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Indomitable: The Life of Barbara Grier
by Joanne Passet"Whatever else will be said about her--and you can bet there will be plenty, because Barbara was no stranger to controversy--the one thing that is true above all else is that she was the most important person in lesbian publishing in the world. Without her boldness and her audacity, there might not be the robust lesbian publishing industry there is today. ” --Teresa DeCrescenzo Barbara Grier--feminist, activist, publisher, and archivist--was many things to different people. Perhaps most well known as one of the founders of Naiad Press, Barbara’s unapologetic drive to make sure that lesbians everywhere had access to books with stories that reflected their lives in positive ways was legendary. Barbara changed the lives of thousands of women in her lifetime. For the first time, historian Joanne Passet uncovers the controversial and often polarizing life of this firebrand editor and publisher with new and never before published letters, interviews, and other personal material from Grier’s own papers. Passet takes readers behind the scenes of The Ladder, offering a rare window onto the isolated and bereft lives lesbians experienced before the feminist movement and during the earliest days of gay political organizing. Through extensive letters between Grier and her friend novelist Jane Rule, Passet offers a virtual diary of this dramatic and repressive era. Passet also looks at Grier’s infamous "theft” of The Ladder’s mailing list, which in turn allowed her to launch and promote Naiad Press, the groundbreaking women’s publishing company she founded with partner Donna McBride in 1973. Naiad went on to become one of the leaders in gay and lesbian book publishing and for years helped sustain lesbian and feminist bookstores--and readers--across the country. JOANNE PASSET is Professor of History Emerita at Indiana University East. Her previous books include Sex Variant Woman: The Life of Jeannette Howard Foster, Sex Radicals and the Quest for Women's Equality, Cultural Crusaders: Women Librarians in the American West, and Aspirations and Mentoring in an Academic Environment (with Mary Niles Maack).
Blue Heaven
by Joe KeenanSet in contemporary New York, Blue Heaven is the hilarious tale of a most unlikely couple and their brilliant plan to earn a fortune in gifts on their way to the altar.
Killer Show: The Station Nightclub Fire, America's Deadliest Rock Concert
by John BarylickOn February 20, 2003, the deadliest rock concert in U.S. history took place at a roadhouse called The Station in West Warwick, Rhode Island. That night, in the few minutes it takes to play a hard-rock standard, the fate of many of the unsuspecting nightclub patrons was determined with awful certainty. The blaze was ignited when pyrotechnics set off by Great White, a 1980s heavy-metal band, lit flammable polyurethane “egg crate” foam sound insulation on the club’s walls. In less than 10 minutes, 96 people were dead and 200 more were injured, many catastrophically. The final death toll topped out, three months later, at the eerily unlikely round number of 100. The story of the fire, its causes, and its legal and human aftermath is one of lives put at risk by petty economic decisions―by a band, club owners, promoters, building inspectors, and product manufacturers. Any one of those decisions, made differently, might have averted the tragedy. Together, however, they reached a fatal critical mass. Killer Show is the first comprehensive exploration of the chain of events leading up to the fire, the conflagration itself, and the painstaking search for evidence to hold the guilty to account and obtain justice for the victims. Anyone who has entered an entertainment venue and wondered, “Could I get out of here in a hurry?” will identify with concertgoers at The Station. Fans of disaster nonfiction and forensic thrillers will find ample elements of both genres in Killer Show.
Fire in the Grove: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy and Its Aftermath
by John C. EspositoOn Saturday night, November 28. 1942, Boston suffered its worst disaster ever. At the city's premier nightspot, the Cocoanut Grove, the largest nightclub fire in U.S. history took the lives of 492 people—nearly one of every two people on the premises. It spread through the overcrowded club with breathtaking speed. In a mere eight minutes anyone left inside was either dead or doomed. Against the backdrop of Boston politics, cronyism, and corruption, author John C. Esposito re-creates the drama of the fire and explores the public outcry that followed. In retelling the horrific events of one of America's most cataclysmic tragedies, Esposito has fashioned both a gripping narrative and a vibrant portrait of the era.
