Kirjahaku

The River Flows, Poems by Curt Smith, is a collection of his poetry dating from 1993 until the present time, including the author's first poem, The Eagle. The theme is a metaphor for the river of life as it flows through nature, relationships and love. Some of the poems are deeply personal while others explore more common themes. The author has previously presented his poems blended with digital images and received many favorable reviews. The most common question is, "Do you have a book of your poetry?" Where the River Flows is the answer.

The Presidents and the Pastime draws on Curt Smith’s extensive background as a former White House presidential speechwriter to chronicle the historic relationship between the “most American” sport-baseball-and the U.S. presidency. Smith, who USA Today has called “America’s voice of authority on baseball broadcasting,” begins before America’s birth, when would-be presidents played baseball antecedents. He charts how baseball cemented its reputation as America’s pastime in the nineteenth century. Smith tracks every U.S. president from Theodore Roosevelt to Joe Biden, each chapter filled with anecdotes: Woodrow Wilson, buoyed by baseball after suffering disability; a heroic Franklin Roosevelt, saving baseball in World War II; Jimmy Carter, taught the game by his mother, Lillian; and George H. W. Bush, who explained, “Baseball has everything.”The Presidents and the Pastime provides a riveting narrative of how America’s leaders have treated baseball. From William Howard Taft, the first president to throw the “first pitch” on Opening Day in 1910, to Barack Obama’s “Go [White] Sox!” scrawled in the guest register at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2014, our presidents have deemed it the quintessentially American sport.

Eagle Song is a story of Christopher, Isa, and Raptor, golden eagles whose experiences may provide insights into our own. The name Christopher, literally "Christ within," is a free-spirited adaptation from ancient Greek, Chrysos meaning "golden". He is a pilgrim and a seeker, who knows there must be more to life than eating and sleeping. After meeting his teacher and spiritual companion Isa, which is an abbreviation of the biblical prophet's name, "Isaiah," he awakens to a spiritual dimension beyond the boundaries of his physical life. Raptor, who is held in captivity, represents another dimension, which is present in all of us. Guided by a mysterious harmonic sound, Eagle Song takes us on a journey from mundane to spectacular.

Short Stories and Tall Tales is a collection of creative stories written with the reader in mind. In the fast pace of today's world it is sometimes nice to have a quick read, a short story to spark imagination, but not long enough to create boredom. The stories range from fantasy to historical, some based on legends, and others revealing the author's interest in spirituality. Many of the stories were originally written for the author's blog. Readers suggested collecting the stories into a book and with some minor changes and editing, the author identified eighteen he wanted to include. Various readers have said the stories touch their emotions and give insights outside the norm. You can be confident you'll enjoy them as well.

The Presidents and the Pastime draws on Curt Smith’s extensive background as a former White House presidential speechwriter to chronicle the historic relationship between the “most American” sport-baseball-and the U.S. presidency. Smith, who USA Today has called “America’s voice of authority on baseball broadcasting,” begins before America’s birth, when would-be presidents played baseball antecedents. He charts how baseball cemented its reputation as America’s pastime in the nineteenth century. Smith tracks every U.S. president from Theodore Roosevelt to Joe Biden, each chapter filled with anecdotes: Woodrow Wilson, buoyed by baseball after suffering disability; a heroic Franklin Roosevelt, saving baseball in World War II; Jimmy Carter, taught the game by his mother, Lillian; and George H. W. Bush, who explained, “Baseball has everything.”The Presidents and the Pastime provides a riveting narrative of how America’s leaders have treated baseball. From William Howard Taft, the first president to throw the “first pitch” on Opening Day in 1910, to Barack Obama’s “Go [White] Sox!” scrawled in the guest register at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2014, our presidents have deemed it the quintessentially American sport.

An Affirmative Life reveals the power of thoughts and words for setting life's course. The author's personal conversational style invites the reader's participation. In additions to insights as to how affirmations work, there are many examples and lists of affirmations. Chapter 7 offers 52 affirmations, one for each week of the year along with brief explanations as to their importance and application. This book is a guide for using affirmations effectively and intentionally as a means for creating an affirmative life.

