Academic Life

August, 1755. Newcastle, on the north bank of the Tyne. In the fields, men and women are getting the harvest in. Sunlight or rain. Scudding clouds and backbreaking labour. Three hundred feet underground, young Charles Hutton is at the coalface. Cramped, dust choked, wielding a five-pound pick by candlelight. Eighteen years old, he’s been down the pits on and off for more than a decade, and now it looks like a life sentence. No unusual story, although Charles is a clever lad - gifted at maths and languages - and for a time he hoped for a different life. Many hoped.

In his award-winning debut essay collection, What Cannot Be Undone, Walter M. Robinson shares surprising stories of illness and medicine that do not sacrifice hard truth for easy dramatics. These true stories are filled with details of difficult days and nights in the world of high-tech medical care, and they show the ongoing struggle in making critical decisions with no good answer. This collection presents the raw moments where his expertise in medical ethics and pediatrics are put to the test.

Christy Engel Wilson began her educational journey working in youth camps and has since taught every grade from kindergarten to eighth. Her 25 years of work in professional development, student management, and instruction with English Language Learners has helped establish her as a primary advocate for high-risk students and school leaders promoting equity and restorative justice.

Bruce Goldfarb spent ten years with Maryland's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, where every sudden or unattended death in the state is scrutinized. Touching on numerous scandals, including Derek Chauvin's trial for the murder of George Floyd and the tragic killing in police custody of Freddie Gray, Goldfarb pulls back the curtain on a pioneer institution in crisis.

John Denver said, “I have a producer who looks like an accountant, and an accountant who looks like a producer”. Soberly dressed, unflashy, and a trained classical musician, in the golden age of the music business, Milt Okun stood out by not standing out. His legacy does that for him. He discovered and launched John Denver, and mentored him throughout his career. He created arrangements for Peter, Paul and Mary that the trio performed for half a century. He brought Placido Domingo a crossover career that made him an international star beyond the world of opera.

A trajetória de Cézar Chaves sempre foi tema nos corredores do Grupo Zema, um dos maiores conglomerados empresariais do triângulo mineiro. Até mesmo os colaboradores que não o conheciam pessoalmente, ouviam falar do jovem que ingressou na empresa como frentista e construiu uma carreira de sucesso. Ao ser escolhido para se tornar presidente do Grupo em novembro de 2016, o primeiro CEO sem o sobrenome Zema ganhou destaque ainda maior.

In her memoir Read or Die, Russell documents her daily battle as a middle school teacher in Tucson, Arizona, fighting against predetermined trajectories of less-than beliefs with an arsenal of hard covers and tattered pages. A talented and caring teacher, Russell offers a moving portrayal that combines rich autobiographical details with firsthand insight into the world of education. Read or Die is not only a compelling story, but it also offers revealing and meaningful insights into education in America from a seasoned insider.

For two decades, Davis Phinney was one of America’s most successful cyclists. He won two stages at the Tour de France and an Olympic medal. But after years of feeling off, he was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s. The body that had been his ally was now something else: a prison. The Happiness of Pursuit is the story of how Davis sought to overcome his Parkinson’s by reaching back to what had made him so successful on the bike and adjusting his perspective on what counted as a win. The news of his diagnosis began a dark period for this vibrant athlete, but there was also light.

This is the story of a man, a cow, and a question: What am I eating? After realizing he knows more about the television on his wall than the food on his plate, award-winning TV producer and amateur chef Jared Stone buys 420 pounds of beef directly from a rancher and embarks on a hilarious and inspiring culinary adventure. With the help of an incredibly supportive wife and a cadre of highly amused friends, Jared offers a glimpse at one man's family as they try to learn about their food and ask themselves what's really for dinner.

Dr. Catherine "Cathy" DeAngelis has shattered numerous glass ceilings in medicine for herself and generations of women she's mentored. Raised in 1940s hardscrabble Pennsylvania coal mining country, Cathy's unyielding determination and indomitable self-belief steamrolled medicine's entrenched sexism. In a life filled with "firsts," she was named the first woman editor-in-chief of JAMA - the Journal of the American Medical Association.

