Dagbøker og memoarer

Raymond D. Johnson spent 31 years as an investigator. First with two police departments in Washington State and then with two Fire Departments in Oregon and California. He has investigated several crimes and death investigations. Mr. Johnson spent some time assisting with the Green River Killer investigation and several murder investigations. Most of his career was as a fire investigator and over the span of 20 years he has participated in the investigation of over a thousand fires for their origin and cause. During his time with the Salem, Oregon fire department Mr. Johnson was part of a fifty-two member fire investigation team and was ultimately the president of the team for two years. Mr. Johnson has achieved two college degrees and was an adjunct instructor at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He was selected to be a guest speaker at the New York City fire investigation conference. Mr. Johnson is currently retired and living in Auburn, Washington.

The second volume of The Last American Editor invites readers to explore the meaning of life beyond the ordinary. An ode to the community and the love for self-discovery, Ken Tingley's columns possess great value as they captivate the audience's emotions by revisiting stories that are still relevant today. The collection of stories contains powerful testimonies with an honesty that keeps the pages turning and changes minds, hearts, and, perhaps more importantly, perspectives about the world we inhabit and the challenges we face every day. They explore particular themes or periods of a person's life that best represent Small-Town America.

From Lane Moore, the critically acclaimed author ofHow to Be Alone, comes a searingly intimate, funny guidebook about the awkward, painful, and, at times, exhilarating journey of learning to find, build, and keep best friendships in adulthood

A nostalgic look back at a year in the life of a teenage steam chaser at the end of British steam: steam-chasing adventures in 1966

Transparent Body & Other Texts brings together Blecher's entire output of poetry and short prose, from the earliest texts published during his lifetime to those appearing for the first time only recently. They range from stories in the vein of his fantastical, hallucinatory longer work to aphorisms, reportage, and notebook fragments. The volume also includes a selection of his correspondence with such major figures of Romanian interwar modernism as Geo Bogza, Ilarie Voronca, and Saşa Pană to give a fuller picture of Blecher's engagement with the avant-garde and literary life even as his health was progressively deteriorating over the course of the 1930s.

A guide to the unmissable places to go, covering everything from restaurants to boutiques, galleries to parks, all illustrated with 50 of Cierra Block's distinctive maps.

The Toilet Saved my Life, is a fast-paced children's story, about a troubled, lukewarm Christian teenage boy escaping a Jihadist rampage in the West African nation of Burkina Faso. Samuel had recently turned his back on his childhood faith, but suddenly at a wild party he finds himself alone, deserted by his friends and with no human way of escaping the deadly jihadist attack. Suddenly he has only the Lord to depend upon and God saves his life by giving him an extremely unusual escape route to safety. Samuel's life is totally turned around by the miracle he receives.

The story of a rugby league legend A gentleman off the field and a brute on it, John Sattler was one of the most feared players of his era. He was equally renowned for his toughness and courage: famously, he played 77 minutes of the 1970 Grand Final with a shattered jaw, leading the Rabbitohs to victory over Manly. Here for the first time he tells his story in his own words and in his own style: honest, uncompromising and direct. It's the story of a boy from the bush who led the Pride of the League back to its rightful place at the top of the Sydney premiership. Along the way, Sattler toured with the Kangaroos, played in four winning Grand Finals and survived a near - fatal car crash. While he later built a new life for himself as a proud Queenslander, Sattler will always remain a South Sydney legend and an icon of the game.

