Featured Authors
&
their
Books
|
Gray & Company Authors Schedule:
12-1: Patience Hoskins, Cleveland on Foot
12-1: Carlo Wolff, Cleveland
Rock
&
Roll Memories
1-2: Les Roberts, The
Cleveland
Creep
2-3: Gail Bellamy, Cleveland
Food
Memories
2-3:
John Gorman, The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland
Rock Radio
All other authors will be here from 12-4 (unless
otherwise noted)
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Deanna R. Adams
Rock
'n' Roll and the Cleveland Connection
Kent State University Press, 2002, $39.99
It’s no wonder Cleveland is home to the internationally famous Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame—Cleveland disk jockey Alan Freed coined the phrase
for this new musical phenomenon nearly 50 years ago; Casey Kasem
fine-tuned his long-running broadcasting career in Cleveland; and
Cleveland witnessed the rise of such widely recognized groups as the
James Gang, the Outsiders, Damnation of Adam Blessing, and the
Raspberries. Nearby Canton gave us the O’Jays, and Akron spawned Devo
and Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. And the rock concert was
practically invented in Cleveland in 1952, when Alan Freed convened the
first Moondog Coronation Ball. By the 1970s Cleveland had become a
proving ground for superstars in the making. "Rock ’n’ Roll and the
Cleveland Connection" is the first in-depth look at the people, venues,
and artists that made Cleveland the "Rock ’n’ Roll Capital of the
World."
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Sandra Athens
The
Adventures of Foxy: The Lonely Lost Dog
Author House, 2009. $18
The story unfolds of a beautiful brown dog that gets lost in the woods
not once but twice. She is found by a young man who secretly brings her
home and hides her because his dad forbade him from getting another
dog. This story will capture your heart |
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Alice Baburek
The Magic Ring and 4 others
Publish America, 2011.
$21.95
Mathew Frye doesn’t
want to leave the house he grew up in, his school, or his friends. Much
to his
sadness, his mom insists and packs up all of their belongings. It isn’t
long before they are on
their way to the other side of town. Mathew is not happy with his new
home. In
fact, he tries his best to convince his mom she has made a terrible
mistake.
But Maria Frye knows it is for the best and it will take time for
Mathew to
adjust to the strange house and different school. But then Mathew as he
discovers a magical ring inside a worn-out trunk hidden in the attic.
The
mysterious green gem holds special powers as it transports him through
space
back to his old bedroom, where he meets a little girl, Caroline, who
has moved
into Mathew’s old house.
She, too, discovers the magic of the ring as she befriends Mathew. As
the two
children become good friends, Mathew decides it is time to tell his mom
about
his secret. Will Mathew’s
mom believe him? Or will she think he is just making up a story?
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James Jessen Badal
In the Wake of the Butcher and 2
others
Kent State University
Press, $18
**1 pm - 4 pm only**
On September 5, 1934, Frank LaGassie made a gruesome discovery.
