The wisdom acquired during C. T. Vivian’s nine decades is generously shared in It’s in the Action, the civil rights legend’s memoir of his life and times in the movement. Born in Missouri in 1924, Vivian lived twenty-four years in Illinois before moving to Nashville, where he earned a degree in theology and joined John Lewis, Diane Nash, and others to integrate the city in 1960. After being imprisoned and beaten during the Freedom Rides, he joined Dr. King at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta and played leading roles in integration and voting rights campaigns in Birmingham, St. Augustine, and Selma. Over the next half century, he became internationally known for his work for education and civil and human rights and against racism, hatred, and economic inequality. In 2013, Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Vivian passed away peacefully in Atlanta on July 17, 2020. Vivian was never defined by discrimination and hardship, although he faced many instances of both. The late civil rights leader’s heart-wrenching and inspiring stories from a lifetime of nonviolent activism come just in time for a new generation of activists, similarly responding to systems of injustice, violence, and oppression. It’s in the Action is a record of a life dedicated to selflessness and morality, qualities achieved by Vivian that we can all aspire to. Bearing a foreword from Andrew Young, the memoir is an important addition to civil rights history and to the understanding of movement principles and strategies.

They are as diverse as America. Young and old. Of color and white. Urban and rural. Immigrants and native born. They are students and teachers. Athletes and artists. Lawyers, doctors, politicians, farmers, architects, novelists, and more. Names familiar and unfamiliar. Superheroes, figuratively...and in one case real! They have founded major corporations and grassroots organizations or struck out on their own. They are institutionalizes and agitators. And in some cases both! But as diverse a lot as they may be, the people who tell their stories on these pages share one thing in common. Each is committed to fighting inequality and injustice. Each, too, can pinpoint a moment when they were moved to action, when it became impossible to sit on the sidelines and just watch: when the teacher uttered racial slurs, when no one in the college club looked like they did, when the city was on the brink of disaster, when the authorities came for their undocumented mother, when they discovered their ancestors had owned slaves, when the cop stopped them in their own driveway, when there was no fresh food in their community, when their right to vote was threatened. In The Moment, New York Times bestselling author Steve Fiffer presents an oral history from today's social justice activists-many of them still under 30-that is pitch perfect for these dissonant times. First person accounts that will inspire us to act, offer a blueprint for making change, and perhaps, most importantly, give us hope for the future.

In the spring of 2001, Robert Jordan was a Dallas attorney whom George Bush wanted for the ambassadorship in Saudi Arabia. Not yet confirmed on 9/11, Jordan's nomination sped through Congress for approval and he found himself on the ground in the Kingdom by early October. Jordan had no prior diplomatic experience-Saudi Arabia mandates that the U.S. Ambassador be a political appointee with the ear of the president-and was forced to learn to run an embassy, deal with a foreign culture, and protect U.S. interests on the job all in the wake of the most significant terrorist attack on the United States in history. Furthermore, Jordan arrived in Saudi Arabia shortly after it became clear that the country had spawned not only the mastermind Osama bin Laden, but also 15 of the 19 hijackers. Desert Diplomat: Inside Saudi Arabia following 9/11 gives an inside account of the fascinating and historic ambassadorship of Robert Jordan from 2001 through 2003. As the newly-installed ambassador, he had to press the Saudis on terrorism while maintaining a positive relationship to ensure their cooperation with the war in Afghanistan and invasion of Iraq. Throughout his appointment he had first-hand dealings with the uppermost echelon of Washington power including President Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, George Tenet, and Tommy Franks while working with the Crown Prince Abdullah and other top Saudi leaders. Desert Diplomat provides a honest portrait of working with these prominent individuals, details of the historic decisions of Jordan's tenure, and a candid assessment the distressing amount of dysfunction in the way American foreign policy, warfare, and intelligence-gathering was conducted.

Fred Karger is not your average Republican candidate for president in 2012. For one thing, he's moderate. For another, he's Jewish. And for another, he's gay. While he never hid his politics or religion from the world, he did keep his homosexuality a secret for years. He was 41 when he finally came out to his family. And in his 27 years at one of the most highly regarded political consulting firms in the U.S., he never told his peers. Only after Karger retired in 2004 did he reveal himself. The revelations coincided with a new found social activism that blossomed in 2008 when Karger became involved in the effort to save same sex marriage in California (the battle over Proposition 8). In "outing" the Mormon Church's secret funding of the campaign to eliminate same sex marriage, Karger found himself the subject of international headlines; vitriolic condemnation by the Church and its front, the National Organization for Marriage; and even received a death threat. He also received numerous messages from gay men and women--many of them young--thanking him for his efforts. Having worked on hundreds of political campaigns, including nine presidential races, Karger was energized to run for president. As he makes clear in this book, crashing the party is nothing new to him. In his youthfully exuberant days, he crashed the stage at the Academy Awards twice, Hubert Humphrey's campaign plane, and, yes, even the White House. "When you are a closeted gay person, you learn to be creative," he explains. In FRED WHO, Karger--with uncommon candor and poignant humor--answers the question that everyone from Sir David Frost to Rachel Maddow, from the New York Times to Politico, has been asking for the last several months: Who the hell is Fred Karger? He painstakingly relates what it is like to live in the closet, afraid to tell family, friends, colleagues, and the candidates for whom he works. He shares the lessons learned working for the likes of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. And he offers wonderful stories about life on the political trail and in Hollywood (where he was an actor before turning to politics. Sound familiar?) By the end of this memoir, the reader will indeed know who Fred Karger is and have new insights into the many worlds that he has inhabited. You may even want to support his candidacy.

In 1990, the skeleton of a battle-scarred Tyrannosaurus rex matriarch was found, virtually complete, in what many call the most spectacular dinosaur fossil discovery to date. Not just another dinosaur book, Tyrannosaurus Sue is a fascinating introduction to the centuries-old history of commercial fossil hunting, a legal thriller and a provocative look at academic versus commercial science and the chase for the money that fuels both. - Steve Fiffer, an attorney who has followed the story for the past seven years, has captured the whole range of characters and issues embroiled in the fight for Sue. Fiffer communicates both the excitement over Sue's discovery and the motivations, manoeuvrings, and absurdities of the various forces attempting to control her destiny.

Have you ever had a million-dollar idea that someone else made a million on? "So You've Got a Great Idea" can help you be that one person who cashes in on an innovative product, service, business, or novelty item. Like Marvin Rosenblum, who made the most of Spiro Agnew's reputation(he also produced the movie "1984"), and ann Moore, who created the Snugli, you too, can take your idea from the drawing board to the bank.Steve Fiffer shows you how to tell whether your idea is a winner or a clunker and, through entertaining profiles of successful innovators, helps you decide how to follow through on it: Should you sell the idea to an established business or go into business for yourself? Do you want to work on the idea full-time or part-time? At home or in an office? You'll also discover the advantages and disadvantages of professional services, whether to apply for a patent, how to use government agencies and find financing.Here are stories of ordinary people who have had extraordinary ideas that have changed their lives. You will read about: Gordon and Carole Segal, who were struck with the idea for Crate and Barrel over their kitchen sinkKip Fuller, who created the Servitron Robot because he couldn't afford a caterer at his Christmas partyJeffrey Ullman, who combined his talent for making documentaries with a knack for sales and opened one of the first video dating services in America.Lynn Tatar, whose talent for chocolate novelties transformed her kitchen into The Amazing Chocolate Factoryand moreHaving a great idea is one thing; making a great idea make money is what this book is all about.