"Whether it's putting the props on backwards for a stinkpot adversary or crashing the Christmas boat parade, Bubba has always found new and clever ways to entertain our readers." --Doran Cushing, editor of Southwinds "Bubba. Every harbor has one. No matter how humble our hulls, Bubba is the boater who allows the rest of us to feel like yachtsmen. . . . As Bubba would look at it, his boat is not a blight upon the harbor; it just makes all of the rest of the boats look better. Bubba. For him the tide is never half out; it�s still half in." --Bob Hite, anchor, News Channel Eight, Tampa, FL Readers of Southwinds magazine have chuckled for years at the unlikely antics of Bubba Whartz, a sailor "who marches to the beat of a different drummer." When not ensconced on his ferro-cement sloop, Right Guard (made from a truckful of cement left over from the construction of I-75), Bubba is holding forth at the Blue Moon Saloon, courting a distinctly hostile stripper named Trixie LaMotte, or otherwise wreaking havoc on local society. In these outrageous short stories, author Morgan Stinemetz celebrates the lowbrow side of boating as Bubba Whartz, red baseball cap and all, leaves all adversaries in his wake.

"Your new Florida Keys cruising guide is terrific, and is now my personal choice for cruising the Keys. Everywhere we went aboard Bluewater, we compared what you said with what we saw and you were virtually 100% on target." --Milt Baker This completely updated edition by the king of cruising guides provides reliable instructions and lively commentary about traveling from the Port of Miami all the way to the Dry Tortugas. Boaters may choose one of two routes to the Florida Keys, the inside route via the Intracoastal Waterway or the offshore option through Hawk Channel. In both cases, the authors pinpoint and assess obstructions, anchorages, marinas, fuel supplies, and other facilities for cruisers. Cruising the Florida Keys also contains first-hand evaluations of restaurants, cultural attractions, and historical sites, including the many things to see and do in Key West. Cruising the Florida Keys can be used alone or accompanied by Claiborne Young's Coastal Charts for Cruising the Florida Keys (sp), which contains the latest NOAA nautical charts cross-referenced to the cruising guide. These maps include anchorages, marinas, fueling stations, bridges, restaurants, historical sites, and other important bits of information for boaters.

From his first unscripted appearance on an Off-Broadway stage in the revolutionary 1960s to the frontpage news of his death from AIDS in 1987 at age 44, Charles Ludlam embodied - and helped to engender - the upheavals of his time. The astonishing life and legacy of this force to be reckoned with are at last revealed in RIDICULOUS!, a literary biography of an American comic genius. After founding the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in 1967, Ludlam sustained an ever-shifting troupe of bohemian players through two decades of perennially daunting circumstances by writing 29 plays - plays that he starred in and directed as well. While Ludlam's work has become increasingly popular at regional theatres, on college campuses, and on stages throughout the world, his gender-bending theories and wide-ranging cultural impact have reached far beyond Bette Midler, the original cast members of Saturday Night Live and the countless other artists he influenced during his abbreviated lifetime. Like his early plays, Ludlam's life was rife with the sex, drugs and creative experimentation that characterized the freewheeling '60s and '70s. Based on a decade of research and interviews with more than 150 people who knew or worked with Ludlam - including all of the major players in his troupe and seven of his lovers - RIDICULOUS! recreates the dramatic life of an inimitable and subversive theatrical master with you-are-there intensity. Winner of the LAMBDA Literary Award for Biography and the Theatre Library Association Award for Outstanding Theatre Book of the Year "David Kaufman makes a persuasive case for Ludlam's being a genius ... As a record of Ludlam's life and the theatrical world in which he was both guru and grandmaster, this book is informed and passionate." - Mel Gussow, The New York Times "A fascinating portrait of an authentic stage genius and the New York avant-garde scene in which he toiled with such demented and dedicated diligence." - Playbill "The phenom who inspired everyone from Bette Midler and Madeline Kahn to Tony Kushner and Paul Rudnick was no box of chocolates - which, as reading experiences go, makes his story all the sweeter." - Vanity Fair "This is one helluva piece of work." - Marilyn Stasio, Variety.com

