Showing results by narrator "Cary Hite" in All Categories

NASCAR has traditionally been a Southern white man’s sport, but it was knocked off its axis when Bill Lester entered the playing field. He had not grown up in the sport as so many other drivers had. Instead, he enjoyed racing as a side hobby while he worked as an engineer at Hewlett-Packard. Then, at age 40, while standing on the brink of peril or promise, he quit his job to pursue racing full-time. Blessed with natural talent, Bill still had a trifecta of odds against him: He was Black, he was middle-aged, and he wasn’t a Southerner.

Encompassing themes of race, education, fame, law, and America’s past and future, these essays are James Alan McPherson at his most prescient and invaluable. Born in segregated 1940s Georgia, McPherson graduated from Harvard Law School only to give up law and become a writer. In 1978, he became the first Black author to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. But all the while, McPherson was also writing and publishing nonfiction that stand beside contemporaries such as James Baldwin and Joan Didion, as this collection amply proves.

She’s a cop turned defense lawyer; her husband a research scientist. She lives in a half-million-dollar home. Yet on this night, Andrea Wilson - a woman who seemingly has everything - awakens to a living nightmare. Her husband, Paul is dead, she’s covered in his blood, and the police are banging on her door. Andrea doesn’t remember what happened, but she knows how it looks. With just a split second to make a choice, Andrea decides to run, and in doing so risks everything in an attempt to clear her name. Enter Detective Mike Coletti....

Tall, bearded, and rock-star handsome, he is only looking to order two coffees to go when he walks into Peace Café. Instead, Tucker leaves with a pocket-rocket spitfire in his arms, returning her safely to Temecula wine country after their meet-cute takes a turn for the worse. Ophelia doesn’t date. She’s in a committed relationship, working on herself and her soon-to-be-open tiny-house Airbnb business, the Fainting Goat Ranch. Tucker wants a date.

Dubai wunderkind Michelle Rasul was only a toddler when she first got behind the turntables. By the time she entered the 2021 DMC Global DJing Championship, she was on her way to becoming an international celebrity. Her inspiring autobiography is a testament to passion, talent, family, love, and perseverance—and above all, a celebration of Girl Power with some scratching and a beat.

When two drug dealers from opposite sides of the street collide with each other, it becomes apparent that one of them has to go. Caught in the middle of all the bloodshed is Ebony. She loves her brother to no end, but the man she resides with is the love of her life. He supports her dreams as well as her lifestyle. Although she holds out hope that the two of them will one day find a way to coexist, deep in her heart, she knows it probably won't happen.

I Too Am America examines the promise and peril of Black men and boys in America by exploring the lives of two talented young men, one in Detroit and one in Oakland, who at once embody all that we want our boys to be while also illuminating the many uncertainties they face. The book delves into the story of CBMA founder Shawn Dove, who had to navigate similar waters of promise and peril decades ago as a Black boy in New York City.

We all try to influence others in our daily lives. We are all marketers, whether you are a manager motivating your team, an employee making a big presentation, an activist staging a protest or a company executive selling the next big thing. In For the Culture, Marcus Collins argues that true cultural engagement is the most powerful vehicle for influencing behaviour. To effectively engage with communities we first need to think hard about what we will contribute to those communities and how we align with their core values.

Wedding planner Diana Greer still believes in happily-ever-after. She's just given up finding her own dream man. That is,until an Internet dating site matches her up with her ideal mate. Too bad he's someone she already knows. In college, Scott Thomas was the big man on campus - arrogant and full of himself. So why is one kiss from the high-flying bachelor making Diana's toes curl? A failed trip to the altar has cured Scott of believing in storybook endings, so he's stunned when someone meets his unattainable requirements for romance.

Hall-of-famer Elgin Baylor was one of basketball’s all-time-greatest players - an innovative athlete, team player, and quiet force for change. One of the first professional African-American players, he inspired others on and off the court. But when traveling for away games, many hotels and restaurants turned Elgin away because he was Black. One night, Elgin had enough and staged a one-man protest that captured the attention of the press, the public, and the NBA.

