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A Life Discarded: 148 Diaries Found in the Trash
by Alexander MastersAlexander Masters, the bestselling author of Stuart: A Life Backwards, asks you to join him in celebrating an unknown and important life left on the scrap heapIn 2001, 148 tattered and mold-covered notebooks were discovered lying among broken bricks in a skip on a building site in Cambridge. Tens of thousands of pages were filled to the edges with urgent handwriting. They were a small part of an intimate, anonymous diary, starting in 1952 and ending half a century later, a few weeks before the books were thrown out. Over five years, the award-winning biographer Alexander Masters uncovers the identity and real history of their author, with an astounding final revelation. A Life Discarded is a true, shocking, poignant, often hilarious story of an ordinary life. The author of the diaries, known only as 'I,' is the tragicomic patron saint of everyone who feels their life should have been more successful. Part thriller, part love story, part social history, A Life Discarded is a biographical detective story that unfolds with the suspense of a mystery but has all the warmth, respect, humor, and dazzling originality that made Masters's Stuart: A Life Backwards such a beloved book.
A Life Electric: The Story of Nikola Tesla
by Azadeh WestergaardA lyrical biography of the eccentric engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla &“An elegant and enlightening look at a man who brightened the whole world.&” –Booklist, starred reviewBorn at the stroke of midnight during a lightning storm, Nikola Tesla grew up to become one of the most important electrical inventors in the world. But before working with electricity, he was a child who loved playing with the animals on his family's farm in Serbia. An inventor since childhood, Tesla's patents encompassed everything from radar and remote-control technology to wireless communications. But his greatest invention was the AC induction motor, which used alternating currents ( AC) to distribute electricity and which remains the standard for electric distribution today. Tesla's love of animals also remained constant throughout his life and led to his anointment as the Pigeon Charmer of New York for his devotion to nature's original wireless messengers.Exploring his groundbreaking inventions against the backdrop of his private life, A Life Electric introduces Nikola Tesla to young readers unlike ever before. Azadeh Westergaard's lyrical debut brings compassion and humanity to the legacy of the brilliant inventor, while the esteemed illustrator Júlia Sardà deftly brings him to life.
LIFE The Enduring Legacy of Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird (LIFE Special Issue Magazine)
by The Editors of LIFELIFE celebrates Harper Lee, author of one of the most beloved works of American fiction.When HarperCollins published To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960, it quickly became a runaway bestseller-and its author, Harper Lee, an overnight literary celebrity. In this special edition, LIFE delves into its famous archives to present a rich, beautifully illustrated commemoration of Lee's life and legacy. Through essays, photographs and archival materials, LIFE revisits To Kill a Mockingbird and helps us understand its magic, exploring how the coming-of-age story of a tomboy in a small Southern town became an enduring touchstone of our cultural consciousness.This collectable volume features photographs from LIFE's 1961 profile of Lee, taken in her hometown of Monroeville, Ala., where she lived until her death in 2016. These indelible images-some reproduced here for the first time-reveal an intimate portrait of the famously shy author, showing her with her father at their childhood home and in the local courtroom that inspired the setting for the trial in Mockingbird.The book also goes behind the scenes of the Oscar Award-winning film adaptation that starred Gregory Peck in his legendary role as Atticus Finch. Mockingbird's transformation from an explosively popular novel into a classic Hollywood film is captured here in LIFE's photographs from the set, film stills, and anecdotes from those close to the project.Lee's story would not be complete without an exploration of the long-awaited sequel, Go Set a Watchman. TIME's arts critic Daniel D'Addario reviews the novel-published from a manuscript long thought to be lost-that set the literary world aflame in 2015.Throughout, LIFE's special edition incorporates reproductions of unique ephemera, including Peck's original film script with his handwritten annotations.
A Life Everlasting: The Extraordinary Story of One Boy's Gift to Medical Science
by Sarah GrayA donor mother’s powerful memoir of grief and rebirth that is also a fascinating medical science whodunit, taking us inside the world of organ, eye, tissue, and blood donation and cutting-edge scientific research.When Sarah Gray received the devastating news that her unborn son Thomas was diagnosed with anencephaly, a terminal condition, she decided she wanted his death—and life—to have meaning. In the weeks before she gave birth to her twin sons in 2010, she arranged to donate Thomas’s organs. Due to his low birth weight, they would go to research rather than transplant. As transplant donors have the opportunity to meet recipients, Sarah wanted to know how Thomas's donation would be used.That curiosity fueled a scientific odyssey that leads Sarah to some of the most prestigious scientific facilities in the country, including Harvard, Duke, and the University of Pennsylvania. Pulling back the curtain of protocol and confidentiality, she introduces the researchers who received Thomas’s donations, held his liver in their hands, studied his cells under the microscope. Sarah’s journey to find solace and understanding takes her beyond her son’s donations—offering a breathtaking overview of the world of medical research and the valiant scientists on the horizon of discovery. She goes behind the scenes at organ procurement organizations, introducing skilled technicians for whom death means saving lives, empathetic counselors, and the brilliant minds who are finding surprising and inventive ways to treat and cure disease through these donations. She also shares the moving stories of other donor families.A Life Everlasting is an unforgettable testament to hope, a tribute to life and discovery, and a portrait of unsung heroes pushing the boundaries of medical science for the benefit of all humanity.
