- Table View
- List View
We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation
by Eric Garcia“This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum. It’s also my love letter to autistic people. For too long, we have been forced to navigate a world where all the road signs are written in another language.” <p><p> With a reporter’s eye and an insider’s perspective, Eric Garcia shows what it’s like to be autistic across America. <p><p> Garcia began writing about autism because he was frustrated by the media’s coverage of it; the myths that the disorder is caused by vaccines, the narrow portrayals of autistic people as white men working in Silicon Valley. His own life as an autistic person didn’t look anything like that. He is Latino, a graduate of the University of North Carolina, and works as a journalist covering politics in Washington D.C. Garcia realized he needed to put into writing what so many autistic people have been saying for years; autism is a part of their identity, they don’t need to be fixed. <p><p> In We’re Not Broken, Garcia uses his own life as a springboard to discuss the social and policy gaps that exist in supporting those on the spectrum. From education to healthcare, he explores how autistic people wrestle with systems that were not built with them in mind. At the same time, he shares the experiences of all types of autistic people, from those with higher support needs, to autistic people of color, to those in the LGBTQ community. In doing so, Garcia gives his community a platform to articulate their own needs, rather than having others speak for them, which has been the standard for far too long.
We're in America Now: A Survivor's Stories
by Fred Amram"Epic in scope, but gentle and charming in delivery, Fred Amram's We're in America Now is a quiet chronicle of a clamorous era. Politics and war compel Amram's family to leave the only home they ever knew and embark on a personal exodus, fleeing a new pharaoh, pursuing a new promised land. They arrive in America to discover that paradise is not all milk and honey, but love, loyalty, and faith conspire to hold the family together, and the story of how they rebuild the life that was robbed them is moving, probing, and insightful." -J.C. Hallman, author of B & Me: A True Story of Literary ArousalThese compelling stories form a riveting memoir that begins with the author's birth during the rise of Hitler in 1930s Germany. He and his surviving family soon escape to Holland and sail to America where they encounter many challenges as immigrants in a new world. This country truly becomes a land of opportunity where one can build a new life and become more than a "Holocaust survivor."Fred Amram is a retired University of Minnesota professor of communication and creativity. He spent his early years in Hanover, Germany, where he experienced the Holocaust from its inception in 1933. He witnessed Kristallnacht and the Gestapo invading his home. He watched the British bombers from his balcony when Jews were banned from air raid shelters. The loss of uncles, aunts, a grandmother, and many more relatives has motivated him to share his experiences in hopes of ending genocide everywhere.
We're in This Together: A Young Readers Edition of We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders
by Linda SarsourAn empowering young readers edition of We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders, the memoir by Women’s March coorganizer and activist Linda Sarsour. <p><p> You can count on me, your Palestinian Muslim sister, to keep her voice loud, keep her feet on the streets, and keep my head held high because I am not afraid. <p><p> On January 21, 2017, Linda Sarsour stood in the National Mall to deliver a speech that would go down in history. A crowd of over 470,000 people gathered in Washington, DC, to advocate for legislation, policy, and the protection of women’s rights—with Linda, a Muslim American activist from Brooklyn, leading the charge, unapologetic and unafraid. <p><p> In this middle grade edition of We Are Not Here to be Bystanders, Linda shares the memories that shaped her into the activist she is today, and how these pivotal moments in her life led her to being an organizer in one of the largest single-day protests in US history. From the Brooklyn bodega her father owned to the streets of Washington, DC, Linda’s story as a daughter of Palestinian immigrants is a moving portrayal of what it means to find your voice in your youth and use it for the good of others as an adult.
