Publisher: Perseus Books Group
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/08/2013
ISBN-13: 9780762450992
ISBN-10: 0762450991

In Vivien Leigh, author Kendra Bean details the life of the British actress, drawing on personal letters and interviews with Leigh's friends as well as public records. Bean recounts Leigh's childhood in India, her personal ambitions and determination to perfect her acting skills, and the illness that ended her life at age 53. Leigh remains best known for her roles as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Blanche DuBois in the film A Streetcar Named Desire, but she was widely successful on both stage and screen. Often co-starring with her husband Laurence Olivier, Leigh became one of the most admired dramatic actresses of her time. Kirkus Reviews calls this biography a "worthy tribute to an eternally fascinating star."

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Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/29/2013
ISBN-13: 9781476726502
ISBN-10: 1476726507

Emmy Award-winning comedian Tim Conway, best known for his supporting roles in television's McHale's Navy and the long-running comedy program The Carol Burnett Show, charmingly depicts his upbringing in an immigrant family in Ohio, his personal interests as an adult, and his television work with several highly successful funny people, including Don Knotts, Steve Allen, Garry Moore, Harvey Korman, and Carol Burnett. With amusing self-deprecation, Conway entertains television comedy fans in this heartwarming contribution to 1960s and '70s television history.

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Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/05/2013
ISBN-13: 9781451654660
ISBN-10: 1451654669

Oglala Sioux chief Red Cloud waged very effective war against the U.S. Army between 1866 and 1868, fighting to preserve the Sioux ancestral lands in the Black Hills of the Dakota territory. Co-authors Bob Drury and Tom Clavin vividly describe a key 1866 battle, the Fetterman "massacre," and provide compelling details of Red Cloud's military success, his political skills, the history of the Sioux, and the lasting peace that began with the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. The Heart of Everything That Is also relates events in Red Cloud's life after the peace was settled. For more on Red Cloud, read his own reminiscences in Autobiography of Red Cloud, as recorded by Charles Wesley Allen.

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Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/19/2013
ISBN-13: 9781476731490
ISBN-10: 1476731497

In Five Days in November, former Secret Service Agent Clint Hill recounts details of the last few days of President John F. Kennedy's life. Hill was the agent assigned to protect Jacqueline Kennedy, and he accompanied the Kennedys from their departure from Washington in November, 1963 to the moment of the President's assassination in Dallas (Hill was the one who jumped onto the trunk of the car, hoping to protect the couple). He also accompanied Jacqueline to Parkland Hospital, where the President was declared dead, and on the plane back to Washington on which Vice President Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office. Hill provides a riveting historical testament in this portrait of the events through personal recollections and photographs.

Publisher: Gotham Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/17/2013
ISBN-13: 9781592407491
ISBN-10: 1592407498

Jazz performer, composer, and band leader Duke Ellington was a complex, talented man who also displayed personal weaknesses. In this detailed biography, author Terry Teachout adds to the numerous works on Ellington in a book that Booklist says "abundantly justifies the effort." Focusing on his prodigious volume of compositions and his skill as an orchestra director, Teachout also provides details about Ellington's tumultuous personal life and his relationships with collaborators. Despite Ellington's flaws, his unmatched contributions that helped bring jazz into the musical mainstream make Ellington a towering musical figure of the 20th century.

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Publisher: Hyperion
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/02/2010
ISBN-13: 9781401323233
ISBN-10: 1401323235

Author David Dosa, MD, had a strong dislike of cats...until he met Oscar. Checking up on patients in a nursing home, geriatrician Dosa started hearing about a cat called Oscar that apparently could tell when a patient was near death. In Making Rounds with Oscar, Dosa explains how he began to notice for himself the behavior others had described to him: Oscar would curl up with a dying patient, stay with the patient's family, or wait outside a closed door until allowed in. Anxious and heartbroken family members appreciated Oscar's reassuring presence, and this affecting memoir will appeal to anyone who has been close to a terminally ill person.

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Publisher: Atria Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 12/13/2011
ISBN-13: 9781451635966
ISBN-10: 1451635966

Sergeant Rex is a bomb-sniffing dog, but this memoir isn't just about Rex -- it's about Marine Corporal Mike Dowling and his experiences serving in Iraq with a team that brought K9 units into active combat service for the first time since the Vietnam War. Bringing both the dangers of the Iraq war and the unusual details of working with K9 soldiers together in a compelling narrative, Dowling provides fascinating details of the unit's training, the dogs' work, and, above all, the relationships between the men and their dogs. He also relates the factors in his own childhood that led him to a military career in this "unique testimonial from today's professional, highly specialized military" (Kirkus Reviews).

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Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/07/2012
ISBN-13: 9781400204724
ISBN-10: 1400204720

Michael Hingson, a blind man who worked on the 78th floor of the World Trade Center's Tower One, was just getting to know his new guide dog, Roselle, when airliners crashed into the towers on September 11, 2001. Even though Michael and Roselle hadn't been together for very long, Michael completely trusted her as they walked down 1,463 stairs -- counting all the way. As they went, the pair helped other people remain calm. In Thunder Dog, his engaging and inspiring memoir, Michael relates how he grew up blind and learned to rely on guide dogs, providing details about how he gets along in the world and offering his views on some advantages of being blind (such as using less electricity).

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Publisher: Vintage Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/03/2012
ISBN-13: 9780307477460
ISBN-10: 0307477460

Bad Dog describes how Bernese mountain dog Hola joined author Martin Kihn's family as a puppy, intended as a companion to Martin's wife, Gloria (Martin, an alcoholic, had been neglecting her). When it became clear that the growing Hola was unmanageable and potentially dangerous, Gloria left -- just when Martin had sobered up with Alcoholics Anonymous. Realizing that he needed to get a grip on himself and on Hola, Martin enrolled them both in AKC Canine Good Citizen classes. Martin's account interweaves his efforts to win Gloria back, stay sober, and train Hola into a hilarious but heartfelt narrative that will have readers cheering for the success of both the Kihns' marriage and Hola's training.

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Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 12/30/2008
ISBN-13: 9780345510457
ISBN-10: 0345510453

Instead of breaking horses, Monty Roberts, a real-life "horse whisperer," prefers to "listen" to them. When he developed his approach as a teenager in the 1940s, his method ran contrary to what most people believed about training horses. In this "surprisingly complex and lively memoir" (Kirkus Reviews), Roberts discusses his childhood, his gentle equine training methods, and the resistance he's faced. His unique ability to communicate with horses offers wisdom about communications to the wider world. Even if you aren't a horse lover, this book brims with inspiration and insight.

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