No One Cheers for Goliath chronicles the obstacles overcome and the leadership lessons learned by Timothy J. Brown from his journey as a first generation African American college student to academic dean. As the son of a steel worker, his path took him from the small steel mill town of Coatesville, PA through his improbable ascension into leadership positions in higher education. His story, however, started inauspiciously as he landed on academic probation after his first semester at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. He would rebound to earn two degrees in Communication Studies from West Chester University, and complete his Ph.D. in Rhetoric at Ohio University. From Ohio, he would take his first faculty position at Buffalo State College, before returning to West Chester University as a faculty member in the same department in which he was a student. After five years, he would succeed his mentor and the person who first encouraged him to go to graduate school, Dr. Denny Klinzing, as department chair (Denny served 26 years as chair of the department). Dr. Brown would serve 10 years as department chair of the Department of Communication Studies at West Chester University-a program that had over 500 majors and over 35 faculty members before being named the Dean of the James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte. The Knight School of Communication is the only school in the nation that carries the Knight Foundation name. Currently, Dr. Brown serves as the Dean of Liberal Arts at Montgomery County Community College where he oversees 15 departments that span the arts & humanities and social sciences. As Dr. Brown excelled as a teacher/scholar, he became a leader on his campus and in the discipline of communication. Among his many honors includes being named a Distinguished Teaching Fellow and a Distinguished Research Fellow by the Eastern Communication Association, and being honored as a Drum Major for Justice by West Chester University's Frederick Douglass Society.No One Cheers for Goliath revisits Dr. Brown's leadership journey in higher education through personal reflections, life experiences, and memories of the people and events that shaped his leadership philosophy of being a servant-leader. Dr. Brown's servant-leadership approach is forged upon building authentic relationships and providing individuals with opportunities and support in order for them to succeed. Through powerful personal examples and stories, Dr. Brown captures what he learned as a leader in higher education. He believes in people because others had believed in him. He supports people as others supported him. He connects with people as others have connected with him. His ability to see people through their challenges, is reflective of the challenges that he had to overcome. The people, events, and circumstances that Dr. Brown discusses in No One Cheers for Goliath are meant to motivate, to encourage, and inspire leaders and aspiring leaders. As a result, effective leadership is a transformative process where the leader comes along side others to unlock their potential in order for them to reach goals that might have otherwise seemed unobtainable.

Groovy, Man is a compellingly psycho-historical memoir chronicling the extraordinary life of David Tussman. As a young man he searches for his identity in the shadow of his father, a formidable yet discouraged educational reformer, and his mother, a frustrated intellectual. By way of making sense of his own experience, carefully crafted excerpts from his parents' eloquent writings provide nuanced insights into some of the ambitions and quandaries of the Greatest Generation. Breaking out of a repressed childhood and a nearly debilitating shyness, Tussman seeks fulfillment through political activism, drug dealing, working for Greenpeace, and serial romantic entanglements, finally finding stability in an unconventional arrangement of his personal and professional life. Along the way he encounters a raft of remarkable personalities-political activists, underground drug dealers, and environmental heroes-and fosters enduring friendships that survived, or were made possible by, the bedlam that characterized the era. Mordantly funny, highly readable, and entertaining from first to last, Groovy, Man has a "you are there" quality that invites readers to experience-or relive-an astonishing cultural period in American life.

Moment by moment, tale by tale, we navigate through life's challenges from one adventure to the next. Each moment, although vibrant in our minds, tends to blur creatively, inserting laughter, excitement, accomplishments and tears into our overloaded brain circuits.What do we do with these arrays of disorder, excitement, achievements and daring escapes? We spin them into yarns of adventures, tales of woes and proud moments to be shared around campfires, family gatherings and table talk get-togethers to delight those captivated by our gift of storytelling.With each tale told and retold, the creative process grows adding a forgotten epic moment to one adventure and possibly deleting or confusing the timeline or context of the next. Not to worry, it can be more the embellishment of the storyteller that holds the audience attention, not the accuracy of the moment.You'll find a medley of delightful moments as you peruse through each and every short story contained in this book. Although not a complete depiction of my life's tales to be told, but a very amusing and I hope, inspiring voyage through my many life's misadventures that I have found myself most fortunate to have experienced.Take this book as an inspiration to chronical your own moments in time for those that know you and for those who will follow you when you are gone. To see you not only as you are, but who you were as you ventured along life's highways and byways.Happy travels my friends.

Step back in time to the enchanting world of 1950s small-town Michigan with this charming autobiographical tale. The author, Sandra Gowing, takes us on a nostalgic journey through the streets of Marshall, offering glimpses into the joys, challenges, and transformative moments that shaped her childhood.Get lost in the sights of the era, sounds of the porch swing hitting the railing, and scents of penny candy being devoured in the Deep Cut. Sandra and her sister, Judy, search for adventure and happen upon innocent mischief as they explore their new hometown with their loyal dog, Skeeter. Whether you lived the experience of the 1950s or simply yearn for a glimpse into the past, this delightful memoir will transport you to a time filled with innocence, hope, and the profound beauty of small-town life.

