In less than a year, Neil Peart lost both his 19-year-old daughter, Selena, and his wife, Jackie. Faced with overwhelming sadness and isolated from the world in his home on the lake, Peart was left without direction. That lack of direction lead him on a 5
In 1952, just one year after Coach Adolph Rupp's University of Kentucky Wildcats won their third national championship in four years, an unlikely high school basketball team from rural Graves County, Kentucky, stole the spotlight and the media's attention. Inspired by young coach Jack Story and by the Harlem Globetrotters, the Cuba Cubs grabbed headlines when they rose from relative obscurity to defeat the big-city favorite and win the state championship. A classic underdog tale, The Graves County Boys chronicles how five boys from a tiny high school in southwestern Kentucky captured the hearts of basketball fans nationwide. Marianne Walker weaves together details about the players, their coach, and their relationships in a page-turning account of triumph over adversity. This inspiring David and Goliath story takes the reader on a journey from the team's heartbreaking defeat in the 1951 state championship to their triumphant victory over Louisville Manual the next year. More than just a basketball narrative, the book explores a period in American life when indoor plumbing and electricity were still luxuries in some areas of the country and when hardship was a way of life. With no funded school programs or bus system, the Cubs's success was a testament to the sacrifices of family and neighbors who believed in their team. Featuring new photographs, a foreword by University of Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall, and a new epilogue detailing where the players are now, The Graves County Boys is an unforgettable story of how a community pulled together to make a dream come true.
For more than a century, original music has been composed for the cinema. From the early days when live music accompanied silent films to the present in which a composer can draw upon a full orchestra or a lone synthesizer to embody a composition, music has been an integral element of most films. By the late 1930s, movie studios had established music departments, and some of the greatest names in film music emerged during Hollywood’s Golden Age, including Alfred Newman, Max Steiner, Dimitri Tiomkin, and Bernard Herrmann. Over the decades, other creators of screen music offered additional memorable scores, and some composers—such as Henry Mancini, Randy Newman, and John Williams—have become household names. The Encyclopedia of Film Composers features entries on more than 250 movie composers from around the world. It not only provides facts about these artists but also explains what makes each composer notable and discusses his or her music in detail. Each entry includes Biographical material Important dates Career highlights Analysis of the composer’s musical style Complete list of movie credits This book brings recognition to the many men and women who have written music for movies over the past one hundred years. In addition to composers from the United States and Great Britain, artists from dozens of other countries are also represented. A rich resource of movie music history, The Encyclopedia of Film Composers will be of interest to fans of cinema in general as well as those who want to learn more about the many talented individuals who have created memorable scores.
We want to believe that serendipity brings us together, but is that just a myth? Mining the comedy of missed connections, THIS RANDOM WORLD asks the serious question of how often we travel parallel paths through the world without noticing. From an ailing woman who plans one final trip, to her daughter planning one great escape and her son falling prey to a prank gone wrong, this funny, intimate, and heartbreaking play explores the lives that may be happening just out of reach of our own.
A group of professionally successful Irish-American men meet every Wednesday night in a Catholic Church basement as a self-help group for men with small penises, this alleged Irish trait the focus of the weekly sessions. One evening a blue-collar guy joins the group and challenges everything the others think about the Irish curse, and their obsession with body image, unmasking questions of identity, masculinity, sex, and relationships they must face every day.
In the old days, suitors would bring a dowry of horses when asking for a hand in marriage. Today, Clinton comes to Houston with kittens, a recliner, sausages and a snow blower. A Short History of Indians in Canada, Thomas King’s bestselling collection of twenty tales, is a comic tour de force, showcasing the author at his hilarious and provocative best. With his razor-sharp observations and mystical characters, including the ever-present and ever-changing Coyote, King pokes a sharp stick into the gears of the Native myth-making machine, exposing the underbelly of both historical and contemporary Native-White relationships. Through the laughter, these stories shimmer brightly with the universal truths that unite us. HarperCollins brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperCollins short-stories collection to build your digital library.
‘Ain’t about bein’ no Heavyweight Champion of the White World. It’s about bein’ Champion, period.’ Jay ‘The Sport’ Jackson dreams of being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. But it’s 1905 and, in the racially segregated world of boxing, his chances are as good as knocked out. When a boxing promoter hatches a plan for the ‘Fight of theCentury’, The Sport might land a place in the ring with the reigning white heavyweight champion, but at what cost? It’s not just a retired champ he’s facing, it’s ‘The Great White Hope’. In daring to realise his dream, is Jay responsible for putting African American lives in the danger zone? Told in six rounds and set in a boxing ring, The Royale is inspired by the often overlooked story of Jack Johnson, a boxer who – at the height of the Jim Crow era – became the most famous and the most notorious black man on Earth.
The Agitators tells of the enduring but tempestuous friendship of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. Great allies? Yes. And at times, great adversaries. Young abolitionists when they met in Rochester in the 1840s, they were full of hopes, dreams, and a common purpose. As they grew to become the cultural icons we know today, their movements collided and their friendship was severely tested. This is the story of that forty-five-year friendship – from its beginning in Rochester, through a civil war, and to the highest halls of government. They agitated the nation, they agitated each other, and, in doing so, they helped shape the Constitution and the course of American history.