The Center of Darkness is an engaging love story of teenage curiosity and na vet , which spans a lifetime. Set in the 1950's, the rhythm of life in idyllic Centerville changes when young Ron Willis is lured into a sinister world of secrets and death. Driven by concern for their good friend and suspicion about two missing people, Taylor Williams and Linda Rogers discover undeniable clues regarding sexual perversion, murder and suicide. Their quest for answers puts them in jeopardy; however, they remain undaunted in their search.

In A Light Between Worlds, Curt Smith continues the story he began in Zenith Light, his novel about Darin Leander, an adventuresome computer technician, who unexpectedly discovered a shimmering image in an old book and was mystically drawn into its mesmerizing light, which immediately transported him into an alternate world called Zahratetri. As a quantum traveler in this strange, primitive paradise inhabited by humanlike beings with colorful wings, he met an exotic female named Shra and fell in love. When he finally returned to earth, he discovered he'd been gone for five years, but with help from his friends successfully picked up the broken pieces of his life, fell in love and married Sharda Singh, a successful and very wealthy executive with Nintendo. However, he continues longing for Zahratetri's Eden-like gardens and has an undeniable desire to reconnect with Shra. When Sharda and her friend Amisha Kapur manage to duplicate his quantum leap, he feels compelled to rescue them. Using his "light between worlds," he returns to Zahratetri to face challenges he never anticipated.

Mind Blogging plays on the phrase "Mind Boggling," which characterizes this free-wheeling collection of selected blog essays, which are organized by common themes. The author presents his insights and ideas to hopefully provoke the reader's thoughts about life, relationships, and self-awareness.

In 1950, Vin Scully broadcast his first major league baseball game for the then–Brooklyn Dodgers. Nearly sixty years later he still invites a listener to “pull up a chair,” completing a record fifty-ninth consecutive year of play-by-play. Recruited and mentored by the legendary Red Barber, the New York–born Scully moved with the Dodgers to Los Angeles in early 1958. His instantly recognizable voice has described players from Duke Snider to Orel Hershiser to Manny Ramirez, with hundreds in between.At one time or another, Scully has aired NBC Television’s Game of the Week, twelve All-Star Games, eighteen no-hitters, twenty-five World Series, and network football, golf, and tennis. He has made every sportscasting Hall of Fame; received a Lifetime Emmy Achievement award and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; and been voted “most memorable [L.A. Dodgers] franchise personality.” In 2000, the American Sportscasters Association named Scully the Sportscaster of the 20th Century.The first biography of Vin Scully is long overdue. Curt Smith—to USA Today, “The voice of authority on baseball broadcasting”—is the ideal man to write it. Scully opens each broadcast by wishing listeners, “A very pleasant good afternoon.” Pull Up a Chair will provide a reader with the same.

Since radio's debut in the 1920s and television's in the '30s, the baseball announcer has become entertainer, observer, and extended member of the family. In A Talk in the Park: Nine Decades of Baseball Tales from the Broadcast Booth, many of the pastime's most popular and famous announcers—the Voices—tell their favorite stories in their own distinctive words. It is riveting oral history.Herein is the largest total of active and retired broadcasters featured in any sports book: 116. Its radio and TV tales include every major-league team and such networks as ESPN, Fox, TBS, and the new MLB channel, and capture the Voices commenting on ballparks, managers, the characters of the game, umpires, special teams, interleague play, improvements to the game—and on one another, including the beloved Ernie Harwell, who died in 2010 and to whom the book is dedicated.Here are Bob Wolff airing the longest-ever wild pitch Howie Rose using the 1969 Mets to pass a high school exam, and Charley Steiner telling why George Steinbrenner "hired" Jason Giambi. Denny Matthews recalls George Scott's faux uniform number 6-4-3. Ken Harrelson defends his one-handed catch: "With bad hands like mine, one hand was better than two." Eduardo Ortega announces for his mother, who is deaf. Pat Hughes remembers when Harry Caray called a game with a tea bag dangling from his ear. Voices hail Lou Piniella: dressed, undressed, volatile, and lovable.Columnist Christine Brennan says of author Curt Smith: "No one knows baseball broadcasters as well as he does." In particular, A Talk in the Park addresses trends of the past two decades—the rise of Hispanic and other minority announcers, interleague play, ex-jocks' warp-speed climb, whiz-bang technology, 24/7 coverage, and the evolution of broadcasting, from radio to network television to cable. Told by baseball's leading broadcast historian, endorsed by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the National Radio Hall of Fame, and starring announcers who reach millions, A Talk in the Park brilliantly relates what baseball was, is, and is likely to become.

