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Crystal Horizon: Everest: The First Solo Ascent
by Reinhold Messner Audrey Salkeld Jill NeateOn August 20, 1980, Reinhold Messner, the world-renowned master of alpine-style climbing, became the first person to reach the summit of Everest solo and without supplemental oxygen. A vivid account of Messner's expedition, The Crystal Horizon also reflects on how he explored his innermost thoughts while facing the most extreme physical challenge he had ever encountered. The furthest point for mind and body he calls his crystal horizon. <p><p> Inspired by the legendary mountaineers George Mallory and Maurice Wilson, Messner embarked on a year-long journey through Tibet to the glittering light and rarified air at the roof of the world. More than an adventure story, this is Messner's profound reflection on his emotional reactions to Tibet, the challenges he faced, and the explorations of self inspired by this amazing journey.
Crystal Clear
by Davin Seay Eric Le MarqueIn this gripping first-person account, former Olympian Eric LeMarque recounts a harrowing tale of survival—of eight days in the frozen wilderness, of losing his legs to frostbite, and coming face-to-face with death. But Eric’s ordeal on the mountain was only part of his struggle for survival—as he reveals, with startling candor, an even more harrowing and inspiring tale of fame and addiction, healing and triumph. On February 6, 2004, Eric, a former professional hockey player and expert snowboarder, set off for the top of 12,000-foot Mammoth Mountain in California’s vast Sierra Nevada mountain range. Wearing only a long-sleeve shirt, a thin wool hat, ski pants, and a lightweight jacket—and with only four pieces of gum for food—he soon found himself chest-high in snow, veering off the snowboard trail, and plunging into the wilderness. By nightfall he knew he was in a fight for his life…Surviving eight days in subfreezing temperatures, he would earn the name “The Miracle Man” by stunned National Guard Black Hawk Chopper rescuers. But Eric’s against-all-odds survival was no surprise to those who knew him. A gifted hockey player in his teens, he was later drafted by the Boston Bruins and a 1994 Olympian. But when his playing days were over, Eric felt adrift. Everything changed when he first tasted the rush of hard drugs—the highly addictive crystal meth—which filled a void left by hockey and fame. By the time Eric reached the peak of Mammoth Mountain in 2004, he was already dueling demons that had seized his soul. A riveting adventure, a brutal confessional, here Eric tells his remarkable story—his climb to success, his long and painful fall, and his ordeal in the wilderness. In the end, a man whose life had been based on athleticism would lose both his legs, relearn to walk—even snowboard—with prosthetics, and finally confront the ultimate test of survival: what it takes to find your way out of darkness, and—after so many lies—to tell truth… and begin to live again. From the Hardcover edition.
Crypt 33: The Last Word
by Adela Gregory Milo SperiglioThe Shocking Truth Behind Marilyn's Death--Revealed at LastShe was an icon, a sex symbol, and a living legend. But when she was found naked and dead on the morning of August 5, 1962, Marilyn Monroe became the subject of a mystery that has fascinated and perplexed the world for generations. Was her death an accident? Suicide? Or murder? In this riveting account, private investigators Gregory and Speriglio uncover startling evidence that may solve the case once and for all. Crypt 33 reveals:The truth about Marilyn's affairs with JFK and Robert KennedyThe top-level government secrets that endangered Marilyn's lifeHow Marilyn pulled strings as a political power playerThe identity of the friend who knowingly opened the door to Marilyn's killersThe startling connection between JFK's father and mobster Sam Giancana Evidence of the deadly drugs and how they were administered to MarilynThe rumors of an assassination plot masterminded by the Cosa Nostra and and high-ranked government officialsWhat happened to the audio tape recording of Marilyn's murderThe tangled web of wiretaps in Marilyn's homeWhy Joe DiMaggio sent flowers to Marilyn's grave for years Half a century after her death, Marilyn Monroe still lives in our hearts. Now, at last, the truth can be told."Spiriglio and Gregory are fluent, convincing writers." --Publishers Weekly"The best autopsy of Marilyn Monroe." --Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D., author of From Crime Scene to Courtroom
The Cryotron Files: The Untold Story Of Dudley Buck, Pioneer Computer Scientist And Cold War Government Agent
by Iain Dey Douglas BuckThe riveting true story of Dudley Buck, the American computer scientist whose pioneering work with microchips placed him firmly in the sights of the KGB Dr. Dudley Allen Buck was a brilliant young scientist on the cusp of fame and fortune when he died suddenly on May 21, 1959, at the age of 32. He was the star professor at MIT and had done stints with the NSA and Lockheed. His latest invention, the Cryotron—an early form of the microchip—was attracting attention all over the globe. It was thought that the Cryotron could guide a new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles to their targets. Four weeks before Dudley Buck’s death, he was visited by a group of the Soviet Union’s top computer experts. On the same day that he died from a mysterious sudden bout of pneumonia, his close colleague, Dr. Louis Ridenour, was also found dead from similar causes. Two top American computer scientists had unexpectedly died young on the same day. Were their deaths linked? Two years old when his father died, Douglas Buck was never satisfied with the explanation of his father’s death and has spent more than 20 years investigating it, acquiring his father’s lab books, diaries, correspondence, research papers and patent filings. Armed with this research, award-winning journalist Iain Dey tells, with compelling immediacy, the story of Dudley Buck’s life and groundbreaking work, starting from his unconventional beginnings in California through to his untimely death and beyond. The Cryotron Files is at once the gripping narrative history of America and its computer scientists during the Cold War and the dramatic personal story of rising MIT star Dudley Buck in the high-stakes days of spies, supercomputers, and the space and nuclear race.
