overdue and definitive account of this great Roman.
Germanicus: The Magnificent Life and Mysterious Death of Rome's Most Popular General
by Lindsay Powell&“The story of a Roman Emperor that might have been&” (Fighting Times). Germanicus was regarded by many Romans as a hero in the mold of Alexander the Great. His untimely death, in suspicious circumstances, ended the possibility of a return to a more open republic. This, the first modern biography of Germanicus, is in parts a growing-up story, a history of war, a tale of political intrigue, and a murder mystery. In this highly readable, fast paced account, historical detective Lindsay Powell details Germanicus&’s campaigns and battles in Illyricum and Germania; tracks him on his epic tour of the Eastern Mediterranean to Armenia and down the Nile; evaluates the possible causes of his death; and reports on the cruel fate his wife, Agrippina, and their children suffered at the hands of Praetorian Guard commander, and Tiberius&’s infamous deputy, Aelius Sejanus.
Marcus Agrippa: Right-hand Man of Caesar Augustus
by Lindsay PowellMarcus Agrippa personified the term 'right-hand man'. As Emperor Augustus' deputy, he waged wars, pacified provinces, beautified Rome, and played a crucial role in laying the foundations of the Pax Romana for the next two hundred years but he served always in the knowledge he would never rule in his own name. Why he did so, and never grasped power exclusively for himself, has perplexed historians for centuries.In his teens he formed a life-long friendship with Julius Caesar's great nephew, Caius Octavius, which would change world history. Following Caesar's assassination on the Ides of March 44 BC, Agrippa was instrumental in asserting his friend's rights as the dictator's heir. He established a reputation as a bold admiral, defeating Sextus Pompeius at Mylae and Naulochus (36 BC), culminating in the epoch-making Battle of Actium (31 BC), which eliminated Marcus Antonius and Queen Cleopatra as rivals. He proved his genius for military command on land by ending bloody rebellions in the Cimmerian Bosporus, Gaul, Hispania and Illyricum.In Gaul Agrippa established the vital road network that helped turn Julius Caesar's conquests into viable provinces. As a diplomat, he befriended Herod the Great of Judaea and stabilised the East. As minister of works he overhauled Rome's drains and aqueducts, transformed public bathing in the city, created public parks with great artworks and built the original Pantheon.Agrippa became co-ruler of the Roman Empire with Augustus and married his daughter Julia. His three sons were adopted by his friend as potential heirs to the throne. Agrippa's unexpected death in 12 BC left Augustus bereft, but his bloodline lived on in the imperial family, through Agrippina the Elder to his grandson Caligula and great grandson Nero.MARCUS AGRIPPA is lucidly written by the author of the acclaimed biographies Eager for Glory and Germanicus. Illustrated with colour plates, figures and high quality maps, Lindsay Powell presents a penetrating new assessment of the life and achievements of the multifaceted man who put service to friend and country before himself.A gripping, thoroughly researched and hugely impressive biography of a key player in the transition from the Roman Republic to Augustus's Empire'. Saul David, University of Buckingham, author of WAR: From Ancient Egypt to Iraq.Augustus' ascent and reign are unthinkable without Marcus Agrippa. Surprisingly, there has been no biography of Agrippa in English for some eighty years. Powell's book admirably fills this gap and will be indispensable for anyone with a serious interest in this crucial historical period. Karl Galinsky, University of Texas at Austin, author of Augustus: Introduction to the Life of an Emperor.Marcus Agrippa was one of history's most intriguing right-hand men. Few played a greater role in the emperor Augustus' success. In vigorous prose, and with a fingertip feel for Roman politics and war, Lindsay Powell brings Agrippa to life. Barry Strauss, Cornell University, author of Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar and the Genius of Leadership.
The Influence of Campaign Contributions in State Legislatures: The Effects of Institutions and Politics
by Lynda W. PowellCampaign contributions are widely viewed as a corrupting influence but most scholarly research concludes that they have marginal impact on legislative behavior. Lynda W. Powell shows that contributions have considerable influence in some state legislatures but very little in others. Using a national survey of legislators, she develops an innovative measure of influence and delineates the factors that explain this great variation across the 99 U. S. state legislative chambers. Powell identifies the personal, institutional, and political factors that determine how much time a legislator devotes to personal fundraising and fundraising for the caucus. She shows that the extent of donors' legislative influence varies in ways corresponding to the same variations in the factors that determine fundraising time. She also confirms a link between fundraising and lobbying with evidence supporting the theory that contributors gain access to legislators based on donations, Powell's findings have important implications for the debate over the role of money in the legislative process.
