Résultats de recherche de titre
Articles 121 à 140 sur 484
Biggie: Voletta Wallace Remembers Her Son, Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G.
Par Voletta Wallace, Tremell McKenzie. 2005
Voletta Wallace, the mother of Christopher, aka Notorious B.I.G., became a matriarch of hip-hop on March 9, 1997, the night…
her legendary son was murdered. An intensely private and religious person, she was thrust into the spotlight of the media and charged with managing the legacy of a hip-hop generation immortal. Biggie reveals the story of how Ms. Wallace came to America and raised a son who -- in a life cut too short -- grew to be one of the most beloved recording artists of his generation. Ms. Wallace, born and raised in Jamaica, West Indies, immigrated to the United States as a young woman, aspiring to her version of the American Dream. Once here, she fell in love. The relationship didn't work out, but it did result in a beautiful son. The bright and precocious Christopher became the center of her world, and she the foundation of his. Ms. Wallace settled in Brooklyn, New York, pursued a career in early childhood education, and worked hard at not only keeping her own son on the straight and narrow but lovingly and firmly guiding other people's sons and daughters. Biggie is Voletta Wallace's story and her tribute-in-writing to her beloved son. In a no-holds-barred way, she tells the truth about the night her son was senselessly shot, the terrible aftermath, and what she believes led to his untimely death. She shares her misgivings about the treacherous nature of the entertainment industry and condemns the individuals who posed as friends of her late son while treating her and his memory with little respect. She acknowledges those -- the mothers of other slain hip-hop artists, including Tupac Shakur and Jason Mizell -- who gave her moral and material support in the dark moments of mourning her son and attending to the business and legal issues, many of which remain unresolved. Faith Evans, Christopher's widow, the mother of his child -- and a recording star in her own right -- contributed a heartfelt foreword to this book. Evans remains at Voletta Wallace's side as she continues the struggle to keep open the investigation of her son's murder and see that justice is done. She and so many others, in and out of the hip-hop community, continue to work with Ms. Wallace in support of the Christopher Wallace Foundation, an organization dedicated to the well-being and education of inner-city youth. For more information, visit www.cwmf.org.Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time
Par Valerie Bertinelli. 2008
Valerie Bertinelli, then: bubbly sitcom star and America's Sweetheart turned tabloid headline and rock star wife. Now: actress, single working…
mother of teenage rock star, and weight-loss inspiration to millions. We all knew and loved Valerie Bertinelli years ago when she played girl-next-door cutie Barbara Cooper in the hit TV show One Day at a Time, and then starred in numerous TV movies. From wholesome primetime in America's living rooms, Valerie moved to late nights with the hardest-partying band of the decadent eighties when she became, at twenty, wife to rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Losing It is Valerie's frank account of her life backstage and in the spotlight. Here are the ups and downs of teen stardom, of her complicated marriage to a brilliant, tormented musical genius, and of her very public struggle with her weight. Surprising, uplifting, and empowering, Losing It takes you behind the scenes of Valerie's acting career and marriage, recalling the comforts, friendships, and problems of her television family, her close relationships with her parents and brothers, the stress and worries of being the wife of a rock star, and the joys of motherhood. Like many women, Valerie often remembers the state of her life by the food she ate and the numbers on her scale. So despite her celebrity, Valerie's voice is so down-to-earth, honest, and appealing that you'll feel as if you're talking with a girlfriend over coffee. Funny and candid, Valerie recounts her attempts to maintain a healthy self-image while dealing with social pressures to look and act a certain way, and to overcome career insecurities and relationship problems, all of which will be familiar to the hundreds of thousands of women who struggle every day with these same issues. From marital turmoil to the joys of a new career, from being named among Penthouse's ten sexiest women in the world to overhearing whispers about her weight gain in the grocery store, this is Valerie's inspiring journey as she finds new love, raises a terrific kid, and motivates other women as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig.Around the Way Girl: A Memoir
Par Taraji P. Henson. 2016
From Taraji P. Henson, Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe winner, and star of the award-winning film Hidden Figures and the…
