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Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention (Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series)
by Kathryn D. SullivanThe first American woman to walk in space recounts her experience as part of the team that launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope. <p><p> The Hubble Space Telescope has revolutionized our understanding of the universe. It has, among many other achievements, revealed thousands of galaxies in what seemed to be empty patches of sky; transformed our knowledge of black holes; found dwarf planets with moons orbiting other stars; and measured precisely how fast the universe is expanding. In Handprints on Hubble, retired astronaut Kathryn Sullivan describes her work on the NASA team that made all of this possible. Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, recounts how she and other astronauts, engineers, and scientists launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained Hubble, the most productive observatory ever built. <p><p> Along the way, Sullivan chronicles her early life as a “Sputnik Baby,” her path to NASA through oceanography, and her initiation into the space program as one of “thirty-five new guys.” (She was also one of the first six women to join NASA's storied astronaut corps.) She describes in vivid detail what liftoff feels like inside a spacecraft (it's like “being in an earthquake and a fighter jet at the same time”), shows us the view from a spacewalk, and recounts the temporary grounding of the shuttle program after the Challenger disaster. <p><p>Sullivan explains that “maintainability” was designed into Hubble, and she describes the work of inventing the tools and processes that made on-orbit maintenance possible. Because in-flight repair and upgrade was part of the plan, NASA was able to fix a serious defect in Hubble's mirrors—leaving literal and metaphorical “handprints on Hubble.” <p><p> Handprints on Hubble was published with the support of the MIT Press Fund for Diverse Voices.
Hands Up!: A Year In The Life Of An Inner City School Teacher
by Oenone Crossley-HollandWhen Oenone Crossley-Holland started teaching at an inner city school in London, she had no idea what to expect. She just knew that there was no going back. She would have one of the most challenging and overwhelming years of her life, in which she would get involved in the lives of some wonderfully - and sometimes horrifyingly - exuberant students, and find herself tested to the limit. In this colourful and moving account, Oenone tells of the lows and unexpected highs of the sharper end of teaching. Will she make it through the year? Will she make it through another day? HANDS UP! is for anyone who's ever worked in a school or thought about teaching. It also gives a very clear answer to those who still believe that those who can't, teach.
Hands Up!: A Year in the Life of an Inner City School Teacher
by Oenone Crossley-HollandWhen Oenone Crossley-Holland started teaching at an inner city school in London, she had no idea what to expect. She just knew that there was no going back. She would have one of the most challenging and overwhelming years of her life, in which she would get involved in the lives of some wonderfully - and sometimes horrifyingly - exuberant students, and find herself tested to the limit. In this colourful and moving account, Oenone tells of the lows and unexpected highs of the sharper end of teaching. Will she make it through the year? Will she make it through another day? HANDS UP! is for anyone who's ever worked in a school or thought about teaching. It also gives a very clear answer to those who still believe that those who can't, teach.
Hands of My Father
by Myron UhlbergBy turns heart-tugging and hilarious, Myron Uhlberg's memoir tells the story of growing up as the hearing son of deaf parents--and his life in a world that he found unaccountably beautiful, even as he longed to escape it."Does sound have rhythm?" my father asked. "Does it rise and fall like the ocean? Does it come and go like the wind?"Such were the kinds of questions that Myron Uhlberg's deaf father asked him from earliest childhood, in his eternal quest to decipher, and to understand, the elusive nature of sound. Quite a challenge for a young boy, and one of many he would face. Uhlberg's first language was American Sign Language, the first sign he learned: "I love you." But his second language was spoken English--and no sooner did he learn it than he was called upon to act as his father's ears and mouth in the stores and streets of the neighborhood beyond their silent apartment in Brooklyn. Resentful as he sometimes was of the heavy burdens heaped on his small shoulders, he nonetheless adored his parents, who passed on to him their own passionate engagement with life. These two remarkable people married and had children at the absolute bottom of the Great Depression--an expression of extraordinary optimism, and typical of the joy and resilience they were able to summon at even the darkest of times.From the beaches of Coney Island to Ebbets Field, where he watches his father's hero Jackie Robinson play ball, from the branch library above the local Chinese restaurant where the odor of chow mein rose from the pages of the books he devoured to the hospital ward where he visits his polio-afflicted friend, this is a memoir filled with stories about growing up not just as the child of two deaf people but as a book-loving, mischief-making, tree-climbing kid during the remarkably eventful period that spanned the Depression, the War, and the early fifties.From the Hardcover edition.
Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love
by Myron Uhlberg<P>By turns heart-tugging and hilarious, Myron Uhlberg's memoir tells the story of growing up as the hearing son of deaf parents--and his life in a world that he found unaccountably beautiful, even as he longed to escape it."Does sound have rhythm?" my father asked. "Does it rise and fall like the ocean? Does it come and go like the wind?" Such were the kinds of questions that Myron Uhlberg's deaf father asked him from earliest childhood, in his eternal quest to decipher, and to understand, the elusive nature of sound. Quite a challenge for a young boy, and one of many he would face. Uhlberg's first language was American Sign Language, the first sign he learned: "I love you." <P>But his second language was spoken English--and no sooner did he learn it than he was called upon to act as his father's ears and mouth in the stores and streets of the neighborhood beyond their silent apartment in Brooklyn. Resentful as he sometimes was of the heavy burdens heaped on his small shoulders, he nonetheless adored his parents, who passed on to him their own passionate engagement with life. These two remarkable people married and had children at the absolute bottom of the Great Depression--an expression of extraordinary optimism, and typical of the joy and resilience they were able to summon at even the darkest of times. <P>From the beaches of Coney Island to Ebbets Field, where he watches his father's hero Jackie Robinson play ball, from the branch library above the local Chinese restaurant where the odor of chow mein rose from the pages of the books he devoured to the hospital ward where he visits his polio-afflicted friend, this is a memoir filled with stories about growing up not just as the child of two deaf people but as a book-loving, mischief-making, tree-climbing kid during the remarkably eventful period that spanned the Depression, the War, and the early fifties.
Handsome Johnny: The Life and Death of Johnny Rosselli: Gentleman Gangster, Hollywood Producer, CIA Assassin
by Lee ServerA rich biography of the legendary figure at the center of the century’s darkest secrets: an untold story of golden age Hollywood, modern Las Vegas, JFK-era scandal and international intrigue from Lee Server, the New York Times bestselling author of Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing…A singular figure in the annals of the American underworld, Johnny Rosselli’s career flourished for an extraordinary fifty years, from the bloody years of bootlegging in the Roaring Twenties--the last protégé of Al Capone—to the modern era of organized crime as a dominant corporate power. The Mob’s “Man in Hollywood,” Johnny Rosselli introduced big-time crime to the movie industry, corrupting unions and robbing moguls in the biggest extortion plot in history. A man of great allure and glamour, Rosselli befriended many of the biggest names in the movie capital—including studio boss Harry Cohn, helping him to fund Columbia Pictures--and seduced some of its greatest female stars, including Jean Harlow and Marilyn Monroe. In a remarkable turn of events, Johnny himself would become a Hollywood filmmaker—producing two of the best film noirs of the 1940s.Following years in federal prison, Rosselli began a new venture, overseeing the birth and heyday of Las Vegas. Working for new Chicago boss Sam Giancana, he became the gambling mecca’s behind-the-scenes boss, running the town from his suites and poolside tables at the Tropicana and Desert Inn, enjoying the Rat Pack nightlife with pals Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. In the 1960s, in the most unexpected chapter in an extraordinary life, Rosselli became the central figure in a bizarre plot involving the Kennedy White House, the CIA, and an attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro. Based upon years of research, written with compelling style and vivid detail, Handsome Johnny is the great telling of an amazing tale.
Handsome: Stories of an Awkward Girl Boy Human
by Holly LorkaAs a horny little kid, Holly Lorka had no idea why God had put her in the wrong body and made her want to kiss girls. She had questions: Was she a monster? Would she ever be able to grow sideburns? And most importantly, where was her penis? The problem was, it was the 1970s, so there were no answers yet. Here, Lorka tells the story—by turns hilarious and poignant—of her romp through the first fifty years of her life searching for sex, love, acceptance, and answers to her questions. With a sharp wit, endearing innocence, and indelible sense of optimism, she struggles through the awkward years (spoiler: that’s all of them) and discovers that what she thought were mistakes are actually powerful tools to launch her into a magical—and ridiculous—life. Oh, and she discovers that she can buy a penis at the store, too.