Partially buried was the lower half of a woman's torso, legs amputated
at the knees. This "Lady of the Lake," as she was dubbed by the police
and the press, was the first in a terrifying series of decapitation
murders that haunted Cleveland for the next few years. From 1934 to
1938, the "Torso Killer" left the corpses
of a least twelve victims in and around the Kingsbury Run area of
Cleveland. A frightened city turned to its safety director, the
legendary Eliot Ness, who focused more energy and manpower on this
investigation that any previous police action in Cleveland. But the
killer was never arrested, or even officially identified. In the
Wake of the Butcher: Cleveland's Torso Murders
is the first detailed, book-length examination of these horrific
crimes. This compelling account is based on police reports, autopsy
protocols, personal interviews with the descendants of victims and
investigators, and unpublished manuscripts. Illustrated with maps, rare
crime scene and morgue
photographs, and newspaper photos, this carefully researched true crime
study offers a detailed account of one of the most sensational unsolved
murder cases in the nation's history. |
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Christopher Barzak
The Love We Share Without Knowing
and 1 other
Bantam, 2008. $12
In this haunting, richly woven novel of modern life in Japan, the
author of the acclaimed debut One for Sorrow explores the ties
that bind humanity across the deepest divides. Here is a Murakamiesque
jewel box of intertwined narratives in which the lives of several
strangers are gently linked through love, loss, and fate. On a train
filled with quietly sleeping passengers, a
young man’s life is forever altered when he is miraculously seen by a
blind man. In a quiet town an American teacher who has lost her
Japanese lover to death begins to lose her own self. On a remote road
amid fallow rice fields, four young friends carefully take their own
lives—and in that moment they become almost as one. In a small village
a disaffected American teenager stranded in a strange land discovers
compassion after an encounter with an enigmatic red fox, and in Tokyo a
girl named Love learns the deepest lessons about its true meaning from
a coma patient lost in dreams of an affair gone wrong. From the
neon colors of Tokyo, with its game centers and karaoke bars,
to the bamboo groves and hidden shrines of the countryside, these souls
and others mingle, revealing a profound tale of connection—uncovering
the love we share without knowing. Exquisitely perceptive and deeply
affecting, Barzak’s artful
storytelling deftly illuminates the inner lives of those attempting to
find—or lose—themselves in an often incomprehensible world. |
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Gail Ghetia Bellamy
Cleveland
Food
Memories
Gray & Co, 2003, $17.95
**2 pm - 3 pm only**
Remember when food was local? Cleveland companies made it, and
local people sold it and ran the restaurants where we ate it.
Food makes powerful memories. Mention Hough Bakery and see how
quickly we Clevelanders start to drool over just the thought of those
long-lost white cakes. This book collects the fondest memories of
Clevelanders who still ache for treats from the past. There were
Frostees in the Higbees basement. Popcorn balls at Euclid
Beach. Burgers at Manners or Mawby's. Entertainment-filled
night at the Alpine Village. Mustard at old Municipal
Stadium...and so much more. Heavily illustrated. |
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Diane E.B. Bray
First
Generation: The
Story of Annie
Diamond Flower Candy,
2008, $14.99 (Book on CD)
Ellie, an iguana, tells the story of her great-great-grandmother, who
was captured in Mexico and brought to her new life, alone, away from
family and familiar surroundings, in the USA. |
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Judith G. Cetina, Ph.D.
Cuyahoga
County:
The
First
200
Years
Arcadia, 2011. $21.99
Cuyahoga County, located on the shores of Lake Erie and the banks of
the Cuyahoga, has recently marked its bicentennial, celebrating two
centuries of history and achievement. From the county's creation in
1808, to the World War II era and beyond, Cuyahoga County was
transformed from a frontier community into a vibrant urban center.
Today this part of northeastern Ohio is envied for its distinctive
neighborhoods, embrace of various religious creeds, resilient
entrepreneurship, ethnically and racially diverse population, political
leadership, recreational facilities, splendid cultural and educational
institutions, storied sports franchises, and distinguished health
facilities. Cuyahoga County government and its citizens are also
renowned for their philanthropy and concern for those most vulnerable;
championing ideals that ensure everyone an equal place at the table and
freedom everywhere. This worldview was rooted in the actions of those
who, throughout the centuries, risked their lives and fortunes to
attain these goals, giving greater meaning to the area's Underground
Railroad code name: HOPE.
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Carmelita Cartwright
The
Spirit of Wisdom in Understanding Prayer and Faith
Xulon Press, 2011. $18.99
Unlock the Unlimited POWER OF PRAYER. Why does prayer work for some
people, yet not for others? It’s this fundamental question that was
prayerfully studied in this thought provoking book. This book takes you
step by step into a fuller understanding in what makes prayer work, how
it works, why it works, and how to make it work for you. The Spirit of
Wisdom in Understanding Prayer and Faith is an invaluable resource, so
that every person may come to know of our purpose and relationship with
God and can rejoice in a powerful prayer-life.
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Peter Chakerian
The
Browns Fan's Tailgating Guide
and 1 other
Gray & Co, 2008, $9.95
Now it's easy for any Browns fan to tailgate like a well-seasoned
veteran. This book shares tips from Cleveland's top tailgaters -
about where to, when to, and how to do it all, Browns fan style.
