Television Memoir

Fess Parker grew up in Texas, served in World War II, and later became TV's incredibly popular Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. After his film and TV career, Parker became a successful businessman, hotel builder, and vintner. William R. Chemerka's authorized biography is a respectful tribute to an amazing man that features thoughtful recollections from Parker's family, friends, co-stars, and fans.

When former government staffer Alisha Aitken-Radburn was given a 'villain edit' on her first season of The Bachelor, she wasn't entirely surprised – there are only a handful of character tropes producers can manipulate into storylines. But the backlash on social media was unexpectedly intense, and Alisha found her sense of identity completely rocked by a single comment: 'You are a bad person'. Determined to shake the 'villain' label, she returned to reality TV screens, and this time, she got a different edit.

In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to breakthrough as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill. Her career was about to take off, but her personal life was slowly beginning to unravel. What none of the show's millions of fans knew, hidden even from her costars, was her secret double life in a cult.

Gloria Rojas was born in New York City in 1939. She grew up in The Bronx and spent nine years as an elementary and junior high school teacher before accepting an opportunity to work as an ESL (English as a Second Language) instructor on the city’s Channel 13. Spending time in the television studio gave her an opportunity to watch the taping of the “The World at 10” news show, an experience that led her to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. After completing the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Gloria started at NYC’s Channel 2 News as the city’s first Latina...

The author is the son of broadcaster and adventurer Macdonald Hastings, and journalist and gardening writer Anne Scott-James. Max’s father roamed the world for newspapers and as a presenter for BBC TV’s legendary 'Tonight' programme, while his mother edited 'Harper’s Bazaar', became a famous columnist and wrote bestselling gardening books. One of Max’s grandfathers was a literary editor, while the other wrote plays and essays.

Marisa Burke is a top-rated, local anchorwoman at one of the most respected local ABC affiliates in the country. She enjoys celebrity status, six-figure salaries, a gorgeous home, and beautiful family. But rather than reporting the news, Marisa suddenly becomes the subject of it when her husband, an admired educator, the father of her two young girls, and the man she truly believed was her loving soulmate, was arrested for unlawful sexual relationships with underage boys.

John Malone remains a stranger to most people, though millions of us have been touched by the technologies and content he made possible. In Born to Be Wired, this “Cable Cowboy” shares stories of the people behind the most transformative business deals in media, entertainment, and technology. He recounts the remarkable tale of how America was wired, and how a strand of copper evolved from a rural TV-antenna service into a broadband backbone for phone, internet and streaming services, paving the way for tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, and Google.

When The Flip Wilson Show debuted in 1970, Black faces were still rare on television, Black hosts nonexistent. So how did Clerow “Flip” Wilson go from Jersey City grade-school dropout to national celebrity, heralded on the cover of Time as “TV’s first black superstar”? Flip is a candid, entertaining biography of a consummate comedian who changed the face of American popular culture.

How many meteorologists have ever gone viral for doing something positive? Not many, but Alan Sealls did! He was proclaimed “Best Weatherman Ever” by ‘the Internet’ in 2017 for his concise, coherent, enlightening and informative forecasts of Hurricane Irma, viewed millions of times around the world.

On the Frontlines of the Television War is the story of Yasutsune "Tony" Hirashiki's 10 years in Vietnam - beginning when he arrived in 1966 as a young freelancer with a 16mm camera but without a job or the slightest grasp of English and ending in the hectic fall of Saigon in 1975 when he was literally thrown on one of the last flights out. His memoir has all the exciting tales of peril, hardship, and close calls as the best of battle memoirs but it is primarily a story of very real and yet remarkable people: the soldiers, the reporters, and the photographers.

For over forty years, ventriloquist Shari Lewis and her sassy hand puppet Lamb Chop were the most beloved team in children's television. Together with her other puppets Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy, Shari raised three generations of kids and struggled to stay relevant in an industry that was constantly changing. In this audiobook, cowritten and recorded by Shari's daughter Mallory Lewis (who now performs with Lamb Chop) and producer-biographer Nat Segaloff, you'll hear how Shari survived using sheer will and talent.

Not Just Sunglasses and Autographs is a captivating autobiography that follows the author's journey from bar bouncing in Boston to working on award-winning television shows and movies. This is an endearing story of overcoming the odds through dark humor, tenacity, authenticity, and happiness.

Arthur Smith is famous for his innovation and audacity, and as the man behind some of the longest-running unscripted series in television history. His groundbreaking hit Hell’s Kitchen forged the modern food competition reality genre, while his Emmy-nominated American Ninja Warrior has spawned a cultural movement, with Ninja-inspired gyms in every major American city. In Reach, Smith shares adventures, triumphs, and hard-won lessons from his astonishing career, beginning with his unprecedented ascension from the ranks of sports production to become the youngest-ever head of CBC Sports.

For just over 30 years Al Bernstein has been one of the most recognizable and respected sportscasters in America. In those three decades, the “voice of boxing” reported the funny, poignant, and bizarre events that helped shape sports television, ESPN, boxing, Las Vegas, and Showtime. With an eclectic cast of characters that includes every big name in boxing, including Marvin Hagler, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, and Manny Pacquiao, as well as such names in the entertainment world as Rodney Dangerfield, Sylvester Stallone, Russell Crowe, Jerry Lewis, and Jack Nicholson, Bernstein's memoir will have you in stitches.

Producer of television’s iconic Degrassi franchise Stephen Stohn tells stories from behind the scenes and of making it in the music and television world in this star-studded, rock ’n’ roll trip through a Canadian show business explosion. Stohn, who has been at the heart of the entertainment industry for over forty years, shares a lifetime of experience and unique insights into how dreams are turned into reality.

The Dead Don’t Need Reminding is a braided story of Julian Randall’s return from the cliff edge of a harrowing depression and his determination to retrace the hustle of a white-passing grandfather to the Mississippi town from which he was driven amid threats of tar and feather. Alternatively wry, lyrical, and heartfelt, Randall transforms pop culture moments into deeply personal explorations of grief, family, and the American way

Roger Mudd joined CBS in 1961 and rose to fame as the congressional correspondent, covering the historic Senate filibuster debate over the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Mudd was there to see Dan Rather going toe-to-toe with the Nixon White House, Marvin Kalb deciphering the State Department, Daniel Schorr bird-dogging Watergate, Lesley Stahl and Connie Chung staking out all the president's men, George Herman presiding over Face the Nation, Bob Schieffer covering the Pentagon like a police reporter.

Renegade Women in Film and TV blends fascinating biographical profiles and exclusive interviews with icons like Barbra Streisand, Rita Moreno, and Sigourney Weaver to celebrate the accomplishments of 50 extraordinary women throughout the history of entertainment. Each profile highlights the groundbreaking accomplishments and essential work of pioneers from the big and small screens, offering little-known facts about household names (Lucille Ball, Oprah Winfrey, Nora Ephron) and crucial introductions to overlooked pioneers (Alla Nazimova, Anna May Wong, Frances Marion).

This is the story of John McGahern's childhood - of his mother's death, his father's anger and bafflement, and of his own discovery of literature and his ambition to become a writer. At the heart of the book is an unembarrassed homage by a loving son to a woman who protected him and his sisters from his father's unpredictable moods. His joy in her presence is recovered with great lyrical tact.

Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying To Me? – a question famously asked by grand inquisitor Jeremy Paxman – is Rob Burley’s deliciously irreverent and gossipy insider’s account of 25 years working at the very top of British political television – and the unique insight he’s gained on the country’s politicians on the way. In this unique book Rob Burley sets out to explore the state of democracy and accountability in an era when voters have come to expect untruthfulness from their leaders.