Struttin' with Some Barbecue: Lil Hardin Armstrong Becomes the First Lady of Jazz
by Patricia Hruby PowellLil Hardin and her man, Louis Armstrong, were musical royalty--inventing a new kind of sound--makin' jazz. Believe it, baby!This is the true story of Lil Hardin Armstrong: pianist, composer, and bandleader in the early days of jazz. Ahead of her time, Lil made a career for herself--and for Louis Armstrong, her modest, unassuming husband. Louis might never have become the groundbreaking jazz player he was, if it hadn't been for Lil. Scat-inspired verse celebrates how Lil overcame race and gender barriers to become the first lady of the Chicago jazz scene."Brimming with a contagious love of jazz and its first lady, this work brings down the house"--Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review
Conversations with James Ellroy (Literary Conversations Series)
by Steven PowellAs a novelist who has spent years crafting and refining his intense and oft outrageous “Demon Dog of American Crime Fiction” persona, James Ellroy has used interviews as a means of shaping narratives outside of his novels. Conversations with James Ellroy covers a series of interviews given by Ellroy from 1984 to 2010, in which Ellroy discusses his literary contribution and his public and private image. Born Lee Earle Ellroy in 1948, James Ellroy is one of the most critically acclaimed and controversial contemporary writers of crime and historical fiction. Ellroy's complex narratives, which merge history and fiction, have pushed the boundaries of the crime fiction genre: American Tabloid, a revisionist look at the Kennedy era, was Time magazine's Novel of the Year 1995, and his novels L.A. Confidential and The Black Dahlia were adapted into films. Much of Ellroy's remarkable life story has served as the template for the personal obsessions that dominate his writing. From the brutal, unsolved murder of his mother to his descent into alcohol and drug abuse, his sexual voyeurism, and his stints at the Los Angeles County Jail, Ellroy has lived through a series of hellish experiences that few other writers could claim. In Conversations with James Ellroy, the author talks extensively about his life, his literary influences, his persona, and his attitudes towards politics and religion. In interviews with fellow crime writers Craig McDonald, David Peace, and others, including several previously unpublished interviews, Ellroy is at turns charismatic and eloquent, combative and enigmatic.
The Other Woman
by Tunette PowellThe Other Woman is a bold and emotional memoir based on a sixteen-line rap written by the daughter of an addict. In this honest portrayal of addiction, Nette loses herself in the stories of her father's struggles. She vividly recounts his memories of the crack houses and prison cells he once frequented, and openly recalls how that other world stole so many years from Bruce Callis and his family.
The Constant Novelist: A Study of Margaret Kennedy, 1896-1967
by Violet PowellA contemporary of such novelists as Rose Macaulay and Elizabeth Bowen, Margaret Kennedy is most widely known as the author of the runaway bestseller The Constant Nymph, published in 1924. However, her work spans more than four decades and is notable for its keen sensitivity to the nuances of human relationships. In this biography, Violet Powell presents Kennedy's life and times and provides critical comments on each of her sixteen novels.
The Man Who Sees Dead People: The Astonishing Story Of A Psychic
by Joe PowerFor almost a decade, psychic medium Joe Power has used his extraordinary powers to investigate high-profile, unsolved crimes around the world, including, most recently, the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.But it wasn't always this way. Joe had denied his psychic abilities until the day his brother was found dead. Then messages from the spirit world led him to see the shocking truth behind the tragedy . . . his brother had been murdered.Joe realized he could no longer ignore the startling visions and voices in his head. He vowed to use his psychic gift to help solve the murder cases that were leaving detectives baffled, and loved ones without closure. In The Man Who Sees Dead People he tells the astonishing story of his life for the first time.
