"You always needed a wild duck like Avram, a nonlinear thinker that stirred up the others. I always try to have an Avram on my team. Always. They disrupt and create." -Andy Grove, former Intel CEO In The Flight of a Wild Duck, Avram Miller describes how luck, intuition, imagination, humor, and risk-taking enabled him to become one of Silicon Valley's visionaries and leading venture capitalists. He recalls his journey of overcoming childhood illness, a troubled family, and an inability to function in the education system to eventually become a senior executive at one of the world's leading technology companies. Never one to follow a conventional path, Miller broke away from a difficult childhood, leaving home to become a merchant seaman and later a hippie and activist in 1960s San Francisco. Though he had no formal education, his childhood interest in electronics provided him with a foundation in technology, and he ended up working in medical research. He was appointed as an associate professor at twenty-nine. He later transitioned from a successful medical science career to the computer industry, landing at Intel, where he cofounded Intel Capital, one of the top venture capital organizations in the world. The Flight of a Wild Duck is rich with personal stories, told with humor and honesty, interwoven with the history of the computer industry. Throughout, Miller provides insights into the legendary industry pioneers with whom he worked, including Andy Grove, Bill Gates, and Ken Olsen. The book documents several critical events that gave rise to the personal computer, the Internet, and the creation of broadband communication, in which Miller played a leading role.

Ducks, ducks, ducks! Many kinds of wild ducks live in Canada. This story is about one very special duck and how its life suddenly changed, when it was discovered by a young boy, whose act of kindness saved it from a sad fate. Then the duck had adventures that other wild ducks could never imagine! What would it eat? Where would it sleep? Who would it trust? How would it stay safe? Here is the never before told story of this duck's adventures while growing up and being cared for by a loving human family. Based on a true story. Illustrations in Black and White.

THE WILD DUCK CHASE is the basis for “The Million Dollar Duck,” a documentary feature film, directed by Brian Golden Davis and written by Martin J. Smith, premiering at The Slamdance Film Festival in January 2016. The book takes readers into the peculiar world of competitive duck painting as it played out during the 2010 Federal Duck Stamp Contest-the only juried art competition run by the U.S. government. Since 1934, the duck stamp, which is bought annually by hunters to certify their hunting license, has generated more than $750 million, and 98 cents of each collected dollar has been used to help purchase or lease 5.3 million acres of waterfowl habitat in the United States. As Martin J. Smith chronicles in his revealing narrative, within the microcosm of the duck stamp contest are intense ideological and cultural clashes between the mostly rural hunters who buy the stamps and the mostly suburban and urban birders and conservationists who decry the hunting of waterfowl. The competition also fuels dynamic tensions between competitors and judges, and among the invariably ambitious, sometimes obsessive and eccentric artists--including Minnesota's three fabled Hautman brothers, the "New York Yankees" of competitive duck painting. Martin Smith takes readers down an arcane and uniquely American rabbit hole into a wonderland of talent, ego, art, controversy, scandal, big money, and migratory waterfowl.

The first "manned" hot-air balloon is about to take off! But what are those noises coming from the basket? Based on the (POSSIBLY) true report of a day in 1783, this si the story of (PERHAPS) the bravest collection of flyers the world has ever seen, as (SORT OF) told to Marjorie Priceman.

Selected by The New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of the Year A revelatory tale of science, adventure, and modern myth. When the writer Donovan Hohn heard of the mysterious loss of thousands of bath toys at sea, he figured he would interview a few oceanographers, talk to a few beachcombers, and read up on Arctic science and geography. But questions can be like ocean currents: wade in too far, and they carry you away. Hohn's accidental odyssey pulls him into the secretive world of shipping conglomerates, the daring work of Arctic researchers, the lunatic risks of maverick sailors, and the shadowy world of Chinese toy factories. Moby-Duck is a journey into the heart of the sea and an adventure through science, myth, the global economy, and some of the worst weather imaginable. With each new discovery, Hohn learns of another loose thread, and with each successive chase, he comes closer to understanding where his castaway quarry comes from and where it goes. In the grand tradition of Tony Horwitz and David Quammen, Moby-Duck is a compulsively readable narrative of whimsy and curiosity.

Award-winning nature writer Michael Furtman chronicles the amazing life cycles of North America's ducks-from hatching to fledgling to mating, nesting, and brood-rearing-as well as their remarkable migrations that span continents and touch the lives of millions of people. An excellent reference source on dozens of duck species, the book provides detailed information on each bird's range, natural history, and current population status. Complementing the rich, descriptive text are more than 150 splendid color photographs that capture wild ducks of every size, shape, and color-from the ubiquitous mallard to the regal canvasback to the gaudy harlequin-in a wide variety of habitats and behaviors.