"This book is based on the true story of Jonathan Ned Cole, a deaf adopted son of Mary Carol Cole and Ned M. Cole. Much of the story is factual, depicting Jon's rather tragic life. However, some elements concerning his biological parents are products of my imagination, as Jon never knew who they were. Other parts have been dramatized to better portray Jon's experience as a black, deaf boy raised in an all-white family. The final chapter delves into Jon's imagined time in heaven, which serves as a means for me to cope with the grief of his loss. The story is narrated in the first person as if Jon himself were recounting his life. Some of Jon's anecdotes may elicit laughter, while others will bring tears to your eyes. Through Jon's storytelling, you will discover that deafness is a burden far greater than being a black person in predominantly white America.This story is a testament to the author's struggle over many years to find the words that would adequately convey the extraordinary silence Jon lived with throughout his short 26 years of life. It explores the joy of living as well as the profound grief experienced by a family when they lose a child prematurely. Ultimately, this story is about hope. According to Jon, his "real" parents conceived him in Melbourne, Florida."

In Shattered Reflections: A Female Soldier's Unveiled Truth, prepare to step into the unfiltered world of war through the raw perspective of a courageous 19-year-old girl thrust into a combat zone. As a military police soldier, Dallas endures an array of missions, including the rise of the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq 2003. This gripping tell-all journal exposes the stark reality of operations gone wrong, the frustrations of troops, and the untold whispers that echo through the barracks.Dallas's day-to-day memoirs will take you on an emotional roller coaster, immersing you in the depths of her frustration, despair, and occasional moments of mirth amidst the chaos of war. Through her brutally honest accounts, she shines a light on the vulnerabilities of a young woman navigating a relentless battlefield.Years later, Dallas's introspective reflection offers a rare glimpse into the heart and mind of a soldier attempting to heal the wounds of her past. With every turn of the page, you will witness the unveiling of her most intimate thoughts and experiences, gaining a profound understanding of why it took her nearly two decades to confront the truths concealed within these pages.Shattered Reflections is not merely a war journal-it is a captivating and necessary journey towards healing and self-discovery. This powerful memoir challenges preconceptions and fosters empathy, inviting readers to witness the profound resilience of the human spirit amidst the horrors of combat. Prepare to be captivated, moved, and forever changed by Dallas's extraordinary tale.

Christine went to the kitchen to get a sleeping tablet. She swallowed the whole bottle. Why?Christine had been strong all her life. She had dealt with mental health issues that included caregiving, raised a son with multiple disabilities, and recovered from severe antidepressant withdrawal.She had always hidden behind a façade of being strong, her shield that kept her safe and protected her from terrifying feelings.The Covid lockdowns coincided with a prolonged period of caregiving stress and financial worries. As well as her own health needs, her son needed additional support, and her parents needed to move into care.Christine was struggling to hold on to life in the present. She was suffering from caregiver burnout. Seeking help meant facing the truth. Life had been traumatically taken from her in the past. This is an insightful, courageous and ultimately triumphant account of a suicide attempt and her recovery.

'Honest, insightful and vulnerable' Forbes'Compellingly artful... a blockbuster memoir' The New Yorker'The most insightful royal book in a generation' Financial Times'A rattling page-turner... As a personal insight into one boy's life in an extraordinary spotlight, it may never be better' Sunday Times________Sunday Times Memoir of the Year 2023It was one of the images of the twentieth century: two boys, walking behind the coffin of their mother, Princess Diana. Billions wondered what the princes must be feeling - and how their lives would play out from that point on.For Harry, this is that story at last.Before then, Prince Harry was known as the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. But grief changed everything.At twenty-one, he joined the Army but was soon more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn't find true love.Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple's romance and wedding. But in the face of sustained press intrusion, Harry saw no other way to protect his wife and children than to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try had been his mother. . .Written with raw, unflinching honesty, Spare is full of insight, revelation and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.

