Biographies Power

This biography of educational activist and Black studies forerunner Bertha Maxwell-Roddey examines a life of remarkable achievements and leadership in the desegregated South. Sonya Ramsey modernizes the nineteenth-century term "race woman" to describe how Maxwell-Roddey and her peers turned hard-won civil rights and feminist milestones into tangible accomplishments in North Carolina and nationwide from the late 1960s to the 1990s.

Embark on a personal journey with singer-songwriter Elyse G. Rogers as she unveils her remarkable transformation from a '90s pop sensation to an independent solo artist. In this captivating memoir, Elyse shares the intimate details of her career, including the pivotal moment she changed her name and the struggles she faced overcoming burnout.

In Charles Barkley: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Greatest Power Forwards, you'll learn the inspirational story of basketball's legendary power forward Charles Barkley. Barkley was one of the most popular big men throughout 1980's and 1990's basketball due to his dominance on both sides of the court. He remains one of the greatest examples of how to overcome obstacles to become a great, as he went through his entire career as "undersized" compared to traditional power forwards.

Trailblazing transgender actress, activist, and style icon Candis Cayne has spent a lifetime learning how to see herself for who she really is, and along the way has taught herself and others how to celebrate inner beauty as the perfect starting point for outer radiance. Drawing from her personal journey to self-acceptance and comprised of a unique combination of cross-barrier, body-positive wellness and style advice, Hi Gorgeous! is a one-of-a-kind beauty guide that will speak to all women.

Michael Bloomberg became mayor of New York just four months after the 9/11 terrorist destruction of the World Trade Center, and he led the rebuilding of a physically and emotionally devastated city so well that within two years, the city had budget surpluses. Weikart reveals how state and federal governments constrained Bloomberg's efforts to set municipal policy and implement his strategic goals in the areas of homelessness, low-income housing, poverty, education, and crime.

In Kevin Garnett: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Greatest Power Forwards, you will learn the inspirational story of one of basketball's premier power forwards, Kevin Garnett. Since joining the NBA directly from high school, Kevin Garnett has had a highly productive and legendary career in the NBA as a leader and as a basketball player.

"Unveiling Miracles: A Journey of Immigration, from Modeling to Homelessness, and the Power of Resilience" is a gripping and inspiring memoir that takes you on a remarkable journey through the life of Venus. In this compelling narrative, Venus bares her soul, sharing the highs and lows of her life, a testament to the extraordinary power of resilience. From a humble beginning as an immigrant to a foreign land, Venus candidly recounts the challenges and triumphs faced while navigating the intricate path of immigration.

One of the most famous and enigmatic Americans of the 20th century, Howard Hughes challenged Hollywood's conventions and packed theaters with his blockbuster films Hell's Angels, Scarface and The Outlaw. He thrilled the world with his aviation exploits, shattering air speed records, flying around the world in record time and building the world's largest aircraft. Hughes was linked with almost every major film beauty of the 1930s and '40s, making him a favorite subject of the nation's gossip columns.

Shaking up New York and national politics by becoming the first African American congresswoman and, later, the first Black major-party presidential candidate, Shirley Chisholm left an indelible mark as an "unbought and unbossed" firebrand and a leader in politics for meaningful change. Chisholm spent her formative years moving between Barbados and Brooklyn, and the development of her political orientation did not follow the standard narratives of the civil rights or feminist establishments.

Jeanne Villepreux-Power was never expected to be a scientist. Born in 1794 in a French village more than 100 miles from the ocean, she pursued an improbable path that brought her to the island of Sicily. There, she took up natural history and solved the two-thousand-year-old mystery of how the argonaut octopus gets its shell. In an era when most research focused on dead specimens, Jeanne was determined to experiment on living animals. And to keep sea creatures alive for her studies, she had to invent a contraption to hold them: the aquarium.

Geno DiBacco led the notorious Gabardine Gang, a small-time mob that ruled the city. Geno's son, Kevin, takes you on a visceral journey through his childhood and adolescence, revealing the gang's illegal activities, his father's dramatic descent, and the harsh realities of organized crime, offering a unique perspective on a world often glamorized in Hollywood.

On a hot night in July 1995, Janet Downing, a 42-year-old mother of four, was brutally stabbed 98 times in her home in Somerville, a city two miles northwest of Boston. Within hours, a suspect was identified: 15-year-old Eddie O'Brien, the best friend of one of Janet's sons.

A smart, sexy business book for the readers who made Trading Up a best seller: the tale of a London society girl who built one of the most talked-about shoe brands in the world. The Towering World of Jimmy Choo examines the worlds seemingly insatiable appetite for luxury goods by telling the behind-the-scenes tale of one of the most talked-about brands of our age.

Many fantasize about dramatically changing their lives - living in accordance with their ideals rather than the exigencies of job, bills, and possessions. William Powers actually does it. Here, his family, with baby in tow, searches for balance, community, and happiness in a small town in Bolivia. They build an adobe house, plant a prolific orchard and organic garden, and weave their life into a community of permaculturists, bio-builders, artists, and creative businesspeople. Can this Transition Town succeed in the face of encroaching North American capitalism?

As the Confederacy felt itself slipping beneath the Union juggernaut in late 1864, the South launched a desperate counteroffensive to force a standoff. Its secret weapon? A state-of-the-art raiding ship whose mission was to sink the U.S. merchant fleet. The raider's name was Shenandoah, and her executive officer was Conway Whittle, a 24-year-old warrior.

On June 17, 2015, at 9:05 p.m., a young man with a handgun opened fire on a prayer meeting at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine members of the congregation. The captured shooter, 21-year-old Dylan Roof, a white supremacist, was charged with their murders. Two days after the shooting, while Roof's court hearing was held on videoconference, the families of his nine victims, one by one, appeared on the screen - forgiving the killer.

In his debut memoir, Won’t Be Silent, Abe Gurko invites you to join him in celebrating a life that he calls “finally worth living.” It’s an honest, rollicking ride filled with joyous and life-affirming as well as challenging, daunting, and heartbreaking situations that he navigates with aplomb, though not always.

This engaging tale takes us on a journey with an executive in a multinational corporation, who, along with her team, had to skillfully navigate what seemed to them insurmountable challenges and difficulties in a corporate culture ripe with lust, deceit, greed, and an insatiable desire for power. The story follows the obstacles they encountered and details how the characters employed biblical principles, corporate strategies, and academics to reorganize the company in the midst of fierce opposition to achieve success.

Barbra Streisand has been called the “most successful...talented performer of her generation” by Vanity Fair, and her voice, said pianist Glenn Gould, is “one of the natural wonders of the age.” Streisand scaled the heights of entertainment—from a popular vocalist to a first-rank Broadway star in Funny Girl to an Oscar-winning actress to a producer and director. But she has also become a cultural icon who has transcended show business.

Melissa Wirt thought she had everything—she'd built her own company and moved to a beautiful farm with her family. Then during a personal crisis, she realized: despite having created an online community reaching thousands of moms, she’d also somehow, become utterly isolated.