Many today are familiar with the Broadway musical The Music Man, but few could name one prominent band director active in their own region during the early years of the twentieth century, when community bands were as important to mid-sized towns as professional sports teams are to large cities today. Among the most renowned in the Midwest in those days was G. Oliver Riggs, who was employed at one time or another by Crookson, Bemidji, Grand Forks, St. Cloud, and other cities, eventually building a reputation as one of the most successful directors of youth bands in the United States. But after his death in 1946, few people outside of St. Cloud, Minnesota, remembered his name or his reputation for building highly disciplined ensembles that provided an extra spark to many civic celebrations, while also instilling a love for music in several generations of young performers. Six decades later, in Crackerjack Bands and Hometown Boosters, journalist Joy Riggs set out to learn more about the life and achievements of G. Oliver-her great-grandfather. Riggs follows the career of G. Oliver, his talented wife Isla, and their children, through times of war, peace, economic hardship, and personal tragedy. She tracked down and interviews those who performed in G. Oliver's ensembles and scoured the daily newspapers of many small towns for information regarding his movements, contracts, performances, and rivalries. In so doing, she opens a window onto an aspect of American culture that cannot be adequately conveyed by listening to one or two John Phillip Sousa marches. Ultimately, this is a story about civic pride, community participation, and the power of music to transform lives and connect people across generations AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY: Joy Riggs grew up in Alexandria, Minnesota, and graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in news-editorial journalism. She specializes in writing about history, travel, and parenting. Her award-winning columns, essays, and articles have appeared in numerous publications, including the Star Tribune, Minnesota Parent, Minnesota Monthly, and the Des Moines Register. She lives in Northfield, Minnesota, where she serves on the boards of the Vintage Band Festival and the Northfield Historical Society. For more of her writing, visit joyriggs.com.

A fascinating and comprehensive look into the life of American fashion designer Ralph Lauren, now with an afterword. “Deep-dish...sharp-clawed...honestly admiring.”—New York Times There are at least two Ralph Laurens. To the public he's a gentle, modest, yet secure and purposeful man. Inside the walls of Polo Ralph Lauren, though, he was long seen by some as a narcissist, an insecure ditherer, and, at times, a rampaging tyrant. Michael Gross, author of the bestsellers Model and 740 Park, lays bare the truths of this fashion emperor's rise, and reveals not only the secrets of his meteoric success in marketing our shared fantasies, but also a widely unknown side that's behind the designer’s chic façade.

'Guerrilla Marketing For Dummies' provides organisations with cutting-edge solutions that achieve maximum results from minimal resources.

Completely revised and updated edition of this very popular and successful small business book The first edition of 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business was hailed by management guru and author Tom Peters as "Brilliantly researched. Brilliantly written. A gem of priceless value on almost every page. Read. Inhale. Absorb. Great Stuff!" In this completely updated third edition of 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business, renowned small-business expert and consultant Jane Applegate shares new, powerful, creative, simple, and proven approaches for building a better small business. Details how business owners can use online marketing and social networking more effectively Offers timely strategies for thriving in challenging economic times Includes scores of real-life success stories and all-new interviews with small-business owners, experts, and VIP's including Guy Kawasaki, Kay Koplovitz, and Michael Bloomberg It may be small, but your business is a big deal to you, your customers, and employees. 201 Great Ideas provides lively, practical strategies to help you manage, grow, and promote your business.

In order to report his late father's real life EPA whistleblower crime, Kevin Neece confesses his life story to the FBI in the form of a Scandalous Filmmaker Tell All that's been described as Self Delusional, Self Destructive, and Surreal.

Provides an introduction to American pulp fiction during the twentieth century with brief author biographies and lists of their works.

Ragtime: An Encyclopedia, Discography, and Sheetography is the definitive reference work for this important popular form of music that flourished from the 1890s through the 1920s, and was one of the key predecessors of jazz. It collects for the first time entries on all the important composers and performers, and descriptions of their works; a complete listing of all known published ragtime compositions, even those self-published and known only in single copies; and a complete discography from the cylinder era to today. It also represents the culmination of a lifetime’s research for its author, considered to be the foremost scholar of ragtime and early twentiethh-century popular music. Rare photographs accompany most entries, taken from the original sheets, newspapers, and other archival sources.

This devastating book illuminates America's gun culture -- its manufacturers, dealers, buffs, and propagandists -- but also offers concrete solutions to our national epidemic of death by firearm. "Touches on all aspects of the gun issue in this country. Gives great voice to that feeling...that something real must be done." --San Diego Union-Tribune "One of the most readable anti-gun treatises in years." --Washington Post Book World It begins with an account of a crime that is by now almost commonplace: on December 16, 1988, sixteen-year-old Nicholas Elliot walked into his Virginia high school with a Cobray M-11/9 and several hundred rounds of ammunition tucked in his backpack. By day's end, he had killed one teacher and severely wounded another. In Lethal Passage Erik Larson shows us how a disturbed teenager was able to buy a weapon advertised as "the gun that made the eighties roar." The result is a book that can -- and should -- save lives, and that has already become an essential text in the gun-control debate.

The Chicago Food Encyclopedia is a far-ranging portrait of an American culinary paradise. Hundreds of entries deliver all of the visionary restauranteurs, Michelin superstars, beloved haunts, and food companies of today and yesterday. More than 100 sumptuous images include thirty full-color photographs that transport readers to dining rooms and food stands across the city. Throughout, a roster of writers, scholars, and industry experts pays tribute to an expansive--and still expanding--food history that not only helped build Chicago but fed a growing nation. Pizza. Alinea. Wrigley Spearmint. Soul food. Rick Bayless. Hot Dogs. Koreatown. Everest. All served up A-Z, and all part of the ultimate reference on Chicago and its food.