The Empty Schoolhouse
by Natalie Savage Carlson John KaufmannWhen it was announced that the parochial schools in Louisiana were to be desegregated, ten-year-old Lullah Royall was happier than she'd ever been. Now she could attend St. Joseph's in French Grove, where her best friend, red-haired, blue-eyed Oralee Fleury, was already a student. But Lullah's happiness was short lived. Her older sister Emma sensed trouble the minute the two ominous strangers appeared... and trouble was not long in coming. One by one all the students, Negro and white alike, deserted St. Joseph's, frightened away by the threat of violence. Lullah's subsequent decision and its far-reaching results make unforgettable reading.
Remembrances of the Angels: A 50th Anniversary Retrospective on the Fire No One Can Forget
by John KuensterOn a terrible day in December 1958, one of the deadliest fires in American history took the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago. The tragedy shocked the nation, tore apart a community with grief and anger, left many families physically and psychologically scarred for life, and prompted a mystery unresolved to this day. It also led to a complete overhaul of fire safety standards for American schools. The story of that fire was eloquently told ten years ago by John Kuenster and David Cowan in their best-selling book To Sleep with the Angels. Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of the fire, John Kuenster returns to talk with children, parents, firemen, reporters, clergy, nurses, policemen, school officials, and others who were in some way connected with the disaster. Together their thoughts and feelings about their experience, still vivid and tender after a half-century, make Remembrances of the Angels a moving and often tearful book.
The White House Tapes: Eavesdropping on the President
by John PradosTranscripts of tape recordings beginning with Roosevelt.
Adventures of the Mind: The Memoirs of Natalie Clifford Barney
by Natalie C. Barney John S. GattonBarney explores her family tree, chronicles her friendships and associations through reprinted correspondence and recreated conversations, and evokes the golden age of her salon in gallery of literary portraits.
Washington's Monument: And the Fascinating History of the Obelisk
by John Steele GordonThe colorful story behind one of America's greatest monuments and of the ancient obelisks of Egypt, now scattered around the world. Conceived soon after the American Revolution ended, the great monument to George Washington was not finally completed until almost a century later; the great obelisk was finished in 1884, and remains the tallest stone structure in the world at 555 feet. The story behind its construction is a largely untold and intriguing piece of American history, which acclaimed historian John Steele Gordon relates with verve, connecting it to the colorful saga of the ancient obelisks of Egypt. Nobody knows how many obelisks were crafted in ancient Egypt, or even exactly how they were created and erected since they are made out of hard granite and few known tools of the time were strong enough to work granite. Generally placed in pairs at the entrances to temples, they have in modern times been ingeniously transported around the world to Istanbul, Paris, London, New York, and many other locations. Their stories illuminate that of the Washington Monument, once again open to the public following earthquake damage, and offer a new appreciation for perhaps the most iconic memorial in the country.
Let the Faggots Burn: The Upstairs Lounge Fire
by Johnny TownsendOn Gay Pride Day in 1973, someone set the entrance to a French Quarter gay bar on fire. In the terrible inferno that followed, thirty-two people lost their lives, including a third of the local congregation of the Metropolitan Community Church, their pastor burning to death halfway out a second-story window as he tried to claw his way to freedom. A mother who'd gone to the bar with her two gay sons died alongside them. A man who'd helped his friend escape first was found dead near the fire escape. Two children waited outside of a movie theater across town for a father and step-father who would never pick them up. During this era of rampant homophobia, several families refused to claim the bodies, and many churches refused to bury the dead. Author Johnny Townsend pored through old records and tracked down survivors of the fire and relatives and friends of those killed to compile this fascinating account of a forgotten moment in gay history.
Hero of Flight 93: Mark Bingham
by Jon BarrettStory of Mark Bingham's life and re-creation of the events of 9-11.