2023 film The Color Purple, comes an inspiring and funny memoir—&“a bona fide hit&” (Essence)—about family, friends, the hustle required to make it in Hollywood, and the joy of living your own truth.With a sensibility that recalls her beloved screen characters, including Katherine, the NASA mathematician, Yvette, Queenie, Shug, and the iconic Cookie from Empire, Taraji P. Henson writes of her family, the one she was born into and the one she created. She shares stories of her father, a Vietnam vet who was bowed but never broken by life&’s challenges, and of her mother who survived violence both at home and on DC&’s volatile streets. Here, too, she opens up about her experiences as a single mother, a journey some saw as a burden but which she saw as a gift.Around the Way Girl is also a classic actor&’s memoir in which Taraji reflects on the world-class instruction she received at Howard University and how she chipped away, with one small role after another, at Hollywood&’s resistance to give women, particularly women of color, meaty significant roles. With laugh-out-loud humor and candor, she shares the challenges and disappointments of the actor&’s journey and shows us that behind the red carpet moments, she is ever authentic. She is at heart just a girl in pursuit of her dreams in this &“inspiring account of overcoming adversity and a quest for self-discovery, written with vitality and enthusiasm&” (Shelf Awareness).A Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New York
Par Anjelica Huston. 2013
Anjelica Huston’s “gorgeously written” (O, The Oprah Magazine) memoir is “an elegant, funny, and frequently haunting reminiscence of the first…
two decades of her life…A classic” (Vanity Fair).In her first, dazzling memoir, Anjelica Huston shares the story of her deeply unconventional early life—her enchanted childhood in Ireland, living with her glamorous and artistic mother, educated by tutors and nuns, intrepid on a horse. Huston was raised on an Irish estate to which—between movies—her father, director John Huston, brought his array of extraordinary friends, from Carson McCullers and John Steinbeck to Peter O’Toole and Marlon Brando.In London, where she lived with her mother and brother in the early sixties when her parents separated, Huston encountered the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac. She understudied Marianne Faithfull in Hamlet. Seventeen, striking, precocious, but still young and vulnerable, she was devastated when her mother died in a car crash. Months later she moved to New York, fell in love with the much older, brilliant but disturbed photographer, Bob Richardson, and became a model. Living in the Chelsea Hotel, working with Richard Avedon and other photographers, she navigated a volatile relationship and the dynamic cultural epicenter of New York in the seventies.A Story Lately Told is an “evocative” (The New York Times), “magically beautiful” (The Boston Globe) memoir. Huston’s second memoir, Watch Me, will be published in November 2014.I Am a Girl from Africa: A Memoir of Empowerment, Community, and Hope
Par Elizabeth Nyamayaro. 2021
A &“profound and soul-nourishing memoir&” (Oprah Daily) from an African girl whose near-death experience sparked a lifelong dedication to humanitarian…
work that helps bring change across the world.When severe drought hit her village in Zimbabwe, Elizabeth Nyamayaro, then only eight, had no idea that this moment of utter devastation would come to define her life&’s purpose. Unable to move from hunger and malnourishment, she encountered a United Nations aid worker who gave her a bowl of warm porridge and saved her life—a transformative moment that inspired Elizabeth to dedicate herself to giving back to her community, her continent, and the world.In the decades that have followed, Elizabeth has been instrumental in creating change and uplifting the lives of others: by fighting global inequalities, advancing social justice for vulnerable communities, and challenging the status quo to accelerate women&’s rights around the world. She has served as a senior advisor at the United Nations, where she launched HeForShe, one of the world&’s largest global solidarity movements for gender equality. In I Am a Girl from Africa, she charts this &“journey of perseverance&” (Entertainment Weekly) from her small village of Goromonzi to Harare, Zimbabwe; London; New York; and beyond, always grounded by the African concept of ubuntu—&“I am because we are&”—taught to her by her beloved grandmother.This &“victorious&” (The New York Times Book Review) memoir brings to vivid life one extraordinary woman&’s story of persevering through incredible odds and finding her true calling—while delivering an important message of hope, empowerment, community support, and interdependence.Calling Sergeant Crockford: The story of a pioneering policewoman in the 1960s
Par Ruth D'Alessandro. 2024
