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First to the Front: The Untold Story of Dickey Chapelle, Trailblazing Female War Correspondent
by Lorissa RinehartThe first authoritative biography of pioneering photojournalist Dickey Chapelle, who from World War II through the early days of Vietnam got her story by any means necessary as one of the first female war correspondents."I side with prisoners against guards, enlisted men against officers, weakness against power."From the beginning of World War II through the early days of Vietnam, groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle chased dangerous assignments her male colleagues wouldn’t touch, pioneering a radical style of reporting that focused on the humanity of the oppressed. She documented conditions across Eastern Europe in the wake of the Second World War. She marched down the Ho Chi Minh Trail with the South Vietnamese Army and across the Sierra Maestra Mountains with Castro. She was the first reporter accredited with the Algerian National Liberation Front, and survived torture in a communist Hungarian prison. She dove out of planes, faked her own kidnapping, and endured the mockery of male associates, before ultimately dying on assignment in Vietnam with the Marines in 1965, the first American female journalist killed while covering combat.Chapelle overcame discrimination both on the battlefield and at home, with much of her work ultimately buried from the public eye—until now. In First to the Front, Lorissa Rinehart uncovers the incredible life and unparalleled achievements of this true pioneer, and the mark she would make on history.
First, Best: Lessons in Leadership and Legacy from Today's Civil Rights Movement
by Steven L. Reed Fagan HarrisThe first Black mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, shares his story of making his way in a world that wasn&’t built for him, drawing on his rich heritage as the son of a civil rights leader.As a proud son of a civil rights leader, Steven L. Reed grew up hearing stories about how his father integrated Montgomery lunch counters and took advice directly from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Reverend Ralph Abernathy. However, it wasn&’t until Reed was in the fourth grade and received a death threat against his father that he began to understand more fully the importance of the lessons his father was trying to impart. At this pivotal moment, his father explained, &“My job is to prepare you to be a cross-bearer and not just a crown-wearer. Bigotry has no place in our household. It will only hold you down and make you small.&” First, Best is an essential antidote to the perpetual dehumanization and distortions of Black men in our culture and media. By sharing the story of forging his own path, Reed offers an alternative narrative to Black men coming of age, catalyzing their hope and sense of possibility. Although Reed took a circuitous path to the office of mayor that began by forging his identity at Morehouse College, pursuing entrepreneurship and exploring the wider world, and serving as a probate judge, each step was guided by the values of his father&’s generation. First, Best is not just about assuming the mantle of manhood or leadership, nor is it only about the expectation of greatness. Fundamentally, it&’s about responsibility and preparation, serving others, and being willing to pay the price of leadership by carrying the weight of each decision. First, Best affirms the next generation of Black men and women by showing, through story and example, their power and potential in a world that doesn&’t always root for them.
First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety
by Sarah WilsonThe New York Times bestselling author of I Quit Sugar transforms cultural perceptions of the mental health issue of our age—anxiety—viewing this widespread condition not as a burdensome affliction but as a powerful spiritual teacher that can deepen our lives. <P><P>While reading psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison’s groundbreaking account of bipolar disorder An Unquiet Mind, Sarah Wilson discovered an ancient Chinese proverb that would change her life:To conquer a beast, you must first make it beautiful. <P><P>Wilson, a bestselling author, journalist, and entrepreneur, had spent years struggling with her own beast: chronic anxiety. And the words of this proverb would become the key to understanding her condition. <P><P>First, We Make the Beast Beautiful charts Wilson’s epic journey to make peace with her lifetime companion, and to learn to see it as a guide, rather than as an enemy. With intensive focus and investigatory skills, Wilson examines the triggers and treatments, the fashions and fads. She reads widely and interviews fellow sufferers, mental health experts, philosophers, and even the Dalai Lama, processing all she learns through the prism of her own experiences. <P><P>Pulling at the thread of accepted definitions of anxiety, she unravels the notion that it is a difficult, dangerous disease that must be medicated into submission, and re-frames it as a divine journey—a state of yearning that will lead us closer to what really matters. <P><P>Practical and poetic, wise and funny, First, We Make the Beast Beautiful is a small book with a big heart. It will encourage the myriad souls who dance with this condition to embrace it as a part of who they are, and to explore the possibilities it offers for a richer, fuller life.
