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Murdered Midas: a millionaire, his gold mine, and a strange death on an island paradise /
By Charlotte Gray. 2019
On an island paradise in 1943, Sir Harry Oakes, gold mining tycoon, philanthropist and "richest man in the Empire," was…
murdered. The news of his death surged across the English-speaking world, from London, the Imperial centre, to the remote Canadian mining town of Kirkland Lake, in the Northern Ontario bush. The murder became celebrated as "the crime of the century." The layers of mystery deepened as the involvement of Oakes' son-in-law, Count Alfred de Marigny, came quickly to be questioned, as did the odd machinations of the Governor of the Bahamas, the former King Edward VIII. Despite a sensational trial, no murderer was ever convicted. Rumours were unrelenting about Oakes' missing fortune, and fascination with the Oakes story has persisted for decades. Award-winning biographer and popular historian Charlotte Gray explores, for the first time, the life of the man behind the scandal, a man who was both reviled and admired - from his early, hardscrabble days of mining exploration, to his explosion of wealth, to his grandiose gestures of philanthropy. And Gray brings fresh eyes to the bungled investigation and shocking trial in the remote colonial island streets, proposing an overlooked suspect in this long cold case. 2019.Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson (Untold Lives Series)
By Mark Bourrie. 2019
NOMINATED FOR THE 2020 RBC TAYLOR PRIZE AS SEEN ON GLOBAL NEWS-TV'S THE MORNING SHOW Murderer. Salesman. Pirate. Adventurer. Cannibal.…
Co-founder of the Hudson's Bay Company. Known to some as the first European to explore the upper Mississippi, and widely as the namesake of ships and hotel chains, Pierre-Esprit Radisson is perhaps best described, writes Mark Bourrie, as “an eager hustler with no known scruples.” Kidnapped by Mohawk warriors at the age of fifteen, Radisson assimilated and was adopted by a powerful family, only to escape to New York City after less than a year. After being recaptured, he defected from a raiding party to the Dutch and crossed the Atlantic to Holland—thus beginning a lifetime of seized opportunities and frustrated ambitions. A guest among First Nations communities, French fur traders, and royal courts; witness to London’s Great Plague and Great Fire; and unwitting agent of the Jesuits’ corporate espionage, Radisson double-crossed the English, French, Dutch, and his adoptive Mohawk family alike, found himself marooned by pirates in Spain, and lived through shipwreck on the reefs of Venezuela. His most lasting venture as an Artic fur trader led to the founding of the Hudson’s Bay Company, which operates today, 350 years later, as North America’s oldest corporation. Sourced from Radisson’s journals, which are the best first-hand accounts of 17th century Canada, Bush Runner tells the extraordinary true story of this protean 17th-century figure, a man more trading partner than colonizer, a peddler of goods and not worldview—and with it offers a fresh perspective on the world in which he lived.Aloha Wanderwell: The Border-Smashing, Record-Setting Life of the World's Youngest Explorer
By Christian Fink-Jensen, Randolph Eustace-Walden. 2016
In 1922, a 15-year-old girl, fed up with life in a French convent school, answered an ad for a travelling…
secretary. Tall, blonde, and swaggering with confidence, she might have passed for twenty. She also knew what she wanted: to become the first female to drive around the world. Her name was Aloha Wanderwell. Aloha's mission was foolhardy in the extreme. Drivable roads were scarce and cars were alien to much of the world. The Wanderwell Expedition created a specially modified Model T Ford for the journey that featured gun scabbards and a sloped back that could fold out to become a darkroom. All that remained was for Aloha to learn how to drive. Aloha became known around the globe. She was photographed in front of the Eiffel Tower, parked on the back of the Sphinx, firing mortars in China, and smiling at a tickertape parade in Detroit. By the age of 25, she had become a pilot, a film star, an ambassador for world peace, and the centrepiece of one of the biggest unsolved murder mysteries in California history. Her story defied belief, but it was true. Every bit of it. Except for her name. The American Aloha Wanderwell was, in reality, the Canadian Idris Hall. Drawing upon Aloha's diaries and travel logs, as well as films, photographs, newspaper accounts, and previously classified government documents, Aloha Wanderwell reveals the astonishing story of one of the greatest — and most outrageous — explorers of the 1920s.The Whisper on the Night Wind: The True History of a Wilderness Legend
By Adam Shoalts. 2021
NATIONAL BESTSELLERSpellbinding adventure from Canada's most beloved modern-day explorer.Traverspine is not a place you will find on most maps. A…
