Showing results by narrator "Patrick Lawlor" in All Categories

Jack London was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild and other books. A pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first Americans to make a lucrative career exclusively from writing. Here are four of his best stories: "The Whale Tooth", "To Build a Fire", "The House of Pride", and "The House of Mapuhi".

He's suave, he's sexy, he's cool...and he's an undertaker!

Set on the high prairies of Montana, in small towns scattered across vast landscapes, the distances in Broken Field are both insurmountable and deeply internalized. Life is dusty and hard, and men are judged by their labor. Women have to be tougher yet. That’s what sixteen-year-old Josie Frehse learns as she struggles to meet the expectations of her community while fumbling with her own desires.

As the middle Tyler brother, Gavin doesn't always have much say in ranch decisions, but when it comes to his heart, he's the only authority. He's loved Louisa "Lou" Fairchild for longer than he can remember, even though they've never been more than friends. But with Lou stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place, Gavin is going to help the way any true friend would - with a proposal of a strictly business-like, in-name-only marriage...at least to start.

Laurence A. Johnson, a supermarket chain owner in Syracuse, New York, wasn't just passionate about fresh produce; he was equally fervent about purging communism from America's airwaves in the early 1950s. Teamed with like-minded anti-communists, Johnson targeted food giants like Borden and Kraft. He threatened to hurt sales of their products if they sponsored TV and radio shows employing anyone blacklisted for alleged communist ties. The Grocer Who Sold McCarthyism explores Johnson's ascent from small-time grocery operator to kingmaker wielding Red Scare hysteria.

In 1931, San Diego's idyllic image as a beach town with peaceful suburbs concealed a harrowing reality: a series of unsolved crimes targeting women, fueling fear and vulnerability. Monsters on the Loose tells the tragic and true stories of three women murdered early that year: Virginia Brooks, Louise Teuber, and Hazel Bradshaw. Local law enforcement, out-of-town criminologists, and investigators from what would become the FBI pursued hundreds of leads. Yet, the killer(s) were never identified and brought to justice.

When Cris Ross and Ed Marx were diagnosed with cancer, they thought they knew what to do next. They were, after all, executives at two of the premiere hospitals in the United States—Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. But even decades of obsessing about effective delivery of patient care could not have prepared them for the emotional and logistical complexity of navigating the healthcare system. Diagnosed is the book Cris and Ed wish they’d had when they embarked on their medical journeys.

In 2013 Michael J. Yochim was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). While fighting the disease, he wrote Requiem for America's Best Idea. The book establishes a unique parallel between Yochim's personal struggle with a terminal illness and the impact climate change is having on the national parks—the treasured wilderness that he loved and to which he dedicated his life. A poignant and thought-provoking work, Requiem for America's Best Idea investigates the interactions between people and nature and the world that can inspire and destroy them.

The world loves Sheriff Andy Taylor. Yet the actor who played him was intensely private. Here, for the first time, is the real Andy Griffith, his career and life defined by the island that made him in the years soon after World War II. He achieved his artistic breakthrough while acting in The Lost Colony drama on Roanoke Island, then spent the rest of his life repaying the island for giving him that start. Here, in unique closeup, is Andy of Manteo, reveling in wild, watery and loving ways with his fellow islanders.

There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be beyond the limits of human foot speed. In 1952, after suffering defeat at the Helsinki Olympics, three world-class runners each set out to break this barrier: Roger Bannister was a young English medical student who epitomized the ideal of the amateur; John Landy the privileged son of a genteel Australian family; and Wes Santee the swaggering American, a Kansas farm boy and natural athlete.

While America's new reality appears to be a deeply divided body politic, many are wondering how we can or should move forward from here. Can political or social divisiveness be healed? Is empathy among people with very little ideological common ground possible? In A Decent Meal, Michael Carolan finds answers to these fundamental questions in a series of unexpected places: around our dinner tables, along the aisles of our supermarkets, and in the fields growing our fruits and vegetables. What is more common, after all, than the simple fact that we all need to eat?

Progressives who opposed the Trump administration's policies found themselves repeatedly relying on constitutional principles grounded in federalism, separation of powers, and free speech to resist the federal government. Although many progressives had either criticized or underemphasized those principles before Trump, the principles became vital to progressive causes after Trump was elected.

After moving to a new house, the lives of Charlie, Kate, and Neil get turned upside down when they learn the house might be haunted. Horrific dreams filled with paranormal specters that bleed into the real world and a wicked cult operating out of the school become everyday occurrences for this family. Can these teens put a stop to the great evil they've stumbled upon?

In 1886, Gretta Pope wakes one morning to discover that her husband is gone. Ulysses Pope has left his family behind on the far edge of Minnesota’s western prairie, with only the briefest of notes and no explanation for why he left or where he’s headed. It doesn’t take long for Gretta’s young sons, Eli and Danny, to set off after him, following the scant clues they can find, jumping trains to get where they need to go, and ending up in the rugged badlands of Montana.

A high-sodium diet is deadly; studies have linked it to high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attacks. It's been estimated that excess sodium in the American diet causes as many as 100,000 deaths per year. And yet salt is everywhere in our diets - in packaged food, fast food, and restaurant meals. Why hasn't salt received the sort of attention and regulatory action that sugar and fat have? In Salt Wars, Michael Jacobson explains how the American food industry has fought government efforts to reduce dangerous levels of sodium in our food.

In Building Community Food Webs, Ken Meter shows how grassroots food and farming leaders across the US are tackling these challenges by constructing civic networks. Overturning extractive economic structures, these inspired leaders are engaging low-income residents, farmers, and local organizations in their quest to build stronger communities.

In early 2020, because of COVID-19, many colleges and schools around the world closed, and many teachers, instructors, and faculty members had to learn how to teach online in a hurry. This book takes a step back and focuses on helping educators teach effective live online sessions with Zoom.

Taking the battle deep into Arh’Kel territory, Colonel Jenkins, Major Xi Bao, and the newly promoted Captain Podsednik are challenged both in space and on the ground. Can they gain superiority in orbit while Legion mechs are landside? Can heavy metal win the ground? Working together. Fighting separately. Losing means losing the war. Win the battle. Win the prize. Humanity is poised to take its place as the leader of all races. Everything hinges on the Metalheads in their mechs.

Theo Snyder is at the end of his rope. One minute, he was on top of the world, his documentary film The Basement a massive critical and commercial hit; the next, he’s crestfallen as his latest film is canceled after an embarrassingly public misstep. As his desperation grows, he makes the bold decision to pursue the story of the notorious Halo Killer, Jasper Ross-Johnson. But delving into the life and mind of a serial killer could prove more deadly than Theo ever could have imagined.

You can take the girl out of the south, but you can't take the south out of the girl. That's why Crash McClanahan is all wrong for me. The sexy, growly biker is just a big walking "nope". Not going to happen. Never in a million years. Sure, his kisses are sweeter than iced tea in July. But I'm monograms and mimosas. He's bar fights and beer. I never wear white after Labor Day. He never leaves the house without his leathers. You get the idea.