First, You Cry: The Classic, Inspiring Story of One Woman's Triumph over Breast Cancer
by Betty Rollin"Every woman. . . should read it. Her book has the simple touch of truth." —Gail Sheehy, Author of The Silent PassageNBC News correspondent Betty Rollin, glamorous, successful, and happily married, had it all—and then she learned that she had a malignant tumor in her breast. Written with wit, warmth, and soul searching honesty, First, You Cry is the inspiring true story about how one woman transformed the most terrifying ordeal of her life into a new beginning. With a new introduction and epilogue, this unique memoir serves as a fascinating retrospective of the twenty-five years since Rollin's first mastectomy and, given the continuing threat of breast cancer, tells a story that will inform all women as it touches them with its honesty and even, humor.
First: Sandra Day O'Connor
by Evan ThomasThe intimate, inspiring, and authoritative biography of Sandra Day O’Connor, America’s first female Supreme Court justice, drawing on exclusive interviews and first-time access to Justice O’Connor’s archives—by the New York Times bestselling author Evan Thomas. <P><P>She was born in 1930 in El Paso and grew up on a cattle ranch in Arizona. At a time when women were expected to be homemakers, she set her sights on Stanford University. When she graduated near the top of her law school class in 1952, no firm would even interview her. But Sandra Day O’Connor’s story is that of a woman who repeatedly shattered glass ceilings—doing so with a blend of grace, wisdom, humor, understatement, and cowgirl toughness. <P><P>She became the first ever female majority leader of a state senate. As a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals, she stood up to corrupt lawyers and humanized the law. When she arrived at the United States Supreme Court, appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, she began a quarter-century tenure on the Court, hearing cases that ultimately shaped American law. <P><P>Diagnosed with cancer at fifty-eight, and caring for a husband with Alzheimer’s, O’Connor endured every difficulty with grit and poise. Women and men who want to be leaders and be first in their own lives—who want to learn when to walk away and when to stand their ground—will be inspired by O’Connor’s example. This is a remarkably vivid and personal portrait of a woman who loved her family, who believed in serving her country, and who, when she became the most powerful woman in America, built a bridge forward for all women. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Firstborn Girls: A Memoir
by Bernice L. McFaddenFrom award-winning author and creative writing professor at Tulane University comes an intimate and powerful memoir exploring inherited trauma, family secrets, and the enduring bonds of love between mothers and daughters. On her second birthday in 1967, Bernice McFadden died in a car crash near Detroit, only to be resuscitated after her mother pulled her from the flaming wreckage. Firstborn Girls traces her remarkable life from that moment up to the publication of her first novel, Sugar. Growing up in 1980s Brooklyn, Bernice finds solace in books, summer trips to Barbados, and boarding school to escape her alcoholic father. Discovering the works of Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, she finally sees herself and her loved ones reflected in their stories of &“messy, beautiful, joyful Black people.&” Interwoven with Bernice's personal journey is her family's history, beginning with her four-times enslaved great-grandmother Louisa Vicey Wilson in 1822 Hancock County, Georgia. Her descendants survived Reconstruction and Jim Crow, joined the Great Migration, and mourned Dr. King&’s assassination during the Civil Rights Movement. These women's wisdom, secrets, and fierce love are passed down like Louisa's handmade quilt. A memoir of many threads, Firstborn Girls is an extraordinarily moving portrait of a life shaped by family, history, and the drive to be something more.