Crying is for Babies: Based on a True Story
by Tricia McGillIn the 1930s medicine was still very much a hit and miss affair. The surgeons were still experimenting and learning about the human body. This at a period when there was little in the way of pain relief. This is one woman’s story about a childhood ruined by such surgeons, whose bad judgement confined an eight-year-old subsequently to bed for three years and left her with a disability to last a lifetime. Nowadays she would have been given bed rest and pain relief, and in no time would have been up and running again. Her strong will, and the love of a close family, saw her through the bad times, enabling her to go on and become the talented, remarkable person she was. I know because this woman was my sister.
Crying in the Dark
by Shane DunphyFour extraordinary true stories. . . Bobby and Micky, six and four, controlled from beyond the grave by their evil father. . . Mina, seventeen, who has Downs Syndrome, desperate to be like everyone else, falling into the hands of men who abuse her trust. . . Sylvie, a fourteen-year-old mother being pimped by her father. . . Twins Larry and Francey, ten, scarcely human after an upbringing of savage and unimaginable cruelty. . . One inspiring account of how one man got to know these wounded children and tried to give them hope - and a future.
Crying in H Mart: A Memoir
by Michelle ZaunerFrom the indie rockstar of Japanese Breakfast fame, and author of the viral 2018 New Yorker essay that shares the title of this book, an unflinching, powerful memoir about growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity. <P><P>In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humor and heart, she tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother's particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother's tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. <P><P>As she grew up, moving to the East Coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, and performing gigs with her fledgling band--and meeting the man who would become her husband--her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live. It was her mother's diagnosis of terminal cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her. <P><P>Vivacious and plainspoken, lyrical and honest, Zauner's voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, and complete with family photos, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread. <P><P><b>A New York Times Best Seller</b>
The Crying Book
by Heather ChristleThis bestselling "lyrical, moving book: part essay, part memoir, part surprising cultural study" is an examination of why we cry, how we cry, and what it means to cry from a woman on the cusp of motherhood confronting her own depression (The New York Times Book Review).Heather Christle has just lost a dear friend to suicide and now must reckon with her own depression and the birth of her first child. As she faces her grief and impending parenthood, she decides to research the act of crying: what it is and why people do it, even if they rarely talk about it. Along the way, she discovers an artist who designed a frozen–tear–shooting gun and a moth that feeds on the tears of other animals. She researches tear–collecting devices (lachrymatories) and explores the role white women’s tears play in racist violence.Honest, intelligent, rapturous, and surprising, Christle’s investigations look through a mosaic of science, history, and her own lived experience to find new ways of understanding life, loss, and mental illness. The Crying Book is a deeply personal tribute to the fascinating strangeness of tears and the unexpected resilience of joy.