Handstands In The Dark: A True Story of Growing Up and Survival
by Janey GodleyBrought up amid near-Dickensian squalour in the tough East End of Glasgow and sexually abused by her uncle, Janey married into a Glasgow criminal family as a teenager, then found herself having to cope with the murder of her mother, violence, religious sectarianism, abject poverty and a frightening family of in-laws.First-hand, Janey saw the gangland violence and met extraordinary characters within an enclosed and seldom-revealed Glasgow underworld - from the grim and far-from-Swinging 60s, to the discos of the 70s, to the tidal wave of heroin addiction which swept through and engulfed Glasgow's East End during the 1980s.This evocative, intimate and moving portrayal of a woman forced to fight every day for her family's future will strike a chord with anyone who has ever struggled against adversity.
Handstands in the Dark
by Janey GodleyA unique life story from a true survivor, read by the author.Born in the tough East End of Glasgow and married into one of the city's most notorious criminal families, Janey Godley's young life was far from ordinary. From the grim and far-from-swinging 60s, to the discos of the 70s, to the tidal wave of heroin addiction which engulfed Glasgow's East End during the 1980s, Janey was witness to an extraordinary underworld - as well as religious sectarianism, abject poverty and a frightening family of in-laws. Throughout it all, her indomitable spirit - and her vivid sense of humour - kept her alive.A vivid, intimate and darkly funny account of a life less ordinary, Handstands in the Dark tells the story of how one girl escaped a chaotic family and became one of the UK's most popular comedic talents.(P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Hang Time: My Life in Basketball
by Alan Eisenstock Elgin BaylorElgin Baylor&’s memoir of an epic all-star career in the NBA—during which he transformed basketball from a horizontal game to a vertical one—and his fights against racism during his career as a player and as general manager of the LA Clippers under the infamous Donald Sterling People think of Elgin Baylor as one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game—and one of the NBA&’s first black superstars—but the full extent of his legacy stretches beyond his spectacular, game-changing shots and dunks. With startling symmetry, Baylor recounts his story: flying back and forth between the U.S. Army and the Lakers, his time as a central figure in the great Celtics-Lakers rivalry and how he helped break down color barriers in the sport, his 1964 All-Star game boycott, his early years as an executive for the New Orleans Jazz, and twenty-two years as general manager for the notorious L.A. Clippers and Donald Sterling, spent fighting to draft and sign young, black phenoms—only to be hamstrung by his boss at every turn. No one has seen the league change, and has worked to bring change, more than Baylor. Year after year, he continued to fight and persevere against racism. At the beginning of his career, he was forced to stay in separate hotel rooms. From those days to today&’s superstardom, he has had a front-row view of the game&’s elevation to one of America&’s favorite sports. For the first time, Elgin Baylor tells his full story and sets the record straight.
Hanged!: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln
by Sarah MillerFrom the critically acclaimed author of The Borden Murders comes the thrilling story of Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the US government, for her alleged involvement in the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln.A dubious distinction belongs to Mary Surratt: on July 7, 1865, she became the first woman to be executed by the United States government, accused of conspiring in the plot to assassinate not only President Abraham Lincoln, but also the vice president, the secretary of state, and General Grant. Mary Surratt was a widow, a Catholic, a businesswoman, a slave owner, a Union resident, and the mother of a Confederate Secret Service courier. As the proprietor of the boardinghouse where John Wilkes Booth and his allies are known to have gathered, Mary Surratt was widely believed, as President Andrew Johnson famously put it, to have &“kept the nest that hatched the egg.&” But did Mrs. Surratt truly commit treason by aiding and abetting Booth in his plot to murder the president? Or was she the victim of a spectacularly cruel coincidence? Here is YA nonfiction at its best--gripping, thought-provoking, and unputdownable.
Hangin' with Jason Dolley: An Unauthorized Biography
by Grace NorwichJason Dolley always makes an impression! With his surfer- boy good looks and adorable smile, ability to take on a variety of different roles, and genuinely sweet personality, it's no wonder he has so many devoted fans! This super-cute actor has been one of Disney Channel's hottest stars, and we have his complete story!
Hanging By A Thread: The Missions of a Helicopter Rescue Doctor
by Emmanuel CauchyOutdoor sports enthusiast and extreme doctor Emmanuel Cauchy reveals here for the first time the perilous rescues he’s performed in the world’s most terrifying and unforgiving mountain climates. Known around the world as the “vertical doctor,” Emmanuel Cauchy gives stunning and terrifying accounts of his days as a rescue doctor on Mont Blanc, which rises more than 11,000 feet in the Alps along the French-Italian border. From snowy mountain peaks and deep mountain crevasses to the small confines of a helicopter high above—Cauchy’s job takes him where most of us can only imagine.Using new scientific research pioneered on the mountainside in life-saving medical procedures, Cauchy’s dramatic mountain rescues will leave even the most seasoned reader, doctor, or outdoorsman astonished. Here are seventeen years spent in the air and on the ground in some of the world’s most unforgiving territory. His tales describe the extremes of both climate and human endurance and reverberate with the author’s unshakable love of life.This is an uplifting, extraordinary, and moving book from a great humanitarian stuntman who spent his time literally living life on the edge.