We've Always Had Paris...and Provence
by Patricia Wells Walter WellsPatricia Wells, long recognized as the leading American authority on French food, and her husband, Walter, live the life in France that many of us have often fantasized about. After more than a quarter century, they are as close to being accepted as "French" as any non-natives can be. In this delightful memoir they share in two voices their experiences-the good, the bad, and the funny-offering a charming and evocative account of their beloved home and some of the wonderful people they have met along the way. Full of the flavor and color of the couple's adopted country, this tandem memoir reflects on the life that France has made possible for them and explores how living abroad has shaped their relationship. Written in lyrical, sensuous prose and filled with anecdotes, insights, and endearing snapshots of Walter and Patricia over the years, We've Always Had Paris . . . and Provence beautifully conveys the nuances of the French and their culture as only a practiced observer can. Literally a moveable feast to be savored and shared, including more than thirty recipes that will delight readers and cooks alike, the couple's valentine to France and to each other is delicious in every way.
We've Decided to Go in a Different Direction: Essays
by Tess Sanchez&“Funny, relatable, honest, and most of all, just like Tess Sanchez, a really good time.&” —Mindy Kaling, actress and New York Times bestselling author A funny and heartfelt essay collection about working in Hollywood, starting over, defining your identity, and the relatable messiness that ensues from unforeseen circumstances. Wife to a well-known actor, the mother of two, a sister, daughter, and general meddler, Tess Sanchez&’s life was like a #1-rated sitcom. But the loss of her career as a highly successful casting executive equaled series cancellation. Now, with humor and insight, Sanchez examines the aftermath of a major shift that forever changed the course of her life, and the resilience that came from reframing loss into possibility. &“We&’ve decided to go in a different direction&” was a phrase Sanchez rattled off to countless agents, actors, producers, and many more. But in the fall of 2020, the tables turned as she was on the receiving end of that phrase, when she lost the long-held job she adored. She quickly discovered how much that career defined her identity, from her personal relationships to her own perception of herself. In the midst of facing this upheaval, her father was diagnosed with a devastating illness and suddenly, Sanchez had to learn what it means to parent her parents. Moving, witty, and fun, We've Decided to Go in a Different Direction offers you both welcome comedy and empowering strength when it comes to tackling life&’s challenges.
We've Got This: Unlocking the Beauty of Belonging
by Ritu BhasinMany of us feel constant pressure to mask and curate who we are—to perform as someone we&’re not rather than be who we are. And it hurts us. But we don't need to live this way.With We've Got This, award-winning and globally recognized DEI and empowerment expert Ritu Bhasin delivers a much-needed guidebook on how to heal, thrive, and stand in your power in the face of hate and hardships. She reveals how to unlock belonging—for yourself and for others.Ritu knows firsthand that the path to belonging can be both beautiful and hard. As a child of working-class immigrants of color, she experienced relentless struggles with racist bullying and cultural confusion growing up. Even as a successful lawyer and business leader, Ritu grappled with knowing, embracing, and being her authentic self—until she realized the freedom that comes with claiming belonging, which she passionately shares in these pages.Combining empathy, humor, and research with life-changing wisdom and savvy, We've Got This is the guide for finding belonging and joy that readers from across backgrounds have been waiting for.
We, the People: Insights of an activist judge
by Albie SachsA stirring collection of public talks and essays by an activist and former judge offers an intimate insider’s view of South Africa’s Constitution. This stirring collection of essays and talks by activist and former judge Albie Sachs is the culmination of more than 25 years of thought about constitution-making and non-racialism. Following the Constitutional Court's landmark Nkandla ruling in March 2016, it serves as a powerful reminder of the tenets of the Constitution, the rule of law and the continuous struggle to uphold democratic rights and freedoms. We, the People offers an intimate insider's view of South Africa's Constitution by a writer who has been deeply entrenched in its historical journey from the depths of apartheid right up to the politically contested present. As a second-year law student at the University of Cape Town, Sachs took part in the Defiance Campaign and went on to attend the Congress of the People in Kliptown, where the Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955. Three decades later, shortly after the bomb attack in Maputo that cost him his arm and the sight in one eye, he was called on by the Constitutional Committee of the African National Congress to co-draft (with Kader Asmal) the first outline of a Bill of Rights for a new democratic South Africa. In 1994, he was appointed by Nelson Mandela to the Constitutional Court, where he served as a judge until 2009. We, the People contains some of Sachs' most memorable public talks and writings, in which he takes us back to the broad-based popular foundations of the Constitution in the Freedom Charter. He picks up on Oliver Tambo's original vision of a non-racial future for South Africa, rather than one based on institutionalised power-sharing between the races. He explores the tension between perfectability and corruptibility, hope and mistrust, which lies at the centre of all constitutions. Sachs discusses the enforcement of social and economic rights, and contemplates the building of the Constitutional Court in the heart of the Old Fort Prison as a mechanism for reconciling the past and the future. Subjective experience and objective analysis interact powerfully in a personalised narrative that reasserts the value of constitutionality not just for South Africans, but for people striving to advance human dignity, equality and freedom across the world today.
