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Accused: My Story Of Injustice (I, Witness #1)
by Adama BahLaunching a propulsive middle grade nonfiction series, a young woman shares her harrowing experience of being wrongly accused of terrorism. Adama Bah grew up in East Harlem after immigrating from Conakry, Guinea, and was deeply connected to her community and the people who lived there. But as a thirteen-year-old after the events of September 11, 2001, she began experiencing discrimination and dehumanization as prejudice toward Muslim people grew. Then, on March 24, 2005, FBI agents arrested Adama and her father. Falsely accused of being a potential suicide bomber, Adama spent weeks in a detention center being questioned under suspicion of terrorism. With sharp and engaging writing, Adama recounts the events surrounding her arrest and its impact on her life—the harassment, humiliation, and persecution she faced for crimes she didn’t commit. Accused brings forward a crucial and unparalleled first-person perspective of American culture post-9/11 and the country’s discrimination against Muslim Americans, and heralds the start of a new series of compelling narrative nonfiction by young people, for young people.
Accused: My Fight for Truth, Justice & the Strength to Forgive
by Mark Dagostino Tonya CraftThis is the true story of a woman who prevailed against the most heinous accusations imaginable.Tonya Craft, a Georgia kindergarten teacher and loving mother of two, never expected a knock on her door to change her life forever. But in May 2008, false accusations of child molestation turned her world upside down. The trial that followed dragged her reputation through the mud and lent nationwide notoriety to her name.Tonya's life spiraled into a witch-trial nightmare in which she was deemed guilty before her innocence could be determined by a jury. Her children were taken away without even a goodbye, and her own daughter was forced to take the stand against her in a courtroom. The situation seemed hopeless, and Tonya was shell-shocked and heartbroken. But that didn't keep her from finding the strength to fight.Over the course of two terrifying years, Tonya rallied to take charge of her own defense, flying across the country and knocking on doors on a desperate quest for answers, and defying her own lawyers on more than one occasion. Tonya's goal was not only to avoid conviction; it was to clear her name, and, most of all, regain custody of her children.Accused is about more than Tonya's shocking trial and fight for justice. It is the story of a mother's extraordinary love, the faith that sees her through it all, and the forgiveness that sets her free.
Accused: British Witches throughout History
by Willow WinshamThe true stories of eleven notorious women, across five centuries, who were feared, victimized, and condemned for witchcraft in the British Isles. Beginning with the late Middle Ages—from Ireland to Hampshire—hundreds of women were accused of spellcasting, wicked seduction, murder, and consorting with the devil. Most were fated for the gallows or the stake. What did it mean for these prisoners to stand accused? What were they really guilty of? And by whom were they persecuted? Drawing on a wealth of primary sources including trial documents, church and census records, and the original sensationalist pamphlets describing the crimes, historian Willow Winsham finds the startling answers to these questions. In the process, she resurrects the lives, deaths, and mysteries of eleven women subjected to history&’s most notable witch trials. From Irish &“sorceress&” Alice Kyteler who, in 1324 was the first accused witch on record, to Scottish psychic Helen Duncan who, in 1944, was the last woman imprisoned under Britain&’s Witchcraft Act of 1735. Dames, servant girls, aggrieved neighbors, suspect widows, cat ladies, prostitutes, mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters. Accused brings all these victims, and the eras in which they lived and died, back to life in &“an incredibly well researched . . . stunning and admirable piece of work, highly recommended&” (Terry Tyler, author of the Project Renova series).
Accounting for Ministers
by Samuel BerlinskiAccounting for Ministers uses the tools of modern political science to analyse the factors which determine the fortunes of Cabinet ministers. Utilising agency theory, it describes Cabinet government as a system of incentives for prime ministerial and parliamentary rule. The authors use a unique dataset of ministers from 1945 to 2007 to examine the structural and individual characteristics that lead to the selection and durability of ministers. Sensitive to historical context, it describes the unique features of different Prime Ministers and the sorts of issues and scandals that lead to the forced exit of ministers. The authors identify the structural factors that determine ministerial performance and tenure, seeing resignation calls as performance indicators. Probing the nature of individual and collective responsibility within Westminster forms of government, its rigorous analysis provides powerful new insights into the nature of Cabinet government.
