In its glory years, the historic Davenport Hotel was at the center of Spokane and the Inland Northwest's social life. Louis Davenport's famous restaurant, which predated the hotel, opened in 1889 and quickly became Spokane¿s greatest attraction. As reflected in this book, the history of the Davenport enterprises truly is the history of Spokane. Numerous dignitaries, royalty, and world-famous entertainers were guests of the Davenport. The hotel was the pride of the city and patronized by people from all walks of life until it fell into its decline and subsequently closed in 1985. Finally, after years of languishing under threat of demolition, the grand old hotel was restored to its former grandeur and reopened in 2002. This easy-to-read history book is a tribute to Spokane¿s most noteworthy and beloved landmark and those responsible for its creation, evolution and preservation.
A wonderfully dark, pitch-perfect noir prequel to The Maltese Falcon, featuring Dashiell Hammett’s beloved detective, Sam Spade. It’s 1921—seven years before Sam Spade will solve the famous case of the Maltese Falcon. He’s just set up his own agency in San Francisco and he gets off to a quick start, working cases (he doesn’t do domestic) and hiring a bright young secretary named Effie Perrine. When he’s hired by a prominent San Francisco banker to find his missing son, Spade gets the break he’s been looking for. He spends the next few years dealing with booze runners, waterfront thugs, banking swindlers, gold smugglers, and bumbling cops. He brings in Miles Archer as a partner to help bolster the agency, though it was Archer who stole his girl while he was fighting in World War I. All along, Spade will tangle with an enigmatic villain who holds a long-standing grudge against Spade. And, of course, he’ll fall in love—though it won’t turn out for the best. It never does with dames.
Focusing on early cinema's relationship with the pictorial arts, this pioneering study explores how cinema's emergence was grounded in theories of picture composition, craft and arts education – from magic lantern experiments in 1890s New York through to early Hollywood feature films in the 1920s. Challenging received notions that the advent of cinema was a celebration of mechanisation and a radical rejection of nineteenth-century traditions of representation, Kaveh Askari instead emphasises the overlap between craft traditions and modernity in early film. Opening up valuable new perspectives on the history of film as art, Askari links American silent cinema with the practice of teaching the public how to appreciate fine art; charts its entrance into arts education via art schools and university film courses; shows how concepts of artistic production entered films through a material interest in the studio; and examines the way in which Maurice Tourneur and Rex Ingram made early art films by shaping an image of the film director around the idea of the fine artist.
In the early years of the twentieth century, Spokane was singled out for praise in the West for the quality of its architecture and the impressive way it had rebuilt after the devastating fire of 1889. Major credit for the city's distinctive character was extended to Kirtland Kelsey Cutter for his "rare architectural force and genius for design." His remarkable career, stretching from the Gilded Age to the Great Depression, allows a fascinating study of the evolution of an eclectic form of architecture that was an inevitable response to rich regional and historical influences during a time of transition from frontier settlements to modern city. Cutter's influence was felt beyond Spokane--in Seattle, other areas of Washington, and in Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. He was also responsible for buildings in the East and even for one in England. After financial problems ended his career in the Northwest, he began anew at age sixty-three in southern California, and worked there as an architect until his death in 1939 at age seventy-nine. Henry Matthews presents a comprehensive study of the whole body of Cutter's work, with ample photographs and illustrations. The book is based on exhaustive research in both the Northwest and California, revealing the influences on Cutter and his associates, the processes at work in the design and construction of the buildings, and the relations between the architect and the many people who commissioned his work. Particularly useful to Matthews's research was a collection of 290 sets of drawings, as well as office accounts, letters, and books from Cutter's library--materials acquired by the Eastern Washington State Historical Society. He also was able to interview former assistants and clients, who provided valuable insights on the architect and the way Cutter worked. In addition, many of the architect's residences, hotels, clubs, and commercial buildings are still standing. This book adds significantly to an understanding of Western urban and regional history. But Cutter's experimentation in many styles and the imaginative nature of his work make for a study that goes beyond regional limits and sheds light on national trends. Winner of the 1999 Washington State Book Award