It's the dawn of the Swinging Sixties. The Cold War is at its height and support for the Campaign for…
Nuclear Disarmament is building. The Berkshire Constabulary's Detective Gwen Crockford is promoted to Woman Police Sergeant in Newbury – the town at the heart of Britain's atomic weapons programme.Gwen's initial reservations that her posting in rural Berkshire will be boring soon prove to be unfounded. A serial sex attacker on the loose, an attempted murder at Greenham Common US Airforce Base, and a charismatic heiress with a family secret keep things interesting for the capable sergeant.Laser-focused on her police career – and resigned to the single life – Gwen is forced to re-evaluate her plans when a nature-loving war veteran PC walks into the station with an orphaned fox cub, and there's a shocking discovery in a railway station lavatory.Written by her daughter Ruth and rich in social history, this is the story of a real-life woman police sergeant at the top of her game, guiding her WPCs through the immense societal changes of the early 1960s.Calling Sergeant Crockford: The story of a pioneering policewoman in the 1960s
Par Ruth D'Alessandro. 2024
It's the dawn of the Swinging Sixties. The Cold War is at its height and support for the Campaign for…
Nuclear Disarmament is building. The Berkshire Constabulary's Detective Gwen Crockford is promoted to Woman Police Sergeant in Newbury – the town at the heart of Britain's atomic weapons programme.Gwen's initial reservations that her posting in rural Berkshire will be boring soon prove to be unfounded. A serial sex attacker on the loose, an attempted murder at Greenham Common US Airforce Base, and a charismatic heiress with a family secret keep things interesting for the capable sergeant.Laser-focused on her police career – and resigned to the single life – Gwen is forced to re-evaluate her plans when a nature-loving war veteran PC walks into the station with an orphaned fox cub, and there's a shocking discovery in a railway station lavatory.Written by her daughter Ruth and rich in social history, this is the story of a real-life woman police sergeant at the top of her game, guiding her WPCs through the immense societal changes of the early 1960s.The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience
Par Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chelsea Clinton. 2019
Now an eight-part docuseries on Apple TV+ Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, share the stories of the gutsy…
women who have inspired them—women with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done.She couldn&’t have been more than seven or eight years old. &“Go ahead, ask your question,&” her father urged, nudging her forward. She smiled shyly and said, &“You&’re my hero. Who&’s yours?&” Many people—especially girls—have asked us that same question over the years. It&’s one of our favorite topics. HILLARY: Growing up, I knew hardly any women who worked outside the home. So I looked to my mother, my teachers, and the pages of Life magazine for inspiration. After learning that Amelia Earhart kept a scrapbook with newspaper articles about successful women in male-dominated jobs, I started a scrapbook of my own. Long after I stopped clipping articles, I continued to seek out stories of women who seemed to be redefining what was possible. CHELSEA: This book is the continuation of a conversation the two of us have been having since I was little. For me, too, my mom was a hero; so were my grandmothers. My early teachers were also women. But I grew up in a world very different from theirs. My pediatrician was a woman, and so was the first mayor of Little Rock who I remember from my childhood. Most of my close friends&’ moms worked outside the home as nurses, doctors, teachers, professors, and in business. And women were going into space and breaking records here on Earth. Ensuring the rights and opportunities of women and girls remains a big piece of the unfinished business of the twenty-first century. While there&’s a lot of work to do, we know that throughout history and around the globe women have overcome the toughest resistance imaginable to win victories that have made progress possible for all of us. That is the achievement of each of the women in this book. So how did they do it? The answers are as unique as the women themselves. Civil rights activist Dorothy Height, LGBTQ trailblazer Edie Windsor, and swimmer Diana Nyad kept pushing forward, no matter what. Writers like Rachel Carson and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie named something no one had dared talk about before. Historian Mary Beard used wit to open doors that were once closed, and Wangari Maathai, who sparked a movement to plant trees, understood the power of role modeling. Harriet Tubman and Malala Yousafzai looked fear in the face and persevered. Nearly every single one of these women was fiercely optimistic—they had faith that their actions could make a difference. And they were right. To us, they are all gutsy women—leaders with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done. So in the moments when the long haul seems awfully long, we hope you will draw strength from these stories. We do. Because if history shows one thing, it&’s that the world needs gutsy women.The Agitators: Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Women's Rights