The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel
by David Fisher Roberto Escobar"I have many scars. Some of them are physical, but many more are scars on my soul. A bomb sent to kill me while I was in a maximum security prison has made me blind, yet now I see the world more clearly than I have ever seen it before. I have lived an incredible adventure. I watched as my brother, Pablo Escobar, became the most successful criminal in history, but also a hero to many of the people of Colombia. My brother was loved and he was feared. Hundreds of thousands of people marched in his funeral procession, and certainly as many people celebrated his death." These are the words of Roberto Escobar-the top accountant for the notorious and deadly Medellín Cartel, and brother of Pablo Escobar, the most famous drug lord in history. At the height of his reign, Pablo's multibillion-dollar operation smuggled tons of cocaine each week into countries all over the world. Roberto and his ten accountants kept track of all the money. Only Pablo and Roberto knew where it was stashed-and what it bought. And the amounts of money were simply staggering. According to Roberto, it cost $2,500 every month just to purchase the rubber bands needed to wrap the stacks of cash. The biggest problem was finding a place to store it: from secret compartments in walls and beneath swimming pools to banks and warehouses everywhere. There was so much money that Roberto would sometimes write off ten percent as "spoilage," meaning either rats had chewed up the bills or dampness had ruined the cash. Roberto writes about the incredible violence of the cartel, but he also writes of the humanitarian side of his brother. Pablo built entire towns, gave away thousands of houses, paid people's medical expenses, and built schools and hospitals. Yet he was responsible for the horrible deaths of thousands of people. In short, this is the story of a world of riches almost beyond mortal imagination, and in his own words, Roberto Escobar tells all: building a magnificent zoo at Pablo's opulent home, the brothers' many escapes into the jungles of Colombia, devising ingenious methods to smuggle tons of cocaine into the United States, bribing officials with literally millions of dollars-and building a personal army to protect the Escobar family against an array of enemies sworn to kill them. Few men in history have been more beloved-or despised-than Pablo Escobar. Now, for the first time, his story is told by the man who knew him best: his brother, Roberto.
The Account of Fray Juan Pobre's Residence in the Maríanas 1602
by Marjorie G. DriverIt was not whim or impulse that prompted the Franciscan Fray Juan Pobre de Zamora to jump ship in the Ladrones, or Maríana Islands, in 1602. Though not yet colonized, the islands had been known to the western world from the time of Ferdinand Magellan's visit in 1521, and they had been claimed for Spain by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi during his stopover at Guam while en route to the Philippines in 1565.
The Accompanist: An Autobiography of Andre Benoist
by Andre Benoist John Anthony MalteseBenoist moved from France to the US and became the accompanist of musicians such as Jascha Heifetz and Albert Spalding, with many tours, recordings, concerts and broadcasts over decades.
Accidentally on Purpose: A One-Night Stand, My Unplanned Parenthood, and Loving the Best Mistake I Ever Made
by Mary F. PolsAt thirty-nine, movie critic Mary Pols knew she wanted to have a baby. But never—not in a million years—on her own. To take on the physical, emotional, and financial challenges of motherhood without a perfect soul mate/husband would be absurd, kind of like not bothering to use a condom during a one-night stand with an adorable but jobless guy ten years her junior. Pols spends the ensuing weeks despairing over everything, from the financial nightmare of single motherhood to the end of her hopes for a traditional life. Not the least of her worries is finding the right way to drop the bombshell on loved ones, including her five siblings and eighty-four-year-old father, who has a German temper and an Irish Catholic attitude toward babies out of wedlock. Yet faced with the frightening, lonely truth that this might be her only chance at motherhood, she plunges ahead with the pregnancy and an Odd Couple version of a co-parenting relationship that looks like one more disaster in a long line of romantic disappointments. But even as she tries to give her son’s young father a radical makeover, she realizes that his devotion and love for their child matters more than his spotty résumé or his inability to remember to put oil in the car. With humor, insight, and compelling honesty, Pols reveals what it means to compromise in the name of love and to find joy in an accidental life, suddenly brimming with purpose.