Firstborn: A Memoir
by Lauren ChristensenA lapidary memoir of losing a child before she can be born, which the author began writing the day she came home from the hospital—an intimate story about our most searing losses and brightest hopes&“Some days I still think this is all just a sad story I&’ll tell Simone one day.&”Lauren Christensen is a thirtysomething editor in New York City when she meets her future husband, Gabe, a writer with whom she falls in love right away. Her beloved grandfather is dying, but the young couple is bringing new life into the family: Lauren and Gabe joyfully discover she is pregnant with their daughter, Simone.As Lauren faces the prospect of becoming a parent, she learns to let go of the fear of abandonment and need for control instilled in her by growing up with a largely absent father and a high-powered mother who was often away on business. Lauren and Gabe are incandescently happy in their exuberant, messy, beautiful shared world. But just weeks after their wedding, they learn that their worst nightmare has come true: Simone is dying in the womb.In fierce, tender, spellbinding prose, Firstborn brings us to the very heart of the human paradox: How do we live when everyone who makes up our world will someday be gone? And how can we mourn when the cosmic order has been turned upside down—when a child dies before she is born?As she comes up against the brutal limits of maternal healthcare and the limitlessness of her love for her daughter, Lauren Christensen finds a key, generous and brave, in which to share her loss, a testimony whose diamond-like brilliance refracts a universal light.
Firstborn: A Tudor Rose short story
by Alison WeirFROM THE SUNDAY TIMES-BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SIX TUDOR QUEENS SERIES.In this short prequel to Alison Weir's new novel, Elizabeth of York, The Last White Rose, the young princess is born - and the future of England hangs in the balance.The Palace of Westminster, 1466. As the Queen of England lies in her chamber, exhausted from childbirth, the court awaits news of the longed-for heir...The KingEdward prays for a son to ensure the succession of his line.The godfatherWarwick knows his influence over the King cannot last.The grandmotherCecily hopes her new grandchild will one day bring great fortune to England.The friendLord Hastings fears the growing hostility within King Edward's inner circle.The young rivalThe boy Henry does not yet know his own significance.The uncleRichard visits the new baby - and dreams that night of a golden crown.**Includes a preview of the spellbinding first novel in the Tudor Rose trilogy - Elizabeth of York, The Last White Rose**
Firstborn: A Tudor Rose short story
by Alison WeirFROM THE SUNDAY TIMES-BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SIX TUDOR QUEENS SERIES.In this short prequel to Alison Weir's new novel, Elizabeth of York, The Last White Rose, the young princess is born - and the future of England hangs in the balance.The Palace of Westminster, 1466. As the Queen of England lies in her chamber, exhausted from childbirth, the court awaits news of the longed-for heir...The KingEdward prays for a son to ensure the succession of his line.The godfatherWarwick knows his influence over the King cannot last.The grandmotherCecily hopes her new grandchild will one day bring great fortune to England.The friendLord Hastings fears the growing hostility within King Edward's inner circle.The young rivalThe boy Henry does not yet know his own significance.The uncleRichard visits the new baby - and dreams that night of a golden crown.**Includes a preview of the spellbinding first novel in the Tudor Rose trilogy - Elizabeth of York, The Last White Rose**(P) 2022 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
Firsthand: How I Solved a Literary Mystery and Learned to Play Kickass Tennis while Coming to Grips with the Disorder of Things (Writers On Writing)
by Keith GandalFirsthand is an exploration—both suspenseful and comic—of the creative process in research writing. The book takes the reader through the ins and outs of a specific research journey, from combing through libraries and archives to the intellectual challenges involved with processing information that contradicts established ideas. More fundamentally, it addresses the somewhat mysterious portion of the intellectual process: the creative and serendipitous aspects involved in arriving at a fruitful research question in the first place. Keith Gandal combines this scholarly detective story with a comic personal narrative about how a midlife crisis accidentally sent him on a journey to write a research monograph that many in his profession—including at times himself—were dubious about. While researching how Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Faulkner faced their forgotten crises of masculinity, Gandal discovers that his own crisis is instrumental to his creative process. Incorporating stories from Gandal’s comic romp through the hyper-competitive world of middle-aged men’s tennis, adopting pitbulls, and discussing Michel Foucault, Firsthand gives readers an inside look at how to acquire accurate knowledge—about the world, about history, and about oneself.
