Edmund Hillary: A Biography by Michael Gill is an insightful and illuminating profile of New Zealand mountaineer and explorer Sir Edmund Hillary - who made the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 alongside Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, and went on to dedicate his life's work to building schools and hospitals in the Himalaya.
Conspiracies to overthrow the Yukon; terrorism in the Klondike;a bigamist Klondike Casanova; gunfights and how the Mounties got their man; Robert Service's secret love life; the Canadian who fooled Alaskans into making him governor; floods, famine and things found frozen from the past. The Yukon has them all--and more!History Hunting in the Yukon reveals fascinating accounts from Canada's northern territory such as the true story behind the legendary gunfighter Jack Dalton, a tough and menacing figure who stole his famed trail from the Tlingit of Alaska. Or the pioneer woman, Frances Muncaster, a slim beauty who mined for gold on Squaw Creek, and was as comfortable in elegant evening gowns as she was in rugged prospecting gear and snowshoes at forty below.Dipping into his personal experiences and a 40-year love affair with Yukon history, author Michael Gates takes us on a journey to some of the places, people and events that make the Yukon eternally captivating. Discover the colourful stories and deeper legacy of human history that has occurred upon this remote and expansive territory.
In his fifties, Michael Gates Gill had it all: a big house, a loving family, and a six-figure salary. By sixty, he had lost everything: downsized at work, divorced at home, and diagnosed with a slow-growing brain tumor, Gill had no money, no insurance, and no prospects. He took a job at Starbucks, and for the first time in his life, he was a minority--the only older white guy working with a team of young African-Americans. He was forced to acknowledge his prejudices and admit that his new job was hard. And his younger coworkers, despite half the education and twice the personal difficulties, were running circles around him. Crossing over the Starbucks bar was the beginning of a transformation that cracked his world wide open. When all of his defenses and the armor of entitlement had been stripped away, a humbler, happier and gentler man remained.--From publisher description.
A riches-to-rags story about a former advertising executive who, after losing his high-paying job and developing a brain tumor, took a job at Starbucks under a young African-American manager, whose positive character and disadvantaged background helped the author heal and understand the value of respecting others.
A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else
A former advertising executive relates how, after losing his job and developing a brain tumor, he took a job at Starbucks and learned the value of respect through his boss, a young African-American manager of positive character
A brain tumor survivor shares lessons for surviving unanticipated life challenges, from taking leaps of faith and overcoming pride to treating others with respect and minimizing one's reliance on technology.
The story follows Ken Follet, an ordinary man turned vengeful after the tragic abduction and murder of his daughter's children. As his daughter struggles with the aftermath, Ken's grief transforms into a dark desire for revenge upon the release of the only man convicted in connection with the crimes. Embracing a newfound affinity for violence, he embarks on a path of retribution, leading to a dramatic and unsettling exploration of justice and morality.
"Nearly a thousand Yukoners, a quarter of the population, enlisted before the end of the Great War. They were lawyers, bankers, piano tuners, dockworkers and miners who became soldiers, nurses and snipers; brave men and women who traded the isolated beauty of the north for the muddy, crowded horror of the battlefields. Those who stayed home were no less important to the war's outcome--by March of 1916, the Dawson Daily News estimated that Yukoners had donated often and generously at a rate of $12 per capita compared to the dollar per person donated elsewhere in the country. Historian Michael Gates tells us the stories of both those who left and those on the home front, including the adventures of Joe Boyle, who successfully escorted the Romanian crown jewels on a 1,300-kilometre journey through Russia in spite of robbers, ambushes, gunfire, explosions, fuel shortages and barricades. Gates also recounts the home-front efforts of Martha Black, who raised thousands of dollars and eventually travelled to Europe where she acted as an advocate for the Yukon boys. Stories of these heroes and many others are vividly recounted with impeccable research."-- Provided by publisher
Sixteen-year-old "Jacqueline 'Jacky' Johnson inherits a jetpack with a mysterious power source. Along with her brother Chuck and their cat, she must protect her home from a threat that may just be from outer space"--Back cover.