In Wild Winter, John D. Burns, bestselling author of The Last Hillwalker and Bothy Tales, sets out to rediscover Scotland's mountains, remote places and wildlife in the darkest and stormiest months. He traverses the country from the mouth of the River Ness to the Isle of Mull, from remote Sutherland to the Cairngorms, in search of rutting red deer, pupping seals, minke whales, beavers, pine martens, mountain hares and otters. In the midst of the fierce weather, John's travels reveal a habitat in crisis, and many of these wild creatures prove elusive as they cling on to life in the challenging Highland landscape. As John heads deeper into the winter, he notices the land fighting back with signs of regeneration. He finds lost bothies, old friendships and innovative rewilding projects, and - as Covid locks down the nation - reflects on what the outdoors means to hillwalkers, naturalists and the folk who make their home in the Highlands. Wild Winter is a reminder of the wonder of nature and the importance of caring for our environment. In his winter journey through the mountains and bothies of the Highlands, John finds adventure, humour and a deep sense of connection with this wild land.

America held little promise during the 1930's, when the Great Depression vice gripped the country and a boy named Thomas Errol Wasdin was born into the hardscrabble farmland of Waldo, Florida. Wasdin was only months old when his mother died of blood poisoning. Soon afterward, he and his sister were sent to live with their Uncle and Aunt, who raised them with old-fashioned values rooted in discipline and hard work. These became character traits that served Wasdin well - later at the University of Florida and eventually throughout his life. And what a life it has been; rich and varied, and not without heartache and an ongoing, debilitating battle with Trigeminal Neuralgia, which the medical profession chillingly refers to as the Suicide Disease. It is a life that saw Wasdin shape the lives of poor children from literally and proverbially the wrong side of the tracks in Jacksonville, Florida; children who later became attorneys, administrators, sports stars, politicians, educators, husbands, wives, parents and productive citizens. It is a life that saw Wasdin forge friendships with two men he achieved enormous success with - Joe Williams and Rick Stottler. With Williams, Wasdin reached the pinnacle of coaching in college basketball, taking Jacksonville University to the 1970 NCAA Championship Game against the most powerful program in college sports history - John Wooden's UCLA Bruins. The account of that season, and especially that game, captures the controversy and excitement that surrounded it. Wasdin then moved from an assistant coach to a successful tenure as JU's head coach. It is a life that saw Wasdin leave coaching to join Stottler in business and development, shaping both lives and a stretch of area along the East Coast of Florida that with his help came to be known as the Space Coast. It is a life lived in full, and a life story worth reading.

For twenty years, Miki "Da Cat" Dora was the king of Malibu surfers--a dashing, enigmatic rebel who dominated the waves, ruled his peers' imaginations, and who still inspires the fantasies of wannabes to this day. And yet, Dora railed against surfing's sudden post-Gidget popularity and the overcrowding of his once empty waves, even after this avid sportsman, iconoclast, and scammer of wide repute ran afoul of the law and led the FBI on a remarkable seven-year chase around the globe in 1974. The New York Times named him "the most renegade spirit the sport has yet to produce" and Vanity Fair called him "a dark prince of the beach." To fully capture Dora's never-before-told story, David Rensin spent four years interviewing hundreds of Dora's friends, enemies, family members, lovers, and fellow surfers to uncover the untold truth about surfing's most outrageous practitioner, charismatic antihero, committed loner, and enduring mystery.

Daniel Dumile Qeqe (1929–2005), ‘Baas Dan’, ‘DDQ’. He was the Port Elizabeth leader whose struggles and triumphs crisscrossed the entire gamut of political, civic, entrepreneurial, sports and recreational liberation activism in the Eastern Cape. Siwisa tells the story of Qeqe’s life and times and at the same time has written a social and political biography of Port Elizabeth – a people’s history of Port Elizabeth. As much as Qeqe was a local legend, his achievements had national repercussions and, indeed, continue to this day.

Central to the transformation of sports towards non-racialism, Qeqe paved the way for the mainstreaming and liberation of black rugby and cricket players in South Africa. He co-engineered the birth of the KwaZakhele Rugby Union (Kwaru), a pioneering non-racial rugby union that was more of a political and social movement. Kwaru was a vehicle for political dialogues and banned meetings, providing resources for political campaigns and orchestrations for moving activists into exile.