Accidental Weatherman
by Sam MacThe Accidental Weatherman is the story of what happens when a hilarious Adelaide boy who knows nothing about meteorology scores the coveted weatherman gig on the highest rating breakfast TV show in Australia.As the Sunrise weatherman, Sam Mac has bungee jumped, swum with sharks, got his cat on the cover of Pussweek magazine, taken his mum to the Logies when he was nominated for gold, stripped naked for The Real Full Monty and even recorded a song with The Wiggles. But, ultimately, his job is about people - from primary schoolers to pensioners, Sam's gift is how he connects with them all. He uses heart and humour in his role on Sunrise to introduce viewers to the true characters of Australia. He prides himself on bringing awareness to causes such as mental health and animal rescue, and on championing underdogs who might need a hand up or a shout out. His genuine nature and open-book approach to social media has won him hundreds of thousands of fans along the way - although even he would admit that many of them only like him for his cat Coco (who is rapidly catching up to him in Instagram followers).After presenting more than 25 000 minutes of live TV in over 800 different Australian towns, Sam really has seen the absolute best of Australia, and it's brought out the best in him.
Accidental Weatherman
by Sam MacThe Accidental Weatherman is the story of what happens when a hilarious Adelaide boy who knows nothing about meteorology scores the coveted weatherman gig on the highest rating breakfast TV show in Australia.As the Sunrise weatherman, Sam Mac has bungee jumped, swum with sharks, got his cat on the cover of Pussweek magazine, taken his mum to the Logies when he was nominated for gold, stripped naked for The Real Full Monty and even recorded a song with The Wiggles. But, ultimately, his job is about people - from primary schoolers to pensioners, Sam's gift is how he connects with them all. He uses heart and humour in his role on Sunrise to introduce viewers to the true characters of Australia. He prides himself on bringing awareness to causes such as mental health and animal rescue, and on championing underdogs who might need a hand up or a shout out. His genuine nature and open-book approach to social media has won him hundreds of thousands of fans along the way - although even he would admit that many of them only like him for his cat Coco (who is rapidly catching up to him in Instagram followers).After presenting more than 25 000 minutes of live TV in over 800 different Australian towns, Sam really has seen the absolute best of Australia, and it's brought out the best in him.
The Accidental Veterinarian: Tales from a Pet Practice
by Philipp Schott&“For all animal lovers ... Few books ... approach the combination of fine writing, radical honesty, and endless optimism found [in these] veterinary tales.&” (Booklist, starred review) With insight and humor, Dr. Philipp Schott shares tales from the unlikely path he took into his career as a veterinarian and anecdotes from his successful small-animal clinic. Dr. Schott brings to his writing the benefit of many years of expertise. Wisdom he imparts on readers includes the best way to give your cat a pill, how to prevent your very handy dog from opening a fridge, and how to handle your fish when it has half-swallowed another. Through these and other experiences, Dr. Schott also learned that veterinary medicine is as much, if not more, about the people as it is the animals. And he will have you laughing and crying as you embark on this journey of discovery with him. &“Filled with heartwarming stories any animal lover will enjoy. It&’s informative and entertaining, much like our pets themselves!&” ― eresa Rhyne, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Dog Lived (and So Will I) &“Who amongst us animal lovers hasn&’t fantasized being a vet? Well, read Philipp Schott&’s highly entertaining and informative book and learn exactly what you&’d be in for―all the poignancy, hilarity, and plain hard work. You may decide to keep your day job, but you&’ll be a much better animal companion for having picked up the many insider tips Schott imparts.&” ―Barbara Gowdy, award-winning author of The White Bone and Helpless
The Accidental Truth: What My Mother's Murder Taught Me About Life
by Lauri Taylor Candice DelongLauri Taylor was just your average suburban PTA mom and marketing exec. Then tragedy struck. When her mother is found dead in Mexico, Lauri finds herself embarking on a journey to uncover the identity of her mother's murderer-but what she finds isn't what she was expecting. With the help of famed FBI profiler Candice DeLong, Lauri works to unearth the secrets buried in her mother's death. Key evidence comes to light-and a shocking revelation unfolds. Lauri Taylor's memoir The Accidental Truth: What My Mother's Murder Investigation Taught Me About Life is a profound narrative of true crime, family bonds, and the grief of sudden death. Achingly intimate, The Accidental Truth chronicles Lauri's personal journey as she empowers herself with truth, finds the courage and compassion to forgive herself and her mother, and eventually learns to let go.
