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Starting From Home: A Writer's Beginnings
by Milton MeltzerThe noted author discusses his life, recalling his family's history in Poland, New York, and Massachussetts, and providing details of the Depression, labor riots, and his growing awareness of anti-Semitism and how this shaped his writing
Starting Out In the Afternoon
by Jill FrayneJill Frayne's long-term relationship was ending and her daughter was about to graduate and leave home. She decided to pack up her life and head for the Yukon.Driving alone across the country from her home just north of Toronto, describing the land as it changes from Precambrian Shield to open prairie, Jill finds that solitude in the wilds is not what she expected. She is actively engaged by nature, her moods reflected in the changing landscape and weather. Camping in her tent as she travels, she begins to let go of the world she's leaving and to enter the realm of the solitary traveller. There are many challenges in store. She has booked a place on a two-week sea-kayaking trip in the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia; though she owns a canoe, she has never been in a kayak. As the departure nears, she dreads it. Nor does it work any miracle charm on her, as she is isolated from her fellow travellers; yet the landscape and wild beauty of the old hunt camps gradually affects her. Halfway, as she begins to have energy left at the end of the day's exertions, she notes: "This is as relaxed as I have ever been, as free from anxious future-thinking as I have ever managed."From there she heads north, taking ferries up the Inside Passage and using her bicycle and tent to explore the wet, mountainous places along the way. Again, she feels self-conscious when alone in public, but once she strikes out into nature, the wilderness begins to work its magic on her, and she begins to feel a bond with the land and a kind of serenity. Moreover, she comes to realize that this self-reliance is an important step. Many travel narratives involve some kind of inner journey, a seeking of knowledge and of self. Set in the same part of the world, Jonathan Raban's A Passage to Juneau ended up being "an exploration into the wilderness of the human heart." Kevin Patterson used his months sailing from Vancouver to Tahiti to consider his life in The Water in Between, while the Bhutanese landscape worked a profound transformation on Jamie Zeppa in Beyond the Sky and the Earth. In This Cold Heaven, Gretel Ehrlich chose not to put herself into the story, but described the landscape with a similar hunger and intensity, while Sharon Butala has written deeply and personally about her physical and spiritual connection with the prairies in The Perfection of the Morning and other work.In Starting Out in the Afternoon, Frayne struggles to come to terms with her vulnerabilities and begins to find peace. In beautifully spare but potent language, she delivers an inspiring, contemplative memoir of the middle passage of a woman's life and an eloquent meditation on the solace of living close to the wild land. Eventually what has begun as a three-month trip becomes a personal journey of several years, during which she is on the move and testing herself in the wilderness. She conquers her fears and begins a new relationship with nature, exuberant at becoming a competent outdoorswoman. "Despite a late start I expect to spend the rest of my life dashing off the highway, pursuing this know-how, plumbing the outdoors side of life."From the Trade Paperback edition.
Starting Out: Starting Out - My Story So Far
by Alastair CookAlastair Cook forced his way into the record books in 2006, becoming one of the few England players to score a hundred on debut. By going on to become the only Englishman to hit seven Test centuries before his twenty-third birthday, Alastair found himself in the company of the greatest players in cricketing history.STARTING OUT is Alastair?s personal account of this speedy climb to stardom. Equally gifted at music, he opted for cricket as a schoolboy and the young left-hander broke record after record as he progressed to become the first-choice opener for Essex.Now an integral part of the England team with over forty caps, Alastair is perfectly placed to describe the highs and lows of life within the England cricket camp during one of the most exciting and turbulent periods of their history, both on and off the field.Updated to include the full story of the 2009 Ashes series, STARTING OUT amounts to a fascinating insight into life as one of the rising stars of English cricket.
