1 comments about Creative Memories : The 10 Timeless Principles Behind the Company that Pioneered the Scrapbooking Industry.

1. I like stories of people who build businesses and while I am unfamiliar with this company I took a chance on the story. The storyline is interesting how they got the company turned around and built it into what it is today. The timeless principles are nothing you havent read but hey these ladies are successful and it is a nice read but no big lessons just a good success stroy.

No comments about SOPHIATOWN PA.

1 comments about Charles Kuralt's People.

1. Compiled and edited by Ralph Grizzle, Charles Kuralt's People is an anthology of newspaper columns written in 1956 by Charles Kuralt, who was then a print journalist with the Charlotte News. From a newspaper columnist, Kuralt went on to join the fledgling CBS network and became a household name in American television influenced culture. The timeless treasure that is his collected wisdom and recorded insights remains as fresh, eye-opening, and timely today, as it was nearly fifty years ago. An intellectually stimulating collection of insightful and occasionally poignant commentaries, Charles Kuralt's People is very highly recommended reading for students of the human condition in general, and legions of Charles Kuralt fans in particular.

2 comments about The Night the Wheels Fell Off: More Tales About Family, Growing Up, and Other Goofy Stuff.

1. Ok, I'm in the middle of this book and I'm averaging about 3 to 4 good laughs per page and sometimes more.. The way this guy writes makes you feel like he's sitting across the coffee table, kicked back and telling stories from his childhood, family and life.. He makes you feel like a friend.
   
   
   The stories he tells take me back to MY childhood and make me remember things I didn't know I'd forgotten.. He captures the essence of childhood, because even though the we didn't have the same experiences, there's still a common thread.. I catch myself staring off and remembering... then snap back to the book to discover the next funny event or warm memory.
   
   I think everyone will really enjoy this book. Especially if you were ever a kid. And if you weren't, then you need to read this book and see how it's done. *ha ha ha*
   
   It's just as great as his other book about childhood, life's happenings and good funnies: "Six of One, Half Dozen of Another" .. Good times folks, good times.



2. This book is a collection of anecdotes about the author, his family and friends. They are told in a thoughtful and insightful manner, with large doses of humor thrown into the works. The trials and triumphs, which exist in everyone's life, are treated with love, admiration and humor. These hilarious anecdotes will hit close to home and heart for the reader.

3 comments about Remember to Laugh: Writing My Way Around the World.

1. Maggie Kilgore has led an amazing life that she shares with the reader. Written in a "chatty" and easy to read style, she will make you laugh and learn at the same time. Her escapades through historical events with her beloved colleagues in journalism are more than entertaining -- you feel like you are there. Don't miss this "must read" from one of the fun, female personalities in journalism of a bygone era.



2. I found this story to be very interesting and very entertaining. The author has had quite an exiting life as a journalist in the US and overseas. She has met and interviewed many prominent political figures. She's also a funny, compelling writer. I definitely recommend this book.



3. Reviewed by Mary Greenwood for Reader Views (11/06)
   
   The book "Remember to Laugh" is the true story of Maggie Kilgore's life as a reporter in Washington and a foreign correspondent in Vietnam. Coming from a newspaper family in Ohio, Kilgore started her career with the UPI (United Press International) and came on the Washington scene during the turbulent 1960's. After her stint as a foreign correspondent in Vietnam in the early 1970's, she worked as a financial consultant for the LA Times and later for the casino industry in Las Vegas. She started writing this memoir after a 30-year Vietnam reunion. Through her writing, Maggie Kilgore comes across as an energetic, adventurous, funny, independent and spunky reporter, who reminds me of Lois Lane.
   