The Accidental Tour Guide
by Mary MoodyThe Year of Magical Thinking meets Salvation Creek in a powerful memoir of love, loss and discovery – the third act in an extraordinary life. Mary Moody’s bestselling memoirs about her adventures in France, Au Revoir and Last Tango in Toulouse, inspired thousands of women. The Accidental Tour Guide completes the circle by sharing another major turning point in her life. When Mary loses her beloved husband, her world is turned upside down. Part of her journey to reignite her passion for living is to boldly go where she has never been before – in her travels and in her everyday life. A powerful, moving and inspiring true story about how to rebuild your life without the people who matter most.
An Accidental Theodicy: Genuflexions on a Fractured Knee
by Arvind SharmaAn adequate explanation of suffering is perhaps the most intractable issue in the study of religion and philosophy, and the answer to the question "Why me?" has eluded not only those who are the victims of suffering, but those who sympathize with them and try to understand and explain their suffering. In this highly personal account, Arvind Sharma shares his story of becoming the victim of a severe road accident and his gradual recovery from a fractured knee, which included a hospital stay, surgeries, unexpected setbacks, and a lengthy process of rehabilitation. In the second and most substantial part of the book, Sharma attempts to intellectually come to terms with his experience and to reflect on how the experience of suffering in one form or another is a universal condition of human existence.
The Accidental Teacher: Life Lessons from My Silent Son
by Annie Lubliner LehmannA mother's honest, unvarnished, and touching memoir about the life lessons she learned from a son with autism
An Accidental Statistician
by George E. BoxCelebrating the life of an admired pioneer in statisticsIn this captivating and inspiring memoir, world-renowned statistician George E. P. Box offers a firsthand account of his life and statistical work. Writing in an engaging, charming style, Dr. Box reveals the unlikely events that led him to a career in statistics, beginning with his job as a chemist conducting experiments for the British army during World War II. At this turning point in his life and career, Dr. Box taught himself the statistical methods necessary to analyze his own findings when there were no statisticians available to check his work.Throughout his autobiography, Dr. Box expertly weaves a personal and professional narrative to illustrate the effects his work had on his life and vice-versa. Interwoven between his research with time series analysis, experimental design, and the quality movement, Dr. Box recounts coming to the United States, his family life, and stories of the people who mean the most to him.This fascinating account balances the influence of both personal and professional relationships to demonstrate the extraordinary life of one of the greatest and most influential statisticians of our time. An Accidental Statistician also features:* Two forewords written by Dr. Box's former colleagues and closest confidants* Personal insights from more than a dozen statisticians on how Dr. Box has influenced and continues to touch their careers and lives* Numerous, previously unpublished photos from the author's personal collectionAn Accidental Statistician is a compelling read for statisticians in education or industry, mathematicians, engineers, and anyone interested in the life story of an influential intellectual who altered the world of modern statistics.
An Accidental Sportswriter
by Robert LipsyteA longtime sports columnist for the New York Times interweaves stories from his life and the events he covered to explore the relationships between the games we play and the lives we lead Growing up, Robert Lipsyte was the smart-aleck fat kid, the bully magnet who went to the library instead of the ballpark. As the perpetual outsider, even into adulthood, Lipsyte's alienation from Jock Culture made him a rarity in the press box: the sportswriter who wasn't a sports fan. This feeling of otherness has colored Lipsyte's sports writing for fifty years, much of it spent as a columnist for the New York Times. He didn't follow particular athletes or teams; he wasn't awed by the access afforded by his press pass or his familiarity with the players in the locker room. Between bouts at the Times, he launched a successful career writing young adult fiction, often about sports. The experience and insight he earned over a half century infuse An Accidental Sportswriter. Going beyond the usual memoir, Lipsyte has written "a memory loop, a circular search for lost or forgotten pieces in the puzzle of a life." In telling his own story, he grapples with American sports and society-from Mickey Mantle to Bill Simmons-arguing that Jock Culture has seeped into our business, politics, and family life, and its definitions have become the standard to measure value. Full of wisdom and an understanding of American sports that contextualizes rather than celebrates athletes, An Accidental Sportswriter is the crowning achievement of a rich career and a book that will speak to us for years to come.