Par Dorothy Wickenden. 2021
An LA Times Best Book of the Year, Christopher Award Winner, and Chautauqua Prize Finalist! &“Engrossing... examines the major events…
of the mid 19th century through the lives of three key figures in the abolitionist and women&’s rights movements.&” —Smithsonian From the executive editor of The New Yorker, a riveting, provocative, and revelatory history told through the story of three women—Harriet Tubman, Frances Seward, and Martha Wright—in the years before, during and after the Civil War.In the 1850s, Harriet Tubman, strategically brilliant and uncannily prescient, rescued some seventy enslaved people from Maryland&’s Eastern Shore and shepherded them north along the underground railroad. One of her regular stops was Auburn, New York, where she entrusted passengers to Martha Coffin Wright, a Quaker mother of seven, and Frances A. Seward, the wife of William H. Seward, who served over the years as governor, senator, and secretary of state under Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War, Tubman worked for the Union Army in South Carolina as a nurse and spy, and took part in a spectacular river raid in which she helped to liberate 750 slaves from several rice plantations. Wright, a &“dangerous woman&” in the eyes of her neighbors, worked side by side with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony to organize women&’s rights and anti-slavery conventions across New York State, braving hecklers and mobs when she spoke. Frances Seward, the most conventional of the three friends, hid her radicalism in public, while privately acting as a political adviser to her husband, pressing him to persuade President Lincoln to move immediately on emancipation. The Agitators opens in the 1820s, when Tubman is enslaved and Wright and Seward are young homemakers bound by law and tradition, and ends after the war. Many of the most prominent figures of the era—Lincoln, William H. Seward, Frederick Douglass, Daniel Webster, Charles Sumner, John Brown, William Lloyd Garrison—are seen through the discerning eyes of the protagonists. So are the most explosive political debates: about the civil rights of African Americans and women, about the enlistment of Black troops, and about opposing interpretations of the Constitution. Through richly detailed letters from the time and exhaustive research, Wickenden traces the second American revolution these women fought to bring about, the toll it took on their families, and its lasting effects on the country. Riveting and profoundly relevant to our own time, The Agitators brings a vibrant, original voice to this transformative period in our history.She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs
Par Sarah Smarsh. 2020
In this Time Top 100 Book of the Year, the National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author…
of Heartland &“analyzes how Dolly Parton&’s songs—and success—have embodied feminism for working-class women&” (People). Growing up amid Kansas wheat fields and airplane factories, Sarah Smarsh witnessed firsthand the particular vulnerabilities—and strengths—of women in working poverty. Meanwhile, country songs by female artists played in the background, telling powerful stories about life, men, hard times, and surviving. In her family, she writes, &“country music was foremost a language among women. It&’s how we talked to each other in a place where feelings aren&’t discussed.&” And no one provided that language better than Dolly Parton. In this &“tribute to the woman who continues to demonstrate that feminism comes in coats of many colors,&” Smarsh tells readers how Parton&’s songs have validated women who go unheard: the poor woman, the pregnant teenager, the struggling mother disparaged as &“trailer trash.&” Parton&’s broader career—from singing on the front porch of her family&’s cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains to achieving stardom in Nashville and Hollywood, from &“girl singer&” managed by powerful men to self-made mogul of business and philanthropy—offers a springboard to examining the intersections of gender, class, and culture. Infused with Smarsh&’s trademark insight, intelligence, and humanity, this is &“an ambitious book&” (The New Republic) about the icon Dolly Parton and an &“in-depth examination into gender and class and what it means to be a woman and a working-class hero that feels particularly important right now&” (Refinery29).Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West (The belador Code Ser.)