The Crying Book
by Heather Christle'A deeply felt, and genuinely touching, book' Esmé Weijun Wang, author of The Collected Schizophrenias'Spellbinding and propulsive' Leni Zeumas, author of Red Clocks'The Crying Book is a rigorous and urgent work but it reads like an intimate gift' Kaveh Akbar, author of Calling a Wolf a WolfA DAZZLING MEDITATION ON TEARSIn this symphonic work of non-fiction, Heather Christle explores the most human of behaviours: crying. What are tears made of? Why do people cry? And why is this common, crucial act so rarely discussed? Christle unpacks the biological reasons for tears and investigates the influence of crying on art, politics, feminism, race and culture, all while opening up the intimate story of her own tears - from the suicide of her close friend to her family's history of depression, to her pregnancies, both planned and unplanned. In these pages, we meet a feminist artist who designs a gun that shoots frozen tears. A moth that takes sustenance from feeding on the tears shed by other animals. And beautifully impractical devices for dealing with grief such as the 'lachrymatory', an ancient receptacle into which it was hoped 'a mourner could let fall her hot tears'. While Christle enchants us with poetic snippets on these subjects, a powerful investigation begins to accrue, examining how the history of tears is tied up with racist violence, with the stigma of mental illness, and with the ways in which glib contemporary images of motherhood fail to reckon with how rich and complicated is actually is.Brilliant, witty and achingly honest, Christle's book creates a mosaic of science, history, culture and personal experience to find new ways of understanding life and loss. The Crying Book is a deeply intimate tribute to the fascinating strangeness of tears - and the unexpected resilience of joy.Honest, intelligent, rapturous and surprising, The Crying Book is a poignant, personal tribute to the astonishing strangeness of tears and the startling resilience of joy.
Crying at Movies: A Memoir
by John ManderinoIn this comic, witty memoir, John Manderino shows us how the pivotal points of his life have been enmeshed with movie moments. "Crying at Movies" presents thirty-eight succinct chapters, each bearing the title of a film. It is at once a love-letter to an art form and a humorous appreciation of the distinctions between movie scenes and life's realities.
Cry Purple
by Christine McdonaldThis is the story of the author's journey from almost two decades of prostitution, crack addiction and prison to her present life of blindness, motherhood and happiness.
The Cry of the Gull
by Emmanuelle Laborit Constantina Mitchell Paul Raymond CoteA memoir by a deaf, French actress who starred in the French production of Children of a Lesser God.
Cry Like a Man: Fighting for Freedom from Emotional Incarceration
by Jason Wilson Eshon BurgundyAs a leader in teaching, training, and transforming boys in Detroit, Jason Wilson shares his own story of discovering what it means to “be a man” in this life-changing memoir. His grandfather’s lynching in the deep South, the murders of his two older brothers, and his verbally harsh and absent father all worked together to form Jason Wilson’s childhood. But it was his decision to acknowledge his emotions and yield to God’s call on his life that made Wilson the man and leader he is today. As the founder of one of the country’s most esteemed youth organizations, Wilson has decades of experience in strengthening the physical, mental, and emotional spirit of boys and men. In Cry Like a Man, Wilson explains the dangers men face in our culture’s definition of “masculinity” and gives readers hope that healing is possible. As Wilson writes, “My passion is to help boys and men find strength to become courageously transparent about their own brokenness as I shed light on the symptoms and causes of childhood trauma and ‘father wounds.’ I long to see men free themselves from emotional incarceration—to see their minds renewed, souls weaned, and relationships restored.”
Cry Havoc
by Simon Mann<p>For the first time since he was released from five years' incarceration in some of Africa's toughest prisons, making worldwide headlines, Simon Mann breaks his silence to tell everything. <p>Simon Mann's remarkable firsthand account of his life reads like a thriller, taking readers into the world of mercenaries and spooks, of murky international politics, big oil and big bucks, action, danger, love, despair, and betrayal. On March 7, 2004, former SAS soldier and mercenary Simon Mann prepared to take off from Harare International Airport. His destination was Equatorial Guinea; his was intention to remove one of the most brutal dictators in Africa in a privately organized coup d'etat. The plot had the tacit approval of Western intelligence agencies and Mann had planned, overseen, and won two wars in Angola and Sierra Leone. So why did it go so wrong? Here he reveals the full involvement of Mark Thatcher in the coup d'etat, the endorsement of a former prime minister, and the financial involvement of two internationally famous members of the House of Lords. He also discusses how the British government approached him in the months preceding the Iraq War, to suggest ways in which a justified invasion of Iraq could be engineered. He also discusses the pain of telling his wife Amanda, who gave birth to their fourth child while he was incarcerated, that he believed he would never be freed.</p>
Las Cruzadas Y Los Soldados De La Cruz
