Biographien

From the international bestselling author of Black, White, and Jewish comes a "wonderfully insightful" (Associated Press) book that's destined to become a motherhood classic. Now in trade. Like many women her age, thirty-four-year-old Rebecca Walker was brought up to be skeptical of motherhood. As an adult she longed for a baby but feared losing her independence. In this very smart memoir, Walker explores some of the larger sociological trends of her generation while delivering her own story about the emotional and intellectual transformation that led her to motherhood.

To mangle a quote, every now and then, in order for there to be justice, a being must walk down the mean streets who is not, themselves, mean. Whether those streets are hard-packed dirt, the metal of a space station corridor, or the slick cobblestones of an alternate San Francisco doesn't matter. And sometimes, the Dangerous Dames can do it themselves. Join 10 authors as they explore what Noir looks like in the past, present, and future. Takeout by Samuel NettlesBehind Every Successful Man by Paul WilliamsBlonde and Blue by Michael A. HootenIn The Kudzu by Robert McDonaldHot Time in Tomato Town by Seth TaylorJared Thorne and the Tech Smugglers Son by John D. MartinLady Killer by Andrew MilbourneA Lady of Means by Kimber LinSuccubus Blues by Declan FinnThe Doll with the Peekaboo Bangs by Lee Allred

Avoid The Tourist Herds.What could be more uninspiring than seeing the identical attractions that everyone else has for decades?This Twisted Tour Guide escorts you to the places locals don't want to talk about anymore...the same places people once couldn't stop talking about. Long after the screaming headlines and sensationalism has subsided, these bizarre, infamous and obscure historical sites remain hidden awaiting rediscovery.Each visitation site in this guide is accompanied by a story. Many of the narratives defy believability, yet they are true. The profiled cast of characters feature saints and sinners (with emphasis towards the latter). Notorious crimes, murders, accidental deaths, suicides, kidnappings, vice and scandal are captivating human interest tales.The photography from each profile showcases the precise location where each event occurred. The scenes can seem ordinary, weird and/or sometimes very revealing towards clarifying the background behind events.If you're seeking an alternative to conventional tourism, this Twisted Tour Guide is ideal. Each directory accommodates the restless traveler and even resident looking for something unique and different.Scandals:Sister Aimee Semple's disappearance, Zoot Suit riots, Howard Hughes' collisions, George Michael sex sting, Dr. Lanterman's abortions, Pio Pico shortsighted swap, Rodney King beating, Roman Polanski's flight from justice and Julian Oil, Valhalla Cemetery and Girard SwindlesFamous Homicides and Killers:Billionaire Boys Club, Barbara Graham, Black Dahlia, Bonnie Lee Bakely, Edward Allaway, Police Captain Walter Auble, Charles Crawford, Christian Brando, Dominique Dunne, Dr. Raymond Finch, Efren Saldivar, Ennis Cosby, Geneva Ellroy, Haing Ngor, Johnny Stompanato, Mickey and Trudy Thompson, Newhall CHP Shootout, Nicole Brown-Simpson, SLA Fuselage, Phil Spector, Ramon Novarro, Rebecca Schaeffer, Ronni Chasen, Sal Mineo, Sam Cooke, Susan Berman, Ted Healy, North Hollywood Bank of America Heist, Van Cleef & Arpels Hostage Standoff, William Desmond Taylor and the Wonderland massacresSerial Killers:Charles Manson, Golden State Killer, Richard Ramirez and Hillside StrangerMurder-Suicides:Dorothy Stratten, Johnny Lewis, Ned Doheny and Phil HartmanAssassinations and Contract Murders:Bugsy Siegel, Notorious B.I.G., Raymond Washington, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Vic WeissCelebrity Suicides and Locations:Brian Keith, Carol Landis, Hotel Cecil, Pasadena's Colorado Street Bridge, Darby Crash, DeeDee Ramone, Del Shannon, Don Cornelius, Freddie Prinze, George Reeve, Herve Villechaize, Hugh O'Connor, Keith Emerson, Lupe Velez, Margaux Hemmingway, Peg Entwistle, Pete Duel, Pier Angeli, Ross Alexander, Tony Scott and Verne TroyerShocking Celebrity Deaths and Overdoses:Dennis Wilson, Lenny Bruce, Janis Joplin, John Belushi, Michael Jackson, Paul Walker, River Phoenix and Whitney HoustonProstitution and Renowned Madams:Lee Frances, Hollywood Love Market, Heidi Fleiss, Calle de los Negroes and Actor Hugh Grant's Indiscretion

