Irresistably accessible "Pig Poet" - and subject of PBS documentary - is half preacher, half farmer, half genius.

May Anna Kovacks was discovered on the dustry streets of Butte, Montana and went on to become a Hollywood star. War, fame, marriage, love, and heartbreak came and went. What never changed was the bond she shared with her two best friends, Effa Commander and Whippy Bird. When scandal, murder, and betrayal made a legend of May Anna, only Effa and Whippy Bird could set the record straight.

Light streams through the windows as the espresso machine roars; a gorgeous, rich scent fills the air; and witty conversation unspools over the porcelain cups. That's the café dream. Mark and Nina are about to experience the reality. Determined to re-create the perfect Viennese coffeehouse, they descend on New York's gritty but hip Lower East Side to educate the locals on authentic café culture. Soon Mark and Nina are in a downward spiral that will strip them of money, friends, sex life, status, shelter, and, finally, sanity—and offer salvation through something they have never experienced: disaster. Inspired by the author's own coffeehouse hell, Ground Up is a sharp and funny portrait of a New York constantly reinventing itself, and a surprisingly tender story of falling out of love and back in it again.

It’s 1994. Cell phones have yet to give seamen a bittersweet connection to the world they leave ashore, and Captain John Raymond has been riding the tides of loneliness for years. Lost in the choppy two-weeks on, two-weeks off rhythm of tugboat life, he feels most alone laying at anchor in New York Harbor because home is so close but seems a world away. The harbor is where John performs The Wheelhouse Café, singing over a marine radio in the wheelhouse. He doesn’t know if anyone hears him . . . until he meets Arden McHale. Arden is adrift when John finds her sobbing at the wake for Billy Mickelson, a tugboat captain lost at sea. She is terrified that her rejection of Billy’s long-harbored love is the reason behind her childhood friend’s tragic disappearance. Arden is also distraught that her go-to remedy of work marathons and round-the-clock cocktails fails to calm her waves of guilt and grief. Though John and Arden are from two different worlds, they share an intoxicating connection that threatens to derail Arden’s budding romance with another man and makes John realize just how empty his life has become. Soon after Billy’s wake, Arden asks John to help protect her eight year-old nephew from his abusive father. John agrees to let the boy stow away on the tug until he’s out of danger. During the ensuing adventure, the connection between John and Arden deepens as they talk over the marine radio set up in her apartment, and Arden swoons as she listens John sing in The Wheelhouse Café. But as John opens up to being heard and understood, Arden is faced with more questions than answers. Will she ever forgive herself for abandoning Billy? Can she let go of feeling responsible for his death? Is she capable of falling in love, especially with someone who’s given his heart to the sea for so long?