Weak Thing in Moni Land: The Story of Bill and Gracie Cutts
by William A. CuttsWeak Thing In Moni Land—The Cutts' story is dramatic, humorous and compelling. Hazi Talk! That's what the Moni people of Irian Jaya, Indonesia, call the Christian message. It is the gospel that Bill and Gracie Cutts spent a lifetime proclaiming as missionaries of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Suffering from congenital deformities, Bill had every excuse not to become a misionary in the rugged interior of Irian Jaya. But instead he and Gracie carried on a ministry that was truly apostolic—accompanied by miracles and divine providence. But the overwhelming message is that God can use the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And as He chose to use the Cuttses for His purposes, He would be delighted to use you if you are fully surrendered to Him.
Weak Thing in Moni Land: The Story of Bill and Gracie Cutts
by William A. CuttsWeak Thing In Moni Land—The Cutts' story is dramatic, humorous and compelling. Hazi Talk! That's what the Moni people of Irian Jaya, Indonesia, call the Christian message. It is the gospel that Bill and Gracie Cutts spent a lifetime proclaiming as missionaries of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Suffering from congenital deformities, Bill had every excuse not to become a misionary in the rugged interior of Irian Jaya. But instead he and Gracie carried on a ministry that was truly apostolic—accompanied by miracles and divine providence. But the overwhelming message is that God can use the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And as He chose to use the Cuttses for His purposes, He would be delighted to use you if you are fully surrendered to Him.
Wealth Warrior: 8 Steps for Communities of Color to Conquer the Stock Market
by Linda GarciaThis much-needed conversational guide to the stock market by a financial expert empowers you to heal money wounds, establish financial literacy, and make your money work for you. Financial educator Linda García breaks down one of the most elusive yet effective financial systems in existence. A single mother at a young age, Linda struggled to survive. As bills and eviction notices flowed in, she felt stuck. After getting advice from a work friend, Linda took the leap and invested two hundred dollars. Soon, two hundred dollars a month grew to seven thousand dollars, then that became a high six-figure investment. Now she owns her home and is making more money than she&’d ever imagined, and is ready to help other people of color access stock knowledge and achieve financial success. As a proud Latina, García understands that building wealth can mean more than stepping into financial arenas historically kept from communities of color. It may first require getting to the root of our money wounds—the factors and experiences that limit our capacity to feel deserving of wealth and capable of building it. In this investing playbook, she guides you on how to establish a budget, create your &“opportunity fund,&” and pay yourself first. She shows you how to analyze a company, choose the right stocks for you, and create a plan to multiply your money. You&’ll learn: What it means to invest, where your money goes, and how to read stock charts. How to assess companies, pick your first stock, and buy your first shares. Tactics to break free from a scarcity mindset and grow your stocks to create life-changing wealth. Complete with an accessible glossary of stock market terms, Wealth Warrior is a true primer on how to generate the wealth you deserve!