Hanging Man: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei
by Barnaby MartinThe gripping story of post-Mao China and the harrowing fate of the artist and activist Ai WeiweiIn October 2010, Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds appeared in the Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern. In April 2011, he was arrested and held for more than two months in terrible conditions. The most famous living Chinese artist and activist, Weiwei is a figure of extraordinary talent, courage, and integrity. From the beginning of his career, he has spoken out against the world's most powerful totalitarian regime, in part by creating some of the most beautiful and mysterious artworks of our age, works which have touched millions around the world.Just after Ai Weiwei's release from illegal detention, Barnaby Martin flew to Beijing to interview him about his imprisonment and to learn more about what is really going on behind the scenes in the upper echelons of the Chinese Communist Party. Based on these interviews and Martin's own intimate connections with China, Hanging Man is an exploration of Weiwei's life, art, and activism and also a meditation on the creative process, and on the history of art in modern China. It is a rich picture of the man and his milieu, of what he is trying to communicate with his art, and of the growing campaign for democracy and accountability in China. It is a book about courage and hope found in the absence of freedom and justice.
Hanging Mary
by Susan HigginbothamThe untold story of Lincoln's Assassination 1864, Washington City. One has to be careful with talk of secession, of Confederate whispers falling on Northern ears. Better to speak only when in the company of the trustworthy. Like Mrs. Surratt. A widow who runs a small boardinghouse on H Street, Mary Surratt isn't half as committed to the cause as her son, Johnny. If he's not delivering messages or escorting veiled spies, he's invited home men like John Wilkes Booth, the actor who is even more charming in person than he is on the stage. But when President Lincoln is killed, the question of what Mary knew becomes more important than anything else. Was she a cold-blooded accomplice? Just how far would she go to help her son? Based on the true case of Mary Surratt, Hanging Maryreveals the untold story of those on the other side of the assassin's gun.
Hanging Ned Kelly: Elijah Upjohn, the hangmen and the underbelly of colonial Australia
by Michael AdamsIn Hanging Ned Kelly, Elijah Upjohn's tale becomes the rusty scalpel that slices open the underbelly of colonial Victoria. Written by Michael Adams, creator of the acclaimed podcast Forgotten Australia, this is an odyssey into an infernal underworld seething with serial killers, clueless cops, larrikin vigilantes, renegade reporters, racist settlers, furious fallen women and cunning waxworks showmen. Looming over them all: the depraved hangmen paid to execute convicted men and women - some of them innocent or unfairly condemned - in Melbourne before it was marvellous.
Hanging Ned Kelly: Elijah Upjohn, the hangmen and the underbelly of colonial Australia
by Michael AdamsIn Hanging Ned Kelly, Elijah Upjohn's tale becomes the rusty scalpel that slices open the underbelly of colonial Victoria. Written by Michael Adams, creator of the acclaimed podcast Forgotten Australia, this is an odyssey into an infernal underworld seething with serial killers, clueless cops, larrikin vigilantes, renegade reporters, racist settlers, furious fallen women and cunning waxworks showmen. Looming over them all: the depraved hangmen paid to execute convicted men and women - some of them innocent or unfairly condemned - in Melbourne before it was marvellous.
Hanging by a Thread: What would it take to walk away from your dream life in Monaco and a global, multi-million-dollar business?
by Erin DeeringWind back the clock on any Australian or New Zealand woman in her thirties or forties today and you'd probably find a Triangl bikini tucked away in her swimwear drawer. The uniquely neoprene, colour-blocked bikinis were the summer accessory season after season. Yet as customers snapped selfies at the beach, one woman was holed up in a smog-filled Hong Kong apartment, living on canned soup, battling twenty-hour days and debilitating depression, trying to make it all happen.Hanging by a Thread takes a vulnerable deep dive into success and the challenge of caring for your mental health while in pursuit of your dreams. From getting scammed out of $50,000, trying to illegally cross the border into China, meeting with elite private equity firms with a three-month-old baby in tow and even experiencing the Kardashian-Jenner-kiss-of-death, Hanging By A Thread shares what it was really like behind the closed doors of one of Australia's young start-up success stories, and to be a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
Hanging by a Thread: What would it take to walk away from your dream life in Monaco and a global, multi-million-dollar business?