by Michael Rank Sandra Cifuentes DowlingDescripción del libro: "Las Cruzadas y los Soldados de la Cruz" es un emocionante libro recién publicado del historiador súper ventas Michael Rank sobre aquella remota epopeya por la recuperación de Tierra Santa. En él se analizan la vida y época de 10 personajes relevantes durante una de las etapas históricas más interesantes jamás vividas, cubriendo el período entre los años 1095 y 1212. Ya sea Pedro el Ermitaño conduciendo un ejército de 100.000 campesinos hasta Tierra Santa sin más pertrecho que simples horcas o Balduino IV quien lideró personalmente a sus tropas contra Saladino a pesar de ser un leproso terminal, estas figuras legendarias se sintieron obligadas a abandonar sus vastos territorios para embarcarse en una peligrosa aventura contra un enemigo considerablemente superior. Estudiaremos las razones que llevaron a estos 10 personajes a efectuar tamaño sacrificio. Para algunos pudo tratarse de afán por alcanzar la gloria en el campo de batalla, como es el caso de Ricardo Corazón de León. Para otros, mera curiosidad, como Leonor de Aquitania, quien le añadió un garbo espectacular a la contienda viajando protegida por lanzas hasta Jerusalén y en compañía de 300 sirvientas ataviadas con armaduras meramente decorativas. Y para muchos se trató de simple convicción religiosa, como aquellos miles de niños cruzados que marcharon, según se cuenta, hasta la costa mediterránea en espera de que el mar se abriera ante sus ojos tal como el Mar Rojo lo había hecho ante Moisés. Cualquiera haya sido su motivación personal, estos 10 protagonistas de las Cruzadas demuestran que la voluntad de afrontar un viaje tremendamente peligroso hasta otro continente indica que su personalidad fue la precisa para el fascinante tiempo en que les correspondió vivir.
Cruzadas e os Soldados da Cruz: Os 10 Cruzados Mais Importantes
by Débora Souza Santos Michael Rank10 pequenas biografias dos combatentes mais importantes das cruzadas 'As Cruzadas e os Soldados da Cruz' é um novo livro interessante de autor best-seller e historiador Michael Rank sobre a missão para reconquistar a Terra Santa. Ele observa a vida e tempos das 10 pessoas mais importantes em um dos momentos mais interessantes da história, abrangendo de 1095 a 1212. Quer se trate de Pedro, o Eremita, levantando um exército de 100.000 camponeses para lutar nas cruzadas na Terra Santa com nada além de forcados, ou Balduíno IV pessoalmente liderando suas forças contra Saladino, apesar de sofrer com lepra terminal, estes personagens lendários foram obrigados a abandonar suas extensas posses territoriais para embarcar em uma aventura perigosa contra um inimigo superior. Este livro vai observar as razões que fizeram estas 10 figuras se juntarem às cruzadas. Talvez fosse pela glória nas batalhas, como foi o caso de Ricardo Coração de Leão. Para outros, era simplesmente curiosidade, como Leonor da Aquitânia, que acrescentou a verve dramática à situação e trouxe 300 servas vestidas de armadura decorativa e carregando lanças, enquanto marchavam para Jerusalém. Para muitos, foi uma simples convicção de fé, como os milhares cruzados mirins, que, segundo a lenda, marcharam para o mar Mediterrâneo e esperavam que ele se abrisse para eles como o mar vermelho tinha feito para Moisés. Qualquer que fossem seus antecedentes, estes 10 participantes das cruzadas demonstram que uma pessoa disposta a enfrentar a jornada extremamente perigosa, viajando para a um continente diferente sobre a terra, ainda por cima, tinham uma personalidade adequada para a época fascinante em que viviam.
Crux: A Cross-Border Memoir
by Jean GuerreroA daughter’s quest to understand her charismatic and troubled father, an immigrant who crosses borders both real and illusory—between sanity and madness, science and spirituality, life and death <P><P>Winner of the PEN/FUSION Emerging Writers Prize Throughout Jean Guerrero’s childhood, her father, Marco Antonio, was an erratic and elusive presence. A self-taught genius at fixing, creating, and conjuring things—and capable of transforming himself into a shaman, dreamcaster, or animal whisperer in his enchanted daughter’s eyes—he gradually began to lose himself in his peculiar obsessions, careening wildly between reality and hallucination. In time, he fled his family and responsibilities—to Asia, Europe, and eventually back to Mexico. He succumbed to drug- and alcohol-fueled manias, while suffering the effects of what he said were CIA mind-control experiments. As soon as she was old enough, Jean set out after him. <P><P>Now a journalist, she used the tools of her trade, hoping to find answers to the questions he left behind. In this lyrical, haunting memoir, Jean Guerrero tries to locate the border between truth and fantasy as she searches for explanations for her father’s behavior. <P><P>Refusing to accept an alleged schizophrenia diagnosis at face value, she takes Marco Antonio’s dark paranoia seriously and investigates all his wildest claims. She crisscrosses the Mexican-American border to unearth the stories of cousins and grandparents and discovers a chain of fabulists and mystics in her lineage, going back to her great-great-grandmother, a clairvoyant curandera who was paid to summon spirits from the afterlife. <P><P>As she delves deeper and deeper into her family’s shadowy past, Jean begins mirroring her father’s self-destructive behavior. She risks death on her adventures, imperiling everything in her journey to redeem her father from the underworld of his delusions. In the tradition of engrossing family memoirs like The Liar’s Club and The Glass Castle, Crux is both a riveting adventure story and a profoundly original exploration of the human psyche, the mysteries of our most intimate relationships—and ourselves.
