Ma Rainey’s Traveling Blues is the fullest and most nuanced portrait to date of Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (1886-1939), once promoted as the “Mother of the Blues.” Although Rainey’s place in American music history is firmly ...

James Mason (1909–1984) was born to be an actor. He just didn’t know it. A Cambridge graduate with a degree in architecture, he arrived in London at a time when nothing was being built. With few prospects, he ...

Samuel Jones: The Uncompromising Life and Music of an American Composer traces the extraordinary life and career of classical composer Samuel Jones, who, at age ninety, continues to write music that resonates ...

Andre Dubus: A Literary Life recounts the life of the famed American writer while also providing deep and acute analysis of his stories and novellas often from a biographical perspective. Author Patrick ...

For every published article there is a backstory of behind-the-scenes adventures. Between 1980 and 2000, Dean Faulkner Wells and Lawrence Wells traveled coast to coast on magazine assignments. Backstory: ...

Glenn Miller was already famous when he enlisted in the Army Air Forces. Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was one of the most popular and successful bands of the big band era. While the bands of the Dorsey ...

In Medical Missionary: My Journey Through Global Health and Higher Education, Dan Jones explores his personal journey as a spiritual pilgrim and the many surprising twists along the way. Providing readers ...

Steve Cochran (1917–1965) was Hollywood’s ultimate contradiction—an intense, rugged leading man with a con man’s charm, a craftsman’s discipline, and a wild streak that made him both irresistible and dangerous ...

Whistle Stop traces the remarkable life of trumpeter and composer Kenny Dorham (1924–1972), whose journey from rural Texas to the forefront of modern jazz mirrors the broader story of Black resilience a ...

Donald C. Jackson’s newest book of outdoor essays, Restless Winds: Memoirs of an Outdoorsman, takes the reader on a journey from America’s Deep South out into the world. Jackson’s essays explore landscapes, wat ...