Thomas's friend and fellow engine, Duck, has a close shave while trying to stop runaway trucks.

THOMAS’ FRIEND DUCK likes to be Really Useful and Right on Time. One day, some Troublesome Trucks start pushing and they will not stop, and a station is just ahead! Duck works himself into a lather trying to brake in time, but ends up crashing into the station’s barber shop.

Sal Maglie was a feared and hated pitcher perhaps best known for his vicious knockdown pitches that made batters tremble. Yet he was also respected as a ferocious competitor, one who pitched with his arm and his head, one who could be depended upon when his team needed a victory, and one who refused to quit, even when faced with a blacklisting, crippling injuries, and advanced age. Off the field, he was an amiable man. This work chronicles the life and career of the man and the player: his unspectacular minor league career, his 1945 debut with Mel Ott's New York Giants, his blacklisting by organized baseball for playing in Jorge Pasquel's Mexican League, and his rejoining the Giants in 1950 at the age of 33. He thereupon established himself as a bona fide big league pitcher, and went on to have a stellar career in the majors that included stints with the Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals. Game-by-game analyses of Maglie's professional career, intimate portraits of the men Maglie played with and against--Mel Ott, Eddie Stanky, Monte Irvin, Jackie Robinson, Carl Furillo, Willie Mays, among others--and a look at baseball as it was played in the 1940s and 1950s are features of the book.

Any barbershop worth its Burma Shave will give you not just a cut but a conversation too. In “A Close Shave,” that chat becomes more of a monologue—but pay attention to the quiet fellow under the bib, because he’s got an agenda of his own. Ready for a cut? Step on up—two chairs, no waiting!

Mum favours can save your neck, being in the wrong place at the right time does exactly that for a reluctant teenager. Unfortunately, his friends don't get off so lightly. This story is based on true events.