Showing results by publisher "Black Rose Writing" in Biographies & Memoirs

Three friends, women in their fifties, set out to hike "the most beautiful long-distance trail in the world," the John Muir Trail. From the outset, their adventure is complicated by self-inflicted accidents and ferocious weather, then enriched when they "adopt" a young hiker abandoned by her partner along the trail.

Mike Gatto was an up-and-coming young lawmaker when his father was brutally murdered. The act sucked him into the world of noir: wild theories, intransigent detectives, and unimaginable violence.

Nina, a new graduate from fashion design in college, gladly accepts the offer to have her palm read as a graduation gift. Smiling, the palm reader tells Nina that she has a long lifeline, as she traces it on her hand. As soon as the words are uttered, the palm reader’s facial expression turns to one of fear. In broken English, she whispers, “Break – very bad break in middle of life. Maybe you die.”

Fred Rutman was certainly up against it. It being the Grim Reaper. The Reaper unleashed its full arsenal, pitting Fred against much of the medical system he trusted with his life. Even if Fred won the initial battles, could he win the war? The Summer I Died Twenty Times is a medical trauma memoir unlike any other. In one package, Fred Rutman provides all the overcoming adversity, resilience and beating the odds a listener expects. With a side of sarcasm and humor. He may not be the hero you expected. He just might be the hero you need.

A post-Depression 11-year-old farm boy sees a Piper Cub for the first time and chases the dream of being a pilot. When war breaks out, Ralph T. Alshouse does the unthinkable-he leaves the family farm to enlist in the Navy and as one of a handful of high school graduates, was accepted as an Aviation Cadet and eventually won U.S. Navy Wings of Gold. After flight school, he was assigned to one of the most labor-intensive jobs in the Navy-to test and deliver Navy operational aircraft from the factories in the U.S. and Canada to destinations and ports of embarkation on the East and West coasts.

His abusive family tore him away from her. Would destiny be enough to bring him back? At ten years old, Chris didn't have good looks, a caring family, or a bright future. But what he did have for three years was the love of Danielle, his beautiful neighbor on Fairhaven Street who showed him a glimpse of a life he desperately wanted. To escape his abusive father, Chris was forced to move out of state with his mother to the icy hills of Michigan.

The year 2016 is the 60th Anniversary of Mantle's Triple Crown season, which many baseball experts consider one of the best seasons ever for a ball player. Of course, those who experienced that season are decreasing in numbers. But Mickey Mantle is more popular than ever. The value of his memorabilia is second to none. He remains respected and admired for the redemptive quality of his life.

This true story begins on Valentine's Day, 1961. Fourteen years old, Claudette Carolyn Covey went missing from Hondo, Texas. On Halloween evening, 1961, Claudette's remains were discovered eight miles from town in a field. She had been shot twice in the head. From the beginning, town folks believed that she was murdered by the corrupt sheriff or his 18-year-old son, whom she was dating. Because of the corrupt sheriff's influence, no one was ever charged with the murder.

When Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, forcing the U.S. to enter WWII, MAC was 23 years old. He had graduated with honors from high school, served two years in the Merchant Marine, and had a year of college under his belt. During the summer he had graduated from DePaul University's preliminary army air course to become a pilot and graduated as their highest-ranking student. Joining the U.S. Army Air Forces, he was assigned to the newly formed 307th BG and trained to fly the brand-new B-24 Liberator.

So your husband is going to die. Now what? Some Assembly Required chronicles the 10-month adventure of a couple living through the worst of times like it's the best of times. It's a story about having heart when what you really need is a brand new liver.

This book relays my stories of being a country veterinarian in a rural area treating all sorts of animals. I have been writing down my experiences at the office and in the field for 30 years. These stories are often educational, emotional, humorous and unpredictable, but always entertaining.

Is history repeating itself? Like many baby boomers, David Haldane got swept into the turbulence of the late 1960s and early '70s, first as a radical activist and later a writer for the Berkeley BARB, then one of America's premier underground newspapers. Eventually, after self-imposed exiles in Europe and Mexico, he married, started a family and graduated to the Los Angeles Times from which he chronicled many of the events that shaped an era. But Haldane always longed for something more, a "green leafy space" in which he could feel at peace.

After the revolution, the physical and political landscape of Iran drastically changed. The streets were filled with crumbling buildings, sirens rang throughout the night, and smoke filled the skyline. Naz Meknat was a young girl amidst this chaos, and it wouldn't take long to realize her life was destined to be just as chaotic as her burning city. As Naz grew up, she reflected the rebellious nature of the city she called home.

The Old Man and Me, Book 2: Stories I Didn't Get to Tell You the First Time continues the story of the author's early life through the 1960s. It overlaps the first book, filling gaps among his original adventures. Ride along on a humpback bridge jump in a hot rod, and take a senior class trip to Washington, DC.

i>The Old Man and Me is a collection of true stories that describe with humor and love the best of the friendship that grows between a father and his son. The stories begin with vignettes from toddlerhood, and cover all the ages from then to high school graduation (and a little bit beyond). The Old Man and Me taken as a whole is a story of love and joy and growing up in a time before television became an all evening affair.

Behind the Ivy Walls is based on the true story of a young boy seemingly born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. It is written in the time-honored tradition of a feel-bad/feel-good story in which someone else's tragedy teaches us life lessons about positive thinking and seizing each day as a gift. This book details the quest for a true identity, the love of a family, and a safe place to call home.

Ever felt like chucking it all and moving to an island paradise? Award-winning journalist David Haldane and his Filipino wife, Ivy, met on an international dating site. Ten years later, with David laid off from his dream job at the LA Times and frustrated by mounting costs in America, they made the bold decision to move to the Philippine island of Mindanao, where Ivy grew up.

Yeah, this is a memoir of sorts, if shark fishing in one’s underwear, roping a bear, getting drunk with your grandfather, or losing 10 grand at the Hollywood Sign is a memoir. "The Day Johnny Cash Hit On My Wife" is on the roster as well, for the only name drop in all the stories. There’s also a thing about getting shot in Arkansas and a road trip with a monkey. I can’t deny these were life-shaping events, but truth be told, they all happened under the heading of “oops”.

On July 4 and 5, 2012, Jerri Lynn Sparks was nearly killed by her Ivy League-educated husband in a vicious assault. Instead of retreating in fear, she fought back and is now fighting to change the system that contributed to her attack by becoming a volunteer firefighter, political advocate, and educational speaker.

Brother Mambo is a memoir of an anthropology graduate student who set out to document African cultural influences in the Guianas of South America. His initial study plan blocked by local immigration officials, he followed a hummingbird and other oracles to an Amazonian river and the Pamakans, Africans who had escaped slave plantations in Suriname to rebuild a society in the rainforest.