century ago, it stood near the foothills of the remote Mealy Mountains in central Labrador. Today it is an abandoned ghost town, almost all trace of it swallowed up by dark spruce woods that cloak millions of acres.In the early 1900s, this isolated little settlement was the scene of an extraordinary haunting by large creatures none could identify. Strange tracks were found in the woods. Unearthly cries were heard in the night. Sled dogs went missing. Children reported being stalked by a terrifying grinning animal. Families slept with cabin doors barred and axes and guns at their bedsides.Tales of things that "go bump in the night" are part of the folklore of the wilderness, told and retold around countless campfires down through the ages. Most are easily dismissed by skeptics. But what happened at Traverspine a hundred years ago was different. The eye-witness accounts were detailed, and those who reported them included no less than three medical doctors and a wildlife biologist.Something really did emerge from the wilderness to haunt the little settlement of Traverspine. Adam Shoalts, decorated modern-day explorer and an expert on wilderness folklore, picks up the trail from a century ago and sets off into the Labrador wild to investigate the tale. It is a spine-tingling adventure, straight from a land steeped in legends and lore, where Vikings wandered a thousand years ago and wolves and bears still roam free.In delving into the dark corners of Canada's wild, The Whisper on the Night Wind combines folklore, history, and adventure into a fascinating saga of exploration.Full of Hot Air: Launching, Floating High, and Landing
By Gary Paulsen. 1979
A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador
By Mina Hubbard. 2004
The fascinating story of the first white person to cross Labrador In 1905 Mina Benson Hubbard became the first white…
person to cross Labrador, documenting her travels in the classic A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador. This reissue, edited and fully annotated by Sherrill Grace, makes the complete work available for the first time since the original 1908 publication and features an introduction that situates Hubbard's writing in the context of her life and times, making clear how unusual - and unexpected - it was for a woman to undertake such an expedition, let alone going on to write and lecture about it.From his impoverished childhood to his feat of becoming one of the most successful entertainers of all time, this fascinating…
biography presents a memorable portrait of magician and escape artist Harry Houdini. Guidelines for 21 fun magic tricks are also provided, including how to stick a needle into a balloon without popping it, how to step through a note card, and how to make a coin vanish. Illustrating the science and logic behind many of Houdini's most notable acts, the magic-based activities also explain his famous Milk Can Escape through an accessible water displacement experiment and demonstrate simple mathematics with his Odd Number Trick. Touching on his time as an actor, an aviator, and possibly even a spy for the U.S. government, this thoroughly entertaining biography also features a time line, curriculum links for educators, and books and websites for further exploration.Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: Their Lives and Ideas, 24 Activities (For Kids series)
By Carol Sabbeth. 2005
Children will find artistic inspiration as they learn about iconic artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in these imaginative and…
colorful activities. The art and ideas of Kahlo and Rivera are explored through projects that include painting a self-portrait Kahlo-style, creating a mural with a social message like Rivera, making a Day of the Dead ofrenda, and crafting an Olmec head carving. Vibrant illustrations throughout the book include Rivera's murals and paintings, Kahlo's dreamscapes and self-portraits, pre-Columbian art and Mexican folk art, as well as many photographs of the two artists. Children will learn that art is more than just pretty pictures; it can be a way to express the artist's innermost feelings, a source of everyday joy and fun, an outlet for political ideas, and an expression of hope for a better world. Sidebars will introduce children to other Mexican artists and other notable female artists. A time line, listings of art museums and places where Kahlo and Rivera's art can be viewed, and a list of relevant websites complete this cross-cultural art experience.A First Cookbook for Children
By Christopher Santoro, Evelyne Johnson. 1983
Finally, a beginning cookbook designed especially for children -- and one that adds the fun of coloring to the joy…
of cooking. A First Cookbook for Children contains a wide variety of yummy, mouth-watering recipes that kids love and love to fix: cheeseburgers, chicken, pizza, salads, sauces, desserts, dips, and much more.Assuming no previous cooking experience, the author gently guides the reader from start to finish with special sections on muffins, cakes, meat loaf, chicken, dips & dunks, corn bread, scalloped potatoes, biscuits, salads, hamburgers, fish, cookies, macaroni & cheese, pancakes, candies, dressings, pizza, baked ham, crudités, and rice.Simple, easy-to-follow instructions plus clear explanations of ingredients and utensils take a child through each step of food preparation and actual cooking. A helpful introduction includes lists of necessary equipment and basic ingredients along with five sample menus. A fun first cookbook for kids ages 10 and up, this volume offers 60 sure-to-please recipes.No Baggage: A Minimalist Tale Of Love And Wandering
