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The Road Years: A Memoir, Continued . . .
By Rick Mercer. 2023
THE INSTANT #1 BESTSELLERRick Mercer is back—again!—with the eagerly awaited sequel to his bestselling memoirAt the end of his memoir…
Talking to Canadians, Rick Mercer was poised to make the biggest leap yet in his extraordinary career. Having overcome a serious lack of promise as a schoolboy and risen through the showbiz ranks—as an aspiring actor, star of a surprisingly successful one-man show about the Meech Lake Accord, co-founder of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, creator and star of the dark-comedy sitcom Made in Canada—he was about to tackle his biggest opportunity yet. The Road Years picks up the story at that exciting point, with the greenlighting of what would become Rick Mercer Report. Plans for the show, of course, included political satire and Rick’s patented rants. But Rick and his partner, Gerald Lunz, were also determined to do something that comedy tends to avoid as too challenging: they would emphasize the positive. Rick would travel from coast to coast to coast in search of everything that’s best about Canada, especially its people. He found a lot to celebrate, naturally, and was rewarded with a huge audience and a run of 15 seasons. The Road Years tells the inside story of that stupendous success. A time when Rick was heading to another town—or military base, sports centre, national park—to try dogsledding, chainsaw carving, and bear tagging; hang from a harness (a lot); ride the “Train of Death;” plus countless other joyous and/or reckless assignments. Added to the mix were encounters with the country’s great. Every living prime minister. Rock and roll royalty from Rush to Randy Bachman. Olympians and Paralympians. A skinny-dipping Bob Rae. And Jann Arden, of course, who gets a chapter to herself. Along the way he even found the time to visit several countries in Africa and co-found and champion the charity Spread the Net, which has gone on to protect the lives of millions. Join the celebration, and revive a wealth of happy memories, with what is Rick Mercer’s funniest, most fascinating book yet.Undisputed: A Champion's Life
By Donovan Bailey. 2023
A memoir of Olympic glory, the value of mentorship and the courage to champion your own excellence, from the long-reigning…
world's fastest man, Canadian sprinting legend Donovan Bailey.From the lush fields of his boyhood in Jamaica, to the basketball courts of Oakville, where he came of age in one of Canada’s most thriving cultural mosaics, to his sprint toward double Olympic gold for Canada in Atlanta in 1996, Donovan Bailey got a long way on natural talent. But he also learned that in the bureaucratic world of Canadian sports, an athlete who didn't come up in the system needed to take charge of his fate if he was going to become the world’s best. As he ascended from outsider to dominant athlete, others didn’t always understand the rigour at work behind Bailey’s confident demeanour. He’d learned from watching Muhammad Ali that a champion needed to act like a champion. But media grew fixated on the sprinter’s immodesty, the likes of which they never saw from Canadian athletes, especially track athletes in the wake of the Ben Johnson doping scandal at Seoul in 1988. Bailey was having none of it, and when he called out Canada's subtle racism and contradicted the prevailing idea most Canadians had of their country, he left in his wake a media uproar and cracked wide open the nation’s moral complacency. In addition to his unforgettable 100-metre and 4x100 relay gold-medal sprints in Atlanta, Bailey's track career was a litany of records and rare accomplishments, including his audacious 1997 race in Toronto's SkyDome against American 200-metre Olympic champion Michael Johnson to determine who was really the world’s fastest man. There was no disputing the result. Bailey had been coached in success before he was seriously coached in athletics. Following the lead of his father, a machinist-turned-real estate investor, Bailey became a millionaire by the age of 21, an experience he continues to draw on as an entrepreneur and philanthropist. Frank about his dominance on the track and unapologetic for expecting as much of those around him as he expects of himself, Undisputed is an athlete's story that refuses to settle for second best.The Utility of Boredom: Baseball Essays
By Andrew Forbes. 2016
Spitball literary essays on the off-kilter joys, sorrows and wonder of North America’s national pastime. A collection of essays for…
ardent seamheads and casual baseball fans alike, The Utility of Boredom is a book about finding respite and comfort in the order, traditions, and rituals of baseball. It’s a sport that shows us what a human being might be capable of, with extreme dedication—whether we’re eating hot dogs in the stands, waiting out a rain delay in our living rooms, or practising the lost art of catching a stray radio signal from an out-of-market broadcast. From learning about America through ball-diamond visits to the most famous triple play that never happened on Canadian soil, Forbes invites us to witness the adult conversing with the O-Pee-Chee baseball cards of his youth. Tender, insightful, and with the slow heartbreak familiar to anyone who’s cheered on a losing team, The Utility of Boredom tells us a thing or two about the sport, and how a seemingly trivial game might help us make sense of our messy lives.Green hills of Africa (Scribner classics)
By Ernest Hemingway. 1998
The world I live in (New York Review Books classics)
By Helen Keller. 2003
New edition of a short collection of personal essays Helen Keller wrote in 1908 when she was twenty-eight. Follows The…
Story of My Life (DB 55883). This reflective work is separated into three categories: the senses, especially touch; imagination, thinking, and language; and dream analysis. Introduction by Roger Shattuck. 2003Lazy B: growing up on a cattle ranch in the American southwest