When Coastal Living Magazine listed Rockport, Texas, among its “Top 10 Coastal Artists’ Colonies” with more well-known art communities such as Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and Monhegan Island, Maine, many art lovers may have been surprised. But Rockport’s inclusion represented an emerging Texas Gulf Coast aesthetic and regional school of landscape art that many art historians and collectors had discovered. The area’s unique ecosystem, abundance of wildlife and quaint architecture of bait stands and fish houses became a haven for creativity and individuality, beginning in the late forties. Over the years, it became home to influential artists, including the colony founder, Simon Michael, his most famous student, Dalhart Windberg, Jack Cowan, Al Barnes, Herb Booth, and Jesus Moroles. Other prominent artists also came for inspiration, including Buck Schiwetz, Harold Phenix, and Kent Ullberg. Many of the artists were active in early environmental organizations like the Coastal Conservation Association and Ducks Unlimited, working to protect the special habitats. And Steve Russell, a Rockport native, became the legendary mentor and quintessential artist of the colony, inspiring generations of newcomers. In The Story of the Rockport-Fulton Art Colony: How a Coastal Texas Town Became an Art Enclave, Kay Kronke Betz and Vickie Moon Merchant chronicle how this small Texas town, whose economy was based on fishing, shrimping, and tourism, became a major regional center for the visual arts. Generously illustrated throughout with full-color images of boats, bays, and other hallmarks of this artistically rich community, this book is a visual and narrative treat for art lovers, conservationists, and historians alike.

The Southern Belle's answer to David Sedaris. --Karin Gillespie "She's like a modern-day, southern-fried Erma Bombeck or Dave Barry."--Booklist Aimed at anyone with a funny bone, these all new stories and essays by Gannett-syndicated columnist Susan Reinhardt tackle domestic life, particularly of the Southern persuasion, with sidesplitting observations and searing confessions. Reinhardt candidly lets readers into her world as she goes mano a mano with her Bubba of a husband--and occasionally her mother. From discovering she's getting a dreaded "front fanny" to revealing her husband's experiments with a Norelco shaver and their Pomeranian pooch, Reinhardt scrapes bare the bedrock truth about married life and love. She also poignantly shares her struggles with a depression that secretly plunged her downward and her reaction to the unexpected helping hands that pulled her up. Totally uncensored and blisteringly honest, Reinhardt is all heart--and a storyteller to savor and remember. "So engaging. . .so honest. . .will make you laugh out loud."--The Asheville Citizen-Times "Like hanging out with your bluntest, most mischievous friend, the one who never fails to crack you up." --Chicago Sun-Times "Funny and touching. . .Reinhardt is not afraid to put it all out there."--The Pilot (N.C.) "Susan Reinhardt takes the naked, honest truth and sets it on fire in a blaze of laughter. . . will have you holding your sides the whole time." --Laurie Notaro, Autobiography of a Fat Girl "She can break your heart in one sentence and leave you laughing till you're breathless in the next." --Julie Cannon, True Love & Homegrown Tomatoes Susan Reinhardt is a syndicated columnist and feature writer whose work has appeared all over the world in major newspapers such as the Washington Post, London Daily Mirror, Newsday, and other Tribune Media and Gannett publications. Reinhardt has won dozens of awards for her writing, including several Best of Gannett honors and a Pulitzer Prize nomination. A long-time volunteer fund-raiser for Hospice, the United Way, the American Lymphoma and Leukemia Society, the PTO and other worthwhile and not so worthwhile causes, Reinhardt is also a proud member of the Not Quite Write Book Club, a group of ten women who drink wine and pretend to act literary. A true Daughter of the South, Susan Reinhardt was born in South Carolina, was raised in Georgia, and currently makes her home in Asheville, North Carolina, the jewel city of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She has two adorable children and still calls her mama every night.

Experience the extraordinary story of a nearly forgotten American superstar athlete. Texas girl Babe Didrikson never tried a sport too tough and never met a hurdle too high. Despite attempts to keep women from competing, Babe achieved All-American status in basketball and won gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Olympics. Then Babe attempted to conquer golf. One of the founders of the LPGA, Babe won more consecutive tournaments than any golfer in history. At the height of her fame, she was diagnosed with cancer. Babe would then take her most daring step of all: go public and try to win again with the hope of inspiring the world. A rollicking saga, stretching across the first half of the 20th century, Wonder Girl is as fresh, heartfelt, and graceful as Babe herself.