By Clara Bensen. 2016
One Dress, Three Weeks, Eight Countries--Zero Baggage Newly recovered from a quarter-life meltdown, Clara Bensen decided to test her comeback…
by signing up for an online dating account. She never expected to meet Jeff, a wildly energetic university professor with a reputation for bucking convention. They barely know each other’s last names when they agree to set out on a risky travel experiment spanning eight countries and three weeks. The catch? No hotel reservations, no plans, and best of all, no baggage. Clara’s story will resonate with adventurers and homebodies alike--it’s at once a romance, a travelogue, and a bright modern take on the age-old questions: How do you find the courage to explore beyond your comfort zone? Can you love someone without the need for labels and commitment? Is it possible to truly leave your baggage behind?With a polished walking stick and neatly pressed trousers, Richard Halliburton served as an intrepid globetrotting guide for millions of…
Americans in the 1920s and '30s. Readers waited with bated breath for each new article and book he wrote. During his career, Halliburton climbed the Matterhorn, nearly fell out of his plane while shooting the first aerial photographs of Mt. Everest, and became the first person to swim the Panama Canal. With his matinee idol looks, the Tennessee native was a media darling in an era of optimism and increased social openness. But as the Great Depression and looming war pushed America toward social conservatism, Halliburton more actively worked to hide his homosexuality, burnishing his image as a masculine trailblazer. As chronicled in American Daredevil, Halliburton harnessed the media of his day to gain and maintain a widespread following long before our age of the 24-hour news cycle, and thus became the first celebrity adventure journalist. And during the darkest hours of the Great Depression, Halliburton did something remarkable: he inspired generations of authors, journalists, and everyday people who dreamt of fame and glory to explore the world.Great American Artists for Kids: Hands-On Art Experiences in the Styles of Great American Masters
By Kim Solga, Maryann F. Kohl. 2008
Fun and easy art-appreciation activities abound in this resource that features 75 American artists from colonial times to the present.…
A brief biography for each artist tells why his or her work is important, and a kid-tested art activity tries out the artist's approach. For Georgia O'Keeffe, the activity is a desert painting; for Frederic Remington, a face cast; for Leroy Nieman, a sketch of athletes; and for James Whistler, a clay engraving. Projects stress the creative process and encourage kids to try unusual techniques such as block printing, soak-stain, and stone carving as they learn about architecture, drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture. A resource guide provides a glossary of art terms, a list that groups the artists by style, a list of the artists' birthdays, an index of art supplies, and websites for viewing art online.Memoirs of a Buccaneer: Dampier's New Voyage Round the World, 1697
By William Dampier. 1968
It was William Dampier's passion to see the world that turned him into a buccaneer. He possessed remarkable powers of…
observation and analysis, and his life as a seventeenth-century navigator aboard pirate and privateering ships is brilliantly detailed in his journal. Throughout his travels of Central and South America and the East Indies, Dampier provides riveting accounts of sea battles against Spanish treasure ships, as well as pirate life, lore, and customs. Originally published in 1697 as the New Voyage, his journal became an instant success, and has been read ever since as one of the greatest travel and adventure accounts ever written.But Memoirs of a Buccaneer is far more than historical adventure. Dampier was a man of intelligence and education with a strong naturalist's urge, and his book quickly became a vital source of information on the geology, biology, zoology, and peoples of the lands he visited. His descriptions of the West Indian manatee, booby birds, cacao, and mangrove trees--flora and fauna never before heard of in England and the Continent--are incredibly accurate. His notes on the produce of Guam and Mindanao--coconuts, vanilla beans, bananas, breadfruit, and more--exerted a powerful influence on Britain's explorations and colonizations. And his depictions of Central America's Mosquito Indians and the natives of Mindanao proved to be highly reliable.The influence of this classic book on the work of later travelers is incalculable, leading writers such as Defoe, Swift, and Coleridge to borrow both facts and literary style from it. It continues to inspire readers today.How to Make Origami Airplanes That Fly
