Memoirs - Stories from a Life Enjoyed Living


Book Description

Jim Davis, through stories of his remarkable career as U.S. Naval officer, international trial lawyer and Federal trial judge, provides rare insight and humor to exotic happenings on the high seas and in America’s courtrooms. All stems from his improbable youthful achievements . . . appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy faculty at age 23 and to the Federal bench in Washington, D.C. at age 32, youngest ever to the U.S. Court of Claims. He tells of chasing Soviet nuclear submarines from New York to the North Sea, learning the Navy’s ways while working with fellow-officer Ross Perot (America’s computer wunderkind in the late 1950s), navigating the St. Lawrence seaway in 1957 on an aircraft carrier, the first and largest ship to do so, and entering Havana, Cuba in 1957 under threat of Castro’s expanding revolution. In the courtroom, he tangled with the CIA over recovery of a Soviet submarine from the Pacific Ocean floor, prevented China from exporting illegally millions of TV sets to the U.S. after stealing U.S. patents, protected Texas Instruments’ multi-billion dollar position in computer chip production from invasion by Japan and Korea, and thwarted piracy by Mexican and Chinese pirates of National Geographic Society’s world famous yellow-bordered Geographic magazine. As trial judge, he decided a $211 million patent case, second largest in U.S. history, and decided what Time Magazine called the “most significant copyright case of the 20th century,” copyright’s struggle with the Xerox machine. And much more. A great read!




Books for Living


Book Description

From the author of the beloved New York Times best-selling The End of Your Life Book Club, an inspiring and magical exploration of the power of books to shape our lives in an era of constant connectivity. "[A] gift, and one that keeps giving.” —USA Today For Will Schwalbe, reading is a way to entertain himself but also to make sense of the world, and to find the answers to life’s questions big and small. In each chapter, he discusses a particular book and how it relates to concerns we all share. These books span centuries and genres—from Stuart Little to The Girl on the Train, from David Copperfield to Wonder, from Giovanni's Room to Rebecca, and from 1984 to Gifts from the Sea. Throughout, Schwalbe tells stories from his life and focuses on the way certain books can help us honor those we've loved and lost, and also figure out how to live each day more fully.




Once More We Saw Stars


Book Description

“A gripping and beautiful book about the power of love in the face of unimaginable loss.” --Cheryl Strayed For readers of The Bright Hour and When Breath Becomes Air, a moving, transcendent memoir of loss and a stunning exploration of marriage in the wake of unimaginable grief. As the book opens: two-year-old Greta Greene is sitting with her grandmother on a park bench on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. A brick crumbles from a windowsill overhead, striking her unconscious, and she is immediately rushed to the hospital. But although it begins with this event and with the anguish Jayson and his wife, Stacy, confront in the wake of their daughter's trauma and the hours leading up to her death, Once More We Saw Stars quickly becomes a narrative that is as much about hope and healing as it is about grief and loss. Jayson recognizes, even in the midst of his ordeal, that there will be a life for him beyond it--that if only he can continue moving forward, from one moment to the next, he will survive what seems unsurvivable. With raw honesty, deep emotion, and exquisite tenderness, he captures both the fragility of life and absoluteness of death, and most important of all, the unconquerable power of love. This is an unforgettable memoir of courage and transformation--and a book that will change the way you look at the world.




How to be Loved


Book Description

Hagberg Fisher spent her lonely youth looking everywhere for connection: drugs, alcohol, therapists, boyfriends, girlfriends. Sometimes she found it... temporarily. Then, at age thirty, an undiscovered mass in her brain ruptured, and so did her life. When her illness hit a critical stage, it forced her to finally admit the long-suppressed truth: she was vulnerable, she needed help, and she needed true friendship for the first time. Here she explores the isolation so many of us feel despite living in an age of constant connectivity, and writes about the friends who taught her to grow up and open her heart. -- adapted from jacket




Based on a True Story


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Driving, wild and hilarious” (The Washington Post), here is the incredible “memoir” of the legendary actor, gambler, raconteur, and Saturday Night Live veteran. When Norm Macdonald, one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time, was approached to write a celebrity memoir, he flatly refused, calling the genre “one step below instruction manuals.” Norm then promptly took a two-year hiatus from stand-up comedy to live on a farm in northern Canada. When he emerged he had under his arm a manuscript, a genre-smashing book about comedy, tragedy, love, loss, war, and redemption. When asked if this was the celebrity memoir, Norm replied, “Call it anything you damn like.”




