In True Stories: Memories, Musings, Odds and Ends, C.J. Ott tells of the first seven years of his childhood in New York City and the next seven years in the Saugerties area, a hundred miles north of the city. He recounts his experiences as a postulant, novice and scholastic in the Marianist religious order; four years of military service in the U.S. Air Force, and a twenty-five year career as a teacher and principal in Trotwood-Madison City Schools, by Dayton, Ohio. Along the way he recall...

It's safe to say that world-famed speaker and author Og Mandino has as many friends as any man alive, thanks to his inspiring motivational lectures and his bestselling books. This new book is a special gift to all his friends, old and new, a book they may cherish above all the rest. Secrets for Success and Happiness is Og's beautifully written journal, an intimate record of his innermost thoughts and feelings, the heartwarming events of his day-to-day life.Whether he's writing in hi...

The former U.S. Poet Laureate contemplates life, death, and the view from his window in these "a lternately lyrical and laugh-out-loud funny " essays ( The New York Times).From an early age, Donald Hall dedicated his life to the written word. In his long and celebrated career, he was an accomplished poet, essayist, memoirist, dramatist, and children's author. Now, in the "unknown, unanticipated galaxy" of very old age, his ...

“These are remarkable and poignant stories that need to be told.” —Ken BurnsMore than six million people watch Bob Dotson’s Emmy award-winning segment, American Story, on NBC’s Today Show. For the last four decades, Dotson has traveled the country searching out inspiring individuals who quietly perform everyday miracles. In the process, he has become the treasured cartographer of America’s heart and soul.Today’s news is overwhelmingly grim; it’s al...

“One of her best collections to date.” —EssenceQuilting the Black-Eyed Pea is a tour de force from Nikki Giovanni, one of the most powerful voices in American poetry and African American literature today. From Black Feeling, Black Talk and Black Judgment in the 1960s to Bicycles in 2010, Giovanni’s poetry has influenced literary figures from James Baldwin to Blackalicious, and touched millions of readers worldwide. In Quilting the Black-Eyed ...

"Andy Rooney's Sunday evening observations on 60 Minutes are an American institution, shaping the way people see everything from coffee percolators to the state of the nation."

The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak is the story of two larger-than-life characters and the son whom their lives helped to shape. Ruth Fertel was a petite, smart, tough-as-nails blonde with a weakness for rogues, who founded the Ruth's Chris Steak House empire almost by accident. Rodney Fertel was a gold-plated, one-of-a-kind personality, a railbird-heir to wealth from a pawnshop of dubious repute just around the corner from where the teenage Louis Armstrong and his trumpet w...

“Garrison Keillor made it possible, after twenty years of black humor…to be both funny and nice, hip and winsome, scathing and loving, all in the flick of a single many-barbed quip——The Washington Post Book World“Keillor’s literary style is as flexible and assured as his vocal delivery. It can slip from mood to mood so subtly and quickly you’re never quite sure where you are…. [His] writing has the silvery slip of running water, so gracef...

Oras Boy is a true story of a boys struggles to survive growing up with the prejudices of a small New England mill town in the 1940s and 50s. Abandoned by his father and rejected by his mother was only the beginning of his struggles. Born in a highly conservative French Canadian Catholic community, he has to overcome inordinate bigotry to gain acceptance and approval from the very community in which his mother is ostracized and scorned for violating the tenets of her church.not once, but t...

This story is true, with very minimal alterations. Some of the names have been changed for lack of permissive authority. Any names not changed by the author are either deceased or a party to the motivating factor of this writing. For many ill-spent years weve contemplated on gathering enough information along with the discipline necessary to put together the proper words and feelings into action. The following pages are not meant for the sole purpose of complacency. However, we do hope it ...

Richard Leonard's Twixtujons is a collection of entertaining and poignant anecdotes chronologically structured from the Civil Rights protests of the 1960s through the educational skirmishes of the new Millennium. Twixtujons celebrates his thirty-two happy years teaching high school students and honors the one constant for all teachers throughout the years: the timeless gift of their making teenagers feel special-and safe-in their home away from home. Adults will hear the banter of teachers...

The author reflects on his growing up there and how those experiences have affected his life, both as a child and as an adult. Contained herein are factual, comical, heartbreaking, and thoughtprovoking stories about his journey.This is a book that will touch the reader's heart and provide inspiration to those who need encouragement to understand that no matter what happens in one's life, things can get better.