Wealthy Men Only: The True Story of a Lonely Millionaire, a Gorgeous Younger Woman, and the Love Triangle that Ended in Murder
by Stella SandsThe shocking true crime account of a gold-digging woman’s diabolical and deadly seduction from the award-winning author of The Dating Game Killer.Nanette Johnston’s personal ad made it clear: “I know how to take care of my man if he knows how to take care of me.” Newport Beach millionaire Bill MacLaughlin made the fatal mistake of responding.Within months, the gorgeous twenty-eight-year-old moved in with the middle-aged entrepreneur. Three years later, she began seeing another man on the side, a former NFL linebacker who took a job at a nearby nightclub. Three weeks later, MacLaughin would be dead.He was found lying on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood. Nannette had an alibi—and a million-dollar life insurance policy on the victim. Police discovered she’d embezzled a small fortune from MacLaughlin’s business but didn’t have enough evidence to charge her with murder. For years, the crime went unsolved, until new evidence brought the gold digger and her boyfriend back to the courtroom—in a sordid case of lust, betrayal, greed, and murder . . .
Wear Your Dreams: My Life in Tattoos
by Joel Selvin Ed HardyThe memoir of iconic tattoo artist Ed Hardy from his beginnings in 1960s California, to leading the tattoo renaissance and building his name into a hugely lucrative international brand"Ed Hardy" is emblazoned on everything from t-shirts and hats to perfumes and energy drinks. From LA to Japan, his colorful cross-and-bones designs and ribbon-banners have become internationally ubiquitous. But long before the fashion world discovered his iconic designs, the man behind the eponymous brand spearheaded nothing less than a cultural revolution.In Wear Your Dreams, Ed Hardy recounts his genesis as a tattoo artist and leader in the movement to recognize tattooing as a valid and rich art form, through to the ultimate transformation of his career into a multi-billion dollar branding empire. From giving colored pencil tattoos to neighborhood kids at age ten to working with legendary artists like Sailor Jerry to learning at the feet of the masters in Japan, the book explains how this Godfather of Tattoos fomented the explosion of tattoo art and how his influence can be witnessed on everyone, from countless celebs to ink-adorned rockers to butterfly-branded, stroller-pushing moms. With over fifty different product categories, the Ed Hardy brand generates over $700 million in retail sales annually. Vividly packaged with original Ed Hardy artwork and ideal for ink devotees and Ed Hardy aficionados alike, Wear Your Dreams is a never-before-seen look at the tattoo artist who rocked the art world and has left a permanent mark on fashion history.
Wear and Tear: The Threads of My Life
by Tracy TynanA candid, entertaining memoir told through clothes.Tracy Peacock Tynan grew up in London in the 1950's and 60s, privy to her parents' glamorous parties and famous friends--Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, and Orson Welles. Cecil Beaton and Katharine Hepburn were her godparents. Tracy was named after Katherine Hepburn's character, Tracy Lord, in the classic film, The Philadelphia Story. These stylish showbiz people were role models for Tracy, who became a clotheshorse at a young age. Tracy's father, Kenneth Tynan, was a powerful theater critic and writer for the Evening Standard, The Observer, and The New Yorker. Her mother was Elaine Dundy, a successful novelist and biographer, whose works have recently been revived by The New York Review of Books. Both of Tracy's parents, particularly her father, were known as much for what they wore as what they wrote. In the Tynans' social circles, style was essential, and Tracy had firm ideas about her own clothing for as long as she can remember. Shopping was an art passed down through the family; though shopping trips with her mother were so traumatic that Tracy started shopping on her own when she was fourteen. When Tracy started writing about her life she found that clothing was the focus of many of her stories. She recalls her father's dandy attire and her mother's Pucci dresses, as well as her parents' rancorous marriage and divorce, her father's prodigious talents and celebrity lifestyle, and her mother's lifelong struggle with addiction. She tackles issues big and small using clothes as an entrée--relationships, marriage, children, stepchildren, blended families, her parent's decline and deaths, and her work as a costume designer are all recounted with humor, with insight, and with the special joy that can only come from finding the perfect outfit.
