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Books with author Michael J Forge

  • North Mississippi Homeplace: Photographs and Folklife

    Michael Ford

    Hardcover (University of Georgia Press, May 15, 2019)
    In the early 1970s photographer and documentary filmmaker Michael Ford left graduate school and a college teaching position in Boston, Massachusetts, packed his young family into a van, and headed to rural Mississippi, where he spent the next four years recording everyday life through interviews, still photographs, and film. The project took him to Oxford (in Lafayette County), as well as to Marshall, Panola, and Tate Counties, a remote area north of Sardis Lake. His efforts resulted in the award-winning documentary film Homeplace (1975), but none of the still photographs from this time were ever published. With this illustrated volume, those photographs are now available and offer a valuable window onto the rural, local culture of northern Mississippi at that time.These moving photographs illustrate Ford’s experiences as an apprentice to blacksmith Marion Randolph Hall, his visits to Hal Waldrip's General Store in Chulahoma, a day spent with AG Newsom and his crew making molasses, and Othar Turner's barbecues accompanied by traditional African American fife-and-drum music. They also capture the evocative landscape of the Mississippi hill country and the everyday lives of its residents. In 2013 Ford returned to his adopted homeplace, camera in hand, only to find that most everything had changed―or was gone. This photo essay project juxtaposes the rural Mississippi of the 1970s and the mid-2010s with Ford’s personal reflections drawn from his journals, interviews, and archival notes.
  • Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist

    Michael J. Fox

    Hardcover (Hyperion, March 31, 2009)
    There are many words to describe Michael J. Fox: Actor. Husband. Father. Activist. But readers of Always Looking Up will soon add another to the list: Optimist. Michael writes about the hard-won perspective that helped him see challenges as opportunities. Instead of building walls around himself, he developed a personal policy of engagement and discovery: an emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual outlook that has served him throughout his struggle with Parkinson's disease. Michael's exit from a very demanding, very public arena offered him the time-and the inspiration-to open up new doors leading to unexpected places. One door even led him to the center of his own family, the greatest destination of all. The last ten years, which is really the stuff of this book, began with such a loss: my retirement from Spin City. I found myself struggling with a strange new dynamic: the shifting of public and private personas. I had been Mike the actor, then Mike the actor with PD. Now was I just Mike with PD Parkinson's had consumed my career and, in a sense, had become my career. But where did all of this leave Me? I had to build a new life when I was already pretty happy with the old one.. Always Looking Up is a memoir of this last decade, told through the critical themes of Michael's life: work, politics, faith, and family. The book is a journey of self-discovery and reinvention, and a testament to the consolations that protect him from the ravages of Parkinson's. With the humor and wit that captivated fans of his first book, Lucky Man, Michael describes how he became a happier, more satisfied person by recognizing the gifts of everyday life.
  • Legacy of Blood

    Michael Ford

    Paperback (Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, Jan. 5, 2009)
    Rare Book
    Y
  • Birth of a Warrior

    Michael Ford

    Paperback (Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, June 2, 2008)
    Lysander had to leave his roots as a Helot slave far behind him, when he discovered his true identity as the descendant of a Spartan warrior. The training is ruthless and now he faces his toughest challenge. Sent to the mountains with nothing but a goatskin flask, he and two other boys must prove their ability to survive before they can return. Facing starvation, wild animals and the elements, Lysander discovers that his real enemy is in fact one of the other boys, sent to sabotage his trial. From his vantage point in the mountains, Lysander can see another threat on the horizon - the Persians are invading. He must prove his worth as a Spartan and return to the village as soon as possible in order to warn of the attack. But who is Lysander fighting for - to save Spartan honour, or to protect the Helot slaves, whom he used to live among?
    Y
  • Rosalind Franklin

    Michael Ford

    Paperback (Scholastic, Jan. 2, 2020)
    Rosalind Franklin: air-raid warden, scientist, pioneer. Uncover fascinating facts about the extraordinary life of trailblazing scientist, Rosalind Franklin. A Life Story: This gripping series throws the reader directly into the lives of modern society's most influential figures. With striking black-and-white illustration along with timelines and never-heard-before facts. Also in the series: Katherine Johnson: A Life Story Stephen Hawking: A Life Story Alan Turing: A Life Story
    Y
  • The Fire of Ares

