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Books > Biography
Putco Mafani, from humble beginnings in Bhofolo in the Eastern
Cape, has become household name in South Africa. From Radio
Ciskei, he went to Umhlobo Wenene FM where he anchored the
biggest breakfast show in the country. The former Kaizer Chiefs PRO
and soughtafter marketing consultant will soon be launching his own
radio station.
Things have not always been smooth sailing for Putco. In this
memoir, he writes about the hurdles he has had to overcome. He has
been detained in solitary confinement, endured a traumatic divorce
and found himself unemployed at one stage. He openly talks about
some of the mistakes he made as a young person, and also shares
his successes and moments of fame and what these taught him.
With contributions from a wide range of people who know and
admire Putco, as well as takehome lessons called Putco's Padkos,
this book tells an inspirational, authentically South African story.
Judy Blume is one of the most popular authors of children's and
young adult fiction in American history. For over 30 years, her
books and career have withstood the test of time and she continues
to resonate with new generations of young readers. While she is
arguably one of the most important authors of the twentieth
century, she is also one of the most banned. What is perhaps the
most surprising aspect of Blume's career is that despite today's
proliferation of cable channels and easy Internet access, books of
hers written decades ago about every day life events that all
teenagers experience still manage to find themselves at the center
of censorship debates. Rather than change her style, the efforts to
censor her books turned Blume into an activist and champion for the
First Amendment. Inside this biography Kathleen Tracy explores the
life and career of Judy Blume, one of the most successful-and most
controversial-authors of twentieth century.
In addition to tracing the events of BlooM's life, this engaging
biography discusses historic and current censorship issues in
classrooms and libraries across the country. Her association with
the National Coalition Against Censorship, a group that Blume says
changed her life, as did her friendship with the organization's
longtime director, Leanne Katz, is examined in detail as well as
how libraries, teachers, publishers and grass-roots activists have
responded to the ever-growing attempts to censor children's reading
material. In-depth chapters are supplemented with a bibliography of
print and electronic sources that provide suggested readings for
students and general readers alike. Also included is a timeline,
photos, and an appendix of free speech resources.
Remember when we hit it off so well that we decided "We’re Going to Need More Wine?" Well, this time you and I are going to turn to our friend the bartender and ask, "You Got Anything Stronger?" I promise to continue to make you laugh, but with this round, the stakes get higher as the conversation goes deeper.
So. Where were we? Right, you and I left off in October 2017, when my first book came out. The weeks before were filled with dreams of loss. Pets dying. My husband leaving me. Babies not being born. My therapist told me it was my soul preparing for my true self to emerge after letting go of my grief. I had finally spoken openly about my fertility journey. I was having second thoughts—in fact, so many thoughts they were organizing to go on strike. But I knew I had to be honest because I didn’t want other women going through IVF to feel as alone as I did. I had suffered in isolation, having so many miscarriages that I could not give an exact number. Strangers shared their own journeys and heartbreak with me. I had led with the truth, and it opened the door to compassion.
When I released "We’re Going to Need More Wine", the response was so great people asked when I would do a sequel. The New York Times even ran a headline reading “We’re Going to Need More Gabrielle Union.” Frankly, after being so open and honest in my writing, I wasn’t sure there was more of me I was ready to share. But life happens with all its plot twists, and new stories demand to be told. This time, I need to be more
vulnerable—not so much for me, but anyone who feels alone in what they’re going through.
A lot has changed in four years—I became a mom and I’m raising two amazing girls. My husband retired. My career has expanded so that I have the opportunity to lift up other voices that need to be heard. But the world has also shown us that we have a lot we still have to fight for—as women, as black women, as mothers, as aging women, as human beings, as friends. In "You Got Anything Stronger?", I show you how this ever-changing life presents challenges, even as it gives me moments of pure joy. I take you on a girl’s night at Chateau Marmont, and I also talk to Isis, my character from Bring It On. For the first time, I truly open up about my surrogacy journey and the birth of Kaavia James Union Wade. And I take on racist institutions and practices in the entertainment industry, asking for equality and real accountability.
"You Got Anything Stronger?" is me at my most vulnerable. I have recently found true strength in that vulnerability, and I want to share that power with you here, through this book.
Des Rubens was a well known and greatly admired Scottish climber.
He graduated from Edinburgh University in 1973 and was a teacher of
Outdoor Education in Craigroyston School Edinburgh from 1979 until
retirement in 2011. Des kept diaries of his walks and climbs all
over Scotland and wrote accounts of his climbs in the Himalaya, the
Caucasus and the United States. This collection of his writings and
those of his companions conveys, with a dry wit, his great
enthusiasm for the Scottish hills and for all aspects of
mountaineering in the greater ranges. Geoff Cohen, who has edited
the collection, was one of Des' closest climbing partners for over
40 years. Together they shared many of the adventures recounted
here, in Scotland and overseas.
Brent Meersman’s memoir of a humble yet eccentric upbringing in a Milnerton, Cape Town, flat in the 1970’s and 1980’s reads as a stirring eulogy to his schizophrenic mother, yet also as a vivid snapshot in time.
His adoring mother, a horse-loving artist, received only rudimentary treatment and Brent, his brother and father had to look to each other for support. His father battled alcoholism and unemployment, at one point taking the whole family to Belgium, where he had found work, only for them to return a year later, defeated. Traversing a home environment constantly on high alert for something to go wrong, waiting for his mother’s fragile mental stability to shatter, not finding support in his father, whose drinking and absences from home took a punishing toll on the family, bred in the author an almost heroic resilience.
This delicate yet brutal memoir, filled with wry humour, will resonate with many readers.
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