Old friends from the class of 1960 at an Indiana high school share nostalgic memories as their fiftieth reunion draws near . . . This is the story of sixteen classmates who graduated from Indiana’s Columbus High School in May, 1960. With their fiftieth high school reunion on the horizon, the “Columbus Crew” reconnected, and here the guys tell stories about growing up in the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s, and how those times impacted who they are today—offering both a glimpse into history and a delightful ride down Memory Lane. While the stories are unique to the Columbus Crew, they will rekindle memories for anyone who grew up in this glorious era—and for children and grandchildren of baby boomers, they show what life was like in mid-twentieth-century America. Let the Columbus Crew take you back to the days of flat tops, LPs, the Hula Hoop, transistor radios, Lassie, 20 cents per gallon gas, big bands, rock and roll—while sharing personal reminiscences of first cars, girlfriends, sports, jobs, getting into trouble and finding their way out, and much more.

“An illuminating TV show biography” (Kirkus Reviews), the ultimate inside story of 60 Minutes—the program that has tracked and shaped the biggest moments in post-war American history. From its almost accidental birth in 1968, 60 Minutes has set the standard for broadcast journalism. The show has profiled every major leader, artist, and movement of the past five decades, perfecting the news-making interview and inventing the groundbreaking TV exposé. From legendary sit-downs with Richard Nixon in 1968 and Bill Clinton in 1992 to landmark investigations into the tobacco industry, Lance Armstrong’s doping, and the torture of prisoners in Abu-Ghraib, the broadcast has not just reported on our world but changed it, too. Executive Producer Jeff Fager takes us into the editing room with the show’s brilliant producers and beloved correspondents, including hard-charging Mike Wallace, writer’s-writer Morley Safer, soft-but-tough Ed Bradley, relentless Lesley Stahl, intrepid Scott Pelley, and illuminating storyteller Steve Kroft. He details the decades of human drama that have made the show’s success possible: the ferocious competition between correspondents, the door slamming, the risk-taking, and the pranks. Above all, Fager reveals the essential tenets that have never changed: why founder Don Hewitt believed “hearing” a story is more important than seeing it, why the “small picture” is the best way to illuminate a larger one, and why the most memorable stories are almost always those with a human being at the center. “As traditional reporting is increasingly being challenged by high-decibel, opinion-drenched media, Fager highlights storytelling that conveys a deep understanding of issues and demonstrates the power of television to inform” (The Washington Post). Fifty Years of 60 Minutes is at once a sweeping portrait of fifty years of American cultural history and an intimate look at how the news gets made.

The Gift of an Ordinary Day is an intimate memoir of a family in transition, with boys becoming teenagers, careers ending and new ones opening up, and an attempt to find a deeper sense of place—and a slower pace—in a small New England town. This is a story of mid-life longings and discoveries, of lessons learned in the search for home and a new sense of purpose, and the bittersweet intensity of life with teenagers—holding on, letting go. Poised on the threshold between family life as she's always known it and her older son's departure for college, Kenison is surprised to find that the times she treasures most are the ordinary, unremarkable moments of everyday life, the very moments that she once took for granted, or rushed right through without noticing at all. The relationships, hopes, and dreams that Kenison illuminates will touch women's hearts, and her words will inspire mothers everywhere as they try to make peace with the inevitable changes in store.

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It’s estimated that 50 to 60 million Americans count birding among their hobbies. Some hang feeders in their backyards and accumulate yard lists; others participate in annual “Christmas Counts”; a select few travel to the ends of the earth in an effort to see every bird in the world. With Fifty Places to Go Birding Before You Die, Chris Santella takes the best-selling “Fifty Places” recipe and applies it to this most popular pastime. Santella presents some of the greatest bird-watching venues in the United States and abroad through interviews with prominent birders, from tour leaders and conservationists to ornithologists and academics. Interviewees include ornithologist Kenn Kaufman; David Allen Sibley, author and illustrator of The Sibley Guide to Birds; Rose Ann Rowlett, the “mother of modern birding”; John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; and Steve McCormick, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. The places vary from the urban (New York City’s Central Park) to the mystical (the cloud forests of Triunfo in Chiapas, Mexico) to the extremely remote (the sub-Arctic islands of New Zealand). The book includes 40 gorgeous photographs that capture the vibrancy of our feathered friends, and the beautiful places they call home.