A look back at some of the mysterious deaths that took place within the movie industry: Bob Crane, Carl "Alfalfa" Spitzer, Adrienne Shelly, Dominique Dunne and more.

"I was born a Negro on March 28, 1931, to a seventeen-year-old unwed mother who was two generations away from slavery and had a fourth-grade education. A midwife delivered me, helped by my grandmother and aunts, and I took my first breaths in a three-room sharecropper's shack on a hardscrabble farm located miles down a dusty dirt road in Falls County, Texas, twenty-five miles south of Waco."So begins John Dearman's unlikely and lucky journey from poverty in segregated and hostile central Texas to law school in Michigan and a prestigious judgeship in San Francisco. With unassuming prose and humility, the author gives not just his own experience, but the context of the time through his knowledge of the law.His family rooted him, both in his younger years and his later ones, giving him the foundation to succeed. Don't miss this remarkable journey.

Big Sur, first published in 1962, was written by author and poet Jack Kerouac in the fall of 1961 over a ten-day period. This Penguin edition reprint recounts Kerouac's (here known by the name of his fictional alter-ego Jack Duluoz) three brief stays at a cabin in Bixby Canyon, Big Sur, California, owned by Kerouac's friend and Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The novel depicts Jack Duluoz's mental and physical deterioration. Despite his mainstream success with his earlier novels, Duluoz is unable to cope with his new-found fame and advancing alcoholism. He attempts to recover first in solitude in the cabin at Big Sur, and later in a relationship with Billie, the mistress of his long-time friend Cody Pomeray (in real life Neal Cassady). Duluoz is driven by loneliness to return to the city and resumes drinking heavily. An addendum to the book contains a free-verse poem by Kerouac: "Sea: Sounds of the Pacific Ocean at Big Sur", written from the perspective of the Pacific Ocean. A film adaptation of Big Sur, directed by Michael Polish, was released in 2013.

Rudy Bladel was an oddity among serial killers in that he only targeted railroad employees. For an astonishing span of fifteen years, he terrorized railways with numerous random sniper murders. Disgruntled at being laid off from his job as a railroad worker, Bladel took out his frustration on the various people who worked in the Indiana rail yards for over a decade before he was finally caught. Why did it take so long to catch him?

In fact, for all the apparent thrills of the wedding, the year 2000 was one of enormous tragedy for Marsha Brantley. The newly wed lost both of her parents during those twelve months, both succumbing to cancer within a few weeks of each other. The sense of isolation that comes from losing one parent can impact on a person for years; to lose both so close together, in such painful circumstances, is hard to imagine. Further, Marsha had neither brothers nor sisters. Donnie apart, she had no-one with whom to share her grief. A spouse or partner can be a huge strength in times of bereavement; they can offer sympathy and support, a shoulder to lean on. But they are not from the same family. They do not have the stories to share, the joint experiences which can help siblings through such a crisis. It was, Marsha told friends at the time, the hardest point of her life.Yes, Marsha had cousins and aunts, extended family spread over the breadth and depth of the United States. But they were not close to her. Indeed, when she went missing in 2009 it was between six months and a year before most of these relations learned that she had disappeared...What happened to Marsha Brantley?