The Green Monster. The Triangle. Pesky's Pole. They are but a few of the defining features of Fenway Park, home base for legions of devoted Red Sox fans. Now, a hundred years after Fenway first opened its gates, Mercy! tells the park's history through Red Sox radio and TV announcers recalling and commemorating the American institution. Mercy! is three history books in one, covering Fenway, the Red Sox, and their Voices on the air. Announcers have become as much a part of Red Sox lore as the park has. Fred Hoey was the team's first radio announcer. Successor Jim Britt called its first live TV broadcast. Curt Gowdy denoted respectability, courtesy, and pluck. Ken Coleman played his voice like a violin. Ned Martin's signature exclamation gives Mercy! its title. He called one legendary game after another, including Carlton Fisk waving fair his World Series–tying home run in 1975. Other well-known Voices include Bob Murphy, Jim Woods, Jon Miller, Ken Harrelson, Dick Stockton, Sean McDonough, and Joe Castiglione. In 2004, when the Sox finally won their first World Series since 1918, Castiglione asked the Nation, "Can you believe it?" Many can't, even now.Baseball historian Curt Smith's interviews with many of these beloved broadcasting personalities provide the backbone for this unique celebration of "America's Most Beloved Ballpark."

George H. W. Bush ranks among America's most distinguished men of the last century. A war hero, businessman, politician, and the forty-first president of the United States, Bush has spent most of his life dedicated to public service.Curt Smith worked with Bush for more than twenty years, including during his presidency, when Smith wrote more speeches for Bush than anyone else. Smith's exploration of Bush's service includes in-depth narratives on the invasion of Panama, the first Gulf War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Iron Curtain. He also chronicles the contrasting presidential elections of 1988 and 1992, examining the successes and failures of each. Smith profiles the people germane to Bush's life and career: his wife, Barbara; mentors such as Ronald Reagan; and political allies such as Margaret Thatcher, and many more.George H. W. Bush: Character at the Core shows how Bush's courtesy and belief in work, religion, and American exceptionalism helped the patrician connect with Middle America and take his place among the most revered statesmen of his time.

Marco Jackson, an intellectually gifted pioneer in computer technology, has achieved what some can only dream. He finished high school in 1953 at the top of his class, earned an academic scholarship to MIT and was selected as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people. However, before achieving such a notable life, he learns he was adopted at birth. His Italian mother died on the day he was born and his Italian father abandoned him. Marco has a lingering need to find his birth father, and while on his honeymoon in Chicago, he finally meets him. His father is a notorious crime boss with the Chicago Mob, who is responsible for the mob's operations in Las Vegas. He wants Marco to come to Las Vegas and work for him. It's a slow seduction, which promises wealth, sex and excitement, so in spite of his success, Marco makes an ill-fated decision to naively join his father in the darkness of organized crime. It's generally true that no ever walks away from the mob; however, while at the bedside of his dying father, Marco is given a reprieve and allowed to return to his previous life. He spends the next 40 years mending his brokenness and calls the turning point with his dying father his redemption.

Ted Dawson, a 50-year-old recently widowed Seattle lawyer, visits his cousin's home in Sedona and spends a day at Cathedral Rock, a mystical place of energy claimed to have spiritual and healing powers. His outdoor adventure quickly becomes a life-transforming moment as he imagines an amazing staircase, which leads him to vividly recall experiences from childhood through adulthood. He also "sees" possibilities for his remaining years. It's a love story filled with imagination and universal themes.

Tantalizing Tales is a collection of original short stories, which offer a mixture of realism and fantasy. Each story originates from a prompt, (a word or phrase), which engages the author's imagination. Stories can be read in 15-20 minutes, which allows the reader to return for more when time permits.