Crisis Point: Why We Must - and How We Can - Overcome Our Broken Politics in Washington and Across America
by Tom Daschle Trent Lott Jon SternfeldTom Daschle and Trent Lott are two of the most prominent senators of recent time. Both served in their respective parties' leadership positions from the 1990s into the current century, and they have almost sixty years of service between them. Their congressional tenure saw the Reagan tax cuts, a deadlocked Senate, the Clinton impeachment, 9/11, and the Iraq War. Despite the tumultuous times, and despite their very real ideological differences, they have always maintained a positive working relationship, one almost unthinkable in today's hyper-partisan climate. In their book, Daschle and Lott come together from opposite sides of the aisle to sound an alarm on the current polarization that has made governing all but impossible; never before has the people's faith in government been so dismally low. The senators itemize damaging forces--the permanent campaign, the unprecedented money, the 24/7 news cycle--and offer practical recommendations, pointing the way forward. Most crucially, they recall the American people, especially our leaders, to the principles enshrined in the Constitution, and to the necessity of debate but also the imperative of compromise--which will take leadership, vision, and courage to bring back. Illustrated with personal stories from their own eminent careers and events cited from deeper in American history, Crisis Point is an invaluable work that comes at a critical juncture. It is a work of conscience, as well as duty, written with passion and eloquence by two men who have dedicated their lives to public service and share the conviction that all is far from lost.
The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the Seventies in San Francisco
by Joshua GamsonA journey back through the music, madness, and unparalleled freedom of an era of change--the '70s--as told through the life of ultra-fabulous superstar Sylvester. Imagine a pied piper singing in a dazzling falsetto, wearing glittering sequins, and leading the young people of the nation to San Francisco and on to liberation where nothing was straight-laced or old-fashioned. And everyone, finally, was welcome to come as themselves. This is not a fairy tale. This was real, mighty real, and disco sensation Sylvester was the piper. Joshua Gamson--a Yale-trained pop culture expert--uses him, a boy who would be fabulous, to lead us through the story of the '70s when a new era of change liberated us from conformity and boredom. Gamson captures the exuberant life, feeling, energy, and fun of a generation's wonderful, magical waking up-from the parties to the dancing and music. The story begins with a little black boy who started with nothing but a really big voice. We follow him from the Gospel chorus to the glory days in the Castro where a generation shook off its shame as Sylvester sang and began his rise as part of a now-notorious theatrical troupe called the Cockettes. Celebrity, sociology, and music history mingle and merge around this endlessly entertaining story of a singer who embodied the freedom, spirit, and flamboyance of a golden moment in American culture.
Black Lesbians: An Annotated Bibliography
by Jr RobertsPublished in 1981, this groundbreaking work is a noteworthy landmark in the history of women's studies, African-American studies, and lesbian and gay studies. The 341 primary bibliographic entries, each one accompanied by an informative annotation, made available a vast body of work about the lives of Black lesbians. Entries cover six primary areas of study: "Lives and Lifestyles"; "Oppression, Resistance, and Liberation"; "Literature and Criticism"; "Music and Musicians"; "Periodicals"; and "Research, Reference, and Popular Studies." Also includes photographs and appendices.
Every Mother's Son: The Role of Mothers in the Making of Men
by Judith ArcanaIs it possible for us to bring up boys in a non-sexist way? That's the question at the core of this groundbreaking book. During the first ten years of her son Daniel's life, Judith Arcana kept a journal in which she recorded her experiences as a mother -- specifically as a mother of a boy. Drawing from her journal and from interviews with sixty mothers and sons, Arcana presents a compelling examination of male socialization and the role of women in raising sons.
Crybaby Butch
by Judith FrankDrawing on her experience as an adult literacy tutor, Judith Frank's first novel traces the difficult and sometimes hilarious connection between two butches of different generations - a middle-class, thirty-something adult literacy teacher and her older, working-class student. With a disparate group of adult learners as the backdrop, Frank examines, with warmth and wit, the relationship between education and gender, class, and racial identity.
The Making of an Ink-stained Wretch: Half a Century Pounding the Political Beat
by Jules WitcoverThe jovial Witcover, one of the original "boys on the bus," traces his path across 56 years or political reporting and analysis. His insider memoir looks at the changing role and style of reporters, commentators, and other shapers of public opinion and gives a personal gloss to public events spanning administrations from Eisenhower to George W. Bush. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
The Year The Dream Died: Revisiting 1968 in America
by Jules WitcoverThe tumultuous events of 1968 burden America to this day. The assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, campus riots, and the election of Richard Nixon led to disappointment, division, and self-doubt that bred distrust of the nation's leaders and institutions. For millions of Americans, the dream that we would at last face up with compassion to our most basic problems at home and abroad was shattered in 1968, and the groundwork was laid for the cynical social and political climate that exists today.
