Other books that might interest you

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  The One That Got Away

  James Leasor, Kendal Burt

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  In World War II James Leasor was commissioned into the Royal Berkshire Regiment and posted to the 1st Lincolns in Burma and India, where he served for three and a half years. His experiences inspired him to write such books as Boarding Party (filmed as The Sea Wolves). He later became a feature writer and foreign correspondent at the Daily Express. Here he wrote The One that Got Away. As well as non-fiction, Leasor has written novels, including Passport to Oblivion, filmed as Where the Spies Are with David Niven

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  Huntington West Virginia: A...

  PBS NewsHour

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  At the epicenter of America's opioid epidemic, Huntington, West Virginia’s growing addiction problem has overwhelmed everyone from first responders to business owners to newborns. So far, the city's robust efforts to fight back haven't been enough to curb the overdoses. Hari Sreenivasan reports as part of our series, "America Addicted."

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  Collected Writings of Edward...

  Edward Leedskalnin

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  The Collected Writings of Edward Leedskalnin is a compilation of two of Leedskalnin's works, Magnetic Current and A Book in Every Home. This eccentric sculptor and amateur scientist devoted most of his life to creating a large complex of megalithic stones that he quarried and carved himself. Edward Leedskalnin was born in Latvia in 1887. Although he only received formal education up to the fourth grade, he was very inquisitive and spent a large part of his youth reading. He was said to be a sickly boy and grew into a small man-reportedly measuring just 5 feet tall and weighing 100 lbs. At age 26, he was engaged to marry a 16-year-old girl named Agnes Skuvst, but the wedding was called off. Accounts differ, some claiming the wedding was canceled the day before it was scheduled and others saying that Leedskalnin was jilted at the altar. Regardless, he was heartbroken and shortly after emigrated to America. After reaching New York in 1912, he continued on to Oregon where he worked for an ax-handle manufacturer. By 1923, he had contracted tuberculosis. The illness prompted him to move to a warmer climate for his health. He chose Florida, where he purchased an undeveloped acre of land in Florida City. It was on this modest plot that he began Rock Gate (later renamed Coral Castle). This ambitious project involved extracting enormous pieces of oolite stone from his land, moving them into position, and carving them-entirely alone. The pieces include sculptures and carved stone furniture, as well as a two-story tower that served as his living quarters. The project was devoted to his "Sweet Sixteen," the woman who had rejected him many years earlier.Due to the scale of the project, some have dubbed it "Florida's Stonehenge." While it's unclear how Leedskalnin was able to complete it, it is all the more impressive considering his small stature and questionable health. When he wasn't hewing or carving stone, Leedskalnin was also conducting experiments and writing.

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  A Constant Alien

  Catherine Schell

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  Catherine Schell has lived a life more dramatic and colourful than any of her many acting roles. 
  Her story sweeps from her birth during an allied bombing raid in Budapest, to life under post-war Russian occupation, escape and life as a refugee in Austria, a strict convent school life in America, and on to Germany where she becomes an actress. 
  Whilst international fame would follow through roles in the James Bond and Pink Panther franchises, as well as the iconic role of Maya in popular sci-fi series Space: 1999, the story off camera is all together more human and real. An abusive husband, her father’s surrender to Alzheimer’s, her brother’s paranoid schizophrenia, and a dominant and passionate mother, all play their part in her tale. 
  Told engagingly and with warmth, there are highs and lows, laughter and tears, and lessons learnt as a survivor… in a life where she has been A Constant Alien.

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  The Grove Book of Hollywood

  Christopher Silvester

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  A “treasure trove” of insider accounts of the movie business from its earliest beginnings to the present day—“exceedingly savvy . . . astute and entertaining” (Variety).  The Grove Book of Hollywood is a richly entertaining anthology of anecdotes and reminiscences from the people who helped make the City of Angels the storied place we know today. Movie moguls, embittered screenwriters, bemused outsiders such as P. G. Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh, and others all have their say. Organized chronologically, the pieces form a history of Hollywood as only generations of insiders could tell it.   We encounter the first people to move to Hollywood, when it was a dusty village on the outskirts of Los Angeles, as well as the key players during the heyday of the studio system in the 1930s. We hear from victims of the blacklist and from contemporary players in an industry dominated by agents. Coming from a wide variety of sources, the personal recollections range from the affectionate to the scathing, from the cynical to the grandiose.   Here is John Huston on his drunken fistfight with Errol Flynn; Cecil B. DeMille on the challenges of filming The Ten Commandments; Frank Capra on working for the great comedic producer Mark Sennett; William Goldman on the strange behavior of Hollywood executives in meetings; and much more. “A masterly, magnificent anthology,” The Grove Book of Hollywood is a must for anyone fascinated by Hollywood and the film industry (Literary Review, London).

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  Out at the Plate - The Dot...

  Lynn Ames

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  It’s not simply that Dot Wilkinson was one of the most decorated women’s softball players, bowlers, and athletes of all time and one of the original players from the three-time-world-champion PBSW Phoenix Ramblers softball team (1933–1965). Nor was it the length of her time here on Earth—over a century—although any of these things by itself would be impressive. The magic of Dot’s story is in the details. It’s the tale of a childhood spent in poverty, an indomitable, unbreakable spirit, a determination to be the very best to play whatever sport she undertook, the independence to live her personal life on her own terms, and her tremendous success at all of it. Over more than a decade of countless conversations and interviews, Dot shared all of it with her dear friend, author Lynn Ames. Dot held nothing back. Out at the Plate, told through the lens of Dot and Lynn’s friendship, is the story of a forgotten era in women’s history and sports, and one extraordinary woman’s place at the center of it all.

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