Par Dorothy Wickenden. 2011
From the author of The Agitators, the acclaimed and captivating true story of two restless society girls who left their…
affluent lives to &“rough it&” as teachers in the wilds of Colorado in 1916.In the summer of 1916, Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood, bored by society luncheons, charity work, and the effete men who courted them, left their families in Auburn, New York, to teach school in the wilds of northwestern Colorado. They lived with a family of homesteaders in the Elkhead Mountains and rode to school on horseback, often in blinding blizzards. Their students walked or skied, in tattered clothes and shoes tied together with string. The young cattle rancher who had lured them west, Ferry Carpenter, had promised them the adventure of a lifetime. He hadn’t let on that they would be considered dazzling prospective brides for the locals. Nearly a hundred years later, Dorothy Wickenden, the granddaughter of Dorothy Woodruff, found the teachers’ buoyant letters home, which captured the voices of the pioneer women, the children, and other unforgettable people the women got to know. In reconstructing their journey, Wickenden has created an exhilarating saga about two intrepid women and the “settling up” of the West.The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II
Par Denise Kiernan. 2013
The New York Times bestseller, now available in paperback—an incredible true story of the top-secret World War II town of…
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the young women brought there unknowingly to help build the atomic bomb.“The best kind of nonfiction: marvelously reported, fluidly written, and a remarkable story...As meticulous and brilliant as it is compulsively readable.” —Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second CityAt the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, and consumed more electricity than New York City, yet it was shrouded in such secrecy that it did not appear on any map. Thousands of civilians, many of them young women from small towns across the U.S., were recruited to this secret city, enticed by the promise of solid wages and war-ending work. What were they actually doing there? Very few knew. The purpose of this mysterious government project was kept a secret from the outside world and from the majority of the residents themselves. Some wondered why, despite the constant work and round-the-clock activity in this makeshift town, did no tangible product of any kind ever seem to leave its guarded gates? The women who kept this town running would find out at the end of the war, when Oak Ridge’s secret was revealed and changed the world forever.Drawing from the voices and experiences of the women who lived and worked in Oak Ridge, The Girls of Atomic City rescues a remarkable, forgotten chapter of World War II from obscurity. Denise Kiernan captures the spirit of the times through these women: their pluck, their desire to contribute, and their enduring courage. “A phenomenal story,” and Publishers Weekly called it an “intimate and revealing glimpse into one of the most important scientific developments in history.”“Kiernan has amassed a deep reservoir of intimate details of what life was like for women living in the secret city...Rosie, it turns out, did much more than drive rivets.” —The Washington PostBarbara Bush: A Memoir
Par Barbara Bush. 1994
The classic #1 New York Times bestselling memoir, celebrating the life and legacy of First Lady Barbara Bush—updated with new…
forewords from her five children, including reflections from George W. and Jeb, as featured on A&E&’s Biography.Barbara Bush endures as one of America&’s most popular First Ladies. She has won worldwide acclaim for her wit, compassion, and candor as both a presidential wife and mother. In this fascinating memoir, Mrs. Bush offers a heartfelt portrait of her life in and out of the White House, from her small-town schoolgirl days in Rye, New York, to her fateful union with George H.W. Bush, to her role as First Lady of the United States. Here, she writes candidly about her early years with George Bush in West Texas and the tragic death of their young daughter, Pauline. She also discusses the world of Washington politics and the famous figures she&’s met, as well as the disappointment of the 1992 presidential campaign—and the mixed blessing of regaining her private life, including her role as the nation&’s leading literacy champion. Filled with entertaining anecdotes, thirty-two pages of personal photographs, and a healthy dose of introspection, this memoir is &“a book of good grace and humor—written in a style that, like the author herself, is straightforward, unembellished, generous, good-hearted, and wise…A pleasure&” (The Washington Times).A Splendid Intelligence: The Life Of Elizabeth Hardwick
Par Cathy Curtis. 2022
The first biography of the extraordinary essayist, critic, and short story writer Elizabeth Hardwick, author of the semiautobiographical novel Sleepless…
