Showing results for "John" in Cultural & Regional

The saga of John Kennedy Toole is one of the greatest stories of American literary history. In Butterfly in the Typewriter, Cory MacLauchlin draws on scores of new interviews with friends, family, and colleagues as well as full access to the extensive Toole archive at Tulane University, capturing his upbringing in New Orleans, his years in New York City, his frenzy of writing in Puerto Rico, his return to his beloved city, and his descent into paranoia and depression.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2015 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD This is the autobiography that John Aubrey never wrote. You may not know his name. Aubrey was a modest man, a gentleman-scholar who cared far more for the preservation of history than for his own legacy. But he was a passionate collector, an early...

Few figures are more seminal in the abolitionist movement in America than John Brown. His firebrand approach to the movement arose out of his religiously inspired and deep-seated belief that slavery was not only morally unjust but that its removal from American society could only be achieved through armed insurrection. Prominent African American W. E. B. Du Bois chronicles the life of John Brown in this 1909 biography. In the words of Du Bois, John Brown was "a man whose leadership lay not in his office, wealth or influence, but in the white flame of his utter devotion to an ideal." 

Considered by many to be a founder of Afrofuturism, Sun Ra - a.k.a. Herman Blount - was a composer, keyboardist, bandleader, philosopher, entrepreneur, poet, and self-proclaimed extraterrestrial from Saturn. He recorded over 200 albums with his Arkestra, which, dressed in Egypto-space costumes, played everything from boogie-woogie and swing to fusion and free jazz. 

Seen around the world, John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s Black Power salute on the 1968 Olympic podium sparked controversy and career fallout. Yet their show of defiance remains one of the most iconic images of Olympic history and the Black Power movement. Here is the remarkable story of one of the men behind the salute, lifelong activist John Carlos.

For six decades John Robert Lewis was a towering figure in the U.S. struggle for civil rights. As an activist and progressive congressman, he was renowned for his unshakable integrity, indomitable courage, and determination to get into "good trouble." In this biography of Lewis, Raymond Arsenault traces Lewis's upbringing in rural Alabama, his activism, his championing of voting rights and anti-poverty initiatives, and his decades of service as the "conscience of Congress."

From the best-selling author of Londoners, a symphony of contemporary New York in the magnificent words of its people. Terror Blackout Hurricane Recession Pandemic A symphony of contemporary New York told through the magnificent words of its people - from the best-selling author of Londoners. In...

We Only Came to Dream is a memoir, not a novel, of the Counterculture Era (“hippie”). It is often one of high humor, silent introspection, and even danger. It was a time of social upheaval, a redefinition of the role of sex and race, and what it meant to be part of the mainstream…or not. Rediscovery was in the air, a marijuana-filled air, and often included quite a bit of travel.

Seen around the world, John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s Black Power salute on the 1968 Olympic podium sparked controversy and career fallout. Yet their show of defiance remains one of the most iconic images of Olympic history and the Black Power movement. Here is the remarkable story of one of the men behind the salute, lifelong activist, John Carlos.

Born into poverty in a crime-ridden town and unaware of his Ojibwe heritage, John Eric Aslin’s earliest memories are of a harrowing childhood rife with abuse. This troubling upbringing led him to an adolescence full of crime, when at 21 he was sentenced to life in prison for an accidental death. Thirty-six years later, he’s still behind bars, and almost a senior citizen. This heartbreaking account explores the life of John Aslin, painting a poignant and eye-opening picture of the struggles he faced during his upbringing, and the unfortunate hardships that led him to crime.

In The Dalaly Way: Conquering Crisis, listeners get a self-directed workbook crafted by John Dalaly. He is a man of faith, family, and an entrepreneur who launched many businesses that employed more than 1,000 people. One wrong decision influenced federal authorities to bring criminal charges against him for bribing a public official. Wanting to make amends, John Dalaly accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty for the crime he committed

John Jea was born in 1773 near Calabar in the Bight of Biafra and was sold into slavery in New York City. After learning to read the Bible, he was freed and eventually undertook journeys to South America and Europe. His autobiography included poetry.

The memoirs collected in this book tell of an America where families and neighbors came together to help each other survive America's longest and deepest economic depression. These are memories of ordinary Americans of a time now nearly forgotten.

Can a single kiss, a few spoken words, or a redheaded cheerleader alter the course of your life? Confronted with his own mortality, a crumbling economy, and the loss of everything he holds dear, a husband and father of three fears that his troubles are retribution for the sins of his youth—the wrath of consequence. In this thoughtful, funny, and heart-wrenching memoir of bullying, teenage angst, lost innocence, cancer survival, and the triumph of courage over fear, John Daly transforms an ordinary life growing up in 1970s New Jersey into something extraordinary.

Born-and-raised Johns Island resident Lee Glover tells the story of the evolution of his home from a rural agrarian setting to a rapidly changing sea island of the Low Country. Traditionally, Johns Island produced millions of pounds of fresh produce that was shipped all across America every year. Each summer, migrants and workers of all description, and in numbers sometimes surpassing the island's total population, flocked to participate in the harvest.

'The pride in who we are is not part of our past, it defines our present and our future' - The Queen From Big Ben to James Bond, from the Battle of Hastings to the Beatles, from William Shakespeare to the Royal Family, our tiny island nation has a famed and varied history. But we are special as...

In Steel Drivin' Man, Scott Reynolds Nelson recounts the true story of the man behind the iconic American hero, telling the poignant tale of a young Virginia convict who died working on one of the most dangerous enterprises of the time: the first rail route through the Appalachian Mountains. Using census data, penitentiary reports, and railroad company reports, Nelson reveals how John Henry, victimized by Virginia's notorious Black Codes, was shipped to the infamous Richmond Penitentiary to become prisoner number 497, and was forced to labor on the mile-long Lewis Tunnel for the C&O railroad.

The daughter of an international financier, Mona Martinsen was a tall, striking, visionary sculptor studying in Paris with the renowned Auguste Rodin. The son of an American pioneer family on the Great Plains, John G. Neihardt was a short, brilliant but impoverished poet and writer. It seemed like a colossal mismatch, yet both were irresistibly drawn to the same things. In the beginning as in the end, it was a passion for beauty and a celebration of the marvelous that bound Mona and John.

I wanted to demonstrate how consistently fascinated I am by the choices that other people make. During the course of my work as a police officer, I had the pleasure of interacting with a great many amazing people from all social classes. As a consequence of this, I had the idea to write about the utterly amazing people I met during the course of my career in law enforcement.