Starting Over
by La Toya Jackson Jeffr PhillipsLa Toya Jackson was always closer to Michael than anyone knew. In this heartfelt memoir, she pays tribute to his tortured soul--revealing the intimate moments she shared with the deeply troubled pop legend. The first sibling to arrive at the hospital after Michael was rushed there, and the informant on his death certificate, La Toya noticed suspicious details and demanded a second autopsy. For the first time, she unveils shocking behind-the-scenes dealings that she believes led to her brother's death, and she provides unprecedented insight into the destruction of one of the most dynamic artist/performers in history. In an account sure to send shock waves around the globe, La Toya sheds new light on the dynamics of the Jackson family and the curtain of secrecy and intrigue that has surrounded her brother Michael, and the rest of the Jackson children, since they became stars in the '60s and '70s. She explains her estrangement from-- and gradual reconciliation with--one of America's most famous and close-knit families. Like Michael, La Toya experienced an upbringing that made her vulnerable to exploitation, and her own journey led to hell and back at the hands of her former manager and husband, Jack Gordon. Sharing with honesty and an open heart some of the most painful episodes of her life story, La Toya reveals how anyone--regardless of fame, fortune, or status--can be trapped in a cycle of abuse, and how she was able to find the courage to rebuild her shattered sense of self, her career, and her relationship with her family, and to finally break free. This tale will touch the hearts of the millions who are fans of the Jackson family's music as well as those who have ever shared a special relationship with a sibling. Not just the story of the world's most renowned family, this memoir will inspire anyone who feels as if their life has fallen apart and there's nowhere to go, unless they too can learn to truly start over. . .
Starting Over
by La Toya Jackson Jeffré PhillipsLa Toya Jackson was always closer to Michael than anyone knew. In this heartfelt memoir, she pays tribute to his tortured soul--revealing the intimate moments she shared with the deeply troubled pop legend. The first sibling to arrive at the hospital after Michael was rushed there, and the informant on his death certificate, La Toya noticed suspicious details and demanded a second autopsy. For the first time, she unveils shocking behind-the-scenes dealings that she believes led to her brother's death, and she provides unprecedented insight into the destruction of one of the most dynamic artist/performers in history. In an account sure to send shock waves around the globe, La Toya sheds new light on the dynamics of the Jackson family and the curtain of secrecy and intrigue that has surrounded her brother Michael, and the rest of the Jackson children, since they became stars in the '60s and '70s. She explains her estrangement from-- and gradual reconciliation with--one of America's most famous and close-knit families. Like Michael, La Toya experienced an upbringing that made her vulnerable to exploitation, and her own journey led to hell and back at the hands of her former manager and husband, Jack Gordon. Sharing with honesty and an open heart some of the most painful episodes of her life story, La Toya reveals how anyone--regardless of fame, fortune, or status--can be trapped in a cycle of abuse, and how she was able to find the courage to rebuild her shattered sense of self, her career, and her relationship with her family, and to finally break free. This tale will touch the hearts of the millions who are fans of the Jackson family's music as well as those who have ever shared a special relationship with a sibling. Not just the story of the world's most renowned family, this memoir will inspire anyone who feels as if their life has fallen apart and there's nowhere to go, unless they too can learn to truly start over. . .
Starting Over: A Country Year and A Book of Bees
by Sue HubbellA pair of memoirs about a woman starting her life over as a beekeeper in the Ozarks, from &“a latter-day Henry Thoreau with a sense of the absurd&” (Chicago Tribune). Taken together, the &“steadily eloquent&” national bestseller, A Country Year, and its follow-up, A Book of Bees, a New York Times Notable Book, offer a moving and fascinating chronicle of Sue Hubbell&’s seasonal second life as a commercial beekeeper (The Washington Post). Alone on a small Missouri farm after the end of a thirty-year marriage, Hubbell found a new love—of the winged, buzzing variety. Left with little but the commercial beekeeping and honey-producing business she started with her husband, Hubbell found solace in the natural world, as well as in writing about her experience. In evocative vignettes, she takes readers through the seasonal cycle of her life as a beekeeper, offering exquisitely rendered details of hives, harvests, and honey, while also reflecting on deeper questions. As the New York Times wrote: &“The real masterwork that Sue Hubbell has created is her life.&”
Starting With I: Personal Essays By Teenagers
by Edwidge Danticat Youth Communication Staff Andrea Estepa Philip Kay35 essays written by teenagers, plus writing and revision techniques.