Nights. Born in Kentucky, Elizabeth Hardwick left for New York City on a Greyhound bus in 1939 and quickly made a name for herself as a formidable member of the intellectual elite. Her eventful life included stretches of dire poverty, romantic escapades, and dustups with authors she eviscerated in The New York Review of Books, of which she was a cofounder. She formed lasting friendships with literary notables—including Mary McCarthy, Adrienne Rich, and Susan Sontag—who appreciated her sharp wit and relish for gossip, progressive politics, and great literature. Hardwick’s life and writing were shaped by a turbulent marriage to the poet Robert Lowell, whom she adored, standing by faithfully through his episodes of bipolar illness. Lowell’s decision to publish excerpts from her private letters in The Dolphin greatly distressed Hardwick and ignited a major literary controversy. Hardwick emerged from the scandal with the clarity and wisdom that illuminate her brilliant work—most notably Sleepless Nights, a daring, lyrical, and keenly perceptive collage of reflections and glimpses of people encountered as they stumble through lives of deprivation or privilege. A Splendid Intelligence finally gives Hardwick her due as one of the great postwar cultural critics. Ranging over a broad territory—from the depiction of women in classic novels to the civil rights movement, from theater in New York to life in Brazil, Kentucky, and Maine—Hardwick’s essays remain strikingly original, fiercely opinionated, and exquisitely wrought. In this lively and illuminating biography, Cathy Curtis offers an intimate portrait of an exceptional woman who vigorously forged her own identity on and off the page.I am Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Ordinary People Change the World)
Par Brad Meltzer. 2024
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the 32nd hero in the New York Times bestselling picture book biography series…
for ages 5 to 9.Before Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the judge, she was a young Jewish girl growing up in Brooklyn, inspired by books, past female trailblazers, and her mother to make the world a better, more just place to be. So even when people turned her away—for being a girl and for being Jewish—she never stopped fighting for equal treatment for everyone by pushing back against unjust laws and the beliefs around them. This friendly, fun biography series inspired the PBS Kids TV show Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. One great role model at a time, these books encourage kids to dream big.Included in each book are: A timeline of key events in the hero&’s history Photos that bring the story more fully to life Comic-book-style illustrations that are irresistibly adorableChildhood moments that influenced the hero Facts that make great conversation-starters A virtue this person embodies: Ruth Bader Ginsburg&’s perseverance to create justice and equality is highlighted. You&’ll want to collect each book in this dynamic, informative series!The Bower Atmosphere: A Biography of B. M. Bower
Par Victoria Lamont. 2024
B. M. (Bertha Muzzy) Bower was the first author to make a living writing popular westerns, creating more than sixty…
novels and hundreds of short stories that were read by millions of Americans. Bower&’s were among the first westerns adapted to film, and the exploits of her cowboys at the fictional Flying U ranch established a tradition that flourishes to this day. A Montana mother of three, she began writing short stories in 1900, desperate for money that would allow her to leave her unhappy marriage to a cowboy employed by the McNamara ranch. Discouraged by her editors from publicizing her identity as a woman, Bower&’s important contribution to American mass culture faded from cultural memory after her death in 1940. Based on extensive research in Bower&’s personal archives and publishers&’ records, as well as interviews with some of her descendants, The Bower Atmosphere recounts the remarkable twists and turns of Bower&’s life, from her beginnings on a Montana cattle ranch to her success as a writer of serial westerns, all the while contending with the conflicting pressures of editors, husbands, children, and her own creative aspirations.Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park
Par Lori Alexander. 2024
How did the Joshua Tree National Park in California come to be? Meet Minerva Hamilton Hoyt, an artist, activist, and…
environmentalist, whose determination saved the desert and helped to create the park, in this STEAM picture book.Long before she became known as the Cactus Queen, Minerva Hamilton Hoyt found solace in the unexpected beauty of the Mojave Desert in California. She loved the jackrabbits and coyotes, the prickly cacti, and especially the weird, spiky Joshua trees.However, in the 1920s, hardly anyone else felt the same way. The desert was being thoughtlessly destroyed by anyone and everyone. Minerva knew she needed to bring attention to the problem. With the help of her gardening club, taxidermists, and friends, she took the desert east and put its plants and animals on display. The displays were a hit, but Minerva needed to do much more: she wanted to have the desert recognized as a national park. Although she met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and won him over, Minerva still had to persuade politicians, scientists, teachers, and others to support her cause. And, it worked! Minerva&’s efforts led to what came to be known as Joshua Tree National Park in California, and saved hundreds of thousands of plants and animals. Now, the millions of people who visit each year have learned to love the desert, just as Minerva did.Joyce Carol Oates: Letters to a Biographer