Many regard Muhammad Ali simply as 'The Greatest' heavyweight of all time. Others admire his battles against racial injustice and religious intolerance. A few just call him 'Dad'. They are all here in this book - 50 men and women of note coming together to celebrate the man Sports Illustrated crowned 'Sportsman of the Century': Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer; Billy Crystal, actor; Sir Henry Cooper, former British and European heavyweight champion; Bert Sugar, journalist and boxing historian; and more.

Humorist and comedian Dick Gregory mounted a pointed write-in campaign for the US presidency in 1968. Far from the sort of candidacy mounted primarily for entertainment value (such as Pat Paulsen's), Gregory used his as a vehicle for advancing a national dialogue and awareness of racial issues, and eventually garnered over 47,000 votes. This book served as his campaign platform and manifesto, mixing straight talk with humorous interludes. A fascinating and particularly accurate touchstone for the zeitgeist of America in 1968.

Cara and Melanie Bell were the new faces around town. Attractive yet mysterious, the duo emitted money, power, and respect. They seemed to have it all; and just how they got it, piqued everyone's curiosity. Only a select few of the coterie that the women surrounded themselves with was privy to their surreptitious lifestyle. But the scintillating fantasies became more than they could have ever imagined. Causing ominous consequences, but it was far too late to turn back.

Sure, I turned down my $9.6m football contract to join the Teams, but I'll never tell you the real reason why. The media has anointed me a selfless, patriotic American hero. But it isn't that deep - I just want some action - a one-night stand with a San Diego coed. I cross paths with Miss San Diego again halfway across the world in Afghanistan. I gaze into her beautiful blue eyes and give her my word that she's safe with me. And my word is my bond. Then she is kidnapped.

You may think that the story of the saxophone begins with Dexter Gordon or Charlie Parker or on a street corner in New Orleans. It really began in 1840 in Belgium with a young daydreamer named Joseph-Antoine Adolphe Sax—a boy with bad luck but great ideas. Coretta Scott King Honoree Lesa Cline-Ransome unravels the fascinating history of how Adolphe's once reviled instrument was transported across Europe and Mexico to New Orleans.

If she's spared execution, can a vampire with second sight save the ones she loves? Jerusa Phoenix lives in fear of judgment. Unlike the harmless smirks she received back in school, a negative opinion from the Stewards of Life could get the newly-made vampire killed. With an army of savages on the rise and terrifying new creatures in pursuit, Jerusa wonders if approval for her immortality is actually the least of her worries...

Before they became the world-famous Kids of Widney High, they first had to survive junior high! This rock band, composed entirely of members with developmental disabilities, loves to put on a show, but boy can they can get into fights, trouble, and sticky situations. Join their friend and honorary assistant manager Robbie as he introduces the band members and shows us how they’re just like everyone else.

Christian Sands, an FBI profiler with unique abilities, is called upon, once again, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of several children from their homes over one night in the small town of Swanton, Vermont. It's been a year since the disappearance, and the town is swamped with media frenzy, law enforcement, and paparazza from every walk of life with their own spin on the disappearance. And as others are discovered mutilated in the nearby forest, the town is a powder keg waiting to explode.

In the first book of its kind, an acclaimed South African journalist and former parliamentary spokesperson for the ANC shares how Nelson Mandela balanced his Christian faith with his political views, exploring how the beloved leader reconciled his own beliefs with the hard truth that religion had often been used as a tool to oppress his people.

A deadly vampire disease. A savage insurgence. Will a powerful creature be her savior or her downfall? Vampire Jerusa Phoenix is painfully turning to stone. Struggling to escape an undead disease, she and her friends must locate a being known as the Necromancer to set her free. But with his whereabouts unknown and an army of savages closing in, Jerusa's prospects grow weaker by the hour. Depending on Silvanus to rally the Divine Vampires while she hunts for the cure, a powerful secret could once again transform Jerusa's life.