"Alex Douglas always wanted to be a hero. But nothing heroic ever happened to Alex. Nothing, that is, until his eleventh birthday [which fell on September 11, 2001]. Then everything changed"--P. [4] of cover.

More than 500 color photos display marbles of all types, including Indians, Aggies, Steelies, transitionals, M.F. Christensen & Son, Akro Agate and more.

New in Paper The colors, textures, and versatility of polymer clay make it a perfect medium for creating faux surfaces--and these 30 recipes for special finishing, shaping, baking, and molding techniques will transform polymer's appearance. Craft gorgeous faux gemstones; fool the eye with imitation metals, including Balinese silver and verdigris copper; and copy must-have naturals, from bone to leather. Or make simulated agate, slate, and marble. You'll find information on all the types of polymer clay, from translucent ones to some with mica powder, and see how to enhance their surface with paints, inks, wax compounds, and confetti. The unusual include a handsome makeup set, lapis lazuli drawer pulls, and Opal Earrings. "[A] well designed craft book...the end results dazzle."--Publishers Weekly Annex

"From 1501 to 1505, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti both lived and worked in Florence. Leonardo was a charming, handsome fifty year-old at the peak of his career. Michelangelo was a temperamental sculptor in his mid-twenties, desperate to make a name for himself. The two despise each other."--Front jacket flap.

“In Robert Weintraub’s exhaustive biography, The Divine Miss Marble, he transports the reader into Marble’s vibrant world. It’s a dreamy, indomitable life worth reading about as today’s tennis tries to return to form.”—The Washington Post “An intriguing book about a fascinating woman…highly recommended.”—Library Journal (starred review) “Delightful and engrossing, this is a must for tennis fans.”—Publishers Weekly The story of 1930s tennis icon Alice Marble, and her life of sports, celebrity, and incredible mystery. Who was Alice Marble? In her public life, she was the biggest tennis star of the pre-war era, a household name like Joe DiMaggio and Joe Louis. She was famous for overcoming serious illness to win the biggest tournaments, including Wimbledon. She was also a fashion designer and trendsetter, a contributor to a pioneering new comic called Wonder Woman—and friend to the biggest names in Hollywood and society, like Carole Lombard and Clark Gable, William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, and members of families named Bloomingdale, Loew, and du Pont. She helped integrate tennis with her support of Althea Gibson, and even coached two young women who became stars in their own right: Billie Jean King and Sally Ride. Yet her private life provoked constant speculation while she was alive, and her own memoirs added layers of legend upon stories. According to Alice, she married a man who was killed in the skies over Europe during World War II. But who was the man she loved, and had he even existed? She was widely known for her patriotism during World War II. Had she really nearly given her life for her country as a spy, shot during a wild car chase fleeing foreign espionage agents? In The Divine Miss Marble, bestselling author Robert Weintraub traveled the country to uncover her fascinating story. And the more he learned about her, the more her mysteries and contradictions deepened. Alice was a powerful woman who knew her worth, demanding equal pay to men decades earlier than other female athletes; yet she was held in sway by a domineering, highly successful coach with whom she had a volatile relationship. She was renowned for her California style, and had a brilliant mind and the guts to overcome a lifetime of physical trauma. For the first time here, we come closer than ever before to the truths of this unforgettable life, and somehow it’s a story even more extraordinary than everything we already know about the divine Alice Marble.

A 50th anniversary tribute chronicles the historical struggle to bring the Civil Rights Act into law, profiling a wide range of contributing figures in religious, public and political arenas. 60,000 first printing.

Camille Claudel, an old lady confined to the Asylum for the Insane in Montdevergues, France, reviews her life. She says, aI hope my memoir will illustrate the heights of passion Rodin and I reached, and unravel the mystery of why they were transformed into vinegar and ashes.a The tragedy is not only hers, she adds, but that of many female artists who found it impossible to achieve the success of men artists of lesser ability. The book illuminates her childhood and the rise of her career in the setting of her ecstatic life with Rodin. Their ten years of bliss are followed by the disintegration of her love for him, and its evolution into hatred and psychosis. The last third of the book describes the horrors of Claudelas life in the asylum, ending with the highly original manner in which she comes to terms psychologically with Rodin and the other important figures in her life.

Designed for courses in media criticism, rhetorical criticism, and popular culture, this text draws on recent work in semiotics and cultural studies as it applies critical methods to texts from popular culture.