Par Joyce Carol Oates. 2024
This rich compilation of Joyce Carol Oates's letters across four decades displays her warmth and generosity, her droll and sometimes…
wicked sense of humor, her phenomenal energy, and most of all, her mastery of the lost art of letter writing. "It's hard to think of another writer with as fecund and protean an imagination as the eighty-five-year-old Joyce Carol Oates, who is surely on any short list of America's greatest living writers." —New York Times Magazine In this generous selection of Joyce Carol Oates's letters to her biographer and friend Greg Johnson, readers will discover a never-before-seen dimension of her phenomenal talent. In 1975, when Johnson was a graduate student, he first wrote to Oates, already a world-famous author, and drew an appreciative, empathetic response. Soon the two began a fairly intense, largely epistolary friendship that would last until the present day. As time passed, letters became faxes, and faxes became emails, but the energy and vividness of Oates's writing never abated. Her letters are often sprinkled with the names of famous people, from John Updike and Toni Morrison to Steve Martin and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. There are also descriptions of far-flung travels she undertook with her first husband, the scholar and editor Raymond Smith, and with her second, the distinguished Princeton neuroscientist Charlie Gross. But much of Oates's prose centered on the pleasures of her home life, including her pet cats and the wildlife outside her study window. Whereas her academic essays and book reviews are eloquent in a formal way, in these letters she is wholly relaxed, even when she is serious in her concerns. Like Johnson, she was always engaged in work, whether a long novel or a brief essay, and the letters give a fascinating glimpse into Oates's writing practice.In True Face: A Woman's Life in the CIA, Unmasked
Par Jonna Mendez. 2024
The bestselling coauthor of The Moscow Rules and Argo tells her riveting, courageous story of being a female spy at…
the height of the Cold War Jonna Hiestand Mendez began her CIA career as a &“contract wife&” performing secretarial duties for the CIA as a convenience to her husband, a young officer stationed in Europe. She needed his permission to open a bank account or shut off the gas to their apartment. Yet Mendez had a talent for espionage, too, and she soon took on bigger and more significant roles at the Agency. She parlayed her interest in photography into an operational role overseas, an unlikely area for a woman in the CIA. Often underestimated, occasionally undermined, she lived under cover and served tours of duty all over the globe, rising first to become an international spy and ultimately to Chief of Disguise at CIA&’s Office of Technical Service.In True Face recounts not only the drama of Mendez&’s high-stakes work—how this savvy operator parlayed her &“everywoman&” appeal into incredible subterfuge—but also the grit and good fortune it took for her to navigate a misogynistic world. This is the story of an incredible spy career and what it took to achieve it.Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and the Zionist Dream (Jewish Lives)
Par Francine Klagsbrun. 2024
Award-winning author Francine Klagsbrun reveals the complex life and work of Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah and a Zionist trailblazer…
Henrietta Szold (1860–1945) is renowned as the founder of Hadassah, the Women&’s Zionist Organization of America, which quickly became one of the most successful of all Zionist groups. In her work with Hadassah, Szold used a combined ethical and pragmatic approach aimed at improving the lives of both Jews and Arabs. She later moved to Mandate Palestine to help shape education, health, and social services there. The pinnacle of her career came in her seventies, when she took on the task of directing the Youth Aliyah program, which rescued thousands of young people from the Nazis and resettled them in Palestine. Using Szold&’s copious letters, diaries, and essays, along with other archival documents, Francine Klagsbrun traces Szold&’s life and legacy with an eye to uncovering the person behind the Zionist icon. She reveals Szold as a complex human being who had to cope with controversy and criticism, a workaholic with an outsized sense of duty, and an idealist who fought for her beliefs even as she questioned her own abilities. With deep insight, Klagsbrun introduces readers to this extraordinary woman, whose impact on women&’s lives as well as on education and health systems still resonates.