Highpockets


Book Description

Franklin Pierce was president of the United States in 1855, the Mexican War had just ended, the horrors of the American Civil War had not yet begun. The last of the free spirits known as the Mountain Men were securing their place in the legends of the frontier. Among these fierce adventurers was a man who called himself Highpockets. Into the harsh wilderness Highpockets had come to escape the soot of the cities and the terrible memories of war; with nothing but the strength of his heart sand hands he had carved out a life of freedom in the nearly inaccessible high places of the Rocky Mountains. In the autumn of his days Highpockets stumbled across a half-frozen, half-dead immigrant boy who had wandered in the snow and ice—terrified after having been separated from the wagon train carrying his Eastern European family across the vast new world. Highpockets called the boy Cub and took him to the wilderness domain the old man called My Mountain. There, for one long winter, they lived together; the young boy learned a new language and a way of life that he’d never even imagined existed. By the end of the winter, the old man knew that Cub had learned everything he needed to know to survive in a land as dangerous as it was awesomely beautiful. It would have to be enough and more than enough . . . for at the end of that winter Highpockets had agreed to face the council of his old enemy, Painted Elk, to atone for the murder of the chief’s son. Both Cub and Highpockets would be judged by the council of Elders . . . and both would learn that justice in the high places was both fair . . . and deadly.




Making the Team


Book Description

He concludes with a chapter that asks, "What does it mean to be 'literary'?" What distinguishes "high art" from a baseball novel, or a mystery, or a romance novel, or pornography? Making the Team suggests that drawing the line may be a more vital concern - not just for scholars, but for Americans at large - than anything critics have argued about for a very long time.




High Pockets


Book Description

To compile the life of this amazing man in a single manuscript is almost impossible. His war years have been recorded many times, but there is also a person, an incredible person, who touched many lives and left a legacy and a spirit that will live on. —Zona Gayle Murray You've done a remarkable job pulling this project together and in capturing the history and the essence of this amazing man—how he lived and how he put his mark on this earth. I believe his spirit lives on in all the many, many, people he touched, which is his legacy. I agree that there will never be another like him, though I think that's exactly what we need: more people like Ray Murray. —Editor and author, Janet Wellington We asked you to get it right, and you did. The story of the Reservoir should be told by the people who experienced it. There was no one closer to it than Ray Murray. —Jack Buck, aide to Brigadier General Craig and historian with the Marine Museum, San Diego This tells the story of a great hero, who STOOD IN THE FOREFRONT OF THE PANTHEON OF HEROES. He helped form the Marine Corps into the fighting force it is today, never claimed credit for outstanding performance. —General Kenneth McLennan It is good to hear the full story: Ray Murray was the hero of the Chosin Reservoir where he saved thousands of Marines by leading a fearful, bloody trek to safety. His story is well known and has been recorded many times; it will be sung for centuries if the universe has any order at all. —Correspondent, John Van Doorn, winner of the Ernie Pyle Award I was with Ray Murray from the Pusan Perimeter through the frozen nightmare of North Korea. He was one hell of a leader. —Life correspondent and photographer, David Douglas Duncan At Hagaru-ri, I walked up to Ray Murray and openly commented, "Ray, you are a haggard ghost of the officer I watched lead the Fifth Marines in the assault on Red Beach of the successful Inchon landing." He replied, "Maggie, we've covered a lot of real estate since then." —Correspondent, Maggie Higgins Chesty Puller at Koto-ri: "Ray, when will the truth be told, the real truth about, the misdirected reason to proceed to the Yalu and the entrapment of the Marines at Chosin Reservoir?" There can never be enough written about this man. I've been in commands where I've called men Skipper. There was only one man who was really my Skipper. We called him Highpockets. —Author Leon Uris It was his humility that was paramount in his ability to lead. A man's man who stood head and shoulders above us all. Never used his position for himself. —Rev. Michel




Highpocket's War Stories and Other Tall Tales


Book Description

"Winner of the United States Marine Corps Gazette 2005 Francis Fox Parry Combat Initiative Award." Highpocket's War Stories is an eloquent account of combat leadership in Korea and Vietnam. Colonel Peter L. Hilgartner is widely recognized in the Marine Corps as a successful combat leader, first as a junior officer in Korea and later commanding the First Battalion, Fifth Marines fighting the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. Hilgartner tells of leading troops in counter-guerilla action, and major battles with North Vietnamese troops -- Union I, Union II and Swift -- to control the strategic Que Son Valley. His story gives never-before-told, vivid descriptions of Marines in hand-to-hand combat with North Vietnamese troops from the perspective of Marines who were there. Every grunt will appreciate this gripping account.