Life Experiences and Recollections of Mary Basits Kuhns
by Bradley W. Kuhns, Ph.D., O.M.D.This book consists of diary and journal notes pertaining to Mary Basits Kuhns. The pages of Mary's diary are presented in small vignettes and snippets taken from her life. The material does not read as a novel. Instead, it is comprised of her notes and writings taken directly from Mary's diary/journal pages that might even include some of her grammar mistakes as she put her experiences down on paper. This book can be of benefit to genealogy buffs and those that have a particular interest in Mary Basits Kuhns life. Here is a woman that only had a third grade education. She was used, abused and was a battered woman who suffered some of the most horrific physical abuse any person can imagine. However, Mary struggled through life and raised and supported two children as a divorcee and single mom. She went on to own and operate a number of restaurants, taverns and other businesses. She also worked as a high fashion model in New York City in the 1940's and was also a professional chef at leading hotels in New York City such as the famed Essex House. She also dated and had relationships both with movie stars and mobsters. From all accounts as described in her diary/journal pages, Mary Basits Kuhns led an exceptional and interesting life.
LIFE First Ladies: Portraits of Grace and Leadership
by The Editors of LIFEAmericans have always been fascinated with the women who have held the title First Lady. But just who were these people, behind their official portraits? Did you know that one won an Emmy and another held regular radio addresses? LIFE takes a close look at all of these women and their legacy in a volume that's guaranteed to delight and surprise. Highlights includeFirsts, such as the first First Lady to wear pants publicly and the first to drive a carHow Dolley Madison set the stageUnanswered questions: Did one First Lady poison her husband? Did another serve as unofficial commander in chief?Presidential spouses around the world and how their roles differ from the U.S. First LadyEleanor Roosevelt's achievements are well-known, but others quietly accomplished great things in politics
LIFE First Ladies: Remembering Barbara Bush, 1925 - 2018
by The Editors of LIFEAmericans have always been fascinated with the women who have held the title First Lady. But just who were these people, behind their official portraits? Did you know that one won an Emmy and another held regular radio addresses? LIFE takes a close look at all of these women and their legacy in a volume that's guaranteed to delight and surprise. Highlights include:Firsts, such as the first First Lady to wear pants publicly and the first to drive a carHow Dolley Madison set the stageUnanswered questions: Did one First Lady poison her husband? Did another serve as unofficial commander in chief?Presidential spouses around the world and how their roles differ from the U.S. First LadyEleanor Roosevelt's achievements are well-known, but others quietly accomplished great things in politics
LIFE Fleetwood Mac: 40 Years Later: John, Christine, Stevie, Mick and Lindsey - Together Again
by The Editors of LifeLIFE Magazine presents a tribute to Fleetwood Mac.
A Life for a Life: America's Other Death Penalty
by James A. Paluch Jr Thomas Bernard Robert A. JohnsonA detailed account of the daily realities of prison life in its mundane essentials, from the culture of the cellblock to the etiquette of the yard and the mess hall, by a lifer. The book also highlights concepts of prisonization, institutionalization, and the community, as well as the nature of modern punishment.
A Life for Freedom: The Mission to End Racial Injustice in South Africa
by Denis GoldbergIn this fascinating memoir, the anti-apartheid activist recounts his lifelong fight for emancipation and the years he endured in a South African prison.From June 1963 to October 1964, ten antiapartheid activists were tried at South Africa's Pretoria Supreme Court. Standing among the accused were Nelson Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada, Walter Sisulu, was Denis Goldberg. Charged under the Sabotage and Suppression of Communism Acts for “campaigning to overthrow the government by violent revolution,” Goldberg was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. The only white man convicted during the infamous Rivonia trial, he played a historic role in the struggle for justice in South Africa.Goldberg grew up acutely aware of the injustice permeating his homeland. He joined the South African Communist Party and helped found the Congress of Democrats. But it was his role as an officer in the armed underground wing of the African National Congress that led to his life sentence—which left him behind bars for twenty-two years. While in prison, the dogma of apartheid imposed complete separation from his black comrades, a segregation that denied him both the companionship and the counsel of his fellow accused.Recounted with humor and humility, Goldberg's story provides a sweeping overview of life in South Africa during and after apartheid. It also illuminates the experiences of the activists and oppressors whose fates were bound together.
