In 1944, Bertie Bowman–a poor, impressionablethirteen-year-old–heard South Carolina senator Burnet Maybankdeclare: “If you all ever get up to Washington, D.C., drop by andsee me!” Bertie took those words to heart, and when he arrived inWashington, Senator Maybank, surprisingly true to his word, saw toit that the young runaway had a place to stay and a steadyincome–earned by sweeping the Capitol steps for two dollars a week.Bowman would rise to become hearing coordinator for the SenateForeign Relations Committee in the U.S. Capitol–and this is hisremarkable story. For sixty years, Bertie Bowman stood at the epicenter of change andwitnessed history in the making, observing firsthand theclandestine backroom deals made in the name of democracy. Throughit all, he lived by these guiding principles: Work hard. Be true toyourself. Take responsibility. Have a positive outlook. Expect thebest from people. As Bowman recounts his extraordinary life, healso shares the lessons and values that have served him
As he magnificently combines meticulous scholarship withirresistible narrative appeal, Richardson draws on his closefriendship with Picasso, his own diaries, the collaboration ofPicasso's widow Jacqueline, and unprecedented access to Picasso'sstudio and papers to arrive at a profound understanding of theartist and his work. 800 photos.
With this collection of short and fascinating biographicalpieces, the award-winning biographer of Coleridge and Shelleyoffers a fascinating glimpse into the mysterious art ofbiography. When researching, Richard Holmes has often become captivated byfigures peripheral to his main subject, literary forays that hecouldn’t resist. These tales–the forbidden love of John StuartMill, the bizarre novel of Oscar Wilde’s tragic grand-uncle, Scottand Zelda Fitzgerald’s nightmarish yet cathartic final trip toParis–are part of what comprises Sidetracks, a marvelously originalthat includes letters and travelogues, radio plays, essays, andminature biographies. This book is a rare literary feast and anexploration of the creative processes of one of our most preeminentbiographers.
Growing up in Bavaria during World War II, Ernestine Bradleycame to know wartime dislocations and food shortages, along withthe challenges of taking care of her siblings while her mother wasill. The men of her hometown were away at war, but their absencecreated an exciting unexpected freedom–a freedom she sought againat 21 when she became a stewardess, moved to New York and went onto marry a shy basketball star who played for the New YorkKnicks. Yet the paradoxes of her childhood shaped Bradley’s life. Herhard-won discipline helped her maintain a full-time career as aprofessor while she commuted weekly to Washington and her husband’spublic life; and Germany’s literary response to the holocaust ofwhich she had been unaware became her scholarly passion. Cancerconfronted her with a personal war, ultimately demanding avulnerability she had never allowed herself. Frank, warm, anddeeply moving, The Way Home is an inspiring American story.
Fidel Castro is perhaps the most charismatic and controversialhead of state in modern times. A dictatorial pariah to some, he hasbecome a hero and inspiration for many of the world's poor,defiantly charting an independent and revolutionary path for Cubaover nearly half a century. Numerous attempts have been made to get Castro to tell his ownstory. But only now, in the twilight of his years, has he beenprepared to set out the details of his remarkable biography for theworld to read. This book is nothing less than his living testament.As he told reporters, his desire to finish checking its text wasthe one thing that kept him going through his recent illness. Hepresented a copy of the book in its Spanish edition to his compadrePresident Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. In these pages, Castro narrates a compelling chronicle thatspans the harshness of his elementary school teachers; the earlyfailures of the revolution; his intense comradeship with CheGuevara and their astonishing, against-all-odds victory over thedic
