Biographies and autobiographies

  • Brook Benton : there goes that song again

    Creator

    Gradischnig, Hertwig

    Maitner, Hans

    Abstract

    Brook Benton was a magnificent singer who could handle handle anything from blues, jazz and soul to country, pop and standards.  His version of Tony Joe White’s ‘Rainy Night In Georgia’ - an international smash in 1970 - remains a timeless classic.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Upper Poppleton, York : Music Mentor Books, [2015]

    Non spécifié
  • Our friend Joe : the Joe Fortes story

    Creator

    Smith, Lisa Anne

    Abstract

    When a young black man named Seraphim “Joe” Fortes arrived in Vancouver in 1885, with little to his name, no one could have possibly suspected that one hundred years later he would be voted “Citizen of the Century.” Our Friend Joe is the first biography of the West Indian sailor who became a local legend, saving dozens of lives and teaching three generations of Vancouver children how to swim. On a chance rowboat ride not far from the city, he would find his “perfect place” in English Bay, where the untold story truly begins.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Vancouver [B.C.] : Ronsdale Press, c2012

    Non spécifié
  • Christy Clark : behind the smile

    Creator

    Wilson, Judi Tyabji

    Abstract

    A political insider takes a revealing look at the public and private life of BC's controversial premier. In the blood-sport arena of provincial politics, BC's enigmatic premier, Christy Clark, has defied the pundits to win both party leadership and an upset election victory against all odds. Made deputy premier in 2001 shortly after her first foray into public life, she shunned Gordon Campbell's cabinet solidarity to return to private life in 2004. After a bold run at becoming Vancouver's mayor, she launched a successful media career as a CKNW talk show host.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Victoria, British Columbia : Heritage House Publishing, [2016]

    Non spécifié
  • In search of Canada : the early years of John Wesley Dafoe

    Creator

    Dafoe, Christopher

    Abstract

    This is the story of the formative years of Canada’s most famous newspaper editor, John Wesley Dafoe. Written by his grandson, it is an honest account of the man that his family and his friends knew, from his unpromising beginnings in the backwoods of pre-Confederation Ontario to his early and unexpected success in nineteenth century Canadian journalism. It includes an examination of Dafoe’s family background, his education, his early career, his rise as a national and international figure and his lifelong search for a true Canadian identity.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Winnipeg : Great Plains Publications, [2014]

    Non spécifié
  • Harold : the boy who became Mark Twain

    Creator

    Holbrook, Hal

    Abstract

    This is Hal Holbrook's affecting memoir of growing up behind disguises, and his lifelong search for himself. Abandoned by his mother and father when he was two, Holbrook and his two sisters each commenced their separate journeys of survival. Raised by his powerful grandfather until his death when Holbrook was twelve, he spent his childhood at boarding schools, visiting his father in an insane asylum, and hoping his mother would surface in Hollywood. As World War II engulfed Europe, Holbrook began acting almost by accident.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, [2011]

    Non spécifié
  • Overweight sensation : the life and comedy of Allan Sherman

    Creator

    Cohen, Mark

    Abstract

    Allan Sherman was the Larry David, the Adam Sandler, the Sacha Baron Cohen of 1963. He led Jewish humour and sensibilities out of ethnic enclaves and into the American mainstream with explosively funny parodies of classic songs that won Sherman extraordinary success and acclaim across the board, from Harpo Marx to President Kennedy. In Overweight Sensation, Mark Cohen argues persuasively for Sherman's legacy as a touchstone of postwar humour and a turning point in Jewish American cultural history.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Waltham, Mass. : Brandeis University Press, c2013

    Non spécifié
  • Stolen from our embrace: the abduction of First Nations children and the restoration of aboriginal communities

    Creator

    Fournier, Suzanne

    Abstract

    The authors look at the abduction and re-settlement of Native American children by well-meaning but misguided authorities, during the cultural conflict that followed the arrival of Europeans in the New World. The children became the focus of large-scale assimilation attempts, cultural experiments whose devastating effects became all too apparent.

    Publisher (Source)

    Vancouver : Douglas & McIntyre, c1997

    Non spécifié
  • The song and the silence Sitting Wind : the life of Stoney Indian Chief Frank Kaquitts

    Creator

    Jonker, Peter Marinus

    Abstract

    This is the story of the fascinating and challenging life of Stoney chief Frank Kaquitts--Sitting Wind. It includes his time as an actor, when he played Sitting Bull opposite Paul Newman in Buffalo Bill and the Indians. This award-winning biography explores cultural differences with eloquence and sensitivity.

    Publisher (Source)

    Edmonton : Lone Pine, 1988

    Non spécifié
  • Uncle Tungsten : memories of a chemical boyhood

    Creator

    Sacks, Oliver W.

    Abstract

    Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood is a memoir by Oliver Sacks about his childhood published in 2001. The book is named after Sacks's Uncle Dave, secretary of a business named Tungstalite, which made incandescent lightbulbs with a tungsten filament, whom Oliver nicknamed Uncle Tungsten. According to family members, Oliver used the single nickname, Uncle Tungsten, to refer to a combination of Dave with several other individuals in the same family. Uncle Tungsten was fascinated with tungsten and believed it was the metal of the future.

    Audience
    Specialized**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2011

    Non spécifié