    Michael Ford

    Paperback (Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, Jan. 7, 2008)
    Lysander is a slave in ancient Sparta, a Helot, but a chance meeting reveals his noble heritage and he is permitted to begin training as a Spartan warrior. The vestiges of his life as a slave are hard to shake off and he struggles to survive the brutal and nepotistic life of a Spartan-in-training. Worse still, his precious amulet, the Fire of Ares, is stolen from him, and with it goes some of his formidable strength. His mother had made him swear he would guard the amulet with his life, without ever telling him why. Lysander is desperate to find the missing jewel, but when he picks up the trail, it leads him to dark secrets about the few people he felt he could trust, and forces him to make a choice between his Helot friends and his Spartan instincts.
    Y
  • Snow in the Cellar

    Michael J Forge

    (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, April 14, 2012)
    A forewarning! A Nor'easter is approaching, a ripple affect, I never had imagined. It was Feb 5, 1978 and a black ash cloud hovered above the City's outer edge. I suspected something wicked was coming. I noticed a steady stream of snow falling as a winter scream rang out. An unfamiliar smell that reeked of a venomous disgruntled thing in my cellar. A number of misunderstandings which bred a life of its own, footprints of evil. I recognized the danger signs, but was too young to see the truth. Mother's voice was brisk, crisp, and stern, but I heard a different sound, a sound of...SNOW IN THE CELLAR
  • A Life Story: Rosalind Franklin

    Michael Ford

    eBook (Scholastic Non-Fiction, Jan. 2, 2020)
    Rosalind Franklin: air-raid warden, scientist, pioneer. Uncover fascinating facts about the extraordinary life of trailblazing scientist, Rosalind Franklin. A Life Story: this gripping series throws the reader directly into the lives of modern society's most influential figures. With striking black-and-white illustration along with timelines and never-heard-before facts. Also in the series: Katherine Johnson: A Life Story Stephen Hawking: A Life Story Alan Turing: A Life Story
  • Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist

    Michael J. Fox

    Paperback (Hyperion, March 30, 2010)
    At the turn from our bedroom into the hallway, there is an old full-length mirror in a wooden frame. I can't help but catch a glimpse of myself as I pass. Turning fully toward the glass, I consider what I see. This reflected version of myself, wet, shaking, rumpled, pinched, and slightly stooped, would be alarming were it not for the self-satisfied expression pasted across my face. I would ask the obvious question, "What are you smiling about?" but I already know the answer: "It just gets better from here." -- from Always Looking Up
  • Birth of a Warrior: Spartan 2

    Michael Ford

    eBook (Bloomsbury Children's Books, Dec. 6, 2012)
    Lysander had to leave his roots as a Helot slave far behind him, when he discovered his true identity as the descendant of a Spartan warrior. The training is ruthless and now he faces his toughest challenge. Sent to the mountains with nothing but a goatskin flask, he and two other boys must prove their ability to survive before they can return. Facing starvation, wild animals and the elements, Lysander discovers that his real enemy is in fact one of the other boys, sent to sabotage his trial.From his vantage point in the mountains, Lysander can see another threat on the horizon - the Persians are invading. He must prove his worth as a Spartan and return to the village as soon as possible in order to warn of the attack. But who is Lysander fighting for - to save Spartan honour, or to protect the Helot slaves, whom he used to live among?
  • Birth of a Warrior

    Michael Ford

    Hardcover (Walker & Company, Aug. 16, 2008)
    Lysander thought he left his roots as a Helot slave far behind when he discovered his true identity as the descendant of a Spartan warrior. His training at the academy has been ruthless, but now he must face his toughest challenge yet: being sent to the mountains with two other boys to prove they can survive the harsh conditions on nothing but their Spartan strength and wits. Facing starvation, wild animals, and the elements, Lysander discovers that his real enemy is in fact one of the other boys, who's bent on sabotaging him. And when war with Persia threatens, Lysander must decide where his allegiance truly lies. This sweeping, dramatic adventure story is an exciting follow-up to "The Fire of Ares," and its action and intrigue will not disappoint.
    Y
  • Heroes, Gods and Monsters of Ancient Greek Mythology

    Michael Ford

    eBook (Salariya, Feb. 20, 2012)
    'Heroes, Gods and Monsters in Ancient Greek Mythology' is a collection of classic archetypal Ancient Greek myths, including the stories of Jason, Perseus, Odysseus, Heracles, Oedipus and Theseus, and many more dark and delirious, famous Ancient Greek myths. These stories, which have had a great influence on thinkers throughout the centuries, inform popular culture even today. Here they are told as if by a fireside storyteller, detailing the horrific perils these heroes faced. A historical introduction explains who the Ancient Greeks were, describing their beliefs and customs, and a 'Finding out more' section provides you with the tools you need to discover even more about this increidble civilisation and their beliefs.