The Accidental Prime Minister The Making And Unmaking Of Manmohan Singh
by Sanjaya BaruIn 2004 Sanjaya Baru left a successful career as chief editor of the Financial Express to join Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his media adviser in UPA 1. Singh offered him the job with the words, 'Sitting here, I know I will be isolated from the outside world. I want you to be my eyes and ears. Tell me what you think I should know, without fear or favour. ' The Accidental Prime Minister is Baru's account of what it was like to 'manage' public opinion for Singh while giving us a riveting look at Indian politics as it happened behind the scenes. As Singh's spin doctor and trusted aide for four years, Baru observed up close Singh's often troubled relations with his ministers, his cautious equation with Sonia Gandhi and how he handled the big crises from managing the Left to pushing through the nuclear deal. In this book he tells all and draws for the first time a revelatory picture of what it was like for Singh to work in a government that had two centres of power. Insightful, acute and packed with political gossip, The Accidental Prime Minister is one of the great insider accounts of Indian political life and a superb portrait of the Manmohan Singh era. 'You see, you must understand one thing. I have come to terms with this. There cannot be two Centres of power. ' Manmohan Singh
The Accidental Prime Minister: द ॲक्सिडेन्टल प्राइम मिनिस्टर
by Sanjay Baru२००४ मध्ये संजय बारु यांनी ‘फायनान्शियल एक्स्प्रेस’ या दैनिकाचा मुख्य संपादक म्हणून आपली कारकिर्द मागे सोडून युपीए-१ मध्ये पंतप्रधान मनमोहन सिंग यांचे ‘माध्यम सल्लागार’ म्हणून रुजू होण्याचा निर्णय घेतला. सिंग यांनी त्यांना ही नोकरी देताना असं म्हटलं होतं, ‘‘या कार्यालयात बसून माझा बाहेरच्या जगाशी फारसा संबंध येणार नाही. तुम्ही माझे डोळे आणि कान व्हावं, अशी माझी इच्छा आहे. माझ्या जे काही कानावर पडावं, असं तुम्हाला वाटत असेल, ते अजिबात न घाबरता, नि:पक्षपाती वृत्तीनं जसं असेल तसं मला सांगा!’’ ‘द अॅक्सिडेन्टल प्राइम मिनिस्टर’ या पुस्तकामध्ये डॉ. सिंग यांच्याविषयीचं जनमत बनवणं हा अनुभव काय होता, हे त्यांनी सांगितलं आहे. पडद्यामागे घडणा-या भारतीय राजकारणाची नवीन दृष्टी त्यांनी आपल्या खिळवून टाकणा-या शैलीत वाचकाला दिली आहे. डॉ. सिंग यांचे ‘स्पिन डॉक्टर’ आणि चार वर्षं खास त्यांच्या विश्वासातले असलेल्या संजय बारु यांनी डॉ. सिंग यांचे त्यांच्या मंत्र्यांशी असलेले तणावपूर्ण संबंध, सोनिया गांधी यांच्याबरोबर असलेलं त्यांचं सावध समीकरण अगदी जवळून पाहिलं आहे. डाव्या पक्षांना हाताळतानाचं आणि अणुकराराचा पाठपुरावा करतानाचं डॉ. सिंग यांचं कौशल्यही त्यांनी पाहिलं आहे. ज्या सरकारमध्ये दोन सत्ताकेंद्रं होती, अशा सरकारमध्ये काम करणं, डॉ. सिंग यांच्यासाठी किती कठीण काम होतं, याचं समग्र दर्शन या पुस्तकातून संजय बारु यांनी घडवलं आहे. वाचकाला एक नवी दृष्टी देणारं संजय बारु यांचं हे पुस्तक, भारतीय राजकारणातील ‘आतल्या गोटातील’ माहिती सांगणारं आहे. हे पुस्तक डॉ. मनमोहन सिंग यांच्या युगाचा एक सुंदर आलेख आपल्यासमोर ठेवतं.