It also tells inspiring tailgating tales from fellow fans and
introduces some of the wild people, crazy vehicles, outlandish foods,
and nonstop pary activities you'll find in the lot.
For decades, hardy Cleveland football fans have enjoyed the pregame
(and game...and postgame) in sun, rain, or subzero temperatures,
sitting in folding chairs and clutching red plastic cups while watching
a rack or ribs smoke on a homemade grill to a brown-and-orange
Winnebago. This book celebrates the glorious tradition of
Cleveland Browns tailgating. It will inspire you to don your dawg
mask, grab your favorite beverage, and prepare to join the party! |
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Michael DeAloia
Lost
Cleveland
History Press, 2010. $19.99
Lost Cleveland is an engrossing excursion into the city's rarefied
architectural air during its heyday as the sixth largest city in the
country. Inspired by noble visions of Cleveland's most elite residents,
these structures reflect the vigor and imagination that suffused city
leaders.
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Daniel Distelhorst
Primitive
Paradise:
A
Century
of Boy Scout Camping
CreateSpace, 2011. $14.99
Primitive Paradise is the story of scout camping, its evolution in the
United States and impact on society as it unfolded in one community
(Cleveland, Ohio). The book is a history of Cleveland's boy scouts and
their scout camps.
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Jennifer Francisco
Walk
With Me Daddy!
Halo Publishing, 2011.
$11.95
This is a book about a day in the life of a little boy named Troy and
his father who has rheumatoid arthritis.
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Debra Gaskill
The
Major's Wife
Dog Ear Publishing, 2010.
$14.95
When reporter Marcus Henning came to Jubilant Falls in 1982, he wanted
the one story that would change his stalled career. Instead, he fell in
love with -- and lost -- the fiery redhead Kay James. Now she's back
and Marcus is on the trail of a story that could destroy them both.
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Nina Freedlauder Gibans
Creative Essence: Cleveland's Sense of Place and others
Kent
State University Press, 2005, $29.95
Arising out of the Cleveland Artists Foundation’s Dialogue Series, a
22-hour-long collection of forums held in cultural institutions and
broadcast
on National Public Radio, Creative Essence examines regional culture
through
an exploration of the distinguished contributions Cleveland has made to
the visual arts and architecture. The Dialogue Series brought together
a variety of people in the visual arts community to discuss the
development
of the region’s creative life and environment, whether it be through
architecture
and city planning or through the industrial and fine arts. They shared
their views and knowledge about how regionalism has long influenced
artistic
productivity. Their exchanges and ideas for the future are provocative
and thoughtful.
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Lisa Gitlin
I Came
Out for This?
Bywater Books, 2010. $14.95
Joanna Kane is a Jewish woman in her 40s from Cleveland, Ohio, who has
recently come out and fallen madly in love for the first time in her
life. The object of her affection, Terri Rubin, lives in Washington,
D.C., and Joanna moves to D.C. to win Terri's heart. She moves into a
rooming house full of dysfunctional gay men and becomes kind of a den
mother to them, makes a bunch of lesbian friends, and keeps getting her
heart broken by Terri. She gamely bounces back until she can't take it
anymore and starts getting into all kinds of trouble. This is a funny
story of obsessive first love, and has a funky urban flavor.
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John Gorman
The
Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio
Gray & Co, 2008, $14.95
This rock and roll memoir takes you behind the scenes at the nation's
hottest station during FM's heyday, from 1973 to 1986. Sex and
drugs, music and merchandising -- it was a wild time when the FM
airwaves were wide open for innovation. John Gorman led a small band of
true believers who built Cleveland's WMMS from a neglected stepchild
into influential powerhouse. The station earned high praise from
musicians and even higher rating from listeners. Gorman tells how
WMMS remade rock radio while Cleveland staked its claim as the "Rock
and Roll Capital" by breaking many major international music
acts. Filled with juicy details, this fast-paced story will
entertain anyone who listened in during those glory days when FM
delivered excitement and the Buzzard ruled the airwaves. |
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Barbara Hacha
Line by Line
MediaMix Productions,
2011. $16/$26 large print
As the Great Depression deepens and her family disintegrates, Maddy
Skobel flees her central Ohio town by freight train, determined to make
her own way. Learning to survive as a hobo while facing hardship,
danger, and violence, Maddy must discover her own resourcefulness and
strengths. Through Maddy's eyes, Line by Line explores larger themes
that especially resonate today: coming of age in times of economic
devastation, trust in our government, and the life-shaping influence of
family -- both the family that we are born into and the family we
create as we surround ourselves with those who matter most.
