[PDF] Old Powder Man eBook

Author : Joan Williams
Publisher : Open Road Media
Page : 267 pages
File Size : 35,63 MB
Release : 2014-12-30
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1497694655

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The vivid and absorbing story of a man whose unwavering pursuit of success leaves him searching for the true meaning of life Raised in rural Arkansas during the Great Depression, Frank “Son” Wynn leaves home at age fourteen to seek his fortune. Handsome, charismatic, and headstrong, he eventually becomes a powder man, selling dynamite up and down the Mississippi River. With a single-minded determination, he expands his business at every opportunity, foreseeing the crucial role his product will play in constructing dams and levees to bring the region’s annual flooding under control. Step by step, over the course of a long and challenging career, Son outmaneuvers his competitors and achieves a level of prosperity far removed from his humble beginnings. He is the quintessential self-made man—impressive and exasperating in equal measure, the cheerful expression he wears to greet customers masking the giant chip on his shoulder. His health failing, Son retires and finds that all those years of striving have built a wall between him and his family. His wife has never forgiven him for not coming home for the birth of their daughter. A young woman now, Laurel is barely more than a stranger to her father. As his condition worsens and his past accomplishments lose their luster, Son must ask himself if a lifetime of success came at too great a price. With Laurel at his bedside, he has one last chance to connect, to create something of true and everlasting value. Will he be brave enough to take it? A rich and satisfying portrait of one man’s life from beginning to end, Old Powder Man affirmed Joan Williams’s reputation as one of the most skillful and psychologically astute novelists of her generation.

Author : Paul Schneider
Publisher : Henry Holt and Company
Page : 416 pages
File Size : 16,73 MB
Release : 2013-09-03
Category : History
ISBN : 0805098364

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A fascinating account of how the Mississippi River shaped America In Old Man River, Paul Schneider tells the story of the river at the center of America's rich history—the Mississippi. Some fifteen thousand years ago, the majestic river provided Paleolithic humans with the routes by which early man began to explore the continent's interior. Since then, the river has been the site of historical significance, from the arrival of Spanish and French explorers in the 16th century to the Civil War. George Washington fought his first battle near the river, and Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman both came to President Lincoln's attention after their spectacular victories on the lower Mississippi. In the 19th century, home-grown folk heroes such as Daniel Boone and the half-alligator, half-horse, Mike Fink, were creatures of the river. Mark Twain and Herman Melville led their characters down its stream in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Confidence-Man. A conduit of real-life American prowess, the Mississippi is also a river of stories and myth. Schneider traces the history of the Mississippi from its origins in the deep geologic past to the present. Though the busiest waterway on the planet today, the Mississippi remains a paradox—a devastated product of American ingenuity, and a magnificent natural wonder.

Author : Leif Whittaker
Publisher : Mountaineers Books
Page : 359 pages
File Size : 27,97 MB
Release : 2016-09-20
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1680510703

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• A fresh perspective on a famous father and a legacy forged on the icy slopes of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak In 1963, the world followed the first American Mount Everest Expedition, and watched as “Big Jim” Whittaker became the first American to stand on top of the world. He returned home a hero. My Old Man and the Mountain is Leif Whittaker’s engaging and humorous story of what it was like to “grow up Whittaker”—the youngest son of Jim Whittaker and Dianne Roberts, in an extended family of accomplished climbers. He shares glimpses of his upbringing and how the pressure to climb started early on. Readers learn of his first adventures with family in the Olympic Mountains and on Mount Rainier; his close yet at times competitive relationship with his brother Joss; his battle with a serious back injury; and his efforts to stand apart from his father’s legacy. With wry honesty he depicts being a recent college grad, still living in his parents’ home and trying to find a purpose in life—digging ditches, building houses, selling t-shirts to tourists—until a chance encounter leads to the opportunity to climb Everest, just like his father did. Leif heads to Nepal with all the excitement, irony, boredom, and trepidation that are part of high-altitude climbing. Well-known guides Dave Hahn and Melissa Arnot figure prominently in his story, as does “Big Jim.” But Leif’s story is not his father’s story. It’s a unique coming of age tale on the steep slopes of Everest and a climbing adventure that lights the imagination and fills an emotional human endeavor with universal meaning.

Author : Paul Dowswell
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 306 pages
File Size : 44,48 MB
Release : 2006-10
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 1582347484

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Thirteen-year-old Sam endures harsh conditions, battles, and a shipwreck after being pressed into service aboard the HMS Miranda during the Napoleonic Wars.

Author : Brian McClellan
Publisher : Hachette UK
Page : 609 pages
File Size : 18,9 MB
Release : 2013-04-16
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1405519940

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'Just plain awesome' Brandon Sanderson **Winner of the David Gemmell Morningstar Award** It's a bloody business, overthrowing a king. Now, amid the chaos, a whispered rumour is spreading. A rumour about a broken promise, omens of death and the gods returning to walk the earth. No one really believes these whispers. Perhaps they should. Winner of the David Gemmell Morningstar Award, Promise of Blood is the explosive first novel in the most action-packed and acclaimed new fantasy series in years. 'Gunpowder and magic. An explosive combination' Peter Brett 'Brings a welcome breath of gunpowder-tinged air to epic fantasy' Anthony Ryan 'Tense action, memorable characters, rising stakes . . . Brian McClellan is the real thing' Brent Weeks The Powder Mage trilogy: Promise of Blood The Crimson Campaign The Autumn Republic The Gods of Blood and Powder series: Sins of Empire Wrath of Empire