Hard Luck


Book Description

The story of boxing legend Jerry Quarry has it all: rags to riches, thrilling fights against the giants of the Golden Age of Heavyweights (Ali—twice, Frazier—twice, Patterson, Norton), a racially and politically electric sports era, the thrills and excesses of fame, celebrities, love, hate, joy, and pain. And tragedy. Like the man he fought during two highly controversial fight cards in 1970 and ’72—Muhammad Ali—boxing great Jerry Quarry was to suffer gravely. He died at age fifty-three, mind and body ravaged by Dementia Pugilistica. In Hard Luck, “Irish” Jerry Quarry comes to life—from his Grapes of Wrath days as the child of an abusive father in the California migrant camps to those as the undersized heavyweight slaying giants on his way to multiple title bouts and the honor of being the World’s Most Popular Fighter in ’68, ’69, ’70, and ’71. The story of Jerry Quarry is one of the richest in the annals of boxing, and through painstaking research and exclusive access to the Quarry family and its archives, Steve Springer and Blake Chavez have captured it all.




Hard Irish Luck


Book Description

Hardcore, fast-car-and-wild-women bachelor, Jared Weldon, is sure McKenna Construction is being underhanded. That is the only way the company could be under bidding him and edging his company to bankruptcy. He goes with his twin and business partner to a roadside bar intent on milking information about R. McKenna's practices from the man's crew. Before he can make the first connection, a woman catches his eye and he ends up in a bar fight with her ex, but not before he steals a forbidden, roll-on-the-bar-floor kiss from her and comes close to having the best five seconds of his life. Little did he know, as his hard Irish luck would have it, he was holding his competitor in his arms. In the three years since her divorce, Rocky McKenna has kept her nose to the grindstone and dodged any and all emotions or physical entanglements with the opposite sex. She has more important things to do in life. Despite setbacks and tragedy, she has worked hard to make McKenna Construction thrive during difficult times. But now, her body is clamoring for more and Jared's masterful kiss is the spark that ignites her suppressed passions. The day after the kiss Jared hunts Rocky McKenna down at the jobsite she outbid him on. He isn't even sure what his is going to say, he just knows he has to see her again. He shows up in time to save her from being seriously injured by an "accident" on the job, but is slightly injured himself. He is sure someone is out to kill her. Rocky takes Jared for medical help, and he decides he'll use the guise of his older brother's security company and convinces her she needs his bodyguard services. Rocky is sure her life isn't in danger, but she can't resist having more time with this man who has swept her off her feet. The meeting of their passions, and Jared's intense love making, take her to new sexual heights and opens the door to her solitary heart. But more "accidents" occur and it isn't hard Irish luck at work. Suddenly, as people around her die, Rocky and Jared are in a battle for their lives as they race to uncover the deadly secrets lurking beneath the surface of her seemingly normal life. Both Jared and Rocky are in for some hard lessons about life and love, but will they discover the treacherous murderer in their midst too late to survive?




When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out


Book Description

Few countries have been as dramatically transformed in recent years as Ireland. Once a culturally repressed land shadowed by terrorism and on the brink of economic collapse, Ireland finally emerged in the late 1990s as the fastest-growing country in Europe, with the typical citizen enjoying a higher standard of living than the average Brit. Just a few years after celebrating their newly-won status among the world's richest societies, the Irish are now saddled with a wounded, shrinking economy, soaring unemployment, and ruined public finances. After so many centuries of impoverishment, how did the Irish finally get rich, and how did they then fritter away so much so quickly? Veteran journalist David J. Lynch offers an insightful, character-driven narrative of how the Irish boom came to be and how it went bust. He opens our eyes to a nation's downfall through the lived experience of individual citizens: the people responsible for the current crisis as well as the ordinary men and women enduring it.




Black Irish Luck


Book Description

This is a collection of short stories that, when brought together, form the picture of a singular life: that of Terry Donegan and his black Irish luck. These are his memoirs—done his way. Told in an off-the-wall stream-of-consciousness writing style, the stories ramble from one topic to another...but always find their way back in the end. Side-splitting anecdotes are interwoven with heart-wrenching stories about sports, life, and doings things your own way—even when that way is stupid. Reading this book is like talking to a buddy in a bar while drinking a beer. Donegan lived a wild, crazy, and fun life, and if he learned one thing, it was that nothing goes quite the way you expect it to. But if you have great friends and a great attitude, you can live a truly great life, be true to yourself, and never back down from anything. Donegan is donating $1 from every book sold to the Michael J Fox Foundation, which is doing such wonderful things to give Parkinson's patients like himself hope. He’s also donating $1 from every book sold to the Navajo Nation. After you read the book, you’ll understand why.




1001 Things Everyone Should Know about Irish American History


Book Description

Complete yet concise, and beautifully documented with more than 100 historic photos, there is no better tribute to Irish-American history, a cultural cornerstone of our nation. High school & older.







Wise Irish Women


Book Description

This collection of interviews with exceptional women from the Emerald Isle “will make you laugh, and cry, and think, and love” (Mary Higgins Clark, international bestselling mystery author). Open the door to the legends of successful, inspirational women with one common thread—a heartwarming connection to Ireland. Each story, in its own unique way, is about pursuing a dream and making a difference. Whether it’s one by the great mystery writer Mary Higgins Clark, playwright Marianne McDonald, or the authors themselves, each illuminates how these wise women have made a difference in their own corner of the world. “What a wonderful book, again illustrating that the Irish have it all, both the tragedy that shaped their thoughts and the joy and wit to see the rainbow after every rainfall. This book is the most precious pot of gold you could ever find.”—Marianne McDonald, PhD, MRIA “Wise Irish Women embraces the essence of the Fearless Women books, illuminating women who shine in their lives and make a difference in spite of their challenges and fears.”—Mary Ann Halpin, internationally acclaimed author and photographer of the Fearless Women books




Motion Picture Herald


Book Description




The Brokenhearted Leprechaun


Book Description

Skip only receives a portion of his leprechaun powers when he turns sixteen, but that doesnt stop him from sneaking out of his grandparents tree home on an important quest. A few years earlier, his parents had disappeared, and he has wondered where theyve gone ever since--so he strikes out to find them. But things take a disastrous turn when he drinks an evil brew at a pub in Dublin Town. He gets drunk and passes out in a travel trunk of a man sailing to America in search of a new beginning, and he becomes a stowaway. His tomfoolery aboard the ship, however, almost costs him and others their lives, but he remains determined to find his missing parents. When he finds out theyre being held prisoner by an evil man running a traveling medicine show, he must find a way to free them. To do that, hell need his full leprechaun powers and perhaps even the help of two mortals--a leprechauns sworn enemy. Hell also need plenty of Irish luck to make it back home alive with his parents.




101 WAYS TO BE LUCKY


Book Description

The challenge of this book is one that proved attractive to the writers, eliciting quite a a wide variety of interesting thoughts, that I urged them to keep to themselves and surprise me. I feel confident the resulting views are not only appealing, but quite possibly will also encourage you to think along more positive lines. Many of the writers believe that luck is more of a state of mind rather than mere chance. Others who claim that it is better to be born lucky than rich, and I must say that I too think along these lines. There are writers who write of the circumstances where they met their true soulmate after the breakup of an unhappy marriage. Of course everyone is aware of lucky Lotto winners, the fortunate few who appear with annoying regularity in our newspapers, or even more irritatingly, on our television screen, smiling at the camera just to tell us that 'life will not change'. Who are they trying to kid?