This book is a celebration of some of the greatest player bats in the hobby, and some of the bats used to illustrate each two-page spread are extraordinary relics of our National Pastime. At the very least, these bats provide us with a greater insight about the players that used them, including their habits, traits and idiosyncrasies. At the other end of the spectrum, they provide us with a direct connection to the player, and transport us back in time to the place, and in many cases, the very moment that some of our fondest memories of baseball exist.
From the infamous pirate Jean Laffite and the storied couple Bonnie and Clyde, to less familiar bandits like train-robber Eugene Bunch and suspected murderer Leather Britches Smith, Legendary Louisiana Outlaws explores Louisiana's most fascinating fugitives. In this entertaining volume, Keagan LeJeune draws from historical accounts and current folklore to examine the specific moments and legal climate that spawned these memorable characters. He shows how Laffite embodied Louisiana's shift from an entrenched French and Spanish legal system to an American one, and relates how the notorious groups like the West and Kimbrell Clan served as community leaders and law officers but covertly preyed on Louisiana's Neutral Strip residents until citizens took the law into their own hands. Likewise, the bootlegging Dunn brothers in Vinton, he explains, demonstrate folk justice's distinction between an acceptable criminal act (operating an illegal moonshine still) and an unacceptable one (cold-blooded murder). Recounting each outlaw's life, LeJeune also considers their motives for breaking the law as well as their attempts at evading capture. Running from authorities and trying to escape imprisonment or even death, these men and women often relied on the support of ordinary citizens, sympathetic in the face of oppressive and unfair laws. Through the lens of folk life, LeJeune's engaging narrative demonstrates how a justice system functions and changes and highlights Louisiana's particular challenges in adapting a system of law and order to work for everyone.
A true story of the female lumberjacks who helped save Great Britain's war effort. In World War II, Great Britain needed lumber to make planes, ships, and even newspapers—but there weren't enough men to cut down the trees. Enter the fearless Lumber Jills! These young women may not have had much woodcutting experience, but they each had two hands willing to work and one stout heart, and they came together to do their part. Discover this lyrical story of home front heroism and female friendship.
Nothing is Impossible: The Legend of Joe Hardy and 84 Lumber chronicles the remarkable life of Joe Hardy and his company's rise to the top of the building supplies industry. With a foreword by former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, Nothing is Impossible: The Legend of Joe Hardy and 84 Lumber vividly relates how Hardy became the indefatigable entrepreneur who has never wavered from his conviction that anything can be accomplished through persistence and hard work. When Hardy and his two brothers founded 84 Lumber's predecessor, Green Hills Lumber, in 1948 to service Western Pennsylvania's burgeoning homebuilding industry, Hardy soon realized the venture would never satisfy his requirements for growth. After he established a new cash-and-carry concept of selling lumber to builders, he recognized its potential to increase turnover?as well as profit and growth?and established 84 Lumber in the small farming community of Eighty-Four, Pennsylvania. With his knack for sizing people up, Hardy hired only those who shared his extraordinary work ethic and who had the potential to grow with the company. For decades, 84 Lumber thrived by selling building supplies to do-it-yourself customers. When fierce competition arrived from big-box retailers in the 1980s, 84 Lumber survived by rededicating itself to the builders and contractors who had been customers from the beginning. Hardy spearheaded the seemingly impossible effort to redirect 84 Lumber's focus and has since become the nation's largest privately owned building supplies retailer. By the mid-2000s, 84 Lumber had grown to 453 stores in 35 states, employing more than 7,000 associates nationwide with revenues of $2.5 billion a year. 84Lumber's plans to open 50 to 60 new stores a year in the coming decades, many in growing metropolitan areas, have brought it full-circle?from rural communities to big cities?and back to the professional builder, where The Legend of Joe Hardy and 84 Lumber began.
In Legendary locals of Marana, Oro Valley, and Catalina, readers will discover the historical riches, courage, and determination of the western spirit that shaped the state and the country.
Founded as a lumbering town in the mid-1800s, Cheboygan has transformed over the years to be something much less simplistic and much more dynamic; so, too, have its people. While some of Cheboygan's residents played important roles in business or commerce, others made their mark through philanthropic work, service to the community, or just by their demeanor. History is as much about people as it is about events--people like Gordon "Scoop" Turner, who came to Cheboygan for a few months but ended up staying for a lifetime. There are businessmen like Millard D. Olds, who became one of the most successful lumbermen at a time when others were leaving town, and George M. Humphrey, the 55th treasurer of the United States. An eye towards the community has also made some residents legendary, such as Joyce and Quincy Leslie. And, of course, there are those whose history is shrouded in controversy, including Sheriff Fred Ming, under whose authority a Native American village was burned to the ground. Whatever their story, these locals have contributed to the character and history of Cheboygan.
This comprehensive guide takes the reader on a historical journey, providing an in-depth look at the icons of sport, captured through their greatest collectibles. Composed by the leading experts in the field, never before has one book covered such a variety of hobby subjects. For those interested in building a fine collection of sports memorabilia, from baseball cards to autographs to game-used bats, each subject is covered in great detail. Within each chapter, the best of the best has been selected by the experts. Whether you are a hardcore collector or just an avid sports fan, this book not only helps bring the legends of sport to life but it provides crucial tips on how to assemble a world class collection. From Babe Ruth to Tiger Woods, from Wilt Chamberlain to Joe Namath, every major sport is covered. This book contains hundreds of sports memorabilia images, including many of the finest examples in the world.
Holy Old Mackinaw is the rough and lusty story of the American lumberjack at work and at play, from Maine to Oregon. In these modern days timber is harvested by cigarette-smoking married men, whose children go to school in buses, but for nearly three hundred years the logger was a real pioneer who ranged through the forests of many states, steel calks in his boots and ax in his fist, a plug of chew handy, who emerged at intervals into the towns to call on soft ladies and drink hard liquor.