by Erin DeeringWind back the clock on any Australian or New Zealand woman in her thirties or forties today and you'd probably find a Triangl bikini tucked away in her swimwear drawer. The uniquely neoprene, colour-blocked bikinis were the summer accessory season after season. Yet as customers snapped selfies at the beach, one woman was holed up in a smog-filled Hong Kong apartment, living on canned soup, battling twenty-hour days and debilitating depression, trying to make it all happen.Hanging by a Thread takes a vulnerable deep dive into success and the challenge of caring for your mental health while in pursuit of your dreams. From getting scammed out of $50,000, trying to illegally cross the border into China, meeting with elite private equity firms with a three-month-old baby in tow and even experiencing the Kardashian-Jenner-kiss-of-death, Hanging By A Thread shares what it was really like behind the closed doors of one of Australia's young start-up success stories, and to be a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
Hanging with the Elephant: A Story of Love, Loss and Meditation
by Michael HardingIn his new book, Hanging with the Elephant, writer Michael Harding is back in Leitrim in the north-west of Ireland. His wife has left for a six-week trip to Poland and he is alone for the first time since his illness two years earlier. Faced with this time on his own, Harding resolves to examine the threat of depression that is a constant presence in his life and his dependency on his wife, the beloved, since his illness. But, as he attempts to tame the 'elephant' - an Asian metaphor for the unruly mind - he finds himself drawn back to the death of his mother during the summer of 2012. Written with unflinching honesty, Hanging with the Elephant begins as one man's quest to overcome his demons, but becomes a journey into the depths of the soul, where we are given a glimpse of the one thing that holds us all.
Hangry: A Startup Journey
by Mike EvansNautilus Book Awards' Better Books for a Better World | Axiom Business Book Award WinnerGrubHub founder Mike Evans reveals the inside story of how he grew a multibillion-dollar behemoth that changed the way we eat. Hungry and tired one night, Mike wanted a pizza, but getting a pizza delivered was a pain in the neck. He didn&’t want to call a million restaurants to see what was open. So, as an avid coder, he created GrubHub in his spare bedroom to figure out who delivered to his apartment. Then, armed with a $140 check from his first customer and ignoring his crushing college debt, he quit his job. Over the next decade, Mike grew his little delivery guide into the world&’s premier online ordering website. In doing so, he entered the company of an elite few entrepreneurs to take a startup from an idea all the way to an IPO. GrubHub&’s journey from Mike&’s bedroom to Wall Street doesn&’t fit into how business schools teach entrepreneurship. In Hangry, he details step-by-step the grind of building an innovative business, with each chapter including sharp lessons for entrepreneurs and startups that Mike learned on the fly as he piloted GrubHub by the seat of his pants. Hangry reveals a decade of eighty-hour work weeks, detailed steps of how Mike garnered his first customers, his hunt for financing dollars, cliffhanger acquisitions, the near collapse of his marriage, a brutally difficult merger, and a pair of tumultuous quit/unquit moments, all to steer the company to become one of the most successful startups in the world. With a razor-sharp wit, Mike reveals hard-won truths about how startups succeed—and even harder-won truths about how startups fail. Shocking everyone, at the pinnacle of startup success, Mike leaves it all behind, quitting the company he started to bike across the United States in search of balance. But eventually, the grand vistas of America bring the lessons of the past into focus, driving the realization that for entrepreneurs a hunger for success doesn&’t end, and he starts another company, even more ambitious than the first.
