Cultural values in the Southern sporting narrative

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Clay Moyle

Hall of Fame boxer Billy Miske was arguably the most courageous and inspirational figure in boxing history, and his story is long overdue. During a career that was impeded and cut short as a result of his ongoing battle with a terminal illness, Billy fought a number of the greatest fighters who ever lived, including the likes of Jack Dillon, Harry Greb and Jack Dempsey. The thrilling details and stories surrounding those fights and those of many other ring legends are all here, brought back to life for the reader to enjoy. This book goes far beyond simply chronicling Miske's career, but provides the reader with an in-depth view of a number of the sport's greatest contests and one of the more remarkable periods in boxing's history. Miske's courage and perseverance in the face of his impending death, and his personal sacrifice to provide his family with one last Christmas to remember him by, will tug at your heartstrings and leave you with an indelible image of the man.

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photographs by Eric Payson

"Beginning with Bobcats, depicting the rites of passage of a girls' softball team, and moving to Gladiators, displaying basketball in a combative pit of racial divide, photographer Eric Payson has gone one step further in his exploration of the media and America's obsession with sports as entertainment, voyeurism, and violence with Ghostplay. In Payson's electrifying new work, college football's raw beauty rises to the surface in photographs taken directly from the television screen; images morph into each other and expressions are magnified as they are frozen in time. Ghostplay examines the media that transmits it all, as the broadcasters and corporate sponsors appear as much a part of the game as the athletes and coaches. Interspersed with intrusive news bulletins, overeager cheerleaders, anxious spectators, and seemingly malicious data on the athletes' injuries, college football appears to be a forum for adolescent violence and pervasive adult greed. In these images, the game dissolves as the ghost in the machine of the American media is captured by Payson's camera. Ghostplay reveals the suspicion and intrigue lurking between the stadium seats, played out in the television control rooms, and hovering in the lower levels of our consciousness."--Publisher's website.

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Amy Efaw

An infant left in the trash to die. A teenage mother who never knew she was pregnant . . .Before That Morning, these were the words most often used to describe straight-A student and star soccer player Devon Davenport: responsible, hardworking, mature. But all that changes when the police find Devon home sick from school as they investigate the case of an abandoned baby. Soon the connection is made—Devon has just given birth; the baby in the trash is hers. After That Morning, there’s only one way to define Devon: attempted murderer.And yet gifted author Amy Efaw does the impossible— she turns Devon into an empathetic character, a girl who was in such deep denial that she refused to believe she was pregnant. Through airtight writing and fast-paced, gripping storytelling, Ms. Efaw takes the reader on Devon’s unforgettable journey toward clarity, acceptance, and redemption.

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Patrick Morrow

"After reaching the summit of Mount Everet in 1982, photographer Patrick Morrow decided to stand atop of the highest peak of each of the world's seven continents. Morrow documents his feat with over 100 spectacular photogaphs and tells a gripping tale of life and death above the couds"--Dust jacket.