Libby Feldt treats the reader to a delightful first-person account as a young nurse commissioned in the Army Nurse Corps and deployed in France and Germany during World War II, 1944-1946. We see her commitment begin by taking the oath of office from her father in their Dubuque, Iowa living room, develop at basic training in Colorado, and get honed during the Atlantic Ocean crossing to England. Her unit's orders are to establish the 200th General Hospital in France after its recent liberation from Germany. We follow Libby and her friends through England, France and Germany and hear of their encounters with the Glenn Miller Band, Bob Hope and General Patton. We celebrate Armistice and mourn the ravages of war. Libby Feldt's story is a tribute to the indefatigable spirit of a young nurse.

Between 1929 and 1988, American mystery writer Mignon Good Eberhart wrote fifty-nine mystery novels, at least as many short stories, and served a term as president and Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America. This study of Eberhart's life and work considers the influence of her childhood in Nebraska, her marriage and frequent travels, and her various professional and personal contacts in Chicago and on the East Coast. Eberhart's friendships with well-known literary figures, including mystery and romance authors, provide a fascinating glimpse into the social matrix of a bygone publishing world. Eberhart's experiences with Hollywood and Broadway show how the mystery genre, and writer, were transformed in an alternate medium. Leading women's magazines of the day also sought Eberhart's talent and inevitably transformed her writing. Eberhart's novels and correspondence provide insight into the social mores of her day, in particular about women's friendships, repressed sexuality, and closeted homosexuality. Those interested in cultural studies, women's studies, and twentieth-century popular literature will find this book valuable.

Performance art is a major contemporary art form and California is recognized internationally as a pivotal area for innovative performance art activity. This updated edition of Performance Anthology offers an extraordinary documentation of California performance art from 1970 through 1989. The anthology provides a chronicle of the literature of artists' publications, art journals, major books, and catalogues; introductions and original essays by artists and leading historians and critics of performance art in California; and photographs illustrating major works by California artists. Through the documentation of the literature, a framework is established of the artists, events, organizations and spaces that have been instrumental in launching and sustaining the performance art scene in California.

"The first time Chris saw Elly, she appeared as a single sunflower standing tall on a lawn of short grass." By professional standards, Christopher Matthew Smith is a gifted, dynamic Madison Avenue adman, a feared but highly respected opponent in the game of advertising. In love, however, he has not fared as well. Twice divorced, Chris has soured on the idea of long-term relationships. Until he meets Elly Flowers, an attractive, unhappily married mother of two. After six months of friendly encounters, the budding love story of Chris and Elly is interrupted by a lengthy geographical separation. Elly grudgingly moves to Southern California with her family while Chris remains in New York. Fourteen years later, the two meet again in San Diego where they enjoy a five-day journey through the romantic sites in and around the city. But their surprising, albeit passionate, reunion is short-lived. The bond between them is tested, emotionally and physically, as each experiences a separate accident with potentially disastrous results, Chris on a fishing excursion, Elly, in her auto near the Pacific bluffs of La Jolla. Attempting to endure such crises challenges the integrity of the relationship between Chris and Elly. Adventures of a Sunflower is a moving account of two extraordinary people determined to spend their lifetime together.

As a beautiful, young, well-to-do young woman sits upon her family's beach on the shore of a secluded island in the Florida Keys, a man clad in little more than the ancient ocean salt emerges from the waves. Günther Prien is a young German officer stationed on a cruise ship, and Eola Pinder is little more than putty in his hands. Their encounter leads to the birth of a son, Thomas Luther, who is destined for a life of adventure as he desperately seeks the love of a father throughout some of the worst events Key West and the world have ever seen. Tom's life shapes up to be one adventure after another. He experiences an unlikely rescue as his room goes up in flames around his crib flames that may have been started by the man Tom believes is his father. He's held hostage during a bank robbery and is nearly swept overboard from the deck of a freighter off Cape Hattaras during a major hurricane. Finally, in the midst of World War II, he finds himself carried away in a German submarine in the hands of the enemy by a man who turns out to be his father. In this rich historical novel, an unlikely cast of characters struggles to find the strength to survive not only some of the most horrible tragedies in Florida's history, but some of the most difficult lessons individuals can learn in a lifetime.

This candid and humorous chronicle shows how one woman goes from casual observer to obsessive bird nerd as she traverses Louisiana’s avian paradise. In Adventures of a Louisiana Birder, readers follow Marybeth Lima across her adopted state in search of 300 species of birds. Bisected by the Mississippi flyway and home to 400 miles of coast, Louisiana has a variety of habitats, which serve as a beautiful backdrop to this remarkable journey. In birding circles, some devotees attempt what is known as a “big year,” a bird-sighting challenge to identify as many bird species as possible in a particular geographical area over the course of one year. Lima’s initial effort amounted to 11,626 miles in sixty-one road trips to log an impressive 280 species. But on a subsequent quest to exceed her record, she endures elusive birds, embarrassing misidentifications, and hungry insects in an effort to reach her goal. In the midst of these obstacles, Lima celebrates the camaraderie and friendly competition among fellow birders, from novices to a world-renown ornithologist. Requiring both mental focus and physical agility, birdwatching becomes an active sport through Lima’s narration. She vividly conveys the elation over a rare species seen or heard and the disappointment when one is narrowly missed. An appendix provides the location and date of every species she identifies. Lima’s personal experiences are interwoven with the excitement of tracking down one intriguing species after another. She faces a near-fatal burn accident to her spouse, end-of-life care for her mother-in-law, and Louisiana’s great flood of 2016. In the midst of these situations, her devotion to birding provides a much-needed outlet. “Somewhere in the roiling confluence of birds, locales, and human personalities,” writes Lima, “the center of my heart sings with utter abandon.” Adventures of a Louisiana Birder is the author’s call to a deeper passion for and awareness of Louisiana’s unique natural beauty and vulnerability.