Academic Life

Flight of the Rondone is a true rags-to-riches tale the New York Times stated is “meant for television”. The protagonist, a high school dropout, is nicknamed in Italian U Carneveil (Walking Circus) for his entertaining and eccentric nature. Patrick Girondi starts his career shining shoes, stealing car parts, and escaping life-threatening situations while outwitting the Chicago police. He claws up to being a famous success story on the Oprah Show. His fortunes quickly change when his eldest son, Santino, is diagnosed with a fatal blood disease.

No Lucks Given, by Chef Brother Luck, is a powerful reflection on the most vital parts of the human experience: identity, community, and work. Packed with pain, passion, honor, and hope, No Lucks Given is an encouragement to everyone who has ever doubted themselves or God, whether they grew up on the streets or not—life is hard, but there is hope.

One’s wisdom, family traditions, and life contributions help to create a legacy. It’s our relationship with God and what we do for others that makes life worth living. While many hope to have a positive impact on the world, John M. Clark is one such man who has left this gift to both his family and community.

Written by a marine scientist (and winner of French eloquence competitions), this work of narrative nonfiction blends Bill François’ personal story with that of sea creatures to create an original and exciting work. In poetic prose, he describes his unlikely journey from being a Parisian child, afraid of the water and crippled by self-consciousness, to an eloquent and self-assured young man with a passion for the ocean and all who inhabit it.

A posthumously published memoir of one of the most renowned Entertainment Industry Attorneys in Hollywood History.

Born months before the start of World War I, William L. Adams left the North Carolina cotton fields behind forever in 1929 and moved to Baltimore as part of the Great Migration. At the age of 15, he became a numbers runner to support himself. With a preternatural understanding of finance and business, he rapidly ascended, becoming the head of his own illegal gambling operation. His leadership of the racket led to an attempt on his life by the Mafia, repeated criminal prosecutions, testimony before a special investigative committee of the U.S. Senate, and a landmark Supreme Court case.

Considered to be one of the most financially successful people in the world when he was alive, Howard Hughes attracts attention even 40 years after his death. From being a business tycoon to an aerospace engineer and inventor to being a maverick filmmaker, Hughes seemed to have tried it all.

Crush Your Freshman Year: Mastering Academics, Social Life, Time Management, and Freedom for College Success is your guide to navigating the complex world of college. From time management to social skills, this book has it all.

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.

American Urbanist shares the life and wisdom of a man whose advocacy reshaped many of the places we know and love today—from New York's bustling Bryant Park to preserved forests and farmlands around the country.

Sir Bob Reid is former chairman of Shell UK, British Rail, ICE Futures Europe, and deputy governor of the Bank of Scotland, among much else. His is a story of determination and achievement shot through with political upheaval, economic reversal, and industrial catastrophe. His first posting was to Borneo. Stints in Africa, Thailand, and Australia followed, after which he became chair of Shell UK, responsible for all oil exploration, production, refineries, and coastal shipping.

Erin Soto was living the life of the average overly committed mom and wife, managing her kids' schedules and myriad household duties while struggling to find time for herself. She had shrugged off the warning signs that something was physically "off" until, finally, she could not ignore her health any longer. Her world came to a crashing halt when the mother of four was delivered a shocking diagnosis at age 37: stage 3 colon cancer. The Mother of All Fights is an uncensored glimpse into the often harrowing and sometimes shocking twists and turns encountered on Erin's journey.

Erin Soto was living the life of the average overly committed mom and wife, managing her kids' schedules and myriad household duties while struggling to find time for herself. Her world came to a crashing halt when the mother of four was delivered a shocking diagnosis at age 37: stage three colon cancer. The Mother of All Fights is an uncensored glimpse into the often harrowing and sometimes shocking twists and turns of life encountered on Erin's journey toward healing her mind, body, and soul.

Grada was only 17 years old when she met her soulmate, Peter. By 19 she was married and had migrated from Holland to live in Peter’s homeland, Tasmania, Australia. Grada lived her dream - homesteading at the "back of beyond" with the love of her life, six children, and a menagerie of farm animals. In 2000 she and Peter opened a wellness clinic in their back yard. At the pinnacle of her life, Grada was hit by a truck - literally. During the near-death experience that followed, Grada had to make the decision to return to her body.

Frank Savage's is an unlikely success story. Raised in segregated Washington, DC, by his mother, a hairdresser and entrepreneur with little formal education, Savage's career has taken him around the world as a globetrotting financier. From his first banking job at Citibank to his current position as Chairman Emeritus of Howard University, The Savage Way shares the life and business lessons he learned along the way.

Paul Owhadi’s improbable entrepreneurial journey began as a first-generation immigrant coming to America with just a few hundred dollars in his pocket. Having learned a remarkable level of self-reliance, as a child sent to a French boarding school at age four, he was educated in London—and then headed to New York City and a whole new life. After an education and a career in urban planning and city management—one of the youngest city managers in the country—he excelled at creating and transforming cities for the betterment of its people.

I thought country club living at home in Long Island during college, with no job or accountability, was the perfect life. Then came a trip to Africa during the Congo Crisis.... That started a nine-year downhill spiral. Back in the US, it was one illness and surgery after another. When my brother Michael returned a completely different person, I accepted an invite to visit him in Los Angeles. There the most shocking awakening happened. Instantly I knew: all is well. An associate once asked me, "How come things happen to you that don't happen to us?" The answers are what this book is all about.

When Ronald Reagan chose C. Everett Koop to be Surgeon General of the United States in 1981, liberal politicians, women's groups, and even the public health community opposed the nomination because of his conservative social views and strong anti-abortion beliefs. By the time he left office in 1989, the same people who had vilified him as "Dr. Kook" were singing his praises, and many conservative politicians and activists were criticizing him as a traitor.

Weathercaster “Nor’Easter" Nick Pittman tells his heartfelt story of learning to embrace the unpredictable and turn rainy days into opportunities.

Today, the world is in the midst of the transformative and ever-developing digital age, otherwise referred to as the “age of Information.” It has been an unprecedented, remarkable, and explosive era marked by social media and computer-generated imagery (and with it, deep fakes), among other novel, previously unimaginable concepts.