Life From Scratch
by Sasha MartinIt was a culinary journey like no other: Over the course of 195 weeks, food writer and blogger Sasha Martin set out to cook--and eat--a meal from every country in the world. As cooking unlocked the memories of her rough-and-tumble childhood and the loss and heartbreak that came with it, Martin became more determined than ever to find peace and elevate her life through the prism of food and world cultures. From the tiny, makeshift kitchen of her eccentric, creative mother to a string of foster homes to the house from which she launches her own cooking adventure, Martin's heartfelt, brutally honest memoir reveals the power of cooking to bond, to empower, and to heal--and celebrates the simple truth that happiness is created from within."This beautifully written book is both poignant and uplifting. Not to mention delicious. It's an amazing family tale that reminds me of The Glass Castle, but with more food. And not just any food: We're talking cinnamon raison pizza." --A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically"Life From Scratch is an unconventional love story. This beautiful book begins with the quest of cooking a meal from every country--a noble feat of it's own!--but then turns it into something far beyond a kitchen adventure. Be prepared to be changed as you experience Sasha's journey for yourself." --Chris Guillebeau, author of The Happiness PursuitFrom the Hardcover edition.
Life From Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Forgiveness
by Sasha MartinIt was a culinary journey like no other: Over the course of 195 weeks, food writer and blogger Sasha Martin set out to cook - and eat - a meal from every country in the world. As cooking unlocked the memories of her rough-and-tumble childhood and the loss and heartbreak that came with it, Martin became more determined than ever to find peace and elevate her life through the prism of food and world cultures. From the tiny, makeshift kitchen of her eccentric, creative mother to a string of foster homes to the house from which she launches her own cooking adventure, Martin's heartfelt, brutally honest memoir reveals the power of cooking to bond, to empower, and to heal - and celebrates the simple truth that happiness is created from within.
LIFE Gene Wilder, 1933-2016: The Man Who Was Willy Wonka and So Much More
by The Editors of LIFEIn a tribute to Gene Wilder, the movies' first Willy Wonka, LIFE presents a lavishly illustrated commemorative edition. This special issue highlights Wilder's indelible, career-defining roles and traces his life from his childhood in Milwaukee through his marriage to and loss of Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner and beyond:Behind the scenes at Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, and why Wonka remains such an enduring film for childrenInside Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, and The Producers and Wilder's partnership with director Mel BrooksHow Wilder and Richard Pryor created comedic gold on screenGilda Radner, Wilder's beloved late wife, in her own words
A Life-Giving Way: A Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict
by Esther De WaalEsther de Waal in simple and practical terms, writing on how the Rule of St. Benedict has shaped her life, takes the reader chapter by chapter through the Rule. She details how profoundly biblical it is and how this text, which has formed the way of life of Benedictines and other monastics since the sixth century, also serves as a guide for lay people of all denominations." This volume contains both St. Benedict's Rule and Esther de Waal's commentary on the Rule.
LIFE Gone Too Soon: The 27 Club - Rock Icons Who Died Too Soon
by The Editors of LifeThe story of the 27 club is a one of brilliance: precious, fragile, and amazing to behold. Six musical artists who all happened to die at the same early age-27-did more than perform memorable songs: They expressed ideas and emotions that were shared by enthralled followers from their generations and beyond. The stories of these luminous artist lead to tragic ends. But the lives they led were transformative-to music, to culture, and to countless lives.In Gone Too Soon: The 27 Club, LIFE pulls you into the brief and explosive lives of musicians Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse through photographs and interviews. Read how Hendrix uniquely mashed together blues and rock into a paisley-patterned kaleidoscope of sound, look at images of Cobain's infamous MTV Unplugged special and much more. The legacy of these artists still lives and breathes onstage, embodied by musicians who looked to these icons for inspiration.
Life Hacks for Kids
by Sunny KellerLife Hacks for Kids, a top-rated YouTube show starring Sunny Keller, comes alive in the pages of this completely original and unique book. Packed with 35 popular "hacks" from the show, plenty of original photographs, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the creation of the show, this book is sure to be a hit with fans of the show as well as kids who love to make something out of nothing. Hacks include purrrfect pet hacks, delicious snack hacks, awesome room hacks, ridiculous rainy-day hacks, and much, much more!
LIFE Heroes of World War II: Men and Women Who Put Their Lives on the Line
by The Editors of LifeA moneygrubbing Nazi who spent his fortune saving Jews, a Bon Marche perfume seller who became a British spy, a Polish priest who gave his life so that another man could live. These are just a few of the ordinary people who became extraordinary heroes - on and off the battlefields of World War II.