By Gery Hsu. 1992
Pure origami is an ancient and elegant art, whereas making paper airplanes is often considered a relatively modern recreation. Origami…
focuses on beauty, while the performance of a paper airplane is usually its most important attribute. This clearly written, carefully illustrated how-to book combines the two activities to produce an up-to-date innovation: artfully constructed origami airplanes that actually fly.The author first shows you how to construct the Jet Tail, an important basic feature that is needed for many of the more difficult models diagrammed later. This is followed by detailed, step-by-step directions and diagrams for creating each of 12 different models: space shuttle, futuristic shuttle, flying wing, delta wing-jet, fighter plane, interceptor, double tail fighter, dart plane, fighter plane with engines, futuristic fighter, and two different jets.The projects progress in level of difficulty; as you master the simpler models you will be developing the skills you need to assemble the more complicated craft. The book also includes valuable suggestions about types of paper to use, useful hints that help ensure success, and solutions to common problems paperfolders may encounter.Captain Phil Harris: The Legendary Crab Fisherman, Our Hero, Our Dad
By Steve Springer, Josh Harris, Jake Harris, Blake Chavez. 2013
The electrifying behind-the-scenes story of the late Deadliest Catch star, from his own two sons.Prior to his untimely death in…
2010, Captain Phil Harris was a star of Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch, the hit show that follows the exhilarating lives of Alaskan crab fishermen as they brave the vicious Bering Sea. He led his crew through hurricane-force winds and fourstory- high waves, hauling in millions of pounds of crab and raking in millions of dollars. Phil worked hard, but he played even harder. His life on shore--from his rebellious days to his tempestuous marriages, from his addictive habits to his fundamental American success story--could serve as a reality show in itself. He lived his life at Mach speed: the blitz of crab season, the six-figure paydays, the thunderous motorcycles, and the drug-fueled parties. High-speed chases and all-night blackjack binges were par for the course. But as wild as Phil could be, he was always openhearted and infectiously friendly. He was a devoted friend, a loving father, a steadfast captain, and a hero to audiences across America and around the world. His death in 2010, the result of stroke and heart failure at the age of fifty-three, left a hole in the hearts of millions. In this exclusive authorized biography, Phil's two surviving sons, Josh and Jake Harris, team up with bestselling author Steve Springer and coauthor Blake Chavez to share the thrilling story of Phil's remarkable life.Edmund Booth: Deaf Pioneer
By Harry G. Lang. 2004
Edmund Booth was born in 1810 and died in 1905, and during the 94 years of his life, he epitomized…
virtually everything that characterized an American legend of that century. In his prime, Booth stood 6 feet, 3 inches tall, weighed in at 210 pounds, and wore a long, full beard. He taught school in Hartford, CT, then followed his wife-to-be Mary Ann Walworth west to Anamosa, Iowa, where in 1840, he built the area's first frame house. He pulled up stakes nine years later to travel the Overland Trail on his way to join the California Gold Rush. After he returned to Iowa in 1854, he became the editor of the Anamosa Eureka, the local newspaper. Edmund Booth fit perfectly the mold of the ingenious pioneer of 19th-century America, except for one unusual difference -- he was deaf. Edmund Booth: Deaf Pioneer follows the amazing career of this American original and his equally amazing wife in fascinating detail. Author Harry G. Lang vividly portrays Booth and his wife by drawing from a remarkable array of original material. A prolific writer, Booth corresponded with his fiancé from the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, and he kept a journal during his days on the California trail, parts of which have been reproduced here. He also wrote an autobiographical essay when he was 75, and his many newspaper articles through the years bore first-hand witness to the history of his times, from the Civil War to the advent of the 20th century. Edmund Booth depicts a larger-than-life man in larger-than-life times, but perhaps its greatest contribution derives from its narrative about pioneer days as seen through Deaf eyes. Booth became a respected senior statesman of the American Deaf community, and blended with his stories of the era's events are anecdotes and issues vital to Deaf people and their families. His story proves again that extraordinary people vary in many ways, but they often possess a common motive in acting to enhance their own communities.The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst: The Strange Last Voyage Of Donald Crowhurst (Sailmate Ser.)