Firsts: Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities
by Belo Miguel CiprianiTake a step back in time with some of the best writers with disabilities as they recount their first adventure, their first heartbreak, and the first time the unexpected treaded into their life. From body transformations to societal setbacks, to love affairs and family trauma, Firsts collects the most thought-provoking and exciting stories of our time by people with disabilities. Contributors include Nigel David Kelly, Kimberly Gerry-Tucker, Caitlin Hernandez, Andrew Gurza, and David-Elijah Nahmod.
Fish Out of Agua: My Life on Neither Side of the (Subway) Tracks
by Michele CarloA voice from the loudspeaker blared, "Will the family who brought the little redheaded white girl to the Puerto Rican Day parade please come to the bandstand to pick her up." I looked around. Wait a minute. I am at the bandstand. I am that lost girl!Michele Carlo, a redheaded, freckle-faced Puerto Rican raised in the Polish section of the Bronx, grew up as a permanent outsider. Too white for her proud, Spanish-speaking relatives and a mystery to her schoolmates, Michele braved a search for identity that was a long, rough and tumble ride. . .By turns heartbreaking and humorous, she recalls the family calamities, fumblings of first love, and all the people and events that shaped her. From her "playground battlefield" in the not-so-wholesome summer of '69 to many adrenaline-fueled, graffiti-filled afternoons and her emergence as an artist with a unique and alluring voice, Michele's story is an homage to a New York City gone by. . .and an iconically American, unforgettable portrait of growing up. "
Fish Out of Water: A Search for the Meaning of Life
by Eric MetaxasWhat Happens When One of America&’s Most Admired Biographers Writes His Own Biography? For Eric Metaxas, the answer is Fish Out of Water: A Search for the Meaning of Life—a poetic and sometimes hilarious memoir of his early years, in which the Queens-born son of Greek and German immigrants struggles to make sense of a world in which he never quite seems to fit. Renowned for his biographies of William Wilberforce, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther, Metaxas is the author of five New York Times bestsellers, the witty host of the acclaimed Socrates in the City conversation series, and a nationally syndicated radio personality. But here he reveals a personal story few have heard, taking us from his mostly happy childhood—and riotous triumphs at Yale—to the nightmare of drifting toward a dark abyss of meaninglessness from which he barely escapes. Along the way he introduces us to an unforgettable troupe of picaresque characters who join this quintessentially first-generation American boy in what is both bildungsroman and odyssey—and which underscores just how funny, serious, happy, sad, and ultimately meaningful life can be.
Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man's Prison
by T. J. ParsellWhen seventeen-year-old T. J. Parsell held up the local Photo Mat with a toy gun, he was sentenced to four and a half to fifteen years in prison. The first night of his term, four older inmates drugged Parsell and took turns raping him. When they were through, they flipped a coin to decide who would own him. Forced to remain silent about his rape by a convict code among inmates (one in which informers are murdered), Parsell's experience that first night haunted him throughout the rest of his sentence. In an effort to silence the guilt and pain of its victims, the issue of prisoner rape is a story that has not been told. For the first time Parsell, one of America's leading spokespeople for prison reform, shares the story of his coming of age behind bars. He gives voice to countless others who have been exposed to an incarceration system that turns a blind eye to the abuse of the prisoners in its charge. Since life behind bars is so often exploited by television and movie re-enactments, the real story has yet to be told. Fish is the first breakout story to do that.
Fisherman's Friends: Sailing at Eight Bells
by Fisherman'S FriendsFor the past two decades ten men from Cornwall's Port Isaac have met on the village quayside every Friday summer evening to sing rousing sea shanties and traditional folk songs for little more than free beer. Then, in March 2010, everything changed when stardom came to this bunch of friends who had sought neither fame nor fortune. Within weeks of a record producer hearing their passionate, harmonic singing, they had a million-pound deal and were booked to appear at Glastonbury. By the end of that month a world tour was underway and Ealing Films had bought the rights to their story. Their first commercially produced album went gold almost immediately and they have now played live to hundreds of thousands of people, raising the roof everywhere with ballads such as 'The Cadgwith Anthem' and 'South Australia'. The book will tell the full story of how the boat came in for this group of burly middle-aged men, each of whom are or have been fishermen, lifeboatmen and coastguards (as well as builders, artisans, hoteliers and shop keepers) in their beloved Port Isaac. Each member of the group has his own story, and individual family histories tell of Cornwall's rugged, harsh landscape and the ever-present danger and bounty of the sea. The Fisherman's Friends have found a huge and ready audience and have rekindled interest in traditional music, striking a chord in the hearts of men and women, young and old, across the English-speaking world. With a new album due out in summer 2011, this is an affectionate and timely autobiography.