   "Remember to Laugh" is full of funny anecdotes from a life lived in the early days of journalism where it was a man's world and women reporters were generally expected to write about domestic issues such as cookbooks or the society page. The "foreward" is written by Helen Thomas, who worked fifty years for UPI and was the first woman to run its White House Bureau. Thomas can still be seen at White House briefings where she continues to be a role model for women reporters. In Ms. Kilgore's own introduction, she says that her book's goal is to amuse and she accomplishes that goal. One of the funniest stories took place on a troop plane in Vietnam when the Captain asked her to sit with him in the cockpit. She refused but soon she found out that the reason for this invitation was that the men used the open back of the plane as a latrine and her presence hindered that practice. When she realized this, she went to sit with the captain.
   
   The most interesting part of the book for this reader was her two-year stint in Vietnam as a foreign correspondent. Her memories, and insider knowledge about the politicians and personalities, are the backdrop for the major stories of the Vietnam War. However, I would like to know more about the serious side of her beat and her personal opinions. I hope one day she will consider another book with a more serious focus.
   
   With the advent of the internet, computers and imbedded journalists, it is interesting to get the inside perspective from someone who has succeeded as a journalist during the major stories of the 1960's and 1970's through good old-fashioned reporting. I would recommend "Remember to Laugh" to anyone who wants to know more about women in journalism, or about Vietnam or about the history of the US in the 60's and 70's or anyone who anyone who just wants to laugh.

1 comments about Two Lives, One Russia.

1. Keep in mind, that I am a complete Russophile. I studied Russian for two years, spent months in Russia in the 90s. So this book touches me in ways that are personal. I read this book every few years, and I'm starting to think my original copy is wearing thin.
   
   This book is divided into two storylines that weave a united theme. The first part is an a account of the author's own detention and interrogation under the time of Gorbachev leadership. Nicholas Daniloff was the Soviet reporter for US News & World Report in the 1980's. He was one day grabbed of the street and what follows is an account with as much intrigue as a Robert Ludlum novel. It hits hard, those who lived during the Cold War of the 80's.
   
   The second story line is that of the author's investigating and eventually unraveling of the story of his Great-great-great grandfather who was a minor member in the Decembrist revolt in 1825. Daniloff's investigation of the history of his ancestor shows the warm nature of Russians and the power of History that survived through communist Russia. When Daniloff, tells the account of his Great-great-great grandfather, it brings up images of Tolstoy.
   
   All in all, this book brings an amazing account of the Russian people in two periods of oppression. The warm nature of Russians has always been from within, and this book shows that.
   
   Give this book a try, if you love great non-fiction stories, this one should be at the top of your list.
   
   Note: I contacted Nicholas Daniloff via email a few years ago, to tell him how much I loved this book. He actually replied and took to heart the fact that his and his ancestor's story meant so much to someone.

5 comments about A Place Like This: A Memoir.

1. As someone who never bought into the anti-substance abuse Just Say No mantra, this book appealed to me if, for no other reason than the Shadenfreude that I often feel while reclining on the couch with a highball and delving into someone else's Trainwreck Memoir. Dry, A Million Little Pieces, Drinking: A Love Story--I've read them all, clicking my tongue at the disastrous folly unfolding on the pages before me and finding an odd solace in the really grim parts, thinking to myself, "I've done a lot of bad things, but at least I've never done that. Or that. Or that! Etc."
   
   In my experience, these memoirs follow a typical arc: Young Innocent enters into a self-destructive fun house, tells harrowing stories of what he saw on the inside and describes how it almost killed him. Eventually, he has an illuminating epiphany and emerges back into the light, a wiser (and usually unbearably smug) being who will go on to lead a life of unbridled success now that his demons are behind him and that pesky monkey is off his back.
   
   This book, thank God, isn't like that. It does follow an arc similar to the one described above--a young man moves to the Big City with dreams of cinematic stardom but then finds The City a less than congenial place and he is forced to make several sacrifices to his integrity along the way in order to survive. He goes through an addiction hell, and eventually does emerge better off. Sort of.
   