Help Me: My Perfectly Disastrous Journey through the World of Self-Help
by Marianne PowerA hilarious and heartwarming rampage through the world of self-careMarianne Power was a self-help junkie. For years she lined her bookshelves with dog-eared copies of definitive guide after definitive guide on how to live your best life. Yet one day she woke up to find that the life she dreamed of and the life she was living were not miles but continents apart. So she set out to make a change. Or, actually, to make every change.Marianne decided to finally find out if her elusive perfect life—the one without debt, anxiety, hangovers or Netflix marathons, the one where she healthily bounced around town with perfect teeth to meet the cashmere-sweater-wearing man of her dreams—lay in the pages of those books. So for a year she vowed to test a book a month, following its advice to the letter, taking the surest road she knew to a perfect Marianne. As her year-long plan turned into a demented roller coaster where everything she knew was turned upside down, she found herself confronted with a different question: Self-help can change your life, but is it for the better?
Help Me: My Perfectly Disastrous Journey through the World of Self-Help
by Marianne PowerA hilarious and heartwarming rampage through the world of self-careMarianne Power was a self-help junkie. For years she lined her bookshelves with dog-eared copies of definitive guide after definitive guide on how to live your best life. Yet one day she woke up to find that the life she dreamed of and the life she was living were not miles but continents apart. So she set out to make a change. Or, actually, to make every change.Marianne decided to finally find out if her elusive perfect life—the one without debt, anxiety, hangovers or Netflix marathons, the one where she healthily bounced around town with perfect teeth to meet the cashmere-sweater-wearing man of her dreams—lay in the pages of those books. So for a year she vowed to test a book a month, following its advice to the letter, taking the surest road she knew to a perfect Marianne. As her year-long plan turned into a demented roller coaster where everything she knew was turned upside down, she found herself confronted with a different question: Self-help can change your life, but is it for the better?
Help Me!: One Woman's Quest to Find Out If Self-Help Really Can Change Your Life
by Marianne Power“Consistently entertaining . . . she writes with unflinching honesty . . . Bridget Jones meets Buddha in this plucky, heartwarming, comical debut memoir.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)For years journalist Marianne Power lined her bookshelves with dog-eared copies of definitive guides on how to live your best life, dipping in and out of self-help books when she needed them most. Then, one day, she woke up to find that the life she hoped for and the life she was living were worlds apart—and she set out to make some big changes.Marianne decided to finally find out if her elusive “perfect existence” —the one without debt, anxiety, or hangover Netflix marathons, the one where she healthily bounced around town and met the cashmere-sweater-wearing man of her dreams—really did lie in the pages of our best known and acclaimed self-help books. She vowed to test a book a month for one year, following its advice to the letter, taking what she hoped would be the surest path to a flawless new her. But as the months passed and Marianne’s reality was turned upside down, she found herself confronted with a different question: Self-help can change your life, but is it for the better?With humor, audacity, disarming candor and unassuming wisdom, in Help Me Marianne Power plumbs the trials and tests of being a modern woman in a “have it all” culture, and what it really means to be our very best selves.“Equal parts touching and hilarious, Power’s account of the year she spent following the tenets of self-help books will make you feel better about your own flawed life.” —People
Feed the Hungry: A Memoir with Recipes
by Nani PowerAn author whose fiction has been praised by Mary Gaitskill ("Passionate, intelligent, and piercingly beautiful. . . an altogether striking debut") and Darcy Steinke ("Nani Power. . . shows that sensuality pervades all of life and is too powerful to be contained in the bedroom alone"), Nani Power turns her incredible storytelling talents to memoir, crafting a sublime work of nonfiction centered around a life of travel, eclectic dining, and dealing with her decidedly eccentric Southern bohemian family. Consumption is the real American pastime. Through the prism of food, we all see our pasts differently. Like the finest food writers, Power brings readers directly into her world through the evocative depiction of the experience of eating. From her childhood on a rambling farm in Virginia -- during which she witnessed a saga of fighting, disowning, silencing, and other regrettable acts -- to her peripatetic and international adult life, Power's reflections are surprising, enthralling, and entertaining. She has a deep understanding of the cuisines of Peru and Mexico, Iran and India; her stints as a sandwich seller in Rio, a waitress in the East Village, a funeral caterer in the Deep South, and on a food junket to Japan all seem familiar as she relates each experience to us through its cuisine. A wealth of detailed recipes throughout the book offer a chance to recreate Power's memories in perpetuity. Lyrical and uplifting, unflinching and brave,Feed the Hungryis a supple, evocative memoir of food, travel, Americana, and family history, written with all the creativity, tenderness, grit, and verve we have come to expect from this uncommonly gifted writer.