Starting and Closing: Perseverance, Faith, and One More Year
by Don Yaeger John SmoltzJohn Smoltz was one of the greatest Major League pitchers of the late twentieth / early twenty-first century—one of only two in baseball history ever to achieve twenty wins and fifty saves in single seasons—and now he shares the candid, no-holds-barred story of his life, his career, and the game he loves in Starting and Closing.A Cy Young Award-winner, future Baseball Hall of Famer, and currently a broadcaster for his former team, the Atlanta Braves, Smoltz delivers a powerful memoir with the kind of fascinating insight into game that made Moneyball a runaway bestseller, plus a heartfelt and truly inspiring faith and religious conviction, similar to what illuminates each page of Tim Tebow’s smash hit memoir, Through My Eyes.
Starting from Loomis and Other Stories
by Hiroshi Kashiwagi Tim YamamuraA memoir in short stories, Starting from Loomis chronicles the life of accomplished writer, playwright, poet, and actor Hiroshi Kashiwagi. In this dynamic portrait of an aging writer trying to remember himself as a younger man, Kashiwagi recalls and reflects upon the moments, people, forces, mysteries, and choices--the things in his life that he cannot forget--that have made him who he is.Central to this collection are Kashiwagi's confinement at Tule Lake during World War II, his choice to answer "no" and "no" to questions 27 and 28 on the official government loyalty questionnaire, and the resulting lifelong stigma of being labeled a "No-No Boy" after his years of incarceration. His nonlinear, multifaceted writing not only reflects the fragmentations of memory induced by traumas of racism, forced removal, and imprisonment but also can be read as a bold personal response to the impossible conditions he and other Nisei faced throughout their lifetimes.
Starting from Loomis and Other Stories (Nikkei in the Americas)
by Hiroshi KashiwagiA memoir in short stories, Starting from Loomis chronicles the life of accomplished writer, playwright, poet, and actor Hiroshi Kashiwagi. In this dynamic portrait of an aging writer trying to remember himself as a younger man, Kashiwagi recalls and reflects upon the moments, people, forces, mysteries, and choices—the things in his life that he cannot forget—that have made him who he is. Central to this collection are Kashiwagi’s confinement at Tule Lake during World War II, his choice to answer “no” and “no” to questions 27 and 28 on the official government loyalty questionnaire, and the resulting lifelong stigma of being labeled a “No-No Boy” after his years of incarceration. His nonlinear, multifaceted writing not only reflects the fragmentations of memory induced by traumas of racism, forced removal, and imprisonment but also can be read as a bold personal response to the impossible conditions he and other Nisei faced throughout their lifetimes.
Starting from Scratch: Memoirs of a Wandering Cook
by Patty KirkA captivating memoir with recipes from a cook who’s traveled across the globe cooking, tasting, and enjoying good food.Patty Kirk has always loved food: eating it, cooking it, sharing it, talking about it. At six, she scrambled the last of the family’s vacation provisions over the campfire and concocted a delicacy—eggs with bacon and onions. Overnight she became the family cook and discovered a lifelong passion for cooking that accompanied her through decades of roaming and finally to the farm in Oklahoma where she now lives. Starting from Scratch narrates Kirk’s wanderings in the U.S. and abroad from a culinary perspective, sounding the spiritual, political, and emotional depths of Brillat-Savarin’s famous observation, “Tell me what you eat; I’ll tell you who you are.” In this candid and engaging food memoir—complete with recipes!—good food beckons from the past as well as the future: surrounding us, eluding us, drawing us, defining us.