The Accidental Prime Minister
by Annika SmethurstNine months after the spill that catapulted him to the prime ministership, Scott Morrison won the 2019 election, shocking politicians and political pundits (and, quite possibly, himself). Yet, unlike his predecessors, little was really known about the former marketing man whose hard-nosed political instincts and 'daggy dad persona' saw him become the 30th Prime Minister of Australia. Voters knew what he allowed them to see - a policy embrace of slogans like 'Stop the Boats'; his deft rebuttal of media enquiries; his love for Jen and his two daughters; that he liked to cook a curry on Saturday nights; and that his faith and the Cronulla Sharks were a big part of his life. But a man is more than sound bites and social media posts. So who the bloody hell is Scott Morrison?In this revealing biography, political journalist Annika Smethurst uncovers the man behind the headlines and slogans to show us what makes Scott Morrison tick. Taking us from his childhood, as the son of a local policeman, to a meeting that would lead to marriage to his teenage sweetheart, The Accidental PM will tell the personal and the political. There are questions about Morrison's early business career and his preselection that, when answered, will paint a clearer picture of the man leading our country and give greater insight into how he won the 'miracle' election. Whether Morrison's ego and temperament will see him falter in hard times or whether he will use the lessons of his life to end the revolving door of PMs to become one of Australia's best prime ministers is still to be discovered. But knowing the man will allow us all to know the path he will lead us on.
The Accidental President of Brazil: A Memoir
by Fernando Henrique CardosoFernando Henrique Cardoso received a phone call in the middle of the night asking him to be the new Finance Minister of Brazil. As he put the phone down and stared into the darkness of his hotel room, he feared he'd been handed a political death sentence. The year was 1993, and he would be responsible for an economy that had had seven different currencies in the previous eight years to cope with inflation that had run at 3000 percent a year. Brazil had a habit of chewing up finance ministers with the ferocity of an Amazon piranha. This was just one of the turns in a largely unscripted and sometimes unwanted political career. In exile during the harshest period of the junta that ruled Brazil for twenty years, Cardoso started his political life with a tentative run for the Federal Senate in 1978. Within fifteen years, and despite himself, this former sociologist was running the country. And what a country! Brazil, it is often said, is on the edge of modernity, striding with one foot in mid-air towards the future, the other still rooted deep in a traditional past. It is a land of sophisticated music and brutal gold-digging, of the next global superpower and the last old-time coffee plantations. It is gloriously ungovernable, irrepressibly attractive, and home to the family, friends and extraordinary life of Fernando Henrique Cardoso. This is his story and his love song to his country.
The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World
by A. J. Baime<P>The dramatic, pulse-pounding story of Harry Truman’s first four months in office, when this unlikely president had to take on Germany, Japan, Stalin, and the atomic bomb, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Heroes are often defined as ordinary characters who get thrust into extraordinary circumstances, and through courage and a dash of luck, cement their place in history. Chosen as FDR’s fourth term Vice President for his well-praised work ethic, good judgment, and lack of enemies, Harry S. Truman--a Midwesterner who had no college degree and had never had the money to buy his own home--was the prototypical ordinary man. That is, until he was shockingly thrust in over his head after FDR’s sudden death. <P>During the climactic months of the Second World War, Truman had to play judge and jury, pulling America to the forefront of the global stage. The first four months of Truman’s administration saw the founding of the United Nations, the fall of Berlin, victory at Okinawa, firebombings of Tokyo, the first atomic explosion, the Nazi surrender, the liberation of concentration camps, the mass starvation of Europe, the Potsdam Conference, the controversial decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the surrender of Imperial Japan, and finally, the end of World War II and the rise of the Cold War. No other president had ever faced so much in such a short period of time. <P>Tightly focused, meticulously researched, rendered with vivid detail and narrative verve, THE ACCIDENTAL PRESIDENT escorts readers into the situation room with Truman during this tumultuous, history-making 120 days, when the stakes were high and the challenge even higher. The result is narrative history of the highest order and a compelling look at a presidency with great relevance to our times.