In this captivating collection of stories, you are taken on a journey through the shadowy corridors of history's most perplexing mysteries. "The World's Greatest Unsolved Mysteries" travels the earth and spans the decades, exploring cases that have puzzled experts and mystery enthusiasts alike. Delve into the curious case of the Circleville Letters, where an entire town was gripped by fear of an unseen menace, ponder over what really happened at Area 51, and read about the haunting disappearance of the Yuba County Five, a case that defies all logical explanation. Each story is meticulously crafted, inviting readers to ponder the endless possibilities that lie just beyond the edge of the known world. Prepare to be enthralled by these tales of mystery, where history, science, and legend intertwine, creating a tapestry of the unexplained. "The World's Greatest Unsolved Mysteries" calls you to lose yourself in a world where the line between the known and the unknown blurs, and draws you into mysteries that have captivated minds and sparked debates for decades. The fascinating stories in this book include: The Disappearance of Amelia EarhartJack the RipperThe Voynich Manuscript The Bermuda Triangle The Dyatlov Pass IncidentThe Tunguska Event The Disappearance of Flight MH370Leonardo da Vinci, the Knights Templar, and the Priory of SionThe Nazca Lines The Fate of the Roanoke Colony The Shroud of TurinThe Zodiac Killer The Wow! SignalStonehengeThe Lost Colony of PaititiThe Rongorongo Writing of Easter IslandThe Oak Island EnigmaHollywood's Dark Rose The Loch Ness MonsterThe Lost City of Atlantis The Location of Cleopatra's TombThe Tale of the Smalls LighthouseDark Matter and Dark Energy The Taos HumD.B. Cooper The Isdal Woman UFO SightingsThe Easter Island Statues The Fate of the Roman Ninth LegionThe Man in the Iron MaskThe Beale CiphersThe Mary Celeste The Pioneer Anomaly The Hessdalen Lights The Placebo EffectAnimal Mass Die-OffsThe MothmanThe Mysterious Death of Marilyn Monroe The Bell Witch The Chupacabra The Tamam Shud CaseThe Authorship of Shakespeare's WorksThe Scream Painting TheftThe Secret of Rennes-le-ChâteauThe Disappearance of the Amber RoomThe Princes in the TowerThe Sea PeoplesThe Disappearance of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse Keepers

On one hot afternoon in July of 1982, Krista Harrison was picking up aluminum cans with one of her friends in Marshallville park. Marshallville park was about one hundred yards from Krista's childhood home. During this time the young boy that was with Krista saw her abduction. The boy ran to Krista's home in a panic, with tears running down his face as he tried to explain what he had just witnessed. When her friend was able to calm down enough he told her parents that a man with shoulder length hair, between the ages of 25 and 35 pulled up next to them at the park and had pulled Krista into his van. He forced Krista into his vehicle and drove away from the park immediately after the abduction. The child with Krista described the man's van as being brown or a dark red color, it had round windows on each side and near the rear of the vehicle. The child gave the police enough information to allow the police to get a sketch of the man that abducted Krista. As the news of the abduction spread, Harrison's community came together to form search parties. Hundreds of volunteers searched far and wide throughout the village of Marshalville, they initially believed that she would be found alive, in an unknown place.

Evangelism in the twenty-first century and beyond is a call and challenge for the African American in our post-modern world, and specifically for the Black church in South Texas. Modernity beckons the African American to break ties with its history, a history that is intricately tied to liberation of the past and present. As we look toward our future, the Kingdom of God will have to be retold in a way that awakens the souls of an exiled people. The wave of crises in this century lies within the fact that a large number of Black churches are closing its doors around the country, just recently in New Orleans. The same fate is being felt in the Black churches in South Texas. The effective witness of the Gospel is the challenge and measure for the small church. Evangelism in the twenty-first century and beyond is a call and challenge for the African American in our post-modern world, and specifically for the Black church in South Texas.

