Finalist, 2024 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing AwardsSelected as one of Military.com's Best Military Books of 2024."Expectation of Valor is a master class in operational planning and high-level staff work. It is a must-read for field grade officers and planners of all services. It also will reward any reader interested in the mechanics of large-scale conflict." — ARMY Magazine Given the length of time the United States spent in Iraq, there is a perception that there was no...

Situated between Los Feliz and Echo Park a few miles from downtown Los Angeles, Silver Lake thrives as a perennially avant-garde and enchanting enclave. From mansion builders and movie stars to bohemians, visionaries and just plain folk, discover Silver Lake's illustrious past and a fantastic cast of characters sure to enrich contemporary experience and inform the past. Colorful anecdotes about early movie magnates William Selig and Mack Sennett and silent-screen idols Mabel Normand, Anton...

Since the early 1900s, Silver Lake has been a magnet for iconoclastic writers, architects and political activists. Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed the Hollyhock House for socialist and oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, drew a wave of visionary modernists to the area. Local civil rights advocate Loren Miller spearheaded the fight against housing discrimination. Silver Lake's Black Cat bar and Harry Hay's Mattachine Society were central to the early gay rights movement. Literary ...

A collection of poems and letters about a young man’s journey growing up amidst issues of sexuality, spirituality, and racial identity conflict. It also shares his experiences as a military member during the DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL & AIDS pandemic, and his path through challenges like abuse allegations, mental health struggles, and three cancer diagnoses, all while trying to maintain his sanity, faith, and masculinity. In short, this collection explores what happens when someone puts their o...

A Note from the Poet/Playwright: (BLACK) an adj. of the darkest color; without light; dark, evil, somber, dishonorable. Wow! I wanted to challenge these objectionable definitions, and show that out of DARKNESS comes: LIGHT, LOVE, GROWTH, BEAUTY and HEALING, too. (POEM) an imaginative composition in rhythmic or free verse lines is the genre of this choreopoem, that tells a TALL TALE, with a HINT of some TRUTH & REALNESS. (OLOGY) is an indication, or root word, a noun that defines various ki...

Originally [and it may still be] a-work-in-progress... Yet, I have decided to move beyond the comfort of my computer and four little walls of an apartment, and share a labor of love that has taken me twenty-five years to bring out of the closet so too speak. So pull out those old LP's or CD's of a lil Coltrane, Carol Sloane, Shirley Horn, Miles Davis and of course Lady Day. And for all of you new kids on the block, Jill Scott, Remy Shand and Ledisi Young, too! So light some aroma-therapy c...

Although Woody Allen’s films have received extensive attention from scholars and critics, no book has focused exclusively on Jewishness in his work, particularly that of the late 1990s and beyond. In this anthology, a distinguished group of contributors—whose work is richly contextualized in the fields of literature, philosophy, film, theater, and comedy—examine the schlemiel, Allen and women, the Jewish take on the “morality of murder,” Allen’s take on Hebrew scripture and Greek tragedy, ...

Given the length of time the United States spent in Iraq, there is a perception that there was no consideration before the war of what should be done after coalition forces arrived in Baghdad and removed Saddam Hussein. However as this unofficial history reveals, there was a great deal of planning to address how to achieve the policy objectives for Iraq set by the Bush administration. Kevin Benson—director of plans for the United States Third Army, the ground forces command headquarters fo...

The influence of Jews in American entertainment from the early days of Hollywood to the present has proved an endlessly fascinating and controversial topic, for Jews and non-Jews alike. From Shtetl to Stardom: Jews and Hollywood takes an exciting and innovative approach to this rich and complex material.Exploring the subject from a scholarly perspective as well as up close and personal, the book combines historical and theoretical analysis by leading academics in the field...

Ntozake Shange’s classic, award-winning play encompassing the wide-ranging experiences of Black women, now with introductions by two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward and Broadway director Camille A. Brown.From its inception in California in 1974 to its Broadway revival in 2022, the Obie Award–winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf has excited, inspired, and transformed audiences all over the country for ne...

The multi-Grammy Award-winning pioneering soul musician tells the story of his childhood, career, and legacy—in this own words.Ray Charles (1930-2004) led one of the most extraordinary lives of any popular musician. In Brother Ray, he tells his story in an inimitable and unsparing voice, from the chronicle of his musical development to his heroin addiction to his tangled romantic life.Overcoming poverty, blindness, the loss of his parents, and the ...

Bum Rush the Page is a groundbreaking collection, capturing the best new work from the poets who have brought fresh energy, life, and relevance to American poetry.“Here is a democratic orchestration of voices and visions, poets of all ages, ethnicities, and geographic locations coming together to create a dialogue and to jam–not slam. This is our mouth on paper, our hearts on our sleeves, our refusal to shut up and swallow our silence. These poems are tough, honest...