David Ritz
Author
Publisher
Little, Brown and Company
Pub. Date
2014
Language
English
Formats
Description
A revealing and dramatic chronicle of the twelve months leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination.
Martin Luther King, Jr. died in one of the most shocking assassinations the world has known, but little is remembered about the life he led in his final year. New York Times bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley recounts the final 365 days of King's life, revealing the minister's trials and tribulations...
Martin Luther King, Jr. died in one of the most shocking assassinations the world has known, but little is remembered about the life he led in his final year. New York Times bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley recounts the final 365 days of King's life, revealing the minister's trials and tribulations...
Author
Publisher
Little, Brown and Company
Pub. Date
2015
Language
English
Formats
Description
A remarkable story of friendship, love, and courage.
When Maya Angelou and Tavis Smiley met in 1986, he was twenty-one and she was fifty-eight. For the next twenty-eight years, they shared an unlikely, special bond. Angelou was a teacher and a maternal figure to Smiley, and they talked often, of art, politics, history, race, religion, music, love, purpose, and — more than anything — courage. Courage to be open, to follow dreams, to...
When Maya Angelou and Tavis Smiley met in 1986, he was twenty-one and she was fifty-eight. For the next twenty-eight years, they shared an unlikely, special bond. Angelou was a teacher and a maternal figure to Smiley, and they talked often, of art, politics, history, race, religion, music, love, purpose, and — more than anything — courage. Courage to be open, to follow dreams, to...
Author
Publisher
Harper Horizon
Language
English
Description
"Immortalized in Willie Nelson's road song "Me and Paul," Paul English was the towering figure who for 70 years acted as Willie's drummer, bodyguard, accountant, partner in crime, and right-hand man. Together, the two men roamed the country, putting on shows, getting into a few scrapes, raising money for good causes, and bringing the joy of their music to fans worldwide. Stories of Willie and Paul's misadventures became legendary, but many have gone...
Author
Pub. Date
2023.
Language
English
Description
Kem goes back to the very beginning to introduce his grandmother who worked as a sharecropper in the South and had thirteen children. As Kem's family rises from the sharecropping and ultimately lands in Detroit, there is an unspoken mantra of "hard things are better left unsaid," which has devastating consequences down the line. His mother is never without a beer in her hand, and his relationship with his father is oddly tense. Emotionally starved,...
Author
Language
English
Description
"Kravitz looks back at his life with candor, self-scrutiny, and humor. 'My life is all about opposites, ' he writes. 'Black and white. Jewish and Christian. The Jackson 5 and Led Zeppelin. I accepted my Gemini soul. I owned it. I adored it. Yins and yangs mingled in various parts of my heart and mind, giving me balance and fueling my curiosity and comfort'"--Dust jacket flap.
Author
Language
English
Description
For the first time ever, and to help celebrate his 90th birthday in 2023, American icon Willie Nelson provides the stories behind the lyrics of 160 of his favorite songs, along with a dynamic assortment of never-before-seen photos and ephemera. From his earliest work in the 1950s to today, Willie looks back at the songs that have defined his career, from his days of earning $50 each to his biggest hits, from his less well-known songs (but incredibly...
Author
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Abandoned by their parents as toddlers, Willie and Bobbie Nelson found their love of music almost immediately through their grandparents, who raised them in a dusty small town in east Texas. Their close relationship--which persists today--is the longest-lasting bond in either of their lives. In alternating chapters, this heartfelt dual memoir weaves together their lives as they experienced them both side-by-side and apart with powerful, emotional...
Author
Publisher
Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
Pub. Date
[2023]
Language
English
Description
"Eighth grader Jayson Linden has had a stutter his whole life. Though his fellow classmates can sometimes be mean, Jayson tries not to let it get to him; he enjoys playing basketball and spending time with his friends. Then Jayson's best friend, Gloria, is kicked off the debate team because of her stutter and Jayson starts to notice other injustices happening at their school. In order to make their middle school a more inclusive place and to stand...
Author
Publisher
Little, Brown and Company
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
"A powerful chronicle of the sixteen weeks leading up to King of Pop Michael Jackson's death. Michael Jackson's final months were like the rest of his short and legendary life: filled with deep lows and soaring highs, a constant hunt for privacy, and the pressure and fame that made him socially fragile and almost--ultimately--unable to live, "--NoveList.
Author
Publisher
Blue Rider Press
Pub. Date
[2016]
Language
English
Description
"Willie Nelson, country music's quintessential musician, displays all the wit and warmth of his homespun style of storytelling in an inspiring holiday novel based on his classic Christmas song, "Pretty Paper." More than fifty years ago, Willie Nelson's beloved Christmas song "Pretty Paper" first hit the airwaves. And for all these years, Willie has wondered about the real-life Texas street vendor, selling wrappings and ribbons, who inspired his song....
Publisher
Playaway
Pub. Date
[2015]
Language
English
Description
This is the unvarnished, complete story of Willie Nelson's life, told in his distinct voice and leaving no moment or experience unturned, from Texas and Nashville to Hawaii and his legendary bus. Having recently turned eighty, Nelson is ready to shine a light on all aspects of his life, including his drive to write music, the women in his life, his collaborations, and his biggest lows and highs--from his bankruptcy to the founding of Farm Aid. An...
13) Pretty Paper
Author
Publisher
Penguin Publishing Group
Pub. Date
2016
Language
English
Formats
Description
A perfect Christmas gift for music lovers, Pretty Paper is Willie Nelson’s inspiring Christmas fable, based on his holiday classic “Pretty Paper.”
More than fifty years ago, Willie Nelson’s beloved Christmas song “Pretty Paper” first hit the airwaves. And for all these years, Willie has wondered about the real-life Texas street vendor, selling wrappings and ribbons, who inspired his...
More than fifty years ago, Willie Nelson’s beloved Christmas song “Pretty Paper” first hit the airwaves. And for all these years, Willie has wondered about the real-life Texas street vendor, selling wrappings and ribbons, who inspired his...
Author
Pub. Date
2015
Language
English
Formats
Description
Willie Nelson shares his life story in this "heartfelt" bestselling memoir of true love, wild times, best friends, and barrooms (Washington Post).
"Unvarnished. Funny. Leaving no stone unturned." . . . So say the publishers about this book I've written. What I say is that this is the story of my life, told as clear as a Texas sky and in the same rhythm that I lived it.
It's a story of restlessness and the purity of the...
"Unvarnished. Funny. Leaving no stone unturned." . . . So say the publishers about this book I've written. What I say is that this is the story of my life, told as clear as a Texas sky and in the same rhythm that I lived it.
It's a story of restlessness and the purity of the...
15) Power & Beauty
Author
Publisher
HarperAudio
Pub. Date
2011
Language
English
Description
Tip Harris, better known as Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum selling hip-hop artist and actor T.I., is at the top of his game. Now he displays yet another side of his remarkable talents with Power & Beauty, a love story of life on the streets. Set in the dangerous shadows of Atlanta, Georgia, Power & Beauty is a dark, gritty story of sex, violence, hustling, and redemption centered around Paul "Power" Clay and Tanya "Beauty" Long—two...
Author
Publisher
Blackstone Publishing
Pub. Date
2005
Language
English
Description
Ray Charles (1930–2004) led one of the most extraordinary lives of any popular musician. In Brother Ray, he reveals his life story unsparingly, from the chronicle of his musical development to his heroin addiction to his tangled romantic life.
Overcoming poverty, blindness, the loss of his parents, and the pervasive racism of the era, Ray Charles was acclaimed worldwide as a genius by the age of thirty-two. By combining the influences
...