Intriguing, bone-chilling, heartwarming, and thought-provoking speculative fiction stories by various genre authors.Mysteries of the Wetland by Erika M Szabo and Lorraine CareyJoin Ava Jenson on vacation in her grandmother's old country when all mysterious events are connected to an ancient legend about a cursed church bell.The Zanna by David W. ThompsonA potential stepmother and stepdaughter seek common ground at the family's rustic retreat. Will the past return to haunt them? Only Zanna knows...Forbidden Love by Erika M SzaboThey knew their love was forbidden, but they couldn't help the way they felt. Their love for each other was too strong to ignore.A Well-kept Home by Toi ThomasEveryone knows how special the Fields Family Farm is. Some say it's haunted. Some say it's enchanted. But only those who dare to stay the night really know.Don't Whistle Back by Erika M SzaboMilena visits her grandfather in Mexico and wonders why he has a rope with seven knots tied to the door. She finds out soon enough!J.A.C.K.S. by R. A. "Doc" Correa.What is a human? According to the cybernetically enhanced officers of the U. S. Army's Joint Advanced Combat Knowledge System program, they are the only real humans.She Decided to Be a Vampire by Erika M SzaboEvery kid in town knew that old Mrs. Robbins was a vampire. What they didn't know and are about to find out, will change their lives forever.T'is Was The Night by Alan ZacherThis Christmas tale is about a family coming to "terms" with the alleged existence of Mo-Mo, aka, "The Missouri Monster"; aka, their own Bigfoot.W.I.DG.E.T.S. by R. A. "Doc" CorreaThe U. S. Army pursues the technologies "improving" Soldier-Machine Interface for Future Combat Systems. What are the consequences for humans?The Unlucky Number Four by Erika M SzaboIn China, the number four sounds like the word death, making the number highly unlucky. Hua is the fourth child in her family.Push by David W. ThompsonLeona is a missing mother and Sergeant James is on the hunt. When family secrets are revealed, he must find her, or it will be the cadaver dog's turn.Bravery Has a Price by Erika M Szabo and Lorraine CareyAfter boasting to her twin brothers that she is braver than they are, Emma immediately regrets it. Is proving her courage worth the price she must pay?

A True Crime anthology taking a look back at some of the more infamous mass shootings in history. Brenda Spencer was an abused teenager who lived across the street from the elementary school where she began firing upon after she had a "bad Monday." Sylvia Seegrist was a certifiable nut job who drank carpet cleaning liquid for kicks...but when she had a gun in her hand it spelled doom for the patrons at a local shopping mall. Thomas Dillon was thought of as nothing more than a 'weird guy' at work but when a sniper began to terrorize the small town residents knew that there was more to the creepy Dillon then met the eye.

Most of us have seen a movie or some tv series on the trials and tribulations of college bullies and the popular football player and cute teenager cheerleader. Most of us have probably already formed some kind of perception on what type of people they are - rude; full of themselves; picking on others and generally a downright plague to those around them. But this was no movie or tv series and, Emma Walker was not any preconceived version of a typical college cheerleader - in fact she was the complete opposite.

Maria Boyne, committed a crime so savage, so merciless, and so stupid that the newspapers and TV media fed like frenzied sharks on the titbits that emerged from the sordid event.A part of the horror of Boyne's crime came about because it contrasted so sharply with the mundanity of the suburban streets in which it took place. Barnehurst had, like much of that part of London, suffered at the hands of the Luftwaffe in the second world war. Vast areas were laid flat as planes targeted the nearby East End of London.

Andrea Claire aka Samantha Scott was a former actress, appearing in MASH, Bewitched as well as appearing in Playboy magazine. After four failed marriages, she married an older man in Robert Sand, a wealth businessman. She claimed to have suffered sexual abuse during this marriage and stabbed Sand 27 times in 1981. In 1982, she married for a sixth time, but then attempted to kill her new husband before being arrested and sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.