LIFE Hidden Hollywood: Rare Images of a Golden Age
by The Editors of LIFERevisit an era when intimacy between celebrities and journalists was revealing and genuine. In this all-new special edition from LIFE, Hidden Hollywood: Rare Images of a Golden Age, you will gain access to the world of classic Hollywood luminaries in various settings including "Before They Were Famous," "Behind the Scenes," "At Home Alone" and more.Gain access to the world of classic Hollywood luminaries including Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jack Nicholson and so many more when they were on set, in their homes, amidst their love affairs and with their families and friends. With essays that enhance the stunning photography to lend them both a sense of time and place and anecdotes revealing little-known facts about some of the most enduring stars of our time, Hidden Hollywood makes for compulsive reading and viewing of an age where reality TV did not exist.
A Life Impossible: Living with ALS: Finding Peace and Wisdom Within a Fragile Existence
by Steve Gleason Jeff DuncanFrom NFL player Steve Gleason, a powerful, inspiring memoir of love, heartbreak, resilience, family, and remarkable triumph in the face of ALSIn 2011, three years after leaving the NFL, Steve Gleason was diagnosed with ALS, a terminal disease that takes away the ability to move, talk, and breathe. Doctors gave him three years to live. He was thirty-three years old. As Steve says, he is now ten years past his expiration date.His memoir is the chronicle of a remarkable life, one filled with optimism and joy, despite the trauma and pain and despair he has experienced. Writing using eye-tracking technology, Gleason covers his pre-ALS life through the highs and lows of his NFL career with the New Orleans Saints, where he made one of the most memorable plays in Saints history, leading to a victory in the first post-Katrina home game, uplifting the city, making him a hero, and reflected in a nine-foot bronze statue outside the Superdome. Then came his heartbreaking diagnosis. Gleason lost all muscle function, he now uses Stephen Hawking-like technology to communicate, and breathes with the help of a ventilator. This book captures Gleason and his wife Michel&’s unmatched resilience as they reinvent their lives, refuse to succumb to despair, and face his disease realistically and existentially.This unsparing portrait argues that a person's true strength does not reside solely in one&’s body but also in the ability to face unfathomable adversity and still be able to love and treasure life.
Life in a Cold Climate: Nancy Mitford--the Biography (Great Lives Ser.)
by Laura ThompsonNew York Times bestselling author Laura Thompson turns her eye to the iconic and enigmatic Nancy Mitford. Nancy Mitford was, in the words of her sister Lady Diana Mosley, “very complex.” Her highly autobiographical early work, the biographies and novels of her more mature French period, her journalism, and the vast body of letters to her family, to friends such as Evelyn Waugh, and to the great love of her life, Gaston Palewski, all tell an intriguing story. Drawing from these, as well as conversations with Mitford’s two surviving sisters, acquaintances, and colleagues, prizewinning author Laura Thompson has fashioned a portrait of a contradictory and courageous woman. Approaching her subject with wit, perspicacity, and huge affection, Thompson makes her serious points lightly, eschewing clichés about the eccentricities of the Mitford clan. Life in a Cold Climate is full of the sound of Mitfordian laughter; but also tells the often paradoxical and complex story beneath the smiling and ever-elegant façade.
Life in a Day: A Memoir
by Doris GrumbachA look into the daily life of one of America&’s great memoirists At seventy-seven Doris Grumbach is as sharp as ever, and in Life in a Day she examines the experiences of her later years, from the dreaded writer&’s block to the many hours she has spent reading to the effects of an increasingly modern and interconnected world. Imbued with Grumbach&’s characteristic candor and verve, Life in a Day is a celebration of the meaning to be found in the quotidian.
Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project
by Jack MayerDuring World War II, Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker, organized a rescue network of fellow social workers to save 2,500 Jewish children from certain death in the Warsaw ghetto. Incredibly, after the war her heroism, like that of many others, was suppressed by communist Poland and remained virtually unknown for 60 years. Unknown, that is, until three high school girls from an economically depressed, rural school district in southeast Kansas stumbled upon a tantalizing reference to Sendler's rescues, which they fashioned into a history project, a play they called Life in a Jar. Their innocent drama was first seen in Kansas, then the Midwest, then New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, and finally Poland, where they elevated Irena Sendler to a national hero, championing her legacy of tolerance and respect for all people. Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project is a Holocaust history and more. It is the inspirational story of Protestant students from Kansas, each carrying her own painful burden, each called in her own complex way to the history of a Catholic woman who knocked on Jewish doors in the Warsaw ghetto and, in Sendler's own words, "tried to talk the mothers out of their children." Inspired by Irena Sendler, they are living examples of the power of one person to change the world and models for young people everywhere. ***** 60% of the sales of this book are donated to the Irena Sendler/Life in a Jar Foundation. The foundation promotes Irena Sendler's legacy and encourages educators and students to emulate the project by focusing on unsung heroes in history to teach respect and understanding among all people, regardless of race, religion, or creed.