Wearing the Green Beret: A Canadian with the Royal Marine Commandos
by Jake OlafsenIn 2004, Jake Olafsen signed up for the Royal Marines Commandos. He left everything behind at home in Canada on the basis of a spur-of-the-moment decision. The Royal Marines have the toughest and longest basic training of any infantry unit in the world. For Olafson, this meant eight months of wet and cold in England and Wales. It was hell, but he came out with the four Commando qualities that the corps look for: courage, determination, unselfishness, cheerfulness in the face of adversity.Olafsen went on to serve for four years as a Commando in the Royal Marines, an elite military unit based in the United Kingdom. He went to Afghanistan twice: in 2006, he went to confront the Taliban in Helmand Province for six months, and in 2007, he was sent to do it all over again. His story is filled with good experiences, like the sense of accomplishment, patriotism, and camaraderie, and the opportunity to travel the world. But all good things come at a price. The sacrifices he made for the Corps are significant; he has killed the enemy and he has buried his friends. And in telling his story, Olafsen hopes that he can make sense of it all. This is an honest, gutsy story about the mud and the blood, the triumphs and the tragedies.From the Hardcover edition.
Weary: King of the River
by Sue EburyIn a wartime nightmare of starvation, disease, brutality and death, Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop's courage and compassion made him an Australian legend. During more than three years as a surgeon in the notorious work camps and vast hospital camps along the Burma-Thailand railway, he worked tirelessly to save lives and get men home to their families. He confronted his captors fearlessly; three times he was tortured and taken out to be executed, only to be reprieved at the last moment. Fellow prisoners regarded him as 'a symbol of hope and a rock'. This new, illustrated biography of Weary includes more than 150 images as well as never-before-published material about his betrayal to his captors. Weary was the quintessential Australian all-rounder-brilliant student, outstanding sportsman and irrepressible larrikin who dedicated his life to caring for people. When he died in July 1993, 10 000 people stood silently to farewell the most honoured medical man in Australia. By then, this great humanitarian's influence had spread far beyond the veteran community to embrace the entire nation.
Weasel Tail: Stories Told By Joe Crowshoe Sr, A Peigan-blackfoot Elder
by Michael RossPeigan elders Joe and Josephine Crowshoe belonged to a generation still bright with the traditional knowledge and deep memories of their grandparents. They lived under a paternalistic government system that denied them their language, culture, and religion. They reclaimed their heritage and shared it with the larger community, receiving honours for their work and lifetime commitment as articulate representatives of Peigan stories, spirituality, and ceremonial practices. Weaving interviews together with archival photographs and documentation, interviewer Michael Ross tracks not only the life history of Joe and Josephine Crowshoe but also records stories of their culture. Weasel Tail opens a window onto a world and people who form a part of Alberta's history... and future.
Web of Friendship: Selected Letters (1928-1973)
by Christina Stead'I am not a born writer, but I must say that when I have actually launched myself I get the profoundest and most passionate satisfaction from writing.'—Christina SteadA Web of Friendship is a collection of Christina Stead's intimate correspondence with influential literary figures such as Stanley Burnshaw, Ettore Rella, Nettie Palmer, Clem Christesen, Elizabeth Harrower and A.D. Hope.These letters span the life of one of Australia's most illustrious writers, offering a rare insight into the relationships that influenced and sustained her work. They reveal Stead's reflections on the art of literature, the development of her political thought, and the significance of a handful of friendships that would endure throughout her life and career.The letters cover Stead's arrival in England in 1928, as well as her time abroad in Europe and the United States. They also detail her marriage to William Blake, their life in England where they settled in 1953, as well as her brief return to Australia and her final years in England following Blake's death.