Fishers of Men
by Adam ElenbaasIn the tradition of memoirs like Daniel Pinchbeck's 2012 and Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries, Adam Elenbaas's Fishers of Men chronicles his journey from intense self-destruction and crippling depression to self-acceptance, inner awareness, and spiritual understanding, through participation in mindexpanding-and healing ayahuasca ceremonies in South America and beyond. From his troubled and rebellious youth as a Methodist minister's son in Minnesota, to his sex and substance abuse-fueled downward spiral in Chicago and New York, culminating in a depressive breakdown, Elenbaas is plagued by a feeling of emptiness and a desperate search for meaning for most of his young life. After hitting rock bottom at his grandfather's house in rural Michigan, a chance experience with psychedelic mushrooms convinces him that he must change his ways to achieve the sense of peace that he has always desired. Several subsequent psychedelic experiences inspire him to embark on a quest to South America and take part in a shamanic ceremony, where he consumes ayahuasca, a jungle vine revered for its spiritual properties. Over the course of nearly forty ayahuasca ceremonies during four years, Elenbaas discovers the truth about his own life and past, and begins to mend himself from the inside out. Fishers of Men is the gripping, heartbreaking, and yet ultimately uplifting story of the power to transcend one's past.
Fishing Stories: A Lifetime of Adventures and Misadventures on Rivers, Lakes, and Seas (Classic Ser.)
by Nick Lyons Mari LyonsAll fishermen who have fished for a lifetime have baskets of great stories and reminiscences about the sport they love. Nick Lyons's new collection is chock-full of them. From fishing a small Catskill creek and catching a huge brook trout when he was barely out of infancy to long opening day treks during his teens, and then on to fishing in France, Iceland, Key West, Montana, and widely elsewhere, Nick has spent a lifetime on the water.Fishing Stories features tales about bass, bluefish, tarpon, stripers, bluegill, and many other species as well as portraits of many of the unusual people with whom he has fished. Lyons describes a long, hilarious day with a character named Hawkes in one story, and then the next features a father and son on a Western lake.Through these memories, Lyons shows the comfortable pleasure of fishing waters close to home that one knows just about as well as his or her closest friends. Stories describe days of discovery and adventure on new waters; fishing with famous fishing writers, and new friends, and a granddaughter; and fishing in a little pond he built during the years he refers to as his Indian summer. An unforgettable fight with a gigantic fish in a Western river and simpler days fishing for bluegill and pickerel are also documented.No fisherman of any stripe will fail to find stories that echo his or her own experiences, and all will come closer to understanding the passion that drives all serious fishermen.
Fishing in the Sky: The Education of Namory Keita
by Donald LawderWhat distinguishes this remarkable narrative from other accounts of personal growth is not just its vivid and intimate picture of West African life, but the fact that its author embarked on his adventure at an age when most men and women are resigned to life in a rocking chair. At age sixty-six, after the break-up of a stormy marriage, Donald Lawder begins a new life as a volunteer teacher for the Peace Corps in the impoverished country of Mali, in West Africa. He is adopted by a Moslem family, given a Malian name, and learns to pray in the village mosque. As "Professor of English" at the state teacher's college in Mali's capital city of Bamako, he teaches Debate, Black American History, and the philosophy of Emerson and Thoreau to French-speaking African students and becomes deeply involved with a Moslem student less than one third his age. Later, after a two-year job hunt in the U.S. convinces him that America is no country for old men, he returns to Bamako for good, as chief of an African family of six children ranging in age from three to twenty-three years. He arrives in time to witness his unarmed students' heroic overthrow of the brutal dictator Moussa Traore and their confused efforts to establish one of the first democracies in West Africa. An intimate and moving account of modern Africa in turmoil and of an old man's discovery of love in one of the poorest countries of the world.