Crushing Soft Rubies: A Memoir (10th Anniversary Edition)
by Janet C. StickmonCrushing Soft Rubies is the place where spirit, culture, and survival meet. It is the story of a Filipino-African-American who is caught between the death of her parents and the desperate need to define herself--not as an orphan, but as a strong woman who is willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure that her past does not become a barrier to her future. Janet, now a teacher and a married woman, leads us through the intense details of her story. From her childhood home being burned to the ground, to the joys and conflicts with her Filipino family, to seeking a connection to her African-American heritage, and then to the beautiful moment of her marriage, Janet navigates the rough waters of love, spirit, identity, and survival, maintaining a life filled with faith and wonder.
CRUSH: Writers Reflect on Love, Longing, and the Power of Their First Celebrity Crush
by Cathy Alter Dave SingletonA star-studded collection of essays from acclaimed and bestselling authors and celebrities that illuminates the lasting power of desire and longing, and celebrates our initiation into the euphoria, pain, and mystery that is our first celebrity crush. You never forget your first crush . . . CRUSH brings together stories of heartbreak, humiliation, and hilarity from a roster of popular luminaries, including James Franco, Carrie Fisher, Stephen King, Roxane Gay, Jodi Picoult, Emily Gould, and Hanna Rosin, who share intimate memories of that first intense taste of love. Here are funny, whimsical, sometimes cringe-worthy tales of falling head over heels for River Phoenix, Mary Tyler Moore, Howard Cosell, Jared Leto, and a host of other pop culture icons. A few contributors channeled their devotion into obsessively writing embarrassing fan letters. Some taped pics in school lockers. Others decorated their bedroom walls with posters. For tweenaged Karin Tanabe, it was discovering bad boy Andy Garcia—playing the gun-loving mobster Vincent Corleone in The Godfather III. Barbara Graham unsuccessfully staked out an apartment on Park Avenue for a glimpse of her blue-eyed soulmate, Paul Newman. There was only one puppy for six-year-old Jodi Picoult—Donny Osmond—while Jamie Brisick’s pre-teen addiction was Speed Racer. Swoon-worthy and unforgettable, the essays in CRUSH will leave you laughing, make you cry, and keep you enthralled—just like your first celebrity crush.
Crusading Iowa Journalist Verne Marshall: Exposing Graft and the 1936 Pulitzer Prize
by Jerry HarringtonOn December 12, 1934, police raided a canning factory in Cedar Rapids, uncovering an illegal liquor and gambling set-up. Verne Marshall, tempestuous editor of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, sensed a bigger story and a wider network of corruption. His aggressive investigative reporting led to multiple resignations, nearly fifty indictments and the dramatic trial of the state’s attorney general. These explosive exposés earned Verne Marshall and the paper the 1936 Pulitzer Prize. Author Jerry Harrington traces the legacy of Marshall’s incendiary crusade across Iowa’s political landscape.
Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC
by Julian PagetBernard Paget enjoyed a hugely successful military career which culminated in his top level appointments in WW2. As C-in-C Home Forces and the C-in-C 21st Army Group he was responsible for preparing the Army for the long awaited Second Front in Europe in 1944. To his lasting chagrin he was not to use in battle the weapon that he had shaped and tempered. He proved himself both a gallant soldier in the Great War and a shrewd commander in the dire conditions of the ill-fated Norway campaign.It was as a trainer that he excelled and this ideally fitted him for his wartime appointments. An irascible, brusque and, at times, downright rude man, possibly due to constant pain from his war wounds, he nonetheless worked well with Alanbrooke (the CIGS) but he had, like many others, a stormy relationship with Monty who, to Pagets deep disappointment, took over 21st Army Group from him prior to D-Day. Paget was made Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East, a key post previously held by Wavell, Alexander and Jumbo Wilson. This book throws fresh light on other major World War II figures.After retiring in 1946 he pursued a full career both in education and charities. Although one of the most influential generals of his time, due to circumstances, and possible character, he was regarded as always the bridesmaid and never the bride. But his contribution to victory cannot be overestimated.
