Swim Memoir

“Brilliant…A high-spirited, exhilarating memoir.” —The Wall Street Journal “In Joyride, the takeaway often has as much to do with the art of living as the art of writing.” —Elle “Wise and exuberant…It’s funny, as well. Just masterful.” —David Sedaris ...

Ian Karmel has weighed eight pounds and he has weighed 420 pounds and right now he’s almost exactly in between the two, but this book is not a weight-loss book. It’s about being a fat person in a skinny world. It’s about gym class and football practice, about chicken wings and juice cleanses, about airplane seats and roller coasters, about fat jokes and Jabba the Hutt, about crying in the Big and Tall section and the joys of being a sneakerhead, about prediabetes and gout, and about realizing that you actually don’t want to eat yourself to death and hoping it’s not too late.

Written as an engaging parable, Swim!: How a Shark, a Suckerfish, and a Parasite Teach You Leadership, Mentoring, and Next Level Success brings to life real-world challenges (and their solutions) and presents them in simple, yet powerful terms. The book explores the vital importance of networking, explores the steps that lead to successful networking, and explains why we need it.

With everything happening on Helen Peppe's backwoods Maine farm - ferocious sibling rivalry, rock-bottom poverty, feral male chauvinism, sex in the hayloft - life was out of control, even for the animals. Despite the chaos, in telling her family's story, Peppe manages deadpan humor, an unerring eye for the absurd, and a touching compassion for her utterly overwhelmed parents. While her feisty resilience and candor will inevitably remind listeners of Jeannette Walls or Mary Karr, Peppe's wry insight and moments of tenderness with family and animals are entirely her own.

Despite the tensions of a world still recovering from World War I, during the summer of 1926, the story that enthralled the public revolved around four young American swimmers - Gertrude Ederle, Mille Gade, Lillian Cannon, and Clarabelle Barrett - who battled the weather, each other, and considerable odds to become the first woman to conquer the brutal waters of the English Channel. The popular East Coast tabloids from New York to Boston engaged in rivalries nearly as competitive as the swimmers themselves.

Real life ghostly stories. Stories based on true events. A memoir. From when I did not know I was psychic up to becoming a medium and beyond. Ghostly happenings. A ghost from the eighteen hundreds who drowned at Scapa Flow. A disembodied hand in the darkness. Fish that lay on a table for no reason whatsoever. Voices on a blank tape. Ouija Board activity. Dead Dogs saving people's lives. Poltergeist activity. The sad case of the baby in my arms. Nuns floating. Blood curdling moments from real life. Haunted houses and flats.

From the outside, Seana Smith lived an enviable life. An Oxford graduate, a successful career with the BBC and Sydney’s Channel 9, a bestselling author, happily married. But behind this perfect life she had a secret: Seana was a drinker, and alcohol was slowly taking away her life, destroying...

President Franklin D. Roosevelt best summaries the spirit of Seeking ValhallaSo, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT President, USA Inaugural Address 1933 ***** In life, Warriors go with what is, not with what should be. Adopt fear. Embrace chaos. Confront the battle. There are two keys in your Warrior battle to confront fear and chaos: First, allow “you” to be yourself by following your own, unique ...

As Kate Washington approached her 50th birthday, she was also ending a 23-year marriage in which she had become so focused on serving others that she’d lost her sense of self. To find herself again, she embarked on what she calls the 50 Dunks Project. The rules: Go to 50 different bodies of water—swimming holes, hot springs, rivers, lakes, creeks, and oceans. Immerse fully, head under water. Chronicle the dunk with a picture and a post. Complete the challenge by the time she turned 50.

For swimming champion Nancy Stearns Bercaw, the pool was a natural habitat. But on land, she could never shake the feeling of being a fish out of water. Starting at age two, Nancy devoted her life to swimming, even qualifying for the 1988 Olympic Trials in the fifty-meter freestyle event. But nearly two decades later, when she hung up her cap and goggles, she was confronted with a different kind of challenge: learning who she was out of the lanes.

"It's a meditative act," they said. But it's far from meditative for Alexandra Heminsley when yet another wave slams into her face. It's survival. When she laced up her shoes in Running Like a Girl, all she had to do to become a runner was to get out there and run. But swimming is something else entirely. The water is all-consuming, confusing her every move, sabotaging every breath. Determined, Alexandra will learn to adapt, find new strengths, and learn to work with the water.

Climate change is alarming and complicated. Governments are acting too slowly or not at all, and not enough people feel informed or empowered enough to demand action. But ignoring a catastrophe of such magnitude is a certain path to disaster. The Big Swim puts forward the idea that personal growth arises from facing both inner tensions and threats to the biosphere.

This engaging memoir shows women how to live—and how to age—with grace and gusto. Lynda Beth Unkeless has explored five continents and thrived on the kindness of strangers. Life, she says, is meant to be an adventure. In "Stronger in the End: My 70 Year Swim from Chaos to Calm" she recounts her risks in various countries with good humor, encouraging her listeners to live without guilt and shame. Lynda Beth has much to say about resilience.

Our son Harry died in my arms when he was 10 months old. He had actually survived far longer than experts had predicted. Cared for by Acorns Children's Hospice, his support had cost over £100,000. Years later, inspired by another bereaved parent, I decided I would undertake a sponsored physical challenge that would take me well beyond my personal comfort zone: Having never swum further than around a mile, I decided to attempt swimming the infamous English Channel.

Swimming one mile takes me about an hour, and for a long time, I gaged my experience by how many laps I had swum. Once I got to 36, the mile mark, I would quit swimming. I talked to a lifeguard who is a veteran of the Iraq war and was touched by his humility. He said if I want motivational advice not to talk with him. But he told me his routine involves swimming at whatever pace he feels like for about an hour. I began wondering if I could do that, to swim like I did when I was a child, just for swimming's sake. Just because it feels so wonderful.