Fishing on the Edge
by Mike IaconelliWith his colorful tattoos and booming hip-hop sound track, Mike Iaconelli has turned the world of big-money competitive bass fishing upside down. In Fishing on the Edge, Iaconelli tells his own story-and it's a whopper: a Philly-born, Jersey-bred Yankee who's been stealing the spotlight from bass fishing's traditionally all-Southern anglers, attracting fans and dominating one of the fastest-growing sports in America. How did Mike Iaconelli, a college-educated kid from New Jersey, come blasting into a sport dominated by old-school stars like Gary Klein, Kevin VanDam, and Denny Brauer? How did Mike, aka "Ike," take a secret childhood passion and turn it into a profession, earning million-dollar sponsorships and a storm of media attention, ranging from ESPN's SportsCenter to profiles in "The New York Times and "Esquire? While Mike has attracted both fans and foes on the tour, his success speaks for itself, especially his victory at the 2003 CITGO Bassmaster Classic, the Super Bowl of competitive fishing. Forty-four million Americans fish, but no one does it quite like Mike Iaconelli. In Fishing on the Edge, he lets you in on the secrets to his extraordinary success-how he developed his "power" fishing style, how he attacks the water, positions the boat, and perseveres through those days when the bass just aren't biting. With sidebar tips that can be used by any fisherman-from using spinner baits to picking out the right rod to his no-fail "secret weapons"-this is an intensive, informative, and often raucous journey through the life of a brash young man destined to do for fishing what Tony Hawk did for the X Games: take the sport to a whole new level. At the same time, it'sthe compelling first-person story of a man who prepared carefully every step of the way, kept notes on every fish he ever caught, and executed the perfect plan to get to the top. A tale of passion, competition, and extre
Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence
by Geoffrey CanadaLong before U.S. News and World Report named him one of America's Best Leaders and Oprah Winfrey called him "an angel from God," Geoffrey Canada was a small, vulnerable, scared boy growing up in the South Bronx. Canada's world was one where "sidewalk" boys learned the codes of the block and were ranked through the rituals of fist, stick, and knife. Then the streets changed, and the stakes got even higher. In this candid and riveting memoir, Canada relives a childhood in which violence stalked every street corner. "If you wonder how a fourteen-year-old can shoot another child his own age in the head and then go home to dinner," Canada writes, "you need to know you don't get there in a day, or week, or month. It takes years of preparation to be willing to commit murder, to be willing to kill or die for a corner, a color, or a leather jacket."
Fit for the Presidency?: Winners, Losers, What-Ifs, and Also-Rans
by Seymour Morris Jr.Every four years Americans embark on the ultimate carnival, the Super Bowl of democracy: a presidential election campaign filled with endless speeches, debates, handshakes, and passion. But what about the candidates themselves? In Fit for the Presidency? Seymour Morris Jr. applies an executive recruiter’s approach to fifteen presidential prospects from 1789 to 1980, analyzing their résumés and references to determine their fitness for the job. Were they qualified? How real were their actual accomplishments? Could they be trusted, or were their campaign promises unrealistic? The result is a fresh and original look at a host of contenders from George Washington to William McAdoo, from DeWitt Clinton to Ronald Reagan. Gone is the fluff of presidential campaigns, replaced by broad perspective and new insights on candidates seeking the nation’s highest office.