In-depth discussions of neighborhood, geography, architectural themes and gambits, parks, urban renewal and preservation, and other aspects of a city's composition
William Bourne grew up loving baseball, playing in an under-eighteen league in Greenwich, Connecticut, with his brother. As an adult, he traced the history of Minor League baseball, traveling to various baseball towns – mostly with his brother, Jim, and son, Michael. They chose Single A teams because it gave them the chance to visit small, remote towns. Over a period of years, they traveled almost 36,000 miles via airplanes and rented cars, seeing dozens of games in twenty-two states, plus western Canada. They avoided Southern states as they were usually traveling in July and August when it was hot. Seattle was their most western point, and Portland, Maine, was the most eastern. Each trip was spontaneous, and they regularly ran into interesting people and situations. Driving into Hannibal, Missouri, introduced the author to Mark Twain, prompting him to read three of his novels as well as a biography. He learned Twain often snuck out of his house at midnight to meet his buddies down by the Mississippi River’s edge, which is where he no doubt did much of his dreaming. Join the author as he celebrates his love of baseball, family, and America, traveling through quaint villages.
The most comprehensive volume on one of the most controversial directors in American film history A Companion to D.W. Griffith offers an exhaustive look at the first acknowledged auteur of the cinema and provides an authoritative account of the director’s life, work, and lasting filmic legacy. The text explores how Griffith’s style and status advanced along with cinema’s own development during the years when narrative became the dominant mode, when the short gave way to the feature, and when film became the pre-eminent form of mass entertainment. Griffith was at the centre of each of these changes: though a contested figure, he remains vital to any understanding of how cinema moved from nickelodeon fixture to a national pastime, playing a significant role in the cultural ethos of America. With the renewed interest in Griffith’s contributions to the film industry, A Companion to D.W. Griffith offers a scholarly look at a career that spanned more than 25 years. The editor, a leading scholar on D.W. Griffith, and the expert contributors collectively offer a unique account of one of the monumental figures in film studies. Presents the most authoritative, complete account of the director’s life, work, and lasting legacy Builds on the recent resurgence in the director’s scholarly and popular reputation Edited by a leading authority on D.W. Griffith, who has published extensively on this controversial director Offers the most up-to-date, singularly comprehensive volume on one of the monumental figures in film studies
Different Drummers is a true story from 1965 which follows a hyperactive fireball named Lyle and his best friend David, who’s in a wheelchair with muscular dystrophy, as they test their grade school principal, the laws of gravity, and believe it or not, even the existence of God. When David accurately predicts the death of their fourth-grade teacher and attributes it to a Divine Message, Lyle feels compelled to challenge David’s claim. Using memorized quotes from the Jack LaLanne show, he devises a plan to get David out of his wheelchair and running again, thinking it would prove that God is real. Oblivious to the concept of common sense, Lyle begins to twist the rules, pushing the stakes to ever more dangerous levels, bringing the boys face to face with life’s most inspiring and painful truths. This novel provides a startling and surprisingly humorous view of the world through the eyes of a hyperactive child. Turbocharged, inspiring and heart-warming, it will remind you of our unlimited potential, the vital necessity of our differences, and the essential role each of us play in the lives of others.
DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Big Sea" by Langston Hughes. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.
Empire of the Air tells the story of three American visionaries—Lee de Forest, Edwin Howard Armstrong, and David Sarnoff—whose imagination and dreams turned a hobbyist's toy into radio, launching the modern communications age. Tom Lewis weaves the story of these men and their achievements into a richly detailed and moving narrative that spans the first half of the twentieth century, a time when the American romance with science and technology was at its peak. Empire of the Air is a tale of pioneers on the frontier of a new technology, of American entrepreneurial spirit, and of the tragic collision between inventor and corporation.