The Bright Hour


Book Description

"Built on her ... Modern Love column, 'When a Couch is More Than a Couch' (9/23/2016), a ... memoir of living meaningfully with 'death in the room' by the 38-year-old great-great-great granddaughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson--mother to two young boys, wife of 16 years--after her terminal cancer diagnosis"--




Hidden Lives


Book Description

Margaret Forster's grandmother died in 1936, taking many secrets to her grave. Where had she spent the first 23 years of her life? Who was the woman in black who paid her a mysterious visit shortly before her death? How had she borne living so close to an illegitimate daughter without acknowledging her? The search for answers took Margaret on a journey into her family’s past, examining not only her grandmother's life, but also her mother’s and her own. The result is both a moving, evocative memoir and a fascinating commentary on how women’s lives have changed over the past century.




Crossing the River


Book Description

A powerful exploration of grief and resilience following the death of the author's son that combines memoir, reportage, and lessons in how to heal Everyone deals with grief in their own way. Helen Macdonald found solace in training a wild gos­hawk. Cheryl Strayed found strength in hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. For Carol Smith, a Pulitzer Prize­ nominated journalist struggling with the sudden death of her seven-year-old son, Christopher, the way to cross the river of sorrow was through work. In Crossing the River, Smith recounts how she faced down her crippling loss through reporting a series of profiles of people coping with their own intense chal­lenges, whether a life-altering accident, injury, or diag­nosis. These were stories of survival and transformation, of people facing devastating situations that changed them in unexpected ways. Smith deftly mixes the stories of these individuals and their families with her own account of how they helped her heal. General John Shalikashvili, once the most powerful member of the American military, taught Carol how to face fear with discipline and endurance. Seth, a young boy with a rare and incurable illness, shed light on the totality of her son's experiences, and in turn helps readers see that the value of a life is not measured in days. Crossing the River is a beautiful and profoundly moving book, an unforgettable journey through grief toward hope, and a valuable, illuminating read for anyone coping with loss.




Writing Life Stories


Book Description

A guide to writing stories, memoirs, and personal essays that includes information on remembering distant memories; making real people into characters; using public records, interviews, and diaries to create a believable story; and other related topics.




LOVE The Beat Goes On


Book Description

When you write a memoir, there's no place to hide. author Lynda Filler"Powerful and unforgettable" JackMagnus, 5 Star Readers' Favorite"This is a book every human alive should read and take away the lessons given. If I could give it ten stars, I would. It's that good."J. SikesWhen your cardiologist tells you to "Get your affairs in order, your heart condition is incurable," what do you do?Lynda shares her personal story in the typical fast-paced, edgy, in-your-face style she's known for in her writing. She will walk you through her journey to self-love sharing her belief in journals, love, prayer, soul, spirituality and positive mindset.She's hard-hitting but compassionate. She writes about romantic experiences that may shock you but makes no apologies for her unconventional lifestyle. Nor does she hold back taking responsibility for the things that she believes created her dis-ease.You will definitely question a woman who walks around in denial; then makes a decision to drive, all alone, from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to Whistler, Canada with undiagnosed Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Men and women are often self-care-challenged and Lynda was no the exception.If you are fighting any kind of illness or dis-ease, you are not alone! Lynda has walked her talk, and after an experience in the summer of 2015 relating to Dr. Wayne Dyer, she is now ready to release her storyLynda knows how it feels to be told you're not healing or your condition is incurable. At no point will she undermine anything your physicians tell you to do. She is not a medical doctor. She will explain the powerful, yet simple concepts, beliefs, balance and faith that she believes led to her healing. Most of all, she will show you how she used these simple principles to design and live, the fully healed life she now enjoys in 2017.You will shake your head in wonder, laugh, and maybe cry too. If you want less pain, worry, and stress about dis-ease and life in general, you will want to read this simple yet powerful story.