Fit to Ride in 9 Weeks!
by Heather SansomRegardless of discipline, level of expertise, training philosophy, body shape, or fitness level, all riders do better—in horse-related activities both on the ground and in the saddle—when they take care of their bodies and maintain their fitness in ways other than just riding. While riding is a great way to enjoy an active lifestyle, on its own it is not enough to condition and tone the body to the degree we need, and then the horse must make up the fitness gap in our physical partnership. If our reflexes are slow, if our bodies fatigue, if our position collapses, if tension patterns appear, then the horse suffers repetitive asymmetrical strain or develops compensatory movement habits. It is for his good, as well as ours, that certified personal trainer and riding coach Heather Sansom has developed an utterly achievable 9-week plan to give every rider the straightness, suppleness, strength, and stamina she needs to ride her best. With hundreds of one-of-a-kind illustrations depicting accurate musculature on the rider's body, and dozens of proven exercises organized in a progressive fitness program with easy-to-use schedule charts, Sansom's book is the key to enjoying the ride, being fair to your horse, and getting into fabulous shape—in just a couple of months.
Fit to Serve: Reflections on a Secret Life, Private Struggle, and Public Battle to Become the First Openly Gay U.S. Ambassador
by Erin Martin James C. HormelThis is the memoir of James C. Hormel-a man who grew up feeling different not only because his family owned the Hormel "empire" and lived in a twenty-six-bedroom house in a small Midwest town, but because he was gay at a time when homosexuality was not discussed or accepted. Outwardly he tried to live up to the life his father wanted for him-he was a successful professional, had married a lovely woman, and had children-but as vola-tile changes in the late 1960s impeded on the American psyche, Hormel realized that he could not hide his true self forever.Hormel moved to New York City, became an antiwar activist, battled homophobia, lost dear friends to AIDS, and set out to become America's first openly gay ambassador, a position he finally won during the Clinton administration. Today, Hormel continues to fight for LGBT equality and gay marriage rights. This is a passionate and inspiring true story of the determination for human equality and for attaining your own version of the American Dream-life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness without exception.
Fitz H. Lane: An Artist's Voyage through Nineteenth-Century America
by James A. CraigFitz H. Lane�s maritime masterpieces are known throughout the world, but the man himself has eluded both historians and art critics for over a century.The Luminist painter�s successful career began in his early childhood in picturesque Gloucester, Massachusetts and his talents developed and matured over time, making him one of the nation�s premier nineteenth-century artists. Throughout his career, Lane painted with a vitality and attention to detail that was purely American at heart, and it is in pursuit of this ideal that James Craig embarks on a detective�s investigation to reconstruct with accuracy and honesty the details of a man about whom much has been written but little revealed. Few clues remain today about the artist who so thoroughly embodied the American spirit during �one of humanity�s most dramatic and confusing historical epochs.� Lane�s era was one of great change for America, and both he and his art were there to capture that spirit. This dazzling and exhaustive effort provides the first glimpse behind the canvas, beyond the career and into the soul of Fitz H. Lane. Passionate, stunning and thrilling, this is a narrative that returns life and color to a man intent or preserving and presenting the life of the culture he loved. James Craig has given Gloucester back one of her favorite sons.
Fitz Lee: A Military Biography of Major General Fitzhugh Lee, C.S.A.
by Edward G. LongacreAs the grandson of Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee and the nephew of Robert E. Lee, Fitzhugh Lee—nicknamed “Fitz”—was born into one of Virginia’s most distinguished families. Upon graduation from West Point, Fitz Lee served in the U.S. Army until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he joined the Confederate cavalry forces. After participating in the Peninsula Campaign, he rapidly rose in rank, promoted first to brigadier general in July 1862, then to major general in the fall of 1863. Only twenty-seven years old, he commanded with distinction at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Severely wounded in 1864, he subsequently returned to service and was promoted to commander of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, which he led during the final campaigns of the war. After the war Fitz Lee served as governor of Virginia, commander of the U.S. Volunteers in the Spanish-American War, and postwar occupation commander in Cuba. He also wrote many popular works of military history and biography; his biography of Robert E. Lee is still in print. Acclaimed Civil War author Edward G. Longacre has combed family records, West Point cadet files, and the National Archives to produce a lively biography of one of the South’s youngest and ablest cavalry commanders—a man who later became one of America’s most distinguished military leaders.