Webspinner: Songs, Stories, and Reflections of Duncan Williamson, Scottish Traveller
by John D. NilesBorn in 1928 in a tent on the shore of Loch Fyne, Argyll, Duncan Williamson (d. 2007) eventually came to be recognized as one of the foremost storytellers in Scotland and the world. Webspinner: Songs, Stories, and Reflections of Duncan Williamson, Scottish Traveller is based on more than a hundred hours of tape-recorded interviews undertaken with him in the 1980s. Williamson tells of his birth and upbringing in the west of Scotland, his family background as one of Scotland’s seminomadic travelling people, his varied work experiences after setting out from home at about age fifteen, and the challenges he later faced while raising a family of his own, living on the road for half the year. The recordings on which the book is based were made by John D. Niles, who was then an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Niles has transcribed selections from his field tapes with scrupulous accuracy, arranging them alongside commentary, photos, and other scholarly aids, making this priceless self-portrait of a brilliant storyteller available to the public. The result is a delight to read. It is also a mine of information concerning a vanished way of life and the place of singing and storytelling in Traveller culture. In chapters that feature many colorful anecdotes and that mirror the spontaneity of oral delivery, readers learn much about how Williamson and other members of his persecuted minority had the resourcefulness to make a living on the outskirts of society, owning very little in the way of material goods but sustained by a rich oral heritage.
Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give
by Ada CalhounInspired by her viral New York Times “Modern Love” essay “The Wedding Toast I’ll Never Give”, Ada Calhoun’s memoir is a witty, poignant exploration of the beautiful complexity of marriage. We hear plenty about whether or not to get married, but much less about what it takes to stay married. Clichés around marriage—eternal bliss, domestic harmony, soul mates—leave out the real stuff. After marriage you may still want to sleep with other people. Sometimes your partner will bore the hell out of you. And when stuck paying for your spouse’s mistakes, you might miss being single. In Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give, Ada Calhoun presents an unflinching but also loving portrait of her own marriage, opening a long-overdue conversation about the institution as it truly is: not the happy ending of a love story or a relic doomed by high divorce rates, but the beginning of a challenging new chapter of which “the first twenty years are the hardest.” Calhoun’s funny, poignant personal essays explore the bedrooms of modern coupledom for a nuanced discussion of infidelity, existential anxiety, and the many other obstacles to staying together. Both realistic and openhearted, Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give offers a refreshing new way to think about marriage as a brave, tough, creative decision to stay with another person for the rest of your life. “What a burden,” Calhoun calls marriage, “and what a gift.”
Wedlock: The True Story of the Disastrous Marriage and Remarkable Divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore
by Wendy MooreWith the death of her fabulously wealthy coal magnate father when she was just eleven, Mary Eleanor Bowes became the richest heiress in Britain. An ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II, Mary grew to be a highly educated young woman, winning acclaim as a playwright and botanist. Courted by a bevy of eager suitors, at eighteen she married the handsome but aloof ninth Earl of Strathmore in a celebrated, if ultimately troubled, match that forged the Bowes Lyon name. Yet she stumbled headlong into scandal when, following her husband's early death, a charming young army hero flattered his way into the merry widow's bed. Captain Andrew Robinson Stoney insisted on defending her honor in a duel, and Mary was convinced she had found true love. Judged by doctors to have been mortally wounded in the melee, Stoney persuaded Mary to grant his dying wish; four days later they were married.Sadly, the "captain" was not what he seemed. Staging a sudden and remarkable recovery, Stoney was revealed as a debt-ridden lieutenant, a fraudster, and a bully. Immediately taking control of Mary's vast fortune, he squandered her wealth and embarked on a campaign of appalling violence and cruelty against his new bride. Finally, fearing for her life, Mary masterminded an audacious escape and challenged social conventions of the day by launching a suit for divorce. The English public was horrified-and enthralled. But Mary's troubles were far from over . . . Novelist William Makepeace Thackeray was inspired by Stoney's villainy to write The Luck of Barry Lyndon, which Stanley Kubrick turned into an Oscar-winning film. Based on exhaustive archival research, Wedlock is a thrilling and cinematic true story, ripped from the headlines of eighteenth-century England.From the Hardcover edition.