'The Irishman' is a great film. OK, so at almost three and a half hours running time it's a tad on the long side. But with stars like Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro working under the direction of Martin Scorsese, those hours are bound to pass quickly, and with, if not exactly enjoyment (it's not that kind of film), then certainly plenty of interest. But for all the qualities of the movie, we should not lose sight that its primary purpose is as a piece of public entertainment. In terms of relating the true story of Jimmy Hoffa, some of its story lines can be taken with a liberal pinch of salt.What really happened to Jimmy Hoffa, the controversial union leader who straddled the lines between the Mafia and the blue collar world? Is he really buried under a football goalpost or was he chopped into pieces and thrown to sea? Who benefitted the most from his mysterious disappearance?

A look back at married women who decided that getting a divorce wasn't good enough for their husbands, they had to kill him. Kim Hricko, Judy Buenoano, Donna Yaklich, Sheila Davaloo and Stacey Castor are all profiled here.

Steven David Catlin loved wooing women and he was a self-proclaimed "Lady Killer. But when his new marriage ends in death to his wife, his former wife becomes suspicious. She begins to secretly piece clues together of their time together only to find out that her former husband was not just a sneaky philanderer but a cold and calculating killer.

Kathryn wants out. She barely gets out of the Civil War unscathed as her home and land were burned to the ground. Looking for a new life, she answers a mail order bride advertisement. Upon her arrival, however, she meets a formidable foe in her new mother-in-law. Carl has aspirations of being a mayor and father, but his mother wants him to marry the women of her choice. Can he go against his mother's wishes and experience the life with Kathryn he always wanted?

New York in the 1970's was certainly one of the most crime driven cities in the world. The Lucchese family was one of "The Five" families that dominated the organized crime scene in this era. In fact, this family still holds great power today. Becoming involved with this family was never a matter of "if" you would run into problems, but rather "when". Through countless, calculated murders, crimes, and street wars, this family soon came to be feared by everyone that wasn't "made" or an "associate." Ultimately, the story of Theresa Ferrara is officially unsolved. What is fact and proven true is that Ferrara was involved and a major pawn in much of the Lucchese crime activity in the 70's. Her demise is one of great tragedy and a picture of what lengths the Lucchese family would go to in order to protect its goals.

In 1988, a small suburban town in Illinois mourned the murder of an eight-year-old boy who was shot to death in his classroom. The shooter's rampage left five people in critical condition, though they would eventually recover. The most regrettable part of the whole ordeal was that the shootings could have been prevented if police paid closer attention to warning signs displayed by Laurie Dann. In the end, she decided to take her own life rather than face retribution from her victims' families.

His reign of terror lasted from the summer of 1984 to August of 1985 when he was finally captured. During this time, Richard Ramirez terrorized the people of Los Angeles before making his way to the San Francisco Bay Area, getting the nickname of the "Night Stalker" because of his propensity to invade homes well past midnight. Claiming to be a Satanist, Ramirez brutalized his victims beyond human comprehension. Now featured in such programs as True Crime and Mindhunter, Ramirez's case begs the question, was he a born psychopath or a "made" one? How did he get away with his crimes for so long and what prompted the sudden shift in his behavior?

As shocking as it might seem, there are over 100,000 missing person cases active in the United States this very second. While the majority of them are eventually found, there is a large percentage of those who have been gone for years. The police extended their investigations as much as they could, and they reached the very end because there was no new information. Finally, those cases simply turn cold.Missing person cases are particularly difficult for both families and friends. All of them are left without answers about what happened to their loved one, and they are constantly waiting for a break in the case, hoping they will have closure. The Daniels family lived through all of this in the summer of 2013 when their daughter Tiffany went missing one afternoon. It is one of the most perplexing cases in the history of Pensacola, Florida that still puzzles the investigators.

EXPLORE WHIMSYVILLE, A WHIMSICAL TOWN WITH CHILDREN SOLVING THE MYSTERIES...¿

In this book, "Bazm e Hum NafsaaN," renowned Hyderabadi Urdu laureate Qadeer Zaman provides literary and social details on the lives and work of well-known literary giants. The book also includes his vivid portraits of those literary figures.