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Patience Cameron Hoskins
Cleveland
on
Foot
4th
Edition
Gray & Co, 2004, $14.95
The third edition of this popular quide now describes 50 hikes and
walks in and around Greater Cleveland. Hike descriptions and maps
have been completely updated and revised to show current trails and
surroundings; five all-new hikes have been added. The hikes, for
all levels of hiking ability, explore urban, suburban, rural, and
woodland areas. Ranging from an easy one-hour walk to a
challenging full-day hike, they take hikers to popular local
destinations and many lesser-known locations. Descriptions offer
detailed historical, geological, architectural, and cultural background
tidbits along with step-by-step trail directions - even directions for
how to get there, where to park, and where to find restrooms. new
hikes in this edition include: Downtown Cleveland public art walk,
Berea and Baldwin-Wallace College, Rocky River lakefront and
residential walk, Bratenahl lakeshore history walk, and the Ohio &
Erie Canal Reservation (the newest Cleveland Metropark). |
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Marc Jaffe
Sleeping
With
Your
Gynecologist
West St. James Press,
2000. $10
What do you get when a Seinfeld writer marries an OB/GYN? A doctor with
a funny delivery. Actually, lots of funny deliveries. Marc Jaffe's job
was coming up with hysterical stories for Seinfeld, but nothing was
funnier than the stories his gynecologist wife would tell. So, he
decided to write this laugh-a-page book about life married to an
Ob/gyn. It includes all the crazy stories his wife tells about: *
Flying Placentas * Sex toy parties * Immaculate conceptions * Intimate
tattoos * Ridiculous 4:00 am phone calls...and more comical incidents
of gynecologic and obstetric intrigue. While sleeping with your
gynecologist would be wrong, reading Sleeping With Your Gynecologist is
very right.
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Bebe Weinberg Katz
Princess Claudia and the Freckles
& 1 other
PublishAmerica, 2007. $10
When you are a seven-year-old girl, everything your older sister says
has the power to make or ruin your day. That is exactly what happens to
Princess Claudia one Saturday morning, when her older sister, Princess
Elizabeth, makes fun of Claudia’s freckles. This is the story of
Claudia’s attempt to get rid of the dreaded freckles. Claudia enlists
the aid of her Uncle Ouf, who is the castle wizard. Together they try
potions and lotions and brown bag magic, all aimed at getting rid of
the freckles. Claudia learns that every action has a consequence. She
also discovers that the magic that is inside of people is the strongest
of all. Along the way, she has wonderful adventures with her family.
And what happens to her freckles? That is the surprise.
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Yvonne Miles Levert
Out From the Depths of Pain and 1
other
Tate Publishing, 2008.
$13.99
Leah St. John thought she had it all. She was marrying a senator who
treated her like a queen, a man who always wanted to be around her
because he couldn't get enough of her. From the honeymoon on, Leah's
life became a nightmare. After she becomes pregnant with David's child,
she feels an obligation to stay in her unhealthy marriage....Every 9
seconds a woman is beaten into submission and sometimes beyond
recognition. BUT GOD....
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James Mallog
The
Last Acorn
Publish America, 2010.
$24.95
Grandpa Squirrel leaves a tree full of acors to be divided equally
among all the squirrels. But after they are divided, there's one left
over: the older squirrels argue, demanding the acorn. Squire, the
youngest squirrel, has a solution and the acorn is entrusted to him. He
keeps the solution secret all winter.