Agent High Pockets


Book Description

Agent High Pockets is the autobiography of Claire "High Pockets" Phillips, an American entertainer living in Manila in 1941 who becomes an angel of the underground when her husband is killed by the invading Japanese. Using her popular Tsubuki Nightclub as a headquarters, High Pockets and her staff serve spiked drinks to Japanese officers and seduce military information out of them. During the day, Claire smuggles contraband in her bra ('high pockets') past bribed Japanese guards paid to look the other way, into imprisoned American POWs - money, food and clothes - saving countless lives.




The Puzzle of the Silver Persian


Book Description

Crossing the Atlantic, Miss Withers encounters a murder that only a cat can solve Schoolteacher and occasional sleuth Hildegarde Withers has not had good luck with vacations. On her last trip, she found herself enmeshed in the investigation of a dead man on a small plane. Now, on a three-day steamer voyage to London, she’s about to encounter death again. A gruesome joke leads to a young woman going missing from the ship’s aft rail. Is she somewhere onboard, or has she fallen into the sea? In either case, turning about will do nothing for her, so the ship steams on. Soon the passengers descend into a nightmare, as body after body appears. Putting an end to the chaos falls to Miss Withers, who must depend on the testimony of a particularly mischievous silver Persian cat. The teacher and the feline will make it to London safe and sound—so long as their curiosity doesn’t get the best of them. The Puzzle of the Silver Persian is part of the Hildegarde Withers Mysteries series, which also includes The Penguin Pool Murder and Murder on the Blackboard.




Remembered Names - Forgotten Faces


Book Description

Historical Fiction, concerning the decline of activity on a southern plantation after the civil war; how freedom affected former slaves, and the concerns of the land owners Author's email address: [email protected].




The Newshawk Reports


Book Description

Frederic Voss says he can see humor in most anything, although he sees nothing funny in the way the politicians and the news media are betraying the American people. It is the politicians that catch the razor edge of his wit. "I have come to distrust them all," he said. Voss began writing his style of satire more than 25 years ago as a "cub" reporter for a small newspaper in Western New York. Sensing a need for an alter ego, he invented Newshawk to tell his stories. He stayed with the newspaper for two years before deciding, "I couldn't afford to work there anymore." Voss was asked to continue writing his weekly columns after leaving the newspaper and did so for eight years. He finally terminated the column when the world of work interfered. He started writing again in January 2011. Voss has worked in door-to-door sales for three companies and at one point owned a custom furniture-building shop for five years and attended craft festivals in nearly all of the Northeastern states. Voss and his wife Mary have been married for 41 years, have three grown children and one grandson. They live in Western New York.




Graysville


Book Description

This book is about the history of Graysville, Georgia, during the time of the Indians and the Civil War. It is about the hardship of life back in the 1900s. It is a time when the Indians roamed the creek banks, hunting and fishing. They lived a peaceful life until the Indian Removal Act was enforced in 1838, and they had to leave their ancestral home. Mr. Gray brought the railroad through Graysville, and it became a thriving little town until Gen. Sherman marched through, destroying everything. It is also a collection of poems, childhood memories, and life in a simpler time, growing up in a Southern town during the fifties. It is a journey through by-gone days and life as a young child growing up in a community of extraordinary people.




The Spad Driver


Book Description

The Spad Driver is a work of fiction portraying the world of a young American sailor who finds himself at war not only with a determined North Vietnamese enemy, but also with a complex assortment of characters involved with a drug ring. The story centers on Dan Roberts, a pilot who enters the Vietnam War with little idea of the actual realities of battle. As Roberts grows to understand the true nature of death and conflict, he finds himself questioning the war itself and the loyalties of his fellow sailors when he is assigned the investigation of the disappearance of a young man named Franklin. During the investigation he uncovers a series of duplicitous characters involved in drug dealings. He soon finds his life threatened by unknown forces, while he tries to overcome the dangers of war. The author contrasts Roberts' investigations with the battles he encounters as he simultaneously faces the overwhelming threat of air combat, the insidious plot of the drug ring and his own personal problems. While focusing on the interactions of the sailors with one another, the author introduces several diverse characterizations. Timothy Bryan and Bobby Thomas are two men close to Roberts but suspected of questionable motives and Peter O'Leary, a sympathetic friend, who is revealed to be responsible for Franklin's death. Ultimately, Roberts must overcome multiple betrayals. The core of The Spad Driver is the description of the complex world that the characters inhabit. The story focuses on the meaning of the Vietnam War through Roberts and the character of Major Nguyen Binh, a disillusioned North Vietnamese intelligence officer, and concludes with the President of the United States reacting to the harsh realities of war.