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Books > Biography
From his humble beginnings in a quaint Welsh mining village to the
dazzling lights of Hollywood, much-loved star, Luke Evans takes us on a
poignant and inspiring journey that spans from the heart of Wales to
behind the scenes of the global stage.
Growing up in a small village in the Rhymney Valley, south Wales, Luke
Evans’' early life was shaped by his Jehovah's Witness upbringing.
While most children of his age spent their Saturday mornings watching
Going Live on television, young Luke would dress in a suit and tie and
join his parents to knock on doors to spread the word of his religion.
From an early age, he felt different. This feeling of displacement was
not limited to his faith; as he came to terms with his own sexuality,
he also faced a difficult and uncertain path. In his poignant, tender
and often humorous account, Luke shares his bold decision to leave home
– and the religion – at seventeen to move to London, where the vibrant
Soho scene captured his heart, invigorated his creative journey as an
actor and opened a whole new world of opportunity.
In finding himself, Luke also discovered his passions of singing,
acting and performing. Starring first on the West End stages in iconic
productions like Miss Saigon, Avenue Q and Rent, he quickly captivated
the hearts of audiences and caught the eye of Hollywood's elite, going
on to secure roles in blockbuster films such as The Hobbit, Beauty and
the Beast, Fast and Furious and Dracula Untold.
In this intimate memoir, Luke takes us behind the scenes of his career
on the stage and screen. He writes beautifully of the relationship he
now has with his family and the respect they all have for one another
on their different paths. Luke's story is a powerful tale of
resilience, courage, and the pursuit of finding a sense of belonging
and identity, but mostly (and hopefully) a story of inspiration.
"As I sat on the side of Hamnafield on Foula in the Shetland
Islands, looking down at my 'enormous' 38-foot ferry stowed in its
cradle on the quay in Ham Voe, over 1,000 feet below me, I
reflected on a moderately successful career to date, and wondered
how on Earth I had ended up driving what was, in effect, a floating
dust cart" After 42 years at or connected with the sea, Jeremy
Walker ended up on the Shetland Island of Foula commanding and
running a small ferry to the mainland of Shetland. Throughout the
course of his career, firstly as a seagoing deck officer with a
large, but now defunct, British shipping company, then as a
Hovercraft Commander for four years, returning to sea for a brief
period as Master of two small coastal tankers and then for the
majority of his career as a Pilot on the River Humber, he
encountered many amusing situations. In this book he attempts to
relate these stories and to illustrate the lighter side of what was
a very difficult, responsible and, at times, incredibly stressful
job. And little did he know that his career was far from over and
new opportunities and challenges would take him on for a further 13
years to eventual retirement.
In the style of Crying in H Mart and Minor Feelings, filmmaker Jill Damatac blends memoir, food writing, and colonial history as she cooks her way through recipes from her native-born Philippines and shares stories of her undocumented family in America.
Jill Damatac left the United States in 2015 after living there as an undocumented immigrant with her family for twenty-two years. America was the only home she knew, where invisibility had become her identity and where poverty, domestic violence, ill health, and xenophobia were everyday experiences.
First traveling to her native Philippines, Damatac eventually settled in London, England, where she was free to pursue an education at the University of Cambridge, fully investigate her roots, and process what happened to her and her family. After nine years, she was granted British citizenship, and returned to the United States, for the first time without fear of deportation or retribution.
Damatac weaves together forgotten colonial history and long-buried Indigenous tradition, taking us through her time in America, and cooking her way through Filipino recipes in her kitchen as she searches for a sense of self and renewed possibility. With emotional intelligence, clarity, and grace, Dirty Kitchen explores fractured memories to ask questions of identity, colonialism, immigration, and belonging, and to find ways in which the ritual, tradition, and comfort of food can answer them.
A Best Book of 2020: The Washington Post * NPR * Chicago Tribune *
Smithsonian A "remarkable" (Los Angeles Times), "seductive" (The
Wall Street Journal) debut from the new cohost of Radiolab, Why
Fish Don't Exist is a dark and astonishing tale of love, chaos,
scientific obsession, and--possibly--even murder. "At one point,
Miller dives into the ocean into a school of fish...comes up for
air, and realizes she's in love. That's how I felt: Her book took
me to strange depths I never imagined, and I was smitten." --The
New York Times Book Review David Starr Jordan was a taxonomist, a
man possessed with bringing order to the natural world. In time, he
would be credited with discovering nearly a fifth of the fish known
to humans in his day. But the more of the hidden blueprint of life
he uncovered, the harder the universe seemed to try to thwart him.
His specimen collections were demolished by lightning, by fire, and
eventually by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake--which sent more
than a thousand discoveries, housed in fragile glass jars,
plummeting to the floor. In an instant, his life's work was
shattered. Many might have given up, given in to despair. But
Jordan? He surveyed the wreckage at his feet, found the first fish
that he recognized, and confidently began to rebuild his
collection. And this time, he introduced one clever innovation that
he believed would at last protect his work against the chaos of the
world. When NPR reporter Lulu Miller first heard this anecdote in
passing, she took Jordan for a fool--a cautionary tale in hubris,
or denial. But as her own life slowly unraveled, she began to
wonder about him. Perhaps instead he was a model for how to go on
when all seemed lost. What she would unearth about his life would
transform her understanding of history, morality, and the world
beneath her feet. Part biography, part memoir, part scientific
adventure, Why Fish Don't Exist is a wondrous fable about how to
persevere in a world where chaos will always prevail.
J. Michael Wilson (1916-1999), Soldier, Medical Doctor, Priest and
Academic, may be best known for his often ground-breaking
professional achievement, from working with lepers in Ghana to his
seminal work in Pastoral Studies. For all his successful
accomplishments, however, he thought accolades, titles and
qualifications were no more than vain baubles for obituary columns.
Becoming a fully human being was, he believed, best manifested in
community, through art, poetry, prayer and revelling in the wonders
of Nature. Here, finally, is your chance to share a merry dance
through his creative life and works...
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