Wedlocked
by Jay PonteriMarried writer Jay Ponteri finds himself infatuated with a woman other than his wife and writes a manuscript to explore his feelings. Discovery of this manuscript understandably strains his marriage. Wedlocked offers readers an intimate, idiosyncratic view of a human institution that can so often fail, leaving its inhabitants lonely and adrift. The narrator struggles with living deep inside his thoughts and dreams while yearning to be known and loved by either woman in his life. For many marrieds, attraction to people other than their spouses has long been a classic refrain, and even President Jimmy Carter famously admitted to Playboy, "I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times...The guy who's loyal to his wife ought not to be condescending or proud because of the relative degree of sinfulness." Ponteri lays bare his inner life and in doing so provides all of us in monogamous relationships rich material to consider.
Weed Empire: How I Battled Gangsters, Investment Banks, and the Department of Justice to Create the Cannabis Industry in America
by Adam Bierman&“The cannabis industry will be talking about this book for a long time.&” —Forbes "An absolutely fascinating read from cover to cover . . . one of the most unusual and riveting contemporary memoirs ever penned." —Michael Dunford, Reviewer, Midwest Book Review From the cofounder of MedMen comes the unfiltered tale of the mainstreaming of an outlaw industry: the growers, dealers, lobbyists, tycoons, and titans of the industry that created corporate cannabis.Adam Bierman wasn&’t planning on selling weed—or developing a network of cannabis stores, or safeguarding his money in shoeboxes, or facing off with gangs in dark corners of parking lots, or taking on the public markets and justice system itself. But, of course, not everything goes according to plan. Weed Empire is an inside look at the story behind MedMen, America&’s first cannabis unicorn and the world&’s first globally recognized cannabis brand. It&’s the underdog story of how a kid from the suburbs entered the cannabis scene and later reimagined weed for the mainstream, jumping at an opportunity to shift the conversation about legalizing marijuana. It&’s also the tale of how a one-room studio dispensary eventually turned into a public company valued at more than $2 billion, led by a CEO with no college degree—with politicians, entertainment moguls, and Wall Street heavyweights on his team. An unconventional but intensely authentic memoir, Weed Empire is a cautionary tale of the high cost of ambition, documenting MedMen&’s decade-long rise as well as all the slog of passing cannabis legislation, and the exhausting battle to start a public company, bring a dream to the world, and hold a family—and himself—together through the madness.
Weed Man: The Remarkable Journey of Jimmy Divine
by John MccaslinWeed Man - The Remarkable Journey of Jimmy Divine - is John McCaslin's account of the unbelievable exploits of a Jimmy Moree - a law-abiding citizen turned million-dollar drug trafficker, who, amidst sometimes unbelievable, hilarious and escalating circumstances, risked life and limb to both make - and give away - a fortune. Shiploads of Colombian weed Sack loads of cash Island huts made of marijuana bales Trafficking drugs while directing the neighborhood crime watch Crooked cops and politicians and CIA operatives Weed Man details exploits of one of the biggest drug traffickers to infiltrate the United States. D.C. political columnist John McCaslin's account of a law-abiding citizen turned swashbuckling Caribbean Robin Hood is an unbelievable, entertaining - and true - story of crime, high jinx on the high seas. It was on a secluded cay in the Bahamas one otherwise ordinary morning that Jimmy Moree went for his usual jog on the beach--one that changed his life forever. After all, how many people stumble upon several million dollars while exercising? Soon, millions more would fall into his lap. And with every million, Jimmy spins an amazing yarn, each more incredible than the last--like when he tried to poison a mean neighbor with a deadly barracuda; how ungodly deception caused him to steal the holy garments and identity of his Catholic school priest and principal; why several thousand pounds of particularly potent marijuana came to be stored in the crawl space of a church during its Easter services; his extreme generosity shown to the poor farmers and fishermen who helped care for his ailing mother; and his unlikely view as of one of the world's biggest drug smugglers from his pew at the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Endorsements "I'm delighted to see that John McCaslin has climbed out of his political trench in Washington long enough to set sail on this astonishing journey through the precarious Caribbean reefs, and beyond. Somehow, in typical McCaslin fashion, he manages to bring his readers back to the nation's capital in a chapter that will certainly have official tongues wagging in Washington." -- Katie Couric, anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News and former co-host of NBC's Today "This story is so compelling . . . John McCaslin has put it all together in a way that simply made me want to just keep on reading. Wow." --Wolf Blitzer, anchor and host of the CNN newscast The Situation Room "For years everybody in Washington has turned to John McCaslin's Inside The Beltway column for the inside skinny on what is going on in our nation's capital. Now, in Weed Man: The Remarkable Journey of Jimmy Divine, McCaslin brings his exceptional reportorial talent to bear in a fascinating expose of the drug trade." --G. Gordon Liddy, Watergate figure and nationally-syndicated radio host "McCaslin was a 20-something White House correspondent covering my dad, Ronald Reagan, when I first read his unique musings. Maybe I'm not surprised, given the cast of characters and shenanigans he calls attention to every day in his Inside the Beltway column, that he's now somehow made his way to a distant tropical island and uncovered the colorful if not hilarious escapades of drug trafficker Jimmy Divine." --Michael Reagan, presidential son and nationally syndicated radio host "This reads like a bestseller. It's about time we hear from a genuine pot smuggler of Jimmy Divine's caliber who opens our eyes to the high times and high jinks on the high seas." --Tommy Chong, comedian and actor of Cheech & Chong fame "Proof positive that the extras in James Bond movies are far more interesting than the films, the story of Harbour Island's Jimmy Divine is so colorful it is hard to believe ... or put down. Told in a breezy, witty style, McCaslin's book captures moments in relatively recent Caribbean history when it was again possible to make a fortune by the ability to steer a boat stealthily through dangerous seas." --Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, Guests of the Ayatollah and Killing Pablo "Facts ...
Weeds in Bloom: Autobiography of an Ordinary Man
by Robert Newton PeckWith over 65 books published, including the breathtaking (and somewhat autobiographical)A Day No Pigs Would Die, Robert Newton Peck has enjoyed an illustrious writing career. Now, in an autobiography as unique as he is, Peck tells his story through the people in his life. From his roots as a poor Vermont farmer’s son to his years as a soldier in World War II, from his time slogging away in a paper mill to his semi-retirement in Florida, Peck shows us people who too often go unseen and unheard–the country’s poor and uneducated. “For decades, I’ve examined the autobiographies of my fellow authors. Bah! Many could have been titledAnd Then I Wrote. . . So instead of my life and lit, here is the unusual, a tarnished treasury of plain people who enriched me, taught me virtues, and helped me hold a mite of manhood. They’re not fancy folk, so please expect no long-stemmed roses from a florist. They are, instead, the unarranged flora that I’ve handpicked from God’s greenhouse . . . weeds in bloom. ” From the Hardcover edition.
Weeds: A Farm Daughter's Lament (American Lives)
by Evelyn I. FundaIn Thomas Jefferson&’s day, 90 percent of the population worked on family farms. Today, in a world dominated by agribusiness, less than 1 percent of Americans claim farm-related occupations. What was lost along the way is something that Evelyn I. Funda experienced firsthand when, in 2001, her parents sold the last parcel of the farm they had worked since they married in 1957. Against that landscape of loss, Funda explores her family&’s three-generation farming experience in southern Idaho, where her Czech immigrant family spent their lives turning a patch of sagebrush into crop land.The story of Funda&’s family unfolds within the larger context of our country&’s rich immigrant history, western culture, and farming as a science and an art. Situated at the crossroads of American farming, Weeds: A Farm Daughter&’s Lament offers a clear view of the nature, the cost, and the transformation of the American West. Part cultural history, part memoir, and part elegy, the book reminds us that in losing our attachment to the land we also lose some of our humanity and something at the very heart of our identity as a nation.