Starting in the Middle
by Tik MaynardAn extraordinary follow-up to the bestselling memoirIn the Middle Are the Horsemen.He thought he had it made. Dream farm. Amazing wife. Wonderful kids. Clear and present purpose.Horses.But then he began to wonder if he was doing it all right enough…if maybe he&’d been doing it for long enough. He began to wonder ifitwas right at all.When midlife appeared before horseman Tik Maynard, he had plenty of past adventures to cite and no shortage of future possibilities. But his own questions about his life as a horse trainer and equestrian competitor began to overwhelm the joy of all he had accomplished and discovered. It suddenly became imperative that he reconsider his path and open himself to alternatives—and a course that might drastically differ from what he&’d always thought he wanted.When an invitation to participate in Road to the Horse, the World Championship of Colt Starting, was offered, Maynard immediately saw an opportunity to learn, to expand his world beyond what in some ways felt too &“complete,&” to reboot the passion that had always driven him. And so he took a chance on himself and an unknown, unbroken colt, and said, &“I&’ll do it.&”In these deep, considered, and painstakingly articulated pages, Maynard chronicles a year of reading, traveling, asking questions, and trying new things, as he, supported by family and friends, threw himself into the preparation he knew he needed to have 265 minutes in front of a live audience be something positive for both him and a horse he did not yet know. The reader travels along as Maynard meets some of the leading figures in the world of animal behavior and training, examining the ways humans can successfully communicate with other species from a multitude of entry points, both &“traditional&” and &“out of the box.&” With dialogue that sweeps you into each fascinating expert&’s space and time, he shares his struggles with the philosophical and ethical side of his life&’s pursuit, and thoughtfully illustrates the conversations that helped him construct a system of beliefs and understanding that supported his natural abilities and lifetime in the saddle, while at the same time challenging everything he thought he already knew. Readers are offered the opportunity to grow alongside Maynard, not only as horse lovers, but as people, as he tries and tests and fails and finds—and eventually, chooses which direction to take in the second half of his life.With a diligence and intelligence that is unique to the genre of &“books about horses&” and extends well beyond the barn to the broader questions faced by the human race, Maynard has again given us a unfailingly honest telling of one life and the pursuit of fulfilling it.Starting in the Middleis for anyone wondering &“what&’s next&” and trying to be brave enough to go out and look for it.
Startup Story: An Entrepreneur's Journey from Idea to Exit
by Martin WarnerA founder's wild memoir of startup success, told from hot tub inception to $50 million exit with the humor of a comic and the perspective of an educator. In The Startup Story: An Entrepreneur&’s Journey from Idea to Exit, renowned serial entrepreneur Martin Warner takes a fledgling company all the way from zero to hero, selling it for $50 million after a mere 17 months. It&’s a memoir of whirlwind entrepreneurial success, a nonfiction narrative that puts the reader in the CEO&’s seat, giving the feel of what it&’s really like to steer a company around the toughest of tracks and come out with a massive payday. A mix of Wolf of Wall Street, The Big Short, and The Apprentice, The Startup Story reads like a novel but is strictly a true story packed with entrepreneurial insights. It is a rollercoaster ride through the heaven and hell of the tech business world, populated by geeks, pirates, conmen, tycoons, geniuses, and fools. Forced to do everything at warp speed, Warner chucks all the accumulated wisdom of his own Entrepreneur Seminar out of the window on his way to a holy grail exit. Along the way, readers piece together an entrepreneurial how-to (and how-not-to) manual, with each chapter traversing the highs and the lows of founding a growing company. It shows the reader how to build a tech company out of pure desire and dogged willpower, combined with some timely expertise. The short, hilarious, and hair-raising history of Warner and his company, botObjects, provides a parable of the quintessential business experience packed with entrepreneurial insights and lessons to be learned.
Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure
by Jerry KaplanThe classic account of the early days of tech, named one of the 10 best business books of the year by Business Week: &“Riveting, wry, and often wise.&”—The Washington Post Jerry Kaplan had a dream: he would redefine the known universe (and get very rich) by creating a new kind of computer. All he needed was sixty million dollars, a few hundred employees, and a maniacal belief in his ability to win the Silicon Valley startup game. Kaplan, a well-known figure in the computer industry, founded GO Corporation in 1987, and for several years it was one of the hottest new ventures in the Valley. Startup tells the story of Kaplan's wild ride: how he assembled a brilliant but fractious team of engineers, software designers, and investors; pioneered the emerging market for hand-held computers operated with a pen instead of a keyboard; and careened from crisis to crisis without ever losing his passion for his revolutionary idea. Along the way, Kaplan vividly recreates his encounters with eccentric employees, risk-addicted venture capitalists, and industry giants such as Bill Gates and John Sculley. And no one—including Kaplan himself—is spared his sharp wit. &“What separates Kaplan&’s tale from other start-up stories is the insight he provides about dealing with two of America's largest computer companies—IBM and Microsoft…Readers interested in entrepreneurial adventurism will find Kaplan&’s tale entertaining.&”—Publishers Weekly &“Kaplan tells it with novelistic style replete with races against the clock and sharp character sketches…An insider's well-written story of the death of a new machine.&”—Kirkus Reviews &“A winner.&”—Wired
Starve the Vulture: A Memoir
by Jason CarneyA &“compelling&” memoir of self-destruction, recovery, and redemption from a four-time National Poetry Slam finalist (Booklist). This mesmerizing memoir recounts Jason Carney&’s twisting journey as he overcomes his own racism, homophobia, drug addiction, and harrowing brushes with death to find redemption and unlikely fame on the national performance poetry circuit. Woven into Carney's path to recovery is a powerful family story, depicting the roots of prejudice and dysfunction through several generations. &“Before he was a sex-addict-crackhead-boozer-porn-salesman sliding downward in the Dallas demimonde, Jason Carney was a poet, a lowlife who prized his thesaurus as much as his speed pipe...He made it out, and Starve the Vulture tells how he did it, how poetic ecstasy trumped sordid pleasure. Brisk, electric, and moving, his story recalls both Baudelaire's Intimate Journals and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.&”—J. Michael Lennon, author of Norman Mailer: A Double Life &“It seems impossible to me that a reader could fail to be gripped by Carney's straightforward, vulnerable voice, which is able to imbue the harrowing events of his life with beauty, humor, and deep meaning.&”—Hippocampus Magazine &“Carney will easily win sympathy for his life, in which he has persevered to show others the hard work of his salvation.&”—Kirkus Reviews
Starved: A Nutrition Doctor's Journey from Empty to Full
by Anne Mctiernan"Failure to thrive" is not a phrase in this doctor's vocabulary.At the age of four, Anne McTiernan is left by her mother at a boarding school. Overcome by sadness from the neglect she experiences there, Anne emotionally and physically starves. A doctor, appalled by her excessive weight loss, forces Anne's mother to bring her home, but she is still not safe.Set in working-class, Irish-American Boston of the 1950s-1960s, Anne transitions from a malnourished state to obesity to obsessive dieting. Without love and support from her family, Anne decides she must take full responsibility for her own life during her last eighteen months as a minor.Today as a doctor and researcher, Anne has helped thousands of women improve their relationship with food-but this is not their story. Starved is the gripping tale of how Anne used hard work, undaunted intelligence, and persistence to turn the adversity she encountered as a child into a strength and set of skills that would later help her meet the demands of her career.ANNE McTIERNAN, MD, PhD, conducts research on the effects of diet, exercise, and weight loss on cancer and health. Currently, she is a professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington Schools of Public Health and Medicine in Seattle, Washington.
