The Way They Were

Coinciding with its 50th anniversary, this intriguing and impeccably researched book is the first ever exploration of the movie that has earned an annual spot in the AFI’s Top 10 movie romances and a place in the hearts of millions of moviegoers, revealing the full story behind the controversies, challenges, rivalries and romance surrounding The Way We Were. It’s one of the greatest movie romances of all time. Fifty years on, the chemistry between Barbra Streisand as Jewish working-class firebrand Katie Morosky and Robert Redford as all-American golden boy Hubbell Gardiner remains potent. Yet ­the friction and controversy surrounding The Way We Were were so enormous, the movie was nearly never made at all. Impeccably researched and eye-opening, The Way They Were reveals the full story behind the challenges, rivalries and real-life romance surrounding the movie. Even the iconic casting was fraught. Screenwriter Arthur Laurents wrote the role of Katie with Streisand in mind, but finding Hubbell was another matter. Redford was reluctant to play what he perceived as the “Ken doll” to Streisand’s lead, and demanded his role be beefed up, with ten writers—among them Francis Ford Coppola—called in to rework the script. The first preview was disastrous. Several scenes were cut, angering Streisand and Laurents, yet the edits worked. The new version was a resounding success, and its appeal endures, earning it a regular spot in the AFI’s annual Top 10 movie romances. The Way They Were also explores the deep, surprising love story that inspired the screenplay—the relationship between Laurents, a Jewish Brooklyn-born college leftist, and his longtime partner, Tom Hatcher. Drawing on a vast trove of