Wally's life is drab and, despite his financial genius, his dream eludes him. Near 50, life should be more than, well ... So, what to do. Soon his life is shady business deals, thugs with guns, a night on the Amazon, and ... well, hang on, Wally is no longer circling Moose Jaw.

"Meek shares one important trait with (Ernie) Pyle. He tells good stories. To me that is the highest praise a writer can receive." Jim Kiser, Arizona Daily Star People who have known John Martin Meek know he has never been reluctant to express his opinions with one regrettable exception. In the Cabinet Room of the White House one evening, President Johnson went around the table to ask all present what he or she thought about the Vietnam War. To his deep regret, Meek failed to tell LBJ he honestly felt the war was going to destroy his presidency. But by then the president was getting the same advice from The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and other distinguished Americans. Moving from Washington, DC, to Southern Arizona in 1999, Meek began teaching journalism at Pima Community College (60,000 students) in Tucson and jumpstarted his journalism career by writing features and all but two of the columns included in this book. After leaving the University of Oklahoma journalism school, where he was editor of The Oklahoma Daily, Meek worked on newspapers in Texas and New York while earning an MA in communications at Syracuse University. He then had a long and, to him, exciting career in political and private sector public affairs in New York, Chicago and primarily in Washington, DC. He has drawn from these experiences for some of the columns in this book. Meek, writing under the pen name of John Martin Hill, is the author of "The Christmas Hour" (www.thechristmashour.com), a novel set in Washington, DC, and editor of a book of photos of the Johnson presidency.

A skillful, and frequently hilarious, comparison of Mark Twain and the author, Richard Bissell. Part commentary and part autobiography, Bissell deftly interweaves family history, anecdotes, and career paths into an unforgettable linking of two outstanding authors and river boat buffs living almost a century apart.

This is a rollicking romp about employees in the Sleep Tite Pajama Factory who are about to strike for a 7½ cent raise. Wisecracking dialogue and dry wit abound. 7½ Cents was adapted by Richard Bissell and George Abbott for the Broadway musical success The Pajama Game.

Frank Blanchard lives on a houseboat, has a great job, and is in love with an unattainable woman. Frank and his neighbors are about to have their lives turned upside down by the opening of a fertilizer plant which will mean a pending relocation of their houseboats so the harbor can be dredged and a dock built. A humorous book filled with observations about life both on and off the river.

The Dictionary of Midwestern Literature, Volume One, surveys the lives and writings of nearly 400 Midwestern authors and identifies some of the most important criticism of their writings. The Dictionary is based on the belief that the literature of any region simultaneously captures the experience and influences the worldview of its people, reflecting as well as shaping the evolving sense of individual and collective identity, meaning, and values. Volume One presents individual lives and literary orientations and offers a broad survey of the Midwestern experience as expressed by its many diverse peoples over time.Philip A. Greasley's introduction fills in background information and describes the philosophy, focus, methodology, content, and layout of entries, as well as criteria for their inclusion. An extended lead-essay, "The Origins and Development of the Literature of the Midwest," by David D. Anderson, provides a historical, cultural, and literary context in which the lives and writings of individual authors can be considered.This volume is the first of an ambitious three-volume series sponsored by the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature and created by its members. Volume Two will provide similar coverage of non-author entries, such as sites, centers, movements, influences, themes, and genres. Volume Three will be a literary history of the Midwest. One goal of the series is to build understanding of the nature, importance, and influence of Midwestern writers and literature. Another is to provide information on writers from the early years of the Midwestern experience, as well as those now emerging, who are typically absent from existing reference works.