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Showing 1 - 20 of 2264 items
By Eva Petulengro. 2011
Born into a Romany gypsy family in 1939, Eva Petulengro's childhood seemed to her to be idyllic in every way.…
She would travel the country with her family in their painted caravan and spend evenings by the fire as they sang and told stories of their past. She didn't go to school or visit a doctor when she was unwell. Instead her family would gather wild herbs to make traditional remedies, hunt game and rabbits, and while the men tended horses to make a living, the young girls would join the women in reading palms. But Eva's perfect world would be turned upside down as the countryside became increasingly hostile to all travellers. 2011.By Beverley Nichols. 1972
By T J Stiles. 2010
T J Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon who did more…
than perhaps any other individual to create modern capitalism. From Vanderbilt's humble birth during the presidency of George Washington to his death as one of the richest men in American history, we see how the Commodore helped to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan and invent the modern corporation. 2010.By Sandra Martin, Ed Martin Sandra. 2007
In twenty-two original narratives, some of Canada's most acclaimed writers share stories, memories, insights, and revelations - from the comic…
to the tragic - about the first man in their lives. These complex stories will open a fresh and intense conversation with daughters everywhere about the men they've observed since childhood: their fathers. Some descriptions of sex and violence and some strong language. 2007.By Larry Pynn. 1996
In 1992, Vancouver Sun journalist Larry Pynn decided to undertake an adventure. He followed the old Stikine Trail in the…
Yukon, by foot, horseback and canoe, to the Klondike. He discovered many relics, met colourful characters, and relived Canadian gold rush history.By Peter C Newman. 1982
By Leah Rosenberg. 1981
By James McBride. 1996
One of twelve siblings in Brooklyn, the author was confused about his mother's race. She called herself light-skinned and refused…
to discuss her past. Years later she admitted to being an Orthodox rabbi's daughter whose family shunned her after her marriage to the first of her two black husbands. Some strong language. 1996.By Lee Siegel. 2017
Hoping to make a killing in New Jersey real estate, the author's father, Monroe Siegel, takes a draw from his…
employer against unearned commission. When the recession hits in the 1970s, Monroe finds himself owing a small fortune to his firm. He sinks toward divorce and bankruptcy, while Lola, Lee's mother, suffers a nervous breakdown that turns her into a different person. Shamed and enraged by his father's fate, Lee grows up wondering what society owes a person who has failed materially but preserved his humanity. Touches on fundamental questions: How do we balance our obligations to ourselves with our obligations to others? What do we owe society when its rules have a legal basis but not a moral one? 2017.By Jerry Kobalenko. 2002
Ellesmere Island lays a mere 450 miles from the North Pole and has the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere…
east of the Rockies. For more than a decade, Kobalenko has traced the routes of explorers and Inuits, and broken many new trails across the frozen terrain of Ellesmere Island. He investigates the motives and mistakes of the island's first explorers, searches for clues to the mysterious disappearance of scientist-explorer Dr. Hans Kruger and the murder of an Inuit guide. 2002.By John Cannon. 2000
This account of the Bronte family traces their Irish ancestry from its murky origins around 1710 to 1820 when the…
Bronte family arrived at Haworth Parsonage, Yorkshire. Patrick Brunty was the eldest of a family of ten from Ballynaskeagh near Newry in County Down. His parents were uneducated and impoverished, but his father, Hugh, was known locally as a storyteller whose repertoire included the strange tale of Welsh Brunty, almost certainly a prototype for Heathcliff. Patrick won a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge, was ordained a Church of England priest, and held various ministries until finally he arrived in Haworth with his wife suffering from cancer and six young children. He cherished literary ambitions which he passed on to Charlotte, Emily and Anne; and this book points out certain themes and stories in their novels which could only have come from a profound knowledge of their Irish roots as told to them by their father. 2000.By Jeannette Walls. 2006
Reporter for MSNBC.com looks back on her unsettled life. Describes growing up in a dysfunctional family, which was always on…
the move. She recalls her father's dream of building a "glass castle," and relates how she and her siblings escaped to make lives of their own. Bestseller. 2006.By Pierre Berton. 1996
Berton relates the history of the Great Lakes and the humans who have lived around them. From their birth during…
the Ice Age to the fight to save them from pollution, Berton tells the many stories which their shores have witnessed. 1996.By John H Davis. 1978
By William C Rempel. 2018
Tells the rags-to-riches story of self-made billionaire Kirk Kerkorian--the daring aviator, movie mogul, risk-taker, and business tycoon who transformed Las…
Vegas and Hollywood as one of the top financiers in America. 2018.By Anne Kingston. 1994
Chronicles the rise of Dave Nichol, whose work with private label products helped revolutionize the supermarket industry. First brought into…
Loblaws by Galen Weston in 1971, Nichol became president in 1976, but was moved to a smaller arm of Loblaws in 1984. Here, he met his great success, developing President's Choice into a retail phenomenon. Kingston discusses Nichol's work at Loblaws, his aggressive and sometimes abusive personality, and his departure from Loblaws in 1993. 1994.By Rod McQueen. 1998
A revealing look at how the Eaton dynasty was created over four generations and almost destroyed in one. It discusses…
the private and business lives of a colourful cast of characters who have touched the lives of Canadians from coast to coast. 1998.By Geoffrey Wolff. 1979
The author recaptures the paradox of his brilliant father's turbulent life. Although he found it "fun to be Duke Wolff’s…
son," it was also harrowing to see his father's lies, debts, drinking, and irresponsibility. Some strong language. 1979.By Axel Madsen. 2000
William C. Durant did big things the big way: he overreached, but, until his final failure, he picked up the…
pieces time after time to confound his competitors. From a turbulent childhood in the small town of Flint, Michigan, to his phenomenal success in creating General Motors, Durant's meteoric career easily rivals the success stories of modern legends. 2000.By Don Gillmor. 1999
When Don Gillmor's grandmother broke her hip at the age of eighty, a family secret was revealed: her twin sister…
was not really her twin, but her aunt. The secret had been hidden since the family moved from Scotland to Winnipeg in order to escape the shame of her illegitimacy. The discovery of this secret prompted Gillmor to journey to Scotland and trace his family's history. 1999.