Crusaders in the Courts: How a Dedicated Band of Lawyers Fought for the Civil Rights Revolution
by Jack GreenbergStory of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
A Crusader Of France: The Letters Of Captain Ferdinand Belmont Of The Chasseurs Alpins (August 2, 1914-December 28, #1915)
by George Frederic Lees Captain Ferdinand BelmontThe Chasseurs Alpins, trained to fight in the mountains that border France, were and are to this day considered among the elite of the French Army. It was in the mountains of the Alsace region during the First World War that Captain Ferdinand Belmont fell prey to German fire. He was a soldier of rare ability fighting, decorated with the Légion d'Honneur and mentioned in despatches three times, but does not truly paint the picture of the man. A doctor by profession, he volunteered for front-line service along with his brother and was described by his superiors only in the most glowing terms as both a man and a soldier. In his letters home, Captain Belmont provides a detailed and rich picture of his men, full of the thoughtful musings of an educated man on the strains of war. His encounters with the enemy were fairly numerous and are detailed from his first clashes on the Somme up to the mountain fighting in the Vosges, with not a little venom directed at his German foe. During the bitter struggles for the mountain peak at Hartmannswillerkopf, he and his men suffered heavy casualties, and during a barrage, Captain Belmont was wounded by a shell splinter that took off his right arm, a wound that proved fatal.
Crusader for Justice: Federal Judge Damon J. Keith
by Mitch Albom Peter J. Hammer Trevor W. ColemanThe Honorable Damon J. Keith was appointed to the federal bench in 1967 and has served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit since 1977, where he has been an eloquent defender of civil and constitutional rights and a vigorous enforcer of civil rights law. In Crusader for Justice: Federal Judge Damon J. Keith, authors Peter J. Hammer and Trevor W. Coleman presents the first ever biography of native Detroiter Judge Keith, surveying his education, important influences, major cases, and professional and personal commitments. Along the way, the authors consult a host of Keith's notable friends and colleagues, including former White House deputy counsel John Dean, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and industrialist Edsel Ford II for this candid and comprehensive volume.Hammer and Coleman trace Keith's early life, from his public school days in Detroit to his time serving in the segregated U.S. army and his law school years at Howard University at the dawn of the Civil Rights era. They reveal how Keith's passion for racial and social justice informed his career, as he became co-chairman of Michigan's first Civil Rights Commission and negotiated the politics of his appointment to the federal judiciary. The authors go on to detail Keith's most famous cases, including the Pontiac Busing and Hamtramck Housing cases, the 1977 Detroit Police affirmative action case, the so-called Keith Case (United States v. U.S. District Court), and the Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft case in 2002. They also trace Keith's personal commitment to mentoring young black lawyers, provide a candid look behind the scenes at the dynamics and politics of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and even discuss some of Keith's difficult relationships, for instance with the Detroit NAACP and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Judge Keith's forty-five years on the bench offer a unique viewpoint on a tumultuous era of American and legal history. Readers interested in Civil Rights-era law, politics, and personalities will appreciate the portrait of Keith's fortitude and conviction in Crusader for Justice.More information can be found at crusaderforjustice.com
Crusader: General Donn Starry and the Army of His Times
by Mike GuardiaThe biography of US Army general Donn Starry, creator of the AirLand Battle doctrine that led to victory in Operation Desert Storm. Donn Starry, one of the most influential commanders of the Vietnam War, went on to become one of the “intellectual giants” who reshaped the US Army and, throughout his career, worked to improve training, leadership, and conditions for the men who served under him. Starry was a leading advocate for tank warfare in Vietnam. His recommendations helped shape the American armor position in Southeast Asia and paved the way for his success as commander of the 11th Armored Cavalry during the invasion of Cambodia. As commander of Fort Knox and the US Army Armor School in the 1970s, Starry brought new advances to armor tactics, training, and strategy. Most notably, he created the new “AirLand Battle” doctrine, which paved the way for a decisive US victory in the Gulf War. Like most Vietnam-era commanders, Starry’s legacy has been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the war itself—but few have had as much of an impact on modern maneuver warfare. In this new biography of Gen. Donn Starry, armor officer Mike Guardia examines the life and work of this pioneering officer using extracts from interviews with veterans and family, as well as from Starry’s personal papers.