This is the most glorious of books. I am besotted by the life I never knew he had.' -Elton John'Orgasmic. Every page of Scattershot is a delight, a joy, a name-dropper fan's delight. Divine. I couldn't put it down.' -Pete Townshend 'In Bernie Taupin's miraculous memoir Scattershot you'll meet legends, cowboys, geniuses, unforgettable faces in the night, shady purveyors of outrageous fortune, warriors of the heart, and most of all, Taupin himself. Hilarious and so emotionally true, Scattershot is like a letter from a cherished friend. You'll want to keep it close, so you can read it again and again.' -Cameron Crowe 'Touching. Charming. Humble. Witty. And exquisitely written. Taupin's words need no musical accompaniment. They sing with a poets voice.' -Gary Oldman 'Eloquent and inspiring, Scattershot is a freewheeling memoir that is as warm and evocative as Bernie Taupin's most memorable lyrics. A born storyteller, Taupin gives us the life of an artist whose outlook was shaped by a rare but fascinating blend of lifelong innocence and endless intellectual curiosity.' -Robert Hilburn, author of Johnny Cash: The Life"I loved writing, I loved chronicling life and every moment I was cogent, sober, or blitzed, I was forever feeding off my surroundings, making copious notes as ammunition for future compositions. . . . The thing is good, bad or indifferent I never stopped writing, it was as addictive as any drug."This is the memoir music fans have been waiting for. Half of one of the greatest creative partnerships in popular music, Bernie Taupin is the man who wrote the lyrics for Elton John, who conceived the ideas that spawned countless hits, and sold millions and millions of records. Together, they were a duo, a unit, an immovable object. Their extraordinary, half-century-and-counting creative relationship has been chronicled in biopics (like 2019's Rocketman) and even John's own autobiography, Me. But Taupin, a famously private person, has kept his own account of their adventures close to his chest, until now.Written with honesty and candour, Scatterhot allows the reader to witness events unfolding from Taupin's singular perspective, sometimes front and center, sometimes from the edge, yet always described vibrantly, with an infectious energy that only a vivid songwriter's prose could offer. From his childhood in the East Midlands of England whose imagination was sparked and forever informed by the distinctly American mythopoetics of country music and cowboys, to the glittering, star-studded fishbowl of '70s and '80s Beverly Hills, Scattershot is simultaneously a Tom Jones­-like picaresque journey across a landscape of unforgettable characters, as well as a striking, first-hand account of a creative era like no other and one man's experience at the core of it.An exciting, multi-decade whirlwind, Scattershot whizzes around the world as we ride shotgun with Bernie on his extraordinary life. We visit New York with him and Elton on the cusp of global fame. We spend time with him in Australia almost in residency at an infamous rock 'n' roll hotel in an endless blizzard of drugs. And we spend late, late night hours with John Lennon, with Bob Marley, and hanging with Frank Sinatra. And beyond the world of popular music, we witness memorable encounters with writers like Graham Greene, painters like Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali, and scores of notable misfits, miscreants, eccentrics, and geniuses, known and unknown. Even if they're not famous in their own right, they are stars on the page, and we discover how they inspired the indelible lyrics to songs such as "Tiny Dancer," "Candle in the Wind," "Bennie and The Jets," and so many more.Unique and utterly compelling, Scattershot will transport the reader across the decades and around the globe, along the way meeting some of the greatest creative minds of the 20th century, and into the vivid imaginings of one of music's most legendary lyricists.

** THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND SUNDAY TIMES ART BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 **A revelatory portrait of a great museum and the moving story of one guard's quest to find solace and meaning in art'Who would have thought that the outstanding art book of you would have been written not by a curator or an art historian or even an artist - but by a museum guard?' Sunday TimesWhen Patrick's older brother dies at twenty-six, all he wants is to retreat. So, he does. He quits his job and seeks refuge in the most beautiful place he can think of: New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.All the Beauty in the World recounts Patrick's time as a museum guard, keeping quiet vigil over some of our greatest treasures and uncovering the Met's innermost secrets. As his connection to the art and the life that swirls around it grows, so does Patrick - and gradually he emerges transformed by heartbreak, community and the power of art to illuminate life in all its pain, pleasure and hope.'As luminous as the old masters paintings' Daily Mail'Consoling and beautiful' Guardian'Marvellous' Daily Telegraph'A beautiful tale about beauty. It is also a tale about grief, balancing solitude and comradeship, and finding joy in both the exalted and the mundane' Washington Post*New York Times bestseller, Nov 24

An awestruck love letter to one of the most spectacular places on earth, from the author of international bestseller The Eight MountainsPaolo Cognetti marked his 40th birthday with a journey he had always wanted to make: to Dolpo, a remote Himalayan region where Nepal meets Tibet. He took with him two friends, a notebook, mules and guides, and a well-worn copy of The Snow Leopard. Written in 1978, Matthiessen's classic was also turning forty, and Cognetti set out to walk in the footsteps of the great adventurer.Without Ever Reaching the Summit combines travel journal, secular pilgrimage, literary homage and sublime mountain writing in a short book for readers of Macfarlane, Rebanks and Cognetti's own bestseller, The Eight Mountains. An investigation into the author's physical limits, an ancient mountain culture, and the magnificence of nature, it is an awestruck love letter to one of the most spectacular places on earth.