Accidental Preacher: A Memoir
by Will WillimonThe lively, inspiring memoir of an eminent Christian preacher and leaderIn this book one of today’s best-known Christian leaders recounts—with his signature wit and humor—memorable moments from his rich and full preaching life. A personal and vocational memoir, Will Willimon’s Accidental Preacher portrays the adventure of a life caught up in the purposes of a God who calls unlikely people to engage in work greater than themselves. Beginning with his childhood in a segregated South and moving through his student years, Willimon gives candid, inspiring, and humorous testimony to his experiences as a seminary professor, rural pastor, globe-trotting preacher, bishop, and popular theologian and writer. Above all, he shows how God has constantly had a call on his life. By turns poignant, hilarious, and thought-provoking—but always irresistibly engaging—Accidental Preacher is sure to join the well-remembered, classic memoir of our time.
Accidental Preacher: A Memoir
by Will WillimonThe lively, inspiring memoir of an eminent Christian preacher and leaderIn this book one of today&’s best-known Christian leaders recounts—with his signature wit and humor—memorable moments from his rich and full preaching life. A personal and vocational memoir, Will Willimon&’s Accidental Preacher portrays the adventure of a life caught up in the purposes of a God who calls unlikely people to engage in work greater than themselves. Beginning with his childhood in a segregated South and moving through his student years, Willimon gives candid, inspiring, and humorous testimony to his experiences as a seminary professor, rural pastor, globe-trotting preacher, bishop, and popular theologian and writer. Above all, he shows how God has constantly had a call on his life. By turns poignant, hilarious, and thought-provoking—but always irresistibly engaging—Accidental Preacher is sure to join the well-remembered, classic memoir of our time.
The Accidental Philanthropist: From A Bronx Stickball Lot to Manhattan Courtrooms and Steering Leona Helmsley's Billions
by Sandor FrankelThe True Story of an Extraordinary Journey from the Bronx to the Helm of the $5 Billion Helmsley Charitable Trust, Doling Out Unimaginable Amounts of Money for the Good of the World. The Author met his client in the prison&’s visitors&’ room: he, the lawyer, and she, his client, now being patted down by a guard following the first night of a four-year sentence. Identified here by an inmate number, she was known worldwide: the notorious Leona Helmsley, owner of a gargantuan real estate portfolio; the woman who had reputedly scoffed &“Only the little people pay taxes"; the &“queen of mean&” whom Newsweek described as &“rhymes with rich.&” Wolfing down popcorn the author bought her from the prison vending machine, she was one of the most maligned people on the planet. What he saw, though, was a frightened 71-year-old inmate, alone and in need of something altogether absent from her life: someone she could trust. In her eyes, he was perhaps the closest thing. Two years earlier, he had joined her legal team following her conviction for tax crimes. Just two days before, in her sumptuous Manhattan penthouse, she ferociously fired one lawyer while the others quit. He was the last man standing. In time, he became not just her go-to lawyer but her consigliere. He now had to deal with the countless people trying to dip a pinky or a shovel into her fortune. She also presented him with a host of personal issues. Ultimately, she named him as one of her executors, charged with overseeing and liquidating her multi-billion dollar estate, and also one of the trustees of a charitable trust she would fund &“to improve lives…around the world.&” That is how, on Leona Helmsley&’s death in 2007, the author became a steward of her $5 billion fortune, which he and his co-trustees were duty-bound to give away to causes and recipients they alone would determine. Little in his life had prepared him for such a role. He grew up in a lower middle-class section of the Bronx, wound up at Harvard Law School, and built a successful career as a trial lawyer, representing some of the rich and famous and some ordinary folks. But overseeing perhaps the largest private real estate empire in the country, selling all those properties and the assorted bonds, diamonds, and other playthings of the rich, and choosing the goals of a vast charitable trust funded with those sales&’ proceeds, was something else altogether. He tasted the nectar of instant popularity, and became incontrovertible proof that when you control billions of dollars, you become wittier, funnier, far more profound than you&’ve ever been, and always worth listening to. Friends, pseudo-friends, former friends, would-be friends, quasi friends, friends of friends—everyone comes knocking. The Accidental Philanthropist tells how all this happened.