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Doris O'Donnell
Front Page Girl
Kent State University Press, $22.95
Prior to World War II, women were a rarity in the
newsrooms of daily papers throughout the country. The assignments given
to those few who graced the profession reflected the newspaper culture
of the time--society, fashion, and school news. Doris O'Donnell proved
the exception. While she began her journalism career with those routine
tasks, in short order she broke those barriers and assumed more
challenging duties of investigative reporting and covering the crime
beat. In Front-Page Girl, O'Donnell regales the reader
with her tales of Cleveland's mobsters, riots, murders, and corruption
and delves into the murkiness of local, national, and global politics.
This engaging memoir doubles as an important glimpse into the stories
behind the headlines and as a treasure trove of Cleveland history.
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Mara Purnhagen
Past
Midnight and others
Harlequin Teen, 2010. $9.99
Let me set the record straight. My name is Charlotte Silver and I'm not
one of those paranormal-obsessed freaks you see on TV…no, those would
be my parents, who have their own ghost-hunting reality show. And while
I'm usually roped into the behind-the-scenes work, it turns out that I
haven't gone unnoticed. Something happened on my parents' research trip
in Charleston—and now I'm being stalked by some truly frightening other
beings. Trying to fit into a new school and keeping my parents' creepy
occupation a secret from my friends—and potential boyfriends—is hard
enough without having angry spirits whispering in my ear. All I ever
wanted was to be normal, but with ghosts of my past and present
colliding, now I just want to make it out of high school alive….
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Les Roberts
The Cleveland Creep and many others
Gray and Company, 2011.
$24.95
**1 pm - 2 pm only **
#15 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series . . .
A simple missing-person case gets complicated when Milan Jacovich (it's
pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovich) discovers that 28-year-old Earl Dacey
left behind a strange collection of voyeuristic videos in his mother's
West Side Cleveland house. Was Earl just a pervert shadowing Catholic
schoolgirls in Northeast Ohio shopping malls with his hidden camera . .
. or had he become entangled with unsavory characters in the local
adult film business? When Milan uncovers a possible link to organized
crime, the FBI gets interested--and Milan's "well connected" friend
Victor Gaimari gets angry. After a dead body turns up, the Cleveland
Police take over, and Milan figures he's off the case. So why does
crusty Lieutenant McHargue ask him to lend a hand? |
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Michael Samulak
A is for Africa (and new companion
coloring book)
2008. $12.95 (book) $6.99
(coloring book)
A is for Africa is a fresh depiction of the English alphabet set to
authentic African illustrations. This early childhood readalong is
written in a playful rhyme that promises to keep the attention of
parent and child alike. The book uses the African "batik" style of
paintings -- over 30 individual pieces of art are used to bring this
manuscript to life. Together with the text, they beautifully convey to
the reader the people, animals, culture, and amazing sights that embody
the continent of Africa. The coloring book is based on the original and
allows children to explore their own creativity!
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Bonnie James Shaker
Coloring
Locals:
Racial
Formation
in
Kate
Chopin's
Youth's
Companion
Stories
University of Iowa Press,
2003. $34
A new historical look at how the daring author of The Awakening produced short
fiction for and marketed it to the major family periodical of her time.
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Lena Shane
Zoody
Bright Books Publishing,
2009. $15
From the stillness and solitude of the hot pavement, Zoody's life
unfolds into a series of escapades. Zoody is a stone, so named by the
woman in whose lap he lands one day as he is kicked from the sidewalk.
Zoody has yet to discover his character. |
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Jan Thrope
Inner
Visions: Grassroots Stories of Truth and Hope
Orange Frazer Press, 2011.
$19.95
Inner Visions is
written and photographed from the perspective of people living in some
of the most economically challeged areas of Cleveland's east side urban
core. It is a story about what is seen every day on these streets. But
it is also about the power of what happens when neighbors connect to
neighbors to co-create the life they envision.
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Megan Whalen Turner
A Conspiracy of Kings and 4 others
in The
Queen's Thief series
Greenwillow Books, 2010.