This story is an attempt at understanding a man of contradictions. In one breath, he was generous and kind to a fault. And yet he was the indlovu, an imposing authoritarian elephant, decisively brutal and aggressive. Then there was Qeqe, the man whose actions were not in keeping with the struggle. This story narrates his role in ‘collaborationist’ civic institutions and in courting reactionary homeland structures, yet through all that he was the signal actor in the emancipation of rugby in South Africa.

A talented yet ferocious player, and one of the acknowledged 'bad-boys' of rugby, Mark Jones' on-field brutality was a direct consequence of the off-field torment he suffered with a debilitating stammer. In Fighting to Speak, his revealing and uplifting autobiography, Jones explains how his frustration with his stutter led to a self-loathing and the internalising of an explosive hate that only playing rugby could release - with his unfortunate opponents often on the receiving end of his rage. Sent off six times and banned for over 33 weeks for violent conduct during his career, the dual-code Wales international and Great Britain RL forward was desperately unhappy and detested the thuggish reputation he'd created. After one exceptionally ugly incident, when he broke another player's eye socket, Jones realised that in order to defeat his demons and control his bad behaviour he needed help to conquer his stammer. Mark Jones fought and won the hardest battle of his life with a steely determination and has now found the inner peace and dignity he'd longed for as a young man. He has decided to tell his story in order to seek redemption for his violent past on the rugby field, and to help others overcome their stammers.

Barbara Washburn never set out to become a mountaineering pioneer, but in 1947, defying social conventions, she became the first woman to climb Alaska's Mount McKinley.

When Tina Basich grabbed her rented snowboard and headed to the mountains in Lake Tahoe, snowboarding wasn't even considered a sport ... yet. It was the beginning, and could have easily gone the way of many other sports and become dominated by male-driven competition.

But not with Tina on the scene ...

Comments like "You're pretty good ... for a girl" only pushed her harder to be the best and to prove she was more than just a token player on the slopes. Representing for women everywhere, she became a snowboarding all-star, started her own signature board and clothing lines for women, founded Boarding for Breast Cancer, and followed her heart, which led her on the adventure of a lifetime.

This is her story.

'Life's A Ball' charts the ups and downs of a football experience that has rarely been dull Ian Liversedge's story comes from the very heart of the game - the manager's office, the dug-out, the boot room and the treatment table. Ian describes his relationships with managers and players at every level from non-league to international as well as the changing role of a physiotherapist in a sport that has become ever-more intense. There are many anecdotes about a lifestyle away from the football pitch that Ian found both attractive and magnetic. He has blazed a trail and the book deals honestly with his shortcomings, including encounters with the police and the adverse effect on his family life.

In 1962, following two losing seasons, Coach John McKay was fighting for his job. The 1962 team was undersized but smart quick and tough. Although underdogs in four games, including the Rose Bowl, the Trojans finished with an 11-0 record and defeated Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and become national champions. Although the 1962 Trojans were the least talented of Coach McKay's four national championship teams, their success enabled USC to once again become a football power. You'll meet the players from this team and learn about their joys and sorrows as well their successes and failures.

The team included tempestuous end "Prince" Hal Bedsole, who still holds USC's season and career records for most yards per reception. Fleet Willie Brown, whose clutch plays on offense and defense preserved an undefeated season. Fiery Trojan captain Marv Marinovich, whose athletic techniques have become legendary, and Fred Hill, whose daughter, Kim, became the inspiration for the Ronald McDonald House.

""Gridiron Gumshoe"" My life in and out of the NFL Films' Vault" by Ace Cacchiotti is a Pro Football Fanatics' guide to my literal life working with the most accomplished producers who have lent their artistic values to all that follow the game and who live vicariously through one who contributed to the company by "Paying attention to detail and Finishing like a Pro." From young Steve Sabol's "They Called it Pro Football" produced in 1967, to "Joe and the Magic Bean" again written and produced by Steve in 1976, "75 Seasons"; "The Story of the National Football League" in 1994 to "America's Game" from 2005 and to the late NFL Films' President's tribute; Steve Sabol, "The Guts and Glory of Pro Football" on February 12th, 2013, the game of Pro Football is watched by hundred of millions through the camera eye of what is without a doubt the measuring stick for all others when it comes to capturing passion in and on any field. This author was given a wonderful opportunity to express himself and by doing so left a legacy with not only my peers but with my late loving boss; my friend Steve Sabol.

I hope you will be able to experience through the ""Gridiron Gumshoe"" a most rewarding Pro Football Journey.

Enjoy;

Ace Cacchiotti