By Ron Hall, Nicholas Tomalin. 2003
In early 1968, desperate entrepreneur Donald Crowhurst was trying to sell a nautical navigation device he had developed when he…
saw that the Sunday Times would be sponsoring the Golden Globe Race, the first ever solo, round-the-world sailing competition. An avid amateur sailor, Crowhurst sensed a marketing opportunity and shocked the world by entering the competition using an untested trimaran of his own design. Shock soon turned to amazement when he quickly took the lead, checking in by radio message from locations far ahead of his seasoned competitors.But on July 10, 1969, roughly eight months after he had sailed from England--and less than two weeks from his expected triumphant return--his wife was informed that his boat, the Teignmouth Electron, had been discovered drifting quietly, abandoned in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Crowhurst was missing, assumed drowned. How did he come to such an end when his race had begun with such incredible promise?In this masterpiece of investigative journalism, Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall reconstruct one of the greatest modern stories of one man's descent into self-delusion, public deception, and madness. Based on in-depth interviews with Crowhurst's family and friends, combined with gripping excerpts from his logbooks that revealed (among other things) he had been falsifying his locations all along, Tomalin and Hall paint an unforgettable, haunting portrait of a complex, deeply troubled man and his final fateful journey.Caminando el Amazonas
By Ed Stafford. 2011
La apasionante narración del histórico recorrido de un hombre a lo largo de todo el Amazonas--y a través del medio…
ambiente de mayor diversidad biológica del planeta.En abril del 2008, Ed Stafford inició su trayecto para convertirse en el primer hombre en caminar por todo lo largo del Amazonas. Comenzó en la costa pacífica del Perú, y cruzó la cordillera de los Andes para encontrar la fuente oficial del río. Su viaje lo condujo a través de partes de Colombia y por medio del Brasil, mientras burlaba animales peligrosos e indígenas de machete en ristre, al tiempo que sufría lesiones, se enfrentaba al clima y confrontaba sus propios temores y dudas.Pero Stafford no se dio por vencido. En su agotador viaje de 860 días y más de 4,000 millas, Stafford fue testigo directo de la devastación de la deforestación selvática, de la presión con que viven las tribus a causa de la pérdida de su medio ambiente natural, así como de la naturaleza en su manifestación más genuina y cruda. Caminando el Amazonas, asombroso de principio a fin, es tan apasionante como los libros de Bill Bryson, Jon Krakauer y David Grann. Caminando el Amazonas es la historia inolvidable de una aventura sin precedente.Skimpy: Outrageous true tales of crocodiles, snakes and pulling beers in the Outback
By Kellie Arrowsmith. 2015
Fans of Paul Carter will love this fast-paced and funny memoir featuring nudist neighbours, sex in croc-infested waters, frogs in…
the toilet and a resident snake in Kellie's kitchen that may or may not be lethal. These are the outrageous stories of a feisty girl who decided to go bush.SKIMPY (defn): A feisty barmaid who works in outback pubs in denim cut-offs and a bikini topKellie Arrowsmith was a country girl whose idea of a hairdo was tying a ponytail whenever she wanted to go horse riding. But in her early twenties she left her sleepy hometown of Albury on the NSW/Victoria border for the bright lights of the Gold Coast, and soon found herself working in a succession of unexciting jobs just to keep up with her now-glamorous lifestyle. After spending two years as a frazzled receptionist for an adult entertainment agency, Kellie decided to stop booking the jobs and start taking them. So it was that she found herself travelling to Gove, a mining town in East Arnhem Land, where she had her first stint as a skimpy: a barmaid who wears not much clothing for big money. Skimpies can work in the NT, in WA, in the Hunter Valley of NSW - wherever there's a bunch of blokes with a fly-in fly-out lifestyle who enjoy a cold beer at the end of their shift. Kellie thought her new job would take her all round the country, but she hadn't planned on falling in love - not with Dave, a rough-and-tumble outback character with a big heart and the world's worst four-wheel-drive, and not with the Northern Territory way of life. But she did, and instead of diamonds and dust, Kellie got crocodiles and denim cut-offs - and a whole lot of stories to tell about a side of outback life that's a long way off the beaten track.Hustling Hinkler: The Short Tumultuous Life of a Trailblazing Australian Aviator
By D. R. Dymock. 2013
Hustling Hinkler is mandatory reading for anyone who loves flight . . . a gripping story of an intrepid country…
boy who followed his dreams.' (Richard de Crespigny, author of multi-award winning QF32)Part adventure, part mystery and part tragedy, Hustling Hinkler is the unforgettable true story of aviator Bert Hinkler's astonishing life.Herbert John Louis Hinkler was a working-class lad, born in Bundaberg, Queensland, in 1892. From his earliest years, Bert was captivated by stories of flight and, inspired by the Wright brothers, build his first plane while still a teenager. Determined to make a life of adventure, he became a mechanic for a barnstorming pilot before making his way to England. At the outbreak of World War I he joined up, becoming a decorated air gunner before achieving his pilot's wings in the RAF. Ambition finally aligned with skill, and he became famous for his death-defying aviation triumphs. In 1928 he thrilled the world with his first solo flight from England to Australia, and another across the South Atlantic in 1931.Yet behind this publicly feted hero was a complex man who struggled to find his place in the world when not in the sky. He desperately clung to his dreams, despite the odds against him. Tragically, Bert's pioneering attempts came to an abrupt end on 7 January 1933, while attempting another solo flight from England to Australia.D. R. Dymock's insightful biography reveals the many intriguing facets of this outstanding aviator, the circumstances that led to that final, fatal flight, and the three women he left behind. Hustling Hinkler is the riveting true story of a trailblazing Australian.