Horse Memoir

Corey White was a golden child. He knew this because his father would hit his mother and his sisters but not him. And his mother adored him so much she let him drop out of primary school. After losing his father to jail and his mother to heroin, though, he became a target for cruelty and dysfunction in foster homes. A scholarship to a prestigious boarding school lifted him out of foster care and awakened a love of learning and reading for him, but this was soon overwhelmed by a crushing depression and drug addiction.

One of the most important, and controversial, Confederate generals during the Civil War was Lieutenant General James Longstreet, the man Robert E. Lee called his "old war horse". Longstreet was Lee's principal subordinate for most of the war, ably managing a corps in the Army of Northern Virginia and being instrumental in Confederate victories at Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chickamauga. Longstreet was also effective at Antietam and the Battle of the Wilderness, where he was nearly killed by a shot through the neck.

They had no business being there. They were up against million-dollar horses owned by patricians, oilmen, Arab sheiks, and Hollywood producers. They were 10 regular guys, and all they wanted was to win a race. Instead, they won the hearts of America.

In 1910, when Olaf F. Larson was born to tenant livestock and tobacco farmers in Rock County, Wisconsin, the original barn still stood on the property. It was filled with artifacts of an earlier time - an ox yoke, a grain cradle, a scythe used to cut hay by hand. But Larson came of age in a brave new world of modern inventions - tractors, trucks, combines, airplanes - that would change farming and rural life forever. When Horses Pulled the Plow is Larson's account of that rural life in the early 20th century.

Lee is remembered today for constantly defeating the Union’s Army of the Potomac in the Eastern theater from 1862-1865, considerably frustrating Lincoln and his generals. His leadership of his army led to him being deified after the war by some of his former subordinates, especially Virginians, and he came to personify the Lost Cause’s ideal Southern soldier. His reputation was secured in the decades after the war as a general who brilliantly led his men to amazing victories against all odds.

Geoffrey Giuliano lived in the "often wonderfully unreal" world of George Harrison and his friends, interviews with whom are the basis for much of this vivid and revealing portrait. Here are Harrison's Liverpool childhood, the forging of the Beatles, their unheralded ascendancy, and the bitter break-up; his turbulent solo career with its soaring successes and harrowing setbacks; his reincarnation as a Traveling Wilbury; his impact as a record and film producer; his oft-publicized and misjudged spiritual quest; and much more.

Dark Horse tells the intensely personal tale of a man who referred to his tour of duty with the Beatles as "a nightmare". Included are exclusive interviews with George Harrison, John Lennon, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Tiny Tim, and many others, as well as rare archival material.

Confessions of a Timid Rider is a memoir detailing one woman's insights into being an anxiety-ridden but passionate equestrian. After returning to riding as a mother, she is determined to follow her dreams despite the fear she is somehow lacking in talent or ability. An in-depth look into the heart and head of a returning adult equestrian and mother, this message is not limited only to those with horse experience.

Most fondly remembered for her starring role as “Cissy” in the long-running international TV hit Family Affair, Kathy Garver has also garnered critical acclaim in movies, stage, radio, voice-over animation and audio-book narration. For Rocking Horse, Kathy Garver adds her knowledge of voice over, the entertainment world and her many talents to make this biography of Betty Hutton a personal affair and cautionary tale.

The Jockey is the true story of a young boy from the wrong side of the tracks who, because of his size and toughness, is offered a position to train as a jockey. It soon becomes clear that the business is less about winning horse races than it is about making money. He resists the temptation to join the extralegal side of the business until he is confronted by the facts of racing life: Horse racing is a blood sport, and jockeys rarely survive without life-altering injuries.

When Elvis Presley decided he wanted to buy a horse in 1966, he didn't want just any horse. "He wanted a Golden Palomino," Priscilla Presley remembers. "He would get up at 3:00 in the morning, go to certain farms and ranches and say, 'Do you have a Golden Palomino for sale?' People would say, 'That was Elvis Presley!'" Elvis's legendary love of horses drove him to find the golden palomino that would become his beloved companion, Rising Sun.

In the final days of World War II, with the ravenous Red Army marching across Czechoslovakia, a wily band of American soldiers did the unexpected: They teamed up with the Nazis and went behind enemy lines to save the world's rarest horses from imminent extinction at the hands of the Russians - including the exquisite white Lipizzaner, whose bloodlines date back to Genghis Khan.

STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH! Smarty Jones-the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and near Belmont Stakes Triple Crown winner finally opens up about his life on and off the racetrack. The Thoroughbred Thinker hurls some zingers, and throws a few ringers on the horseracing establishment. In this fact-based fable, America's horse touches on topics spanning leadership and motivation to humor and humility.

The proud Virginian entered the war in uncertain times, and there were understandable doubts about how well he could lead soldiers, but through a combination of skill and luck, he became one of his country’s earliest and foremost military heroes. After the war, he would go on to a distinguished political career, and he would find himself caught up in civil unrest toward the end of his life.

When the leaders of the Santa Fe Railway followed the path of least resistance across the “great American desert” they encountered a world like no other. This book will introduce you to the team of "Iron Horses": leading men and women who helped create a vision and an empire.

The late, great Ginger Baker is, without question, the foremost drummer of his generation, having formed supergroups Cream and Blind Faith. In the early 1990s, Geoffrey Giuliano received a call from Baker asking if he would be interested in writing his autobiography. From there, a turbulent yet fruitful relationship ensued between the two. While the book they wrote has yet to be published, here, at last, are the exclusive, in-depth, upfront, and highly personal conversations the two unlikely friends recorded in a Western New York studio all those years ago.

On August 6, 1978, firefighters discovered the charred remains of a body inside a wooden crate, set ablaze in an empty lot in the Bronx, New York. The male decedent had been worked over, stabbed, and shot multiple times. The victim was identified as John “Jack” Tupper, a restaurateur, age 34. His killer turned out to be 48-year-old Howard “Buddy” Jacobson, who at one time was the country's leading Thoroughbred horse trainer. The shocking act of violence was the result of a classic love triangle turned deadly.

L.A. Pomeroy is an award-winning journalist (2010 AHP Best Freelance Equestrian Journalist, 2008 AHP Best Feature finalist), publicist, Internet radio cohost, and equinista specializing in equestrian culture/lifestyle, fashion/design, and art/collectibles. She also serves as Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) media liaison and has gained exceptional experience in Olympic equestrian sports history and trivia working for the US Equestrian Team (now USEF).

Get the main key insights from this summary of Brandi Carlile’s Broken Horses in just a short listen.