   The first inkling that this book will be something different comes early on when the author recounts his experience as a nineteen year-old contestant on that sad daytime perennial, The Price is Right. This opening scene sets the tone for the book (wistfully reminiscent, gently self-mocking, and slightly seedy) and establishes the dominant theme that will echo through it: the idea that nothing is ever quite as glamorous or perfect as it appears on the surface. As examples of this, we see the game show icon Bob Barker, but are then given a description of his thick pancake make-up and bad dye job; we hear how the author imagines himself as the sexy leading male, but then watch as the director of fried chicken commercial casts him for his geeky, gangly appearance and repeatedly yells at him to look more like "an ostrich". This dichotomy continues throughout the book as Our Hero finds success, not as a screen actor, but as a cocaine-addicted phone sex worker. The story, particularly early on, with its portrayal of a seamy Los Angeles, populated with desperate characters who all want to be on top, and fail miserably trying to get there, is reminiscent of Nathanael West's, The Day of the Locust. See also: It Never Rains In Southern California, Do You Know the Way to San Jose, and even Message to Michael--all of which came into my head while I was reading this book.
   
   Things get increasingly grim as the story goes on, most notably when the AIDS virus emerges from behind the curtain and infects the author and most of his friends. In a more conventional memoir, it would be at this point that you'd expect an epiphany--a moment where he'd change his errant ways, and move toward the light. But this story, like most of the world outside of fiction, isn't quite so neat and tidy. The author remains self-involved and shallow, engages in behavior that is destructive to himself and others, often does and says the wrong thing, makes bad decisions, is sometimes whiney, and seems, at times, hopelessly mired in a heap of trivial externals. But what saves the story, and keeps the reader eagerly turning pages, is the author's self-deprecating humor. Repeatedly throughout the book he inflates his ego only to later stab it with a pin. This is often very funny to watch (as when he is describing a drunken roll in the hay with Rock Hudson, or his disastrous television interview in the wake of Magic Johnson's AIDS announcement), but it is just as often heartbreaking, as we witness him stumbling and fumbling along, trying to reach some goal that even he doesn't seem sure of. In spite of those missteps, the author is always moving forward, trying to honestly assess his shortcomings. And it is those fumbling attempts that are, in the end, his redemption; the things that enable him to finally escape the perpetual adolescence that seems to ensnare so many gay men.



2. I was given the book to read and must confess was reluctant to do so at first - was not sure I necessarily wanted to re-live the 80's - and not much into coming-of-age stories in general. My intial feelings of reluctance disappeared after the first chapter, and I could not put the book down until I had finished the last page. The author has a way of pulling you in the story in a way that does not seem forced or contrived. He is a natural story teller and this reader for one hopes that he has plenty more stories to tell. At the same time funny and sad, it is much more than a story of one person's survival. Although it does masterfully define a segment of our generation - it is as relevant today as the decade he describes. This reader found himself asking how much have we really changed from the time described in his memoir, and realizes that doing things to want to fit in, to feel loved and accepted transcend time - as is acting out to block out the pain of life's darker side.
   A must for anyone seeking to better understand our culture and evolution without being hypocritical about it; I kept being reminded of the line "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times". One feels themselves experiencing the ups and downs as their own - and to shout Bravo! you survived....



3. I didn't think I had much in common with the author when I scanned A Place Like This at the book store, but I am glad that I opted to carry the book to the register. Not an easy path and not an easy story to tell. I appreciated the fact that it was real and I applaud Mark for having the gumption to tell the raw truth. I am anxious to hear more about where his renewed search for meaning takes him.



4. I read this book and found it to be very up front and honest. Mark S King is a wonderful writer and I love the way he puts it out there, telling it like it is. I look forward to more books from Mark S King.
   Neal B



5. "I loved reading the memoirs of Mr. King. His writing is filled with candor, wit, great depth and compassion. I couldn't put it down!"
   
   Trent Blanchard, M.A., Author "Triple A's for the Soul- Your Pathway to Personal Freedom."

No comments about The Great Reporters.

No comments about Women in American Journalism: A New History.

No comments about Doomed by Cartoon: How Cartoonist Thomas Nast and the New York Times Brought Down Boss Tweed and His Ring of Thieves.