Motherhood and Creativity
by Rachel PowerDo women still confront the attitude that they have to choose between following their creative dreams and having children? In Motherhood & Creativity, some of Australia's most respected actors, writers, artists and musicians speak frankly about the wrench between motherhood and their creative lives. In these compelling, honest and insightful interviews, 22 women open up about the various challenges and pleasures they've faced when combining motherhood with an undiminished passion for their creative work. Includes interviews with: * Claudia Karvan (actor) * Cate Kennedy (writer) * Holly Throsby (singer-songwriter) * Del Kathryn Barton (artist) * Clare Bowditch (singer) * Rachel Griffiths (actor)
Chasing the Flame: One Man's Fight to Save the World
by Samantha PowerIn this perfect match of author and subject, Pulitzer Prize-winner Samantha Power tackles the life of Sergio Vieira de Mello, whose work for the U.N. before his 2003 death in Iraq was emblematic of moral struggle on the global stage. Power has drawn on a staggering breadth of research (including 400 interviews) to show us a heroic figure and the conflicts he waded into, from Cambodia's Khmer Rouge to the slaughter in Bosnia to the war-torn Middle East. The result is a peerless portrait of humanity and pragmatism, as well as a history of our convulsive age.
The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir
by Samantha Power<P><P>Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power, widely known as a relentless advocate for promoting human rights, has been heralded by President Barack Obama as one of America's "foremost thinkers on foreign policy."In her memoir, Power offers an urgent response to the question "What can one person do?"—and a call for a clearer eye, a kinder heart, and a more open and civil hand in our politics and daily lives. <P><P>The Education of an Idealist traces Power’s distinctly American journey from immigrant to war correspondent to presidential Cabinet official. In 2005, her critiques of US foreign policy caught the eye of newly elected senator Barack Obama, who invited her to work with him on Capitol Hill and then on his presidential campaign. <P><P>After Obama was elected president, Power went from being an activist outsider to a government insider, navigating the halls of power while trying to put her ideals into practice. She served for four years as Obama’s human rights adviser, and in 2013, he named her US Ambassador to the United Nations, the youngest American to assume the role. <P><P>A Pulitzer Prize–winning writer, Power transports us from her childhood in Dublin to the streets of war-torn Bosnia to the White House Situation Room and the world of high-stakes diplomacy. Humorous and deeply honest, The Education of an Idealist lays bare the searing battles and defining moments of her life and shows how she juggled the demands of a 24/7 national security job with the challenge of raising two young children. <P><P>Along the way, she illuminates the intricacies of politics and geopolitics, reminding us how the United States can lead in the world, and why we each have the opportunity to advance the cause of human dignity. Power’s memoir is an unforgettable account of the power of idealism—and of one person’s fierce determination to make a difference. <P><P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Sergio: One Man's Fight to Save the World
by Samantha PowerThe inspiring profile of one man's courage and compassion-now a feature documentary from HBO(tm) films In this perfect match of author and subject, Pulitzer Prize-winner Samantha Power tackles the life of Sergio Vieira de Mello, whose work for the U. N. before his 2003 death in Iraq was emblematic of moral struggle on the global stage. Power has drawn on a staggering breadth of research (including 400 interviews) to show us a heroic figure and the conflicts he took on, from Cambodia's Khmer Rouge to the slaughter in Bosnia to the war-torn Middle East. The result is a peerless portrait of humanity and pragmatism, as well as a history of our convulsive age.
The Unquiet American: Richard Holbrooke in the World
by Samantha Power Derek CholletRichard Holbrooke, who died in December 2010, was a pivotal player in U. S. diplomacy for more than forty years. Most recently special envoy for Iraq and Afghanistan under President Obama, Holbrooke also served as assistant secretary of state for both Asia and Europe, and as ambassador to both Germany and the United Nations. He had a key role in brokering a peace agreement among warring factions in Bosnia that led to the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995. Widely regarded to possess one of the most penetrating minds of any modern diplomat of any nation, Holbrooke was also well known for his outsized personality, and his capacity to charm and offend in equally colossal measures. In this book, the friends and colleagues who knew him best survey his accomplishments as a diplomat, activist, and author. Excerpts from HolbrookeOCOs own writings further illuminate each significant period of his career. "The Unquiet American" is both a tribute to an exceptional public servant and a backstage history of the last half-century of American foreign policy.
