True Celebrity Biography

A musician, documentarian, scholar, and one of the founding members of the influential folk revival group New Lost City Ramblers, Mike Seeger (1933-2009) spent more than fifty years collecting, performing, and commemorating the culture and folk music of white and black southerners, which he called "music from the true vine." In this fascinating biography, Bill Malone explores the life and musical contributions of folk artist Seeger, son of musicologists Charles and Ruth Crawford Seeger and brother of folksingers Pete and Peggy Seeger.

Despite lacking pitch, rhythm, or tone, Florence Foster Jenkins became one of America's best-known sopranos, celebrated for her unique recordings and her sell-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Born in 1868 to wealthy Pennsylvanian parents, Florence was a talented young pianist, but her life was thrown into turmoil when she eloped with Frank Jenkins, a man twice her age. The marriage proved a disaster, and, in order to survive, Florence was forced to abandon her dreams of a musical career and teach the piano.

He was a 1930s golf legend and Hollywood trickster who adamantly refused to be photographed. He never played professionally, yet sports-writing legend Grantland Rice still heralded him as "the greatest golfer in the world". Then, in 1937, the secrets of John Montague's past were exposed - leading to a sensational trial that captivated the nation.

These days, the road to success can feel jampacked with scheduling, networking, nonstop hustle, and flat-out absurdity. And no one knows that better than Al Roker - beloved cohost of The Today Show, weatherperson extraordinaire, and the man we all secretly wish we could turn to for wisdom and wisecracks in our everyday lives. Al has learned worthwhile lessons over a long, successful career. And now, for the first time, Al is ready to unleash savvy advice on how to embrace happiness.

You're driving on a deserted road when your car dies. Your cell phone isn't getting service. All you have on hand are a gum wrapper and a wire hanger. Or maybe you're living in a building without central air conditioning in July. You can't afford an AC; all you have access to are a fan and a bucket of water. In such times of desperation, many have called upon the symbol of all that is inventive, the hero who awed thousands with his cool, quick wit: "What would MacGyver do?" they ask.

Lover Come Back is a true - but often unbelievable - tale of loss, sacrifice, second chances, and ultimately, love. It takes the listener from the courtroom to the lush beaches of Naples, Florida, where Scott and his family currently reside. The journey is gut-wrenching, comedic, hard to believe, and heartwarming. In the end, it is a love story that will leave you believing in second chances and first loves.

From Giuliano's best-selling British book for Richard Branson's Virgin, to blockbuster cult film Stoned, to this riveting audio bio - the murder of Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones is now finally solved! This masterful trilogy caused Scotland Yard to reopen the case after over 30 years.

This hilarious, whip-smart collection of essays from a top writer and producer of Six Feet Under crisscrosses from the highly personal (conflating her own loss of virginity and the Kobe Bryant accusations), to the political (what she has in common with Monica and Chandra), to the outrageously Los Angelean (why women wear huge diamonds and what they must do to get them). Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants is a genre-defying combination of personal essay and memoir, or a hilarious, unruly and unapologetic evaluation of society, religion, sex, love, and - best of all - Jill Soloway.

For more than 40 years Mac Hudson and Irv Harrigan launched the workday for millions of Houstonians as the hosts of one of America's longest-running, most successful comedy morning shows at the legendary and award-winning KILT Radio. The Hudson & Harrigan Show aired continuously from 1967 until 2010, in which time it became a bona fide Houston institution.

From the North Carolina Piedmont to the forests of Hungary, Jody Mace examines the mundanity of everyday life and finds the kernel of eternal truth. Or else she just makes one up. Contemplate Schrödinger's human head in your dryer or find a way to make peace with Barbie. A journalist and freelance writer in Charlotte, Jody has collected a dozen of her essays on family life that will have you thinking deeply and laughing heartily.

In December of 1936, King Edward VIII of Great Britain shocked the world by giving up his kingdom in order to marry a twice-divorced American commoner named Wallis Simpson. The King and Mrs. Simpson recounts in a novella-sized work the extraordinary love story between the popular king and the enigmatic woman that began at a party in England and culminated with the downfall of his reign nearly six years later.

Ginger Baker was, without question, the foremost drummer of his generation, having formed supergroups Cream and Blind Faith. In the early 1990s, author Geoffrey Giuliano received a call from Baker asking if he would be interested in writing his autobiography. While the book they wrote together 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 Clarence, 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.

William J. Mann is the author of ten books, including his most recent, Bogie and Bacall: The Surprising True Story of Hollywood’s Greatest Love Affair. He won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime for Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood, and the Lambda Literary Award for Biography for Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines. He is also the author of The Contender: The Story of Marlon Brando and Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times.

Do you want to learn more about Charlie Chaplin, but don’t have time to listen to huge, long biographies? Then let The History Journals take you on an hourly history tour of his life. Charlie Chaplin’s legacy lives on forever in the films that have been left behind, bringing the gift of laughter to viewers of every generation, past, present, and future.

More Hollywood Murders and Scandals: Tinsel Town After Dark, More Famous Celebrity Murders, Scandals, and Crimes is volume two in the Murders, Scandals, and Mayhem series. It adds to the collection of the most famous and infamous Hollywood scandals and celebrity murders from the early beginnings of Hollywood right up to today.

While this story is told by Donald Trump, more or less, it is fictional. No resemblance to the actual Donald is intended. Uh-huh.

Born in a little cabin in Tennessee, Dolly Parton always dreamed big, and she was right to! She wrote her first song at age five and became a country music star by the time she was in her early twenties. Of course, her success didn't stop there. Dolly Parton is also an actress, author, businesswoman, and philanthropist whose "Imagination Library" reading initiative reaches children throughout the US, Canada, and the UK. There is simply no one like Dolly Parton!