The Boy With The Betty Grable Legs

There's something about Gonzales but who can put a finger on it? On the surface he seems pleasant and willing to oblige, the perfect manservant, but all is not as it seems.

Luck matters. Life is chancy. Springbok legend, war hero, thriving businessman - that was JJ Kitchen, known to all as Kitchen Boy. His was a life as large as a sports stadium, as thrilling as baling out of a burning war plane. Now he lies dead in his coffin in a Durban cathedral and his life is relived as funeral goers remember a glowing Natal childhood, the thunder of the rugby field, the joy and sorrows of family. But at the core of the man remained, to the end, the memory of WWII and how it could reduce even the bravest of men. The funeral draws to a close, but in the hearts of one of the pall-bearers, Kitchen Boy's shameful secret lives on.

For years, veteran Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Charles Salter roamed the state in his 1975 Chevy station wagon in search of the most offbeat characters to appear in his celebrated column, "The Georgia Rambler." From tall tales of the Okefenokee Swamp, to treasure hunters of Duluth and ex-moonshiners of North Georgia, Salter's stories are as eclectic and extraordinary as the people he interviewed. Along the way, he discovered the alleged original recipe for Coca-Cola in the pages of an old pharmacist's book, a find that inspired an episode of award-winning radio show This American Life. Read these remarkable stories and more in this never-before-published compilation of the best of "The Georgia Rambler."

A compelling portrait of one of Hollywood’s most invincible women, the late Barbara Stanwyck. A most unusual movie star, Stanwyck was an actress of considerable and neglected talent who elevated every role she had, a woman whose personal life matched the rocky road of her career. Whispered to be among Hollywood’s scandalous “sewing circle,” a group of internationally famous actresses who hid their potentially career-ending lesbianism and bisexuality, Stanwyck kept her liaisons a secret. Despite her steely resolve and her image as a take-control kind of woman, Stanwyck suffered from turbulent marriages and relationships, including her sensational marriage to, and divorce from, the abusive Robert Taylor. Madsen provides a fresh look at this fascinating, complex screen goddess, offering provocative and shocking details from one of Hollywood’s most interesting lives.

Discovered by Charlie Chaplin in 1919, four-year-old Jackie Coogan soared to overnight stardom for his title role in the silent masterpiece, The Kid. A string of successes followed, including Peck's Bad Boy, Oliver Twist, and A Boy of Flanders, earning Coogan a fortune of four million dollars. Dubbed 'The Millionaire Kid' by the press, he later had to sue his parents in a futile attempt to recover his squandered fortune. His later years were marked with penury and the cruel diminishment of his childhood fame. As an adult, he found work in character roles and gained unexpected but fleeting fame as 'Uncle Fester' in the series The Addams Family. He continued to make guest appearances on television until his death in 1984. In Jackie Coogan: The World's Boy King, Diana Serra Cary reveals the little-known and even less understood private life of this famous child star and his dysfunctional family. She looks at the highs and lows of an actor who reached the height of fame before ten and whose subsequent career took an inevitable fall. Cary also examines the conduct of Coogan's parents, whose behavior served as an unfortunate model for countless others who sought fame and fortune through their children's success. The author, a major child star (the former Baby Peggy), employs her own hard-won insight to explore the career and family woes of another in this fascinating account about one of the greatest child stars of all time. Includes more than 30 photos.

Betty Grable: The Reluctant Movie Queen is a fascinating and intimate account of the famous star who was for many years the highest-paid woman in America and a favorite pin-up all over the world. Filled with fascinating and intimate accounts from many who knew her well, this publication is a well-documented and eminently readable biography of the sparkling, complex personality of one of the best-loved stars in Hollywood's history.