"A big juicy wedge of jazz history. . . . Lots of wonderful stories." -- Los Angeles Daily News "Kansas City was a hub for Jazz bands that crisscrossed the country in the 1930s. . . . The interviews go beyond jazz into the infamous political machinery that made Kansas City a wide-open and corrupt town where jazz could flourish." -- Choice "A wealth of stories, a good measure of entertainment and a valuable stab at history -- not to mention some great pictures." -- The Kansas City Star

A dual portrait of the music team that shaped rock-and-roll music in the 1950s and 1960s describes their humble origins, their relationships with such performers as Elvis Presley and the Coasters, and their record-setting collaborative achievements.

Ranging from ragtime to bebop and from Bennie Moten to Charlie Parker, this work aims to capture the golden age of Kansas City jazz. It showcases the lives of the great musicians who made Kansas City swing, with profiles of jazz figures such as Mary Lou Williams, Big Joe Turner, and others.

Traces the growing disappointment and the final defeat which one settler family suffered in the mid-19th century West.

What would you do if you could travel back in time in your favorite city? Kansas City is a gem in the Heart of America! And to understand why it's such a great city, one should learn about the events and people behind its rich and remarkable history. So, what about a time travel adventure to explore Kansas City's history as it happened? And who better to be our guide on this fascinating journey than Kansas City's Mayor Sly James. Presenting the wonderfully illustrated adventure, "Mayor Sly and the Magic Bow Tie" for your bookshelves! When it comes to all things Kansas City, there is no one better to take you on this adventure than Kansas City's Mayor Sly James. Since he grew up in Kansas City and is now its mayor, Sly knows the city better than anyone. Mayor Sly will take the reader on an adventure back in time, through the magic of his trademark bow tie. You will visit some of his favorite locations and landmarks, with a first person preview of key events in Kansas City's exciting history. At each time-travel stop, you'll learn about Kansas City's past and meet some of the influential leaders who made a lasting impact on the city and the region. In addition to the tale of the Mayor's time travels, the book includes a special section called "All Things Kansas City" This special section revisits the book's people and places in detail. The educational and "fun-fact packed" section also offers other interesting facts and stories from Kansas City history. "Mayor Sly and the Magic Bow Tie" is a fun and surprising adventure for young readers. Intended to educate and inspire younger readers, it is also a good resource for older children. It's the perfect book for children and parents to read together, share in the adventure, and then go explore the fascinating city of Kansas City.

Kansas City is often seen as a mild-mannered metropolis in the heart of flyover country. But a closer look tells a different story, one with roots in the city’s complicated and colorful past. The decades between World Wars I and II were a time of intense political, social, and economic change—for Kansas City, as for the nation as a whole. In exploring this city at the literal and cultural crossroads of America, Wide-Open Town maps the myriad ways in which Kansas City reflected and helped shape the narrative of a nation undergoing an epochal transformation. During the interwar period, political boss Tom Pendergast reigned, and Kansas City was said to be “wide open.” Prohibition was rarely enforced, the mob was ascendant, and urban vice was rampant. But in a community divided by the hard lines of race and class, this “openness” also allowed many of the city’s residents to challenge conventional social boundaries—and it is this intersection and disruption of cultural norms that interests the authors of Wide-Open Town. Writing from a variety of disciplines and viewpoints, the contributors take up topics ranging from the 1928 Republican National Convention to organizing the garment industry, from the stockyards to health care, drag shows, Thomas Hart Benton, and, of course, jazz. Their essays bring to light the diverse histories of the city—among, for instance, Mexican immigrants, African Americans, the working class, and the LGBT community before the advent of “LGBT.” Wide-Open Town captures the defining moments of a society rocked by World War I, the mass migration of people of color into cities, the entrance of women into the labor force and politics, Prohibition, economic collapse, and a revolution in social mores. Revealing how these changes influenced Kansas City—and how the city responded—this volume helps us understand nothing less than how citizens of the age adapted to the rise of modern America.

A picture book about what it means to be a friend from Taye Diggs and Shane W. Evans, the writer/artist team that brought us Chocolate Me! and Mixed Me. Friends lend a hand when they can They help blend and mend it doesn't depend on whether you're doing wrong or right. A friend can send or lend a shining light to a situation. Add some bright to any frustration. On pretty much any occasion. Two best friends do almost everything together. They have each other's backs. But when one friend sees the other treating someone unkindly, he steps in to show that everyone wants to be treated as they would treat others. From the popular picture book team—longtime friends themselves—comes a real and rhythmic look at friendship that any child will relate to in My Friend!

Ever reliable and responsible, Otis Halstead is a father, a husband (one half of a “well-dressed couple of substance”), and the CEO of Kansas Central Fire and Casualty. He has never done anything out of the ordinary. Until now. The change in Otis starts with the acquisition of an antique toy fire truck, the exact model he had pined for at age ten but never received. Next comes a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. But Otis’s real coup is the purchase of his one true childhood passion: a red 1952 Cushman Pacemaker motor scooter. For his baffled wife, Sally, this is the final straw. She insists that he see a shrink. But when tragedy strikes uncomfortably close to home, Otis decides he wants out of his sensible, safe life in Eureka, Kansas. And so, a few weeks before his sixtieth birthday, Otis leaves town, heading west on old U.S. 56, a corporate CEO riding a forty-year-old motor scooter with a BB gun strapped to the side. One might say he was in for an adventure. Otis would say he was finally about to experience life.

What is there of Jewish interest to see in Bombay? In Casablanca? Where are the kosher restaurants in Seattle? How did the Jewish community in Hong Kong originate? The Jewish Traveler: Hadassah Magazine's Guide to the World's Jewish Communities and Sights provides this information and much more.