Starving In Search of Me: A Coming-of-Age Story of Overcoming An Eating Disorder and Finding Self-Acceptance
by Marissa LaRocca“A heartrending memoir meets an empowering self-help guide” in this account of coming to terms with food, body image, and sexuality (Joshua Rosenthal, founder and director of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition).In this riveting, intimate book, Marissa LaRocca relates her own struggle living, for a time, in two closets: one to hide her eating disorder and one to hide her sexuality and very identity. As she unravels the emotional layers of her battle, she reveals the skills she learned that led her to find herself—and to eventually emerge as an outspoken advocate for gay rights and women’s health issues. She shares the hard-won wisdom she gained during her journey, to help you:Identify the root causes, symptoms, and triggers associated with an eating disorderAcknowledge the “life issues” that are being masked by “food issues” or other addictionsDisempower compulsive behaviors like binging, purging, and obsessing about calories and exerciseHeal your relationship with food through healing your relationship with yourselfEscape the victim role, become empowered, and take responsibility for your own happinessConnect with your life’s purpose and authentic self, transforming your weaknesses into strengthsFree your mind through tuning in to the body and witnessing emotionsImprove your body image and self-esteem by aligning your lifestyle with your true values and desires, and with what is realisticEffectively communicate your needs with confidenceEstablish guilt-free lifestyle boundaries to reduce anxiety and maximize vitalityEnhance peace of mind by developing a reliable support systemEliminate the need to be perfect by practicing forgiveness and compassion toward yourself
Stash: My Life in Hiding
by Laura Cathcart Robbins&“An emotionally absorbing and swiftly paced multisensory experience.&” —The New York Times Book ReviewNamed a Best Memoir of 2023 by Elle In the vein of Somebody&’s Daughter, this wild, vivid addiction memoir from the host of the podcast The Only One in the Room &“will inspire, awe, entertain, educate, and help so many readers&” (Christie Tate, New York Times bestselling author) with a journey to sobriety and self-love amidst privilege and racism.After years of hiding her addiction from everyone—stockpiling pills in her Louboutins and elaborately scheduling her withdrawals between PTA meetings, baby showers, and tennis matches—Laura Cathcart Robbins is running out of places to hide. She has learned the hard way that even her high-profile marriage and Hollywood lifestyle can&’t protect her from the pain she&’s keeping bottled up inside. Facing divorce, the possibility of a grueling custody battle, and the insistent voice of internalized racism that nags at her as a Black woman in a startlingly white world, Laura wonders just how much more she can take. Now, with courageous and candid openness, she reveals how she started the long journey towards sobriety, unexpectedly found new love, and dismantled the wall she had built around herself, brick by brick. With its raw, finely crafted, and engaging prose, Stash is &“emotionally riveting…usher[ing] in a new way for us to talk and read about the paradoxes of addiction, race, family, class, and gender.&” (Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy).
Stasiland: True Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall
by Anna FunderWhen Anna Funder hears of ordinary people who resisted the fearsome Stasi - the Communist regime's secret police - she sets out to investigate the extraordinary stories from the underbelly of the most perfected surveillance state of all time, the former East Germany.
State Department Counterintelligence: Leaks, Spies, and Lies
by Robert David BoothA veteran counterintelligence agent presents a revealing chronicle of his State Department investigations into intelligence leaks and spying on US soil. On October 7th, 1974, Robert D. Booth swore an oath to support and uphold the United States Constitution as a special agent of the State Department&’s Office of Security. As a member of the Special Investigations Branch, he investigated numerous information leaks, losses of classified documents, and instances of espionage. Now, in State Department Counterintelligence, Booth reveals some of the most egregious leaks, spies, and lies that have adversely affected national security over his decades-long career. Booth tells the story of his pivotal role in three major counterespionage assignments as well as numerous investigations into unauthorized disclosures—including the unmasking of Fidel Castro&’s most damaging US citizen spy. With the narrative style of a political thriller, Booth brings readers inside the real world of counterintelligence.
State Power and Democracy
by Andrew KolinState Power and Democracy is the first book to show that the Bush police state didn't commence when Bush was inaugurated. It proves, instead, that the seeds of an American police state can be traced all the way back to the founding of the republic.
State of Denial (Bush at War, Part III)
by Bob WoodwardIn his unmissable new book Bob Woodward takes the reader on an inside journey from the start of the Iraq War in 2003 right up to the present day, providing a detailed, authoritative account of President Bush's leadership and the struggles among the men and women in the White House, the Pentagon, the CIA and the State Department. With Bush well into his second term, Woodward breaks new ground, as he has in his thirteen previous international bestsellers, including BUSH AT WAR and PLAN OF ATTACK. Woodward puts the Bush legacy in historical context as he shows this presidency in action in a way that is normally seen only years after a chief executive leaves office. He describes how Bush and his team have attempted to change the way that wars are fought, and put together a re-election campaign while re-inventing their strategy for the invasion and occupation of Iraq over and over again. Here is the behind-the-scenes story of this administration -- meetings, conversations, and memos; conflicts, manoeuvring, and anguish -- as key administration figures provide a full view of the first presidency of the twenty-first century.