Finding H.F.
by Julia WattsAbandoned by her mother and raised by her loving but religiously zealous grandmother, 16-year-old Heavenly Faith Simms (H.F. for short) has never felt like she belonged anywhere. When she finds her mother's address in a drawer, she and her best friend, Bo, an emotionally repressed gay boy, hit the road in Bo's scrap heap of a car and head south. Their journey through the heart of the American South awakens both teens to the realization that there is a life waiting for them that is very different from what they have known and that the concept of family is more far-reaching than they had ever imagined.
Dare to Repair: A Do-It-Herself Guide to Fixing (Almost) Anything In The Home
by Julie Sussman Stephanie Glakas-TenetA repair guide written especially for women.
Robin and Ruby
by K. M. SoehnleinIn his award-winning bestseller The World of Normal Boys, K.M. Soehnlein introduced readers to the richly compelling voice of teenager Robin MacKenzie. In Robin and Ruby, he revisits Robin and his younger sister, masterfully depicting the turbulence of the mid-1980s--and that fleeting time between youth and adulthood, when everything we will become can be shaped by one unforgettable weekend. At twenty-years-old, Robin MacKenzie is waiting for his life to start. Waiting until his summer working at a Philly restaurant is over and he's back with his boyfriend Peter. . . until the spring semester when he'll travel to London for an acting program. . . until the moment when the confidence he fakes starts to feel real. Then, one hot June weekend, Robin gets dumped by his boyfriend and quickly hits the road with his best friend George to find his teenaged sister, Ruby, who's vanished from a party at the Jersey Shore. For years, his friendship with George has been the most solid thing in Robin's life. But lately there are glimpses of another George, someone Robin barely knows and can no longer take for granted. Ruby is on an adventure of her own, dressing in black, declaring herself an atheist, pulling away from the boyfriend she doesn't love--not the way she loves the bands whose fractured songs are the soundtrack to her life. Then a chance encounter puts Ruby in pursuit of a seductive but troubled boy who might be the key to her happiness, or a disaster waiting to happen. As their paths converge, Robin and Ruby confront the sadness of their shared past and rebuild the bonds that still run deep. In prose that is lyrical, compulsively readable, and exquisitely honest, K.M. Soehnlein brilliantly captures a family redefining itself and explores those moments common to us all--when freedom bumps up against responsibility, when sex blurs the line between friendship and love, and when what you stand for becomes more important than who you were raised to be.
The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir
by Kao Kalia YangIn search of a place to call home, thousands of Hmong families made the journey from the war-torn jungles of Laos to the overcrowded refugee camps of Thailand and onward to America. But lacking a written language of their own, the Hmong experience has been primarily recorded by others. Driven to tell her family's story after her grandmother's death, The Latehomecomer is Kao Kalia Yang's tribute to the remarkable woman whose spirit held them all together. It is also an eloquent, firsthand account of a people who have worked hard to make their voices heard. Beginning in the 1970s, as the Hmong were being massacred for their collaboration with the United States during the Vietnam War, Yang recounts the harrowing story of her family's captivity, the daring rescue undertaken by her father and uncles, and their narrow escape into Thailand where Yang was born in the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp. When she was six years old, Yang's family immigrated to America, and she evocatively captures the challenges of adapting to a new place and a new language. Through her words, the dreams, wisdom, and traditions passed down from her grandmother and shared by an entire community have finally found a voice. Together with her sister, Kao Kalia Yang is the founder of a company dedicated to helping immigrants with writing, translating, and business services. A graduate of Carleton College and Columbia University, Yang has recently screened The Place Where We Were Born, a film documenting the experiences of Hmong American refugees. Visit her website at www. kaokaliayang. com.
Maud Powell, Pioneer American Violinist
by Karen A. Shaffer Neva G. GreenwoodBiography of the first American violinist to gain international rank.
Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman
by Queen Latifah Karen HunterAutobiography of a rap star.