$7.99 paperback, $16.99 hardcover
Sophos,
under the guidance of yet another tutor, practices his swordplay and
strategizes escape scenarios should his father's villa come under
attack. How would he save his mother? His sisters? Himself? Could he
reach the horses in time? Where would he go? But nothing prepares him
for the day armed men, silent as thieves, swarm the villa courtyard
ready to kill, to capture, to kidnap. Sophos, the heir to the throne of
Sounis, disappears without a trace. In Attolia, Eugenides, the new and
unlikely king, has never stopped wondering what happened to Sophos. Nor
has the Queen of Eddis. They send spies. They pay informants. They
appeal to the gods. But as time goes by, it becomes less and less
certain that they will ever see their friend alive again. Across the
small peninsula battles are fought, bribes are offered, and
conspiracies are set in motion. Darkening the horizon, the Mede Empire
threatens, always, from across the sea. And Sophos, anonymous and
alone, bides his time. Sophos, drawing on his memories of Gen, Pol, the
Magus and Eddis, sets out on an adventure that will change all of their
lives forever. --Goodreads.com
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Jane Ann Turzillo
Wicked
Women of Northeast Ohio
The History Press, 2011.
$19.99
In Wicked Women of Northeast Ohio, author Jane Ann Turzillo
recounts the misdeeds of ten dark-hearted women who refused to play by
the rules. They unleashed their most base impulses using axes, guns,
poison and more. You'll meet Perry's Velma West, a mere slip of a girl
who was unfortunately too near a hammer during an argument. New
Philadelphia's Ellen Athey--no lady herself--had a similar problem with
an axe. Ardell Quinn, who operated the longest-running brothel in
Cleveland, would simply argue that she was a good businesswoman. Grim?
Often. Entertaining? Deliciously so.
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John Vacha
Meet
Me on Lake Erie, Dearie!
Kent State University
Press, $29.95
In the summers of 1936 and 1937 the Great Lakes
Exposition was presented in Cleveland, Ohio, along the Lake Erie shore
just north of the downtown business area. At the time, Cleveland was
America's sixth largest city. The Exposition was scheduled to
commemorate the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation and was
conceived as a way to energize a city hit hard by the Great Depression.
In its first summer the Exposition drew four million visitors and three
million more during its second and final season. Meet Me on
Lake Erie, Dearie! is the fourth
installment in the Cleveland Theater Series by John Vacha and will
appeal to those who attended the Exposition or listened to the stories
told by their relatives about the two exciting summers during the
Depression. Regional history students and social historians will also
find this an informative and entertaining addition to their
collections.
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Nora White
Armed with God's Power
Tate Publishing, 2008, $14.99
Have you ever experienced tragedy in your life due to situations beyond
your control? Was there ever a time when you felt it was impossible for
you to get beyond your pain? Embrace a new journey and travel with
author Nora White in Armed with
God's Power as she takes you back to a
place in time when she had a spiritual encounter with God. This true
story about overcoming circumstances surrounding abuse and addiction,
disease and death illustrates the divine intervention that changed
Nora's life and made her path straight. The divine appointments
apparent in Nora's turbulent life display God's authority to change
brokenness to victory and will inspire readers to become Armed with
God's Power. |
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Carlo
Wolff
Cleveland
Rock and Roll Memories
Gray & Co., 2006, $19.95
**12 pm - 1 pm only **
Music fans who grew up
with Rock and Roll in Cleveland remember a
golden age. We were young, so was the music, and the sense of freedom
and excitement the Rock and Roll scene delivered was electric. There
were so many great clubs, like the Agora, where every big band seemed
to break in the 1970s. The trendsetting radio stations, from A.M.'s
WIXY 1260 to F.M.'s groundbreaking "Home of the Buzzard", WMMS. And all
those memorable shows. The free Coffee Break Concerts--remember
Springsteen just when he hit it big? The gigantic World Series of Rock.
Nights on the lawn at Blossom (including local favorites the Michael
Stanley Band and their record-setting sellout streak). This book
collects the favorite memories of Clevelanders who made the scene:
fans, musicians, DJs, reporters, club owners, and more. Includes
rare photographs and other memorabilia such as concert posters, bumper
stickers, pins, and ticket stubs. |
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Based in one of
Cleveland’s most historic and vibrant neighborhoods, 