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When Bill Pratt and Powell Seymour got laid off from their technology jobs in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1991, they had no idea that they were about to become leaders of a revolution in electronic communications. They did know that they wanted to start their own company, although they had no means to fund it. They asked their friend Jerry Neal to leave his job at the same company and join them to raise money and market their products. Those products numbered only seven at the time, and they could fit in a small matchbox with plenty of room to spare. But they were unlike any other products. Bill Pratt had designed the first radio frequency integrated circuits, the semiconductor chips that...
"An insightful and well-written book. One of the best studies of local Jewish history extant."--Leonard Dinnerstein, University of Arizona For more than a century and a half, the Jewish citizens of the area in and around Knoxville, Tennessee, have maintained the rituals and traditions that define them as a separate people, even as they have blended quietly with their non-Jewish neighbors. Wendy Lowe Besmann paints a vivid picture of this community, bringing alive the stories of merchants, grocers, immigrants from Eastern Europe, and scientists and university professionals who have come to call the area home. Drawing on interviews and other sources, she traces the growth of local synagogues, ...
Critics proclaimed Jerry Bledsoe's bestseller, The Angel Doll, an instant classic and a family treasure. It sold more than 110,000 copies in hardcover, was excerpted in Good Housekeeping, selected by The Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and Crossings Book Club, and was made into a Lifetime movie.. In The Angel Doll, we met Whitey Black, who despite his poverty sets out to get an angel doll for his four-year-old sister because she loves The Littlest Angel story so much. Although his sister doesn't live to see her doll, we learn of another angel who many years later gives angel dolls to children in terminal hospital wards each Christmas. In this deeply moving sequel to The Angel Doll, Bledsoe tells the rest of the story and brings the characters full-circle to the present day. A story of friendship, love, and giving, it is certain to bring tears to the eyes of all who read it -- even if they never heard of The Angel Doll.
In 1960, at age 18, future bestselling author Jerry Bledsoe ("Bitter Blood" & "The Angel Doll") told an Army recruiter that he wanted to be an artist. This was his lucky day, the recruiter informed him. The Army had the best art school in the world. But after being sworn in, Bledsoe was pulled aside by a major and informed that no Army art school existed. He was being assigned instead to Information School.Although Bledsoe, who had flunked high school English for failure to write book reports and term papers, had no idea what this unexpected decision entailed, it would set the direction for the rest of his life.Bledsoe limits this warm, deeply personal and often humorous memoir to the turbul...
If even a small part of a child still lives within your heart, you can't help but be captivated by this deeply moving novella based on bestselling author Jerry Bledsoe's childhood memories. Set in a North Carolina manufacturing town during the 1950s, it is the poignant story of two ten-year-old boys and their search for an angel doll, a search that turned into a lesson of love. Every day Whitey Black reads The Littlest Angel to his sister Sandy, a four-year-old stricken with polio. Now she wants just one thing for Christmas: an angel doll. Unfortunately, in this small North Carolina town, no one has ever heard of such a thing. Nevertheless, Whitey Black and his best friend set out to find her one, at great cost and for even greater reward. Along the way they learn much about sadness and heartbreak, but most important, they learn about the transformative power of love. The Angel Doll is about childhood reaching out in later life and grabbing hold-never to be forgotten or remembered exactly as it was. Timeless and touching, The Angel Doll is sure to become a family favorite and a tradition for years to come.
In Reading the World Dianne C. Luce explores the historical and philosophical contexts of Cormac McCarthy's early works crafted during his Tennessee period from 1959 to 1979 to demonstrate how McCarthy integrates literary realism with the imagery and myths of Platonic, gnostic, and existentialist philosophies to create his unique vision of the world. Luce begins with a substantial treatment of the east Tennessee context from which McCarthy's fiction emerges, sketching an Appalachian culture and environment in flux. Against this backdrop Luce examines, novel by novel, McCarthy's distinctive rendering of character through mixed narrative techniques of flashbacks, shifts in vantage point, and dream sequences. Luce shows how McCarthy's fragmented narration and lyrical style combine to create a rich portrayal of the philosophical and religious elements at play in human consciousness as it confronts a world rife with isolation and violence.
“A singular achievement. Mark Banker reveals an almost paradoxical Appalachia that trumps all the stereotypes. Interweaving his family history with the region’s latest scholarship, Banker uncovers deep psychological and economic interconnections between East Tennessee’s ‘three Appalachias’—its tourist-laden Smokies, its urbanized Valley, and its strip-mined Plateau.” —Paul Salstrom, author of Appalachia’s Path to Dependency "Banker weaves a story of Appalachia that is at once a national and regional history, a family saga, and a personal odyssey. This book reads like a conversation with a good friend who is well-read and well-informed, thoughtful, wise, and passionate about...
A complete tour guide to the Volunteer State from the highlands of the Smoky Mountains to the banks of the Mississippi River. Tennessee is a state of endless diversity. It boasts breath-taking scenery, the homes of three presidents, and the birthplace of legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett. It is the birthplace of the blues and the home of the King of rock ‘n’ roll. It offers a wealth of opportunities for hiking, canoeing, fishing, and wildlife viewing in state and national parks, recreation areas, and forests. From mountain highroads to delta lands, this comprehensive guide invites you to the best of Tennessee’s bed and breakfasts, museums, historic sites, restaurants, antique shops,...
“This is a lovely book. Secular Americans all too often assume that evangelical Christianity embraces an individualistic ethos. This well-written and engaging account takes us into the life of the social world of evangelical megachurches and shows the tensions between unconditional love and accountability. In doing so, this book allows us to grasp the experience at the heart of evangelical faith. These people emerge as likable and intelligible through Elisha’s narrative.” —T.M. Luhrmann, Watkins University Professor, Stanford University “Elisha is a wonderfully talented ethnographer—‘empathetic’ in the very best sense: critically engaged, attentive, and clearly committed to forming genuine relationships. I have tremendous admiration for the research that went into this project, and I can’t wait to teach this book in my classes.” —R. Marie Griffith, John A. Bartlett Professor, Harvard Divinity School