A certain mixture of whimsy and derring-do is required to shove off down (or up) the New or Gauley River with scant protection aside from a helmet, life vest and one�s compatriots. It�s a choice that could be so easily avoided, but that wouldn�t make sense to the proud and colorful characters who have long been shooting these rapids, some of the most popular and treacherous in the country. Here, Jay Young, a raft guide turned writer, leads readers through the local lore and history of the ...

Sometimes Broadway dreams do come true.Fresh from the obscurity of living in the small farming community of Grove, Oklahoma, Ronald Young, at 22, is catapulted onto New York Citys Great White Way BROADWAY.After arriving in Manhattan on a Friday, he auditions for his first Broadway show on Monday. Bingo! After three call back auditions he snags his first dancing role in the soon to be mega hit HELLO, DOLLY! directed and choreographed by Gower Champion and starring Carol Chan...

Set in post-war England, this is the story of the square-rigger Bonnie Clyde. Before this great lady meets her fate, a group of rogue sailors, unable to persuade the Admiralty to help save the vessel, pirates the ship away while she?s under tow to be scuttled. Through their creative use of materials and methods, they sail her through the English Channel and the Irish Sea, hoping to deliver the ship to where she was built in Dumbarton, Scotland on the river Clyde. A former Royal Navy...

Mobility - the movements of people, things, and ideas, as well as their associated cultural meanings - has been a key factor in shaping Canadians' perceptions of and interactions with their country. Approaching the burgeoning field of environmental history in Canada through the lens of mobility reveals some of the distinctive ways in which Canadians have come to terms with the country's climate and landscape. Spanning Canada's diverse regions, throughout its history, from the closing of th...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this "wonderfully vivid, kinetic narrative" (The New York Times), the bestselling author of Voices in the Ocean captures colossal, ship-swallowing waves, and the surfers and scientists who seek them out.For legendary surfer Laird Hamilton, hundred foot waves represent the ultimate challenge. As Susan Casey travels the globe, hunting these monsters of the ocean with Hamilton’s crew, she witnesses first-hand t...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The legendary Hollywood star of classic films and TV shows such as The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bye Bye Birdie, and Mary Poppins shares intimate stories from six decades of his renowned career.“Earnest, funny, and appealing . . . captures the essence of an eventful life lived on and off the small screen.”—The Washington PostWith a foreword by Carl ReinerDick...

A read-it-in-one-sitting, action-packed, gritty, and atmospheric crime novel set on the tough streets of 1946 GlasgowThe last time Douglas Brodie came home it was 1942 and he was a dashing young warrior in a kilt. Now, the war is over, but victory's wine has soured and Brodie's back in Scotland to try and save childhood friend Hugh Donovan from the gallows. Everyone thought Hugh was dead, shot down in the war. Perhaps it would have been kinder if he had been killed...

A thrilling birdwatching adventure and true story of obsession, The Big Year chronicles the fiercely competitive quest of three men racing across North America to shatter a birding record for the ages.Every January 1, a quirky crowd storms out across North America for a spectacularly competitive event called a Big Year—a grand, expensive, and occasionally vicious 365-day marathon of birdwatching. For three men in particular, 1998 would become a grueling ba...

The New York Times bestseller from the beloved actress and Hollywood icon who's made us laugh on shows from The Mary Tyler Moore Show to Golden Girls to Saturday Night Live!In this candid take on everything from the unglamorous reality behind red-carpet affairs to her beauty regimen (“I have no idea what color my hair is, and I never intend to find out”), Betty White shares her observations about life, celebrity, and love (for hu...

The highly acclaimed 'Cruel Sea' is one of the all-time great naval and war thrillers. The film was a smash hit when released and both it and the book continue to enjoy undiminished popularity. It covers not just the details of the battle of the Atlantic, but deals with the people who fought it - their domestic triumphs, tragedies, worries and ambitions.Nicholas Monsarrat wrote:'This is the story - the long and true story - of one ocean, two ships, and about a hund...

Taking us on walks through Paris, New York, Toronto, North Vancouver and Singapore, Mary Soderstrom examines how cites have changed the lives of ordinary citizens—in positive and negative ways. Making the city walkable again is crucial. The author looks to the future and suggests ways in which we can reorganize our lives and our cities. The idea that a city might not be walkable would never occur to anyone who lived before 1800. Over the past 200 years there have been dramatic changes to o...

All of us, at one time or another, find ourselves inexplicably drawn to the sea. For some, it's a place for reflection or romance. For others, it's the thrill of watching surf crash against a sandy white beach or studying the kaleidoscope of life among a tropical coral reef.