New Biographies – August 2009

Age is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams at Any Stage in Your Life Dara Torres with Elizabeth Weil, B TORRES – From the Olympic medalist who competed at the age 41, comes a memoir about aging gracefully and pursuing your dreams.

Bad Girls Go Everywhere: The Life of Helen Gurley Brown Jennifer Scanlon, B BROWN – The life of the longtime editor of Cosmopolitan and an influential feminist.

The Big Rewind: A Memoir Brought to You by Pop Culture Nathan Rabin, B RABIN – As a child and teenager, pop culture was the author’s means of escape.  Today, pop culture is his life.

Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs: The Making of a Surgeon Michael J. Collins, B COLLINS – The story of a construction worker who decided to become a doctor and his path to becoming a surgeon.

Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story C. David Heymann, B KENNEDY – The complex relationship between RFK and Jackie Kennedy is depicted by a Kennedy biographer.

The Bolter Frances Osborne, B SACKVILLE – The author relates the story of her great-grandmother, Idina Sackville, and her adventurous and scandal filled life as the “high priestess” of the “Happy Valley Set” in Kenya.

Closing Time: A Memoir Joe Queenan, B QUEENAN – The humorist turns his sights on his own coming-of-age in Philadelphia during the 1960s.

Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival Norman Ollestad, B OLLESTAD – Trained by he father from the age of three to become a “Boy Wonder,” the skills he learned saved his life at age eleven when he and his father were victims of an airplane crash during a blizzard.

Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie Richard Hack, B CHRISTIE – The romance, scandal and betrayal that marked the life of the  popular novelist is presented in an intimate biography.

Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip Matthew Algeo, B TRUMAN – After his term as president, Mr. and Mrs. Truman decided to hit the road.

Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood Michael Lewis, B LEWIS – The author explores the difference between the idea of fatherhood and his actual experiences.

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir Neil White, B WHITE – Following conviction for bank fraud, the author spent a year in a prison in Carville, Louisiana, housed in the last leper colony in mainland America.

The Lady in Red: An Eighteenth-Century Tale of Sex, Scandal and Divorce  Hallie Rubenhold, B WORSLEY – The marriage of Lady Seymour Dorothy Fleming and Sir Richard Worsley might have been a fairy tale marriage, but ended in one of the most scandalous and publicized divorces in history.

Lance: The Making of the World’s Greatest Champion John Wilcockson, B LANCE – The remarkable and controversial life of the seven time winner of the Tour de France.

Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon Buzz Aldrin with Ken Abraham, B ALDRIN – The flight of Apollo 11 made Aldrin one of the most famous persons on the planet; here is the rest of his story.

My Remarkable Journey Larry King, B KING – The life of the iconic interviewer as he looks back over 50 years in broadcasting.

Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal Julie Metz, B METZ – Julie Metz’s life changes forever when her husband suddenly collapses and dies.  She soon learns that he had another life that he had kept hidden from her.

Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in Progress Lee Woodruff, B WOODRUFF – The author of In an Instant, the chronicle of her husband’s recovery from an injury sustained in Iraq, now looks at her life in terms both personal and universal.

Prairie Tale: A Memoir Melissa Gilbert, B GILBERT – The child star of Little House on the Prairie tells the story of her life and her recovery from self-destructive behavior.

Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend Bill Russell, B RUSSELL – The great basketball player discusses his relationship with one of the best coaches in all of sports.

Right Time, Right Place: Coming of Age with William F. Buckley Jr. and the Conservative Movement Richard Brookhiser, B BROOKHISER – The author became a National Review senior editor at age 23.  He tells the story of his relationship with the conservative icon throughout their tumultuous friendship.

Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend Larry Tye, B PAIGE – The great story of athlete, showman, and philosopher, Leroy “Satchel” Paige.

A Son of the Game: A Story of Golf, Going Home, and Sharing Life’s Lessons James Dodson, B DODSON – The author of Final Rounds, returns to the world of golf and to the famous courses at Pinehurst, North Carolina to recover a lost passion and to share that passion with his son.

Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne James Gavin, B HORNE – A portrait of the celebrated singer and actress.

We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals Gillian Gill, B VICTORIA – An enduring love story and the most influential marriage of the 19th century is related in this personal history by a noted author.

The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America Douglas Brinkley, B ROOSEVELT – The “naturalist president” set aside more than 230 million acres of wild America for posterity between 1901 and 1909, making conservation a universal endeavor.

Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa Mark Seal, B ROOT – In January 2006, Joan Root, a sixty-nine-year-old naturalist and filmmaker was murdered in her home on the shore of a beautiful Kenyan lake.  The author explores this real-life mystery and the remarkable life of a noted conservationist.