Hank Aaron and the Home Run That Changed America: Hank Aaron and the Pursuit of a Dream
by Tom StantonThis dramatic account of the record-breaking homer—and what Hank Aaron endured to achieve it—is “a story that transcends baseball” (Boston Herald).Baseball has witnessed more than 125,000 home runs. Countless home runs have altered the outcome of baseball games. Some have decided pennants and become legend. But no dinger has had greater impact than Hank Aaron’s 715th home run. His historic blast on April 8, 1974, lifted him above Babe Ruth on the all-time list, an achievement that shook not only baseball but our nation itself. Aaron’s magnificent feat provoked bigotry and shattered prejudice, inspired a generation, emboldened a flagging civil rights movement, and called forth the demons that haunted Aaron’s every step, turning what should have been a joyous pursuit into a hellish nightmare.In this powerful recollection, Casey Award winner Tom Stanton penetrates the myth of Aaron’s chase and uncovers the compelling story behind this most consequential athletic achievement. Five decades after Hank Aaron reached the pinnacle of the national pastime, Stanton unfolds a tale rich with drama, poignancy, and suspense that brings to life the elusive spirit of an American hero.“Fascinating.” —Publishers Weekly“Baseball books rarely reach the heights of Stanton’s . . . excellent.” —Chicago Tribune“Captures the drama of Aaron’s drive to the record.” —The New York Times Book Review
Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War
by Ron Kaplan"Hammerin’” Hank Greenberg was coming off a stellar season where he’d hit 40 home runs and 184 RBIs, becoming only the thirteenth player to ever hit 40 or more homers (and one of only four players to have 40 or more home runs and 175 or more RBIs in a season). Even with his success at the plate, neither Greenberg nor the rest of the world could have expected what was about to happen in 1938. From his first day in the big leagues, the New York-born Greenberg had dealt with persecution for being Jewish. From teammate Jo-Jo White asking where his horns were to the verbal abuse from bigoted fans and the media, the 6-foot-3 slugger always did his best to shut the noise out and concentrate on baseball. But in 1938, that would be more difficult then he could have ever imagined.While Greenberg was battling at the plate, his people overseas were dealing with a completely different battle. Adolf Hitler, who had been chancellor of Germany since 1933, had taken direct control of the country’s military in February of ’38. He then began his methodic takeover of all neighboring countries, spreading Nazism and the early stages of World War II and the Holocaust.Hank Greenberg in 1938 chronicles the events of 1938, both on the baseball diamond and the streets of Europe. As Greenberg’s bat had him on course for Babe Ruth’s home run record, Hitler’s "Final Solution” was beginning to take shape. Jews across the US, worried about the issues overseas, looked to Greenberg as a symbol of hope. Though normally hesitant to speak about the anti-Semitism he dealt with, the slugger still knew the role he was playing for so many of his people, saying "I came to feel that if I, as a Jew, hit a home run, I was hitting one against Hitler.”
Hank Greenberg: The Hero Who Didn't Want to Be One
by Mark KurlanskyOne of the reasons baseball fans so love the sport is that it involves certain physical acts of beauty. And one of the most beautiful sights in the history of baseball was Hank Greenberg's swing. His calmly poised body seemed to have some special set of springs with a trigger release that snapped his arms and swept the bat through the air with the clean speed and strength of a propeller. But what is even more extraordinary than his grace and his power is that in Detroit of 1934, his swing--or its absence--became entwined with American Jewish history. Though Hank Greenberg was one of the first players to challenge Babe Ruth's single-season record of sixty home runs, it was the game Greenberg did not play for which he is best remembered. With his decision to sit out a 1934 game between his Tigers and the New York Yankees because it fell on Yom Kippur, Hank Greenberg became a hero to Jews throughout America. Yet, as Kurlansky writes, he was the quintessential secular Jew, and to celebrate him for his loyalty to religious observance is to ignore who this man was. InHank GreenbergMark Kurlansky explores the truth behind the slugger's legend: his Bronx boyhood, his spectacular discipline as an aspiring ballplayer, the complexity of his decision not to play on Yom Kippur, and the cultural context of virulent anti-Semitism in which his career played out. What Kurlansky discovers is a man of immense dignity and restraint with a passion for sport who became a great reader--a man, too, who was an inspiration to the young Jackie Robinson, who said, "Class tells. It sticks out all over Mr. Greenberg. "
Hank Williams: The Biography
by Colin Escott George Merritt William MacewenIn his brief life, Hank Williams created one of the defining bodies of American music. Songs such as 'Your Cheatin' Heart,' 'Hey, Good Lookin',' and 'Jambalaya' sold millions of records and became the model for virtually all country music that followed. But by the time of his death at age 29, Williams had drunk and drugged and philandered his way through two messy marriages and out of his headline spot on the Grand Ole Opry. Even though he was country music's top seller, Williams was so famously unreliable toward the end that he was lucky to get a booking in a beer hall. Now Colin Escott adds the fruit of several years of impeccable new research to what was already the most full-blooded portrait of Hank Williams. With the benefit of recently discovered legal files, exclusive access to Williams's autopsy, and new research on the singer's final hours, Escott brings to light much that was previously unknown or hidden about Hank Williams.