The Promise: The Moving Story of a Family in the Holocaust
by Barbara PowersA Holocaust survivor's own story, told specially for young readers.This is the remarkable true story of a young Jewish girl and her brother caught in a world turned upside down by the Nazis during the Second World War. Eva Schloss describes her happy early childhood in Vienna with her kind and loving parents and her older brother Heinz, whom she adored. But when the Nazis marched into Austria everything changed.Eva's family fled to Belgium, then to Amsterdam where, with the help of the Dutch Resistance, they spent the next two years in hiding - Eva and her mother in one house, and her father and brother in another. But in the end they were all betrayed and deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Despite the horrors of the camp, Eva's positive attitude and stubborn personality (which had often got her into trouble) saw her through one of the most tragic events in history but sadly her father and brother perished just weeks before the liberation. Eva and her mother travelled back to the house in Amsterdam where Heinz and his father had hidden and discovered over thirty beautiful paintings by her brother. Heinz hadn't wasted any of his talents during his captivity. For Eva, here was a tangible, everlasting memory of her beloved older brother, and a reminder of her father's promise that all the good things you accomplish will make a difference.Heinz's paintings have been on display in exhibitions in the USA and are now a part of a permanent exhibition in Amsterdam's war museum.Eva Schloss is the posthumous step-sister of Anne Frank, after mother, Fritzi, was remarried to Otto Frank, the only surviving member of his immediate family.
Bobby's Book
by Bob Powers Emily Davidson Bruce DavidsonIn 1998, at the very moment that a publisher had approached Bruce Davidson about a book of his 1959 Brooklyn Gang photographs, former gang leader Bobby Powers unexpectedly telephoned the Davidsons. Over the next decade, Emily Davidson maintained an ongoing conversation with Powers in order to bring to light his struggle to overcome his drug-ridden and violent past and to inspire others with his example. Through the words and reflections of the former drug addict and petty criminal, this book relates the long, agonizing journey from youthful urban violence and despair to the life of a committed and generous professional. Beginning in a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood in the mid 1950s where alcohol abuse and poverty were rampant, Bobby Powers went from being an illiterate gang leader and notorious drug dealer to a destroyed individual who had lost everything, including family members, close friends, and himself, all presented in his own words and in grim detail in this book. At a critical turning point in his life, recognizing the threat of his behaviors to survival, he entered detox and embarked on the arduous path to recovery and self-understanding. This process involved not only acknowledging and coming to terms with the injuries he had inflicted on his children and others, but also asking for their forgiveness. Having achieved a new way of life as a responsible and caring adult, Bobby Powers is today, at 69, a nationally respected drug addiction counselor who has aided a wide spectrum of people, including former gang members. His story represents a brutal and inspiring lesson in human frailty, degradation, and transformation.
Zayd
by David S. PowersAlthough Muḥammad had no natural sons who reached the age of maturity, Islamic sources report that he adopted a man named Zayd shortly before receiving his first revelation. This "son of Muḥammad" was the Prophet's heir for the next fifteen or twenty years. He was the first adult male to become a Muslim and the only Muslim apart from Muḥammad whose name is mentioned in the Qur'an. Eventually, Muḥammad would repudiate Zayd as his son, abolish the institution of adoption, and send Zayd to certain death on a battlefield in southern Jordan. Curiously, Zayd has remained a marginal figure in both Islamic and Western scholarship. David S. Powers now attempts to restore Zayd to his rightful position at the center of the narrative of the Prophet Muḥammad and the beginnings of Islam. To do so, he mines traces left behind in commentaries on the Qur'an, in biographical dictionaries, and in historical chronicles, reading these sources against analogues in the Hebrew Bible. Powers demonstrates that in the accounts preserved in these sources, Zayd's character is modeled on those of biblical figures such as Isaac, Ishmael, Joseph, and Uriah the Hittite. This modeling process was deployed by early Muslim storytellers to address two key issues, Powers contends: the bitter conflict over succession to Muḥammad and the key theological doctrine of the finality of prophecy. Both Zayd's death on a battlefield and Muḥammad's repudiation of his adopted son and heir were after-the-fact constructions driven by political and theological imperatives.