State of Emergency: How We Win in the Country We Built
by Tamika D. Mallory&“A masterful book…reaffirms the urgency of the current state of Black people in America and the power we all have to win transformative change.&” —Marc Lamont Hill, New York Times bestselling author &“Gives us the words and tools to fight for the justice our families deserve.&” —Tamika Palmer, mother of Breonna Taylor &“A powerful voice in consistently reminding us that we all have a stake in the fight for a just, fair, and equitable America.&” —Jada Pinkett Smith, actor, producer, entrepreneur Social justice leader Tamika D. Mallory states her case for action in this searing indictment of America&’s historical, deadly, and continuing assault on Black and brown lives.Drawn from a lifetime of frontline culture-shifting advocacy, organizing, and fighting for equal justice, State of Emergency makes Mallory&’s demand for change and shares the keys to effective activism both for those new to and long-committed to the defense of Black lives. From Minneapolis to Louisville, to Portland, Kenosha, and Washington, DC, America&’s reckoning with its unmet promises on race and class is at a boiling point not seen since the 1960s. While conversations around pathways to progress take place on social media and cable TV, history tells us that meaningful change only comes with radical legislation and boots-on-the-ground activism. Here, Mallory shares her unique personal experience building coalitions, speaking truth to power, and winning over hearts and minds in the struggle for shared prosperity and safety. Forward-looking, steeped in history, and rich with stories from life on the margins of American life, State of Emergency is a revelatory examination of the challenges we face, of the forces we must overcome, and a blueprint for all who maintain hope for social equity and a better tomorrow.
State of Grace
by Robert TimbergIn his unflinching and riveting The Nightingale's Song, Timberg chronicled a nation haunted by the war and its corrosive aftermath. Now, in State of Grace, the author rediscovers an earlier time and an America now largely lost. Using the New York City sandlot football team he played for after high school as a rich metaphor for what was best about that bygone era, Timberg evokes the period in fine detail and vivid color. It was a world of girls, beer and the proverbial Big Game, but it also was defined by faith in tradition and institutions, including a still unsullied Catholic Church. State of Grace captures life on the threshold of Kennedy's Camelot, before the Beatles, before the Pill, but in the ever-expanding shadow of Vietnam, "a time when the path to an honorable future seemed as straightforward as playing hard, hitting clean, and not fumbling the ball." The tale is told through Timberg's own eyes as he moves from troubled youth to man, from running back on a team called the Lynvets to Naval Academy plebe to Marine officer. The story is also told through a collection of other characters, including a genius of a coach overmatched when off the field, a driven quarterback sidetracked by booze and an angry loner fresh from the army stockade who reclaims his life on the gridiron. As Timberg writes, the team was where he and his fellow Lynvets "found a toe-hold on our better selves during a troubled time in our lives. Those snatches of pride and courage and strength we shared...eventually grew within us, becoming the core of a decent manhood that might have easily eluded any one of us in other circumstances. There were times, for each of us, when it was all we had."
State: A Team, A Triumph, A Transformation
by Melissa IsaacsonSet against a backdrop of social change during the 1970s, State is a compelling first-person account of what it was like to live through both traditional gender discrimination in sports and the joy of the very first days of equality―or at least the closest that one high school girls’ basketball team ever came to it. In 1975, freshman Melissa Isaacson―along with a group of other girls who’d spent summers with their noses pressed against the fences of Little League ball fields, unable to play―entered Niles West High School in suburban Chicago with one goal: make a team, any team. For Missy, that turned out to be the basketball team. Title IX had passed just three years earlier, prohibiting gender discrimination in education programs or activities, including athletics. As a result, states like Illinois began implementing varsity competition―and state tournaments―for girls’ high school sports. At the time, Missy and her teammates didn’t really understand the legislation. All they knew was they finally had opportunities―to play, to learn, to sweat, to lose, to win―and an identity: they were athletes. They were a team. And in 1979, they became state champions. With the intimate insights of the girl who lived it, the painstaking reporting of a veteran sports journalist, Isaacson chronicles one high school team’s journey to the state championship. In doing so, Isaacson shows us how a group of "tomboys" found themselves and each other, and how basketball rescued them from their collective frustrations and troubled homes, and forever altered the course of their lives.