By Sandra Day O'Connor. 2003
Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor and her younger brother, Alan Day, recall their childhood on an Arizona cattle ranch.…
They describe the hardships and adventures of western living--cattle drives, water shortages, the isolation--and the values that shaped their lives. 2002Chronicles: Volume 1
By Bob Dylan. 2004
First of a three-volume memoir by music legend Bob Dylan. Describes his intellectual development, folk songs and blues he listened…
to in the 1960s, and the growth of his artistic conscience. Recalls early days in Greenwich Village, transient loves, lasting friendships, and experiences in New Orleans and Woodstock. Bestseller. 2004I remember: eighty years of black entertainment, big bands, and the blues : an autobiography
By Clyde E. B Bernhardt. 1986
African American musician's recollections of his jazz and blues career that began in the 1920s. Describes his American and European…
tours with such prominent entertainers as Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and others. Some strong language. 1986Too late to die young: nearly true tales from a life
By Harriet McBryde Johnson. 2005
A lawyer specializing in disability issues protests Jerry Lewis's telethon and media heroes like Christopher Reeve. Born with a neuromuscular…
disease, the wheelchair-user relates anecdotes from her life of advocacy including involvement in Charleston, South Carolina, politics. Some strong language. 2005My American journey: An Autobiography
By Colin L Powell. 1995
Powell shares with his fellow Americans what he believes has been a great life. The son of immigrants, he was…
raised in New York's South Bronx and was undistinguished in school. But he found his place in life when he joined the ROTC and the army. Powell's is a story of hard work and good luck, of service, and of love from and for the people who helped make the former general and Joint Chiefs chairman a popular figure in the 1990s. Bestseller. 1995Jimi Hendrix: the man, the magic, the truth
By Sharon Lawrence. 2005
Interviews with family, friends, and musicians about the life of guitarist/songwriter Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970). Traces Hendrix's rise from backup roles…
to success in Europe and the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Covers Hendrix's drug and business problems and tragic death and the contest over his estate. Some strong language. 2005Playing for Knight: my six seasons with Coach Knight
By Steve Alford. 1989
Basketball player describes his career from 1983 to 1989 under college coach Bobby Knight of the Indiana Hoosiers. Highlights important…
games including the 1984 Olympics, the Big Ten Conference, and the NCAA championships. Recalls Knight as a demanding and temperamental coach who taught him a work ethic. 1989Rocket boys: a memoir (Coalwood Ser. #1)
By Homer H Hickam. 1998
Retired NASA engineer reminisces about boyhood in West Virginia during the Sputnik era, when his first rocket launch burned down…
his mother's garden fence. He and his friends improved their models, ultimately winning the 1960 National Science Fair. The movie October Sky is based on this book. 1998The coldest winter: a stringer in liberated Europe
By Paula Fox. 2005
Memoir of the young writer Paula Fox, who in 1946 earned enough money to sail from New York to London.…
She recounts her travels in post-war Europe with little money but many adventures and encounters with interesting people. Sequel to Borrowed Finery (BR 14313). 2005Camp
By Michael Eisner. 2005
Disney CEO relates his childhood camping experiences at Camp Keewaydin in Salisbury, Vermont. He explains how summer camp prepares youngsters…
for adulthood by helping them acquire the tools to fend off life's hard times and disappointments--for example, his own ability to stay calm when shareholders demanded his ouster. 2005Parish priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism
By Douglas Brinkley. 2006
Biography of Catholic priest Michael McGivney (1852-1890), who founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882. Chronicles McGivney's Connecticut childhood and…
call to the priesthood. Describes the social and economic conditions that led to his concept of an organization for helping impoverished Irish immigrants improve their life. 2006She got up off the couch: and other heroic acts from Mooreland, Indiana
By Haven Kimmel. 2006
Following A Girl Named Zippy (DB 54946, BR 14575), Kimmel continues her saga of growing up in Indiana in the…
1970s. Recounts her mother's decision to go to college and become a teacher to help the family's finances, and how that decision caused marital problems for her parents. 2006An ordinary man: an autobiography
By Paul Rusesabagina, Tom Zoellner. 2006
Autobiography of the manager of the hotel Mille Collines in Kigali, Rwanda. Paul Rusesabagina, a man of mixed Hutu and…
Tutsi heritage, describes how in April 1994 he saved twelve hundred Rwandans from the genocide that slaughtered eight hundred thousand. Basis for Hotel Rwanda movie. Violence and strong language. 2006Grayson
By Lynne Cox. 2006
Author recalls an encounter from her teenage years when a baby gray whale followed her during a long-distance training swim…
along the California coast. Describes communicating with the calf she called Grayson and battling fatigue, fifty-five-degree water, and dehydration to protect him until he was reunited with his mother. Bestseller. 2006All God's children need traveling shoes
By Maya Angelou. 1986
African American poet, actress, civil rights activist, and television producer-director recalls a 1960s pilgrimage to Ghana to connect with her…
ancestral roots. Describes her sadness and disillusionment at the lack of acceptance among native Ghanaians. Sequel to The Heart of a Woman (BR 16950). Some strong language. 1986