From watching his colleague get shot in the testicles by a jealous producer to running Hollywood's most successful television studio, Harris Katleman had a front row seat in the development of the television industry. Through a number of hilarious accounts, Harris Katleman shares his journey from office boy to talent agent to television producer, and finally to studio head at both MGM and 20th Century Fox. Along the way, we meet industry giants including Rupert Murdoch, Bob Iger, Barry Diller, Marvin Davis, Kirk Kerkorian, Mark Goodson, and Lew Wasserman.

A courageous memoir that spans 40 years of Dinaaz Lentin's life experiences within our health care system. The story is raw, thought-provoking, and a brilliant look at complications and uncertainties when a medical challenge being faced is rare and uncertain. An extremely powerful example of how self-belief and trusting your own gut instinct can allow you to overcome any of life's challenges.

Life is short, and the clock is ticking. It’s time to get moving! More than ever, the world needs exceptional people with the courage to deliver their gifts in a positive way. Only Dead Fish Go With the Flow offers fresh perspectives on being your higher self, so you can fearlessly harness the power of going against the flow. Whether you want to start your life over or you are just starting out, prioritize your passions to find true inner peace, relentless success, and emotional fulfillment.

From the OR to the ICU, Dr. David Alfery brings you into a hidden world of medicine that has never before been seen. You will witness the exhilaration a physician feels when a life is miraculously saved, the terror when a life is on the line, the shock of an unexpected demise, the grace patients evidence when facing the end of life, the anguish one suffers when a family member is perilously close to dying, and much more.

Claus Spreckels (1828-1908) emigrated from his homeland of Germany to the United States with only seventy-five cents in his pocket, built a sugar empire, and became one of the richest Americans in history. Migrating to San Francisco after the gold rush, Spreckels built the largest sugar beet factory of its kind in the United States. When Spreckels gave America its first sugar cube, he became the “Sugar King.” The indomitable Spreckels was a colorful and complicated character on both sides of the Pacific.

Most would not expect a book about a stroke to be entertaining, but this memoir will force you to laugh through a tragedy, then cry, then laugh again. Avrel Seale was fifty, did not smoke or drink, had low blood pressure, and had hiked more than two hundred miles the year a stroke nearly ended his life. In an instant, he was teleported into the body of an old man—unbalanced, shaky, spastic, and half-paralyzed. Overnight, he was plunged into a world of brain surgeons, nurses, insurance case managers, and an abundance of therapists.

The Chartered Vendor audiobook is a story of the life of Jerry More Nyazungu, an entrepreneur, founder and group CEO of the M&J Group. He is very passionate about entrepreneurship and high business performance and is a result-oriented business leader who is passionate about driving results for businesses, both large and small. Jerry grew up in the rural areas of Watsomba, in Mutare. For high school, Jerry was educated at Marist Brothers in Nyanga for O-Level and Hartzell High School in Nyanga for his A-Levels.

NewBee is a story about cross-pollination, a story of combining the lessons learned across jobs, courses, conferences, and interactions with people to create a unique honey. Without an instruction manual to realize his dreams, Ernesto had to rely on his curiosity and relentless pursuit to find a way to combine his analytical background in systems engineering with his desire for creating community using food and hospitality. Applying the ideas discussed in NewBee gives everyone the ability to discover their passions, create their honey, and realize their dreams.

Jarvis was a typical, middle-aged man in the early summer of 2019. He didn't know what a transient ischemic attack (TIA) was until he had six of them in one evening. The next day, Jarvis walked into an emergency room on his own power to get checked out. The TIAs had been scary, but he figured they were just a warning that he needed to take better care of himself.

Anyone who has ever felt or looked unconventional or enjoys weird stories about awkward people will want to listen to Loving Every Awkward Step. A humorous memoir about clubfoot, life choices, and surviving being different, Houston-Voss tells about growing up different in a world that wanted the same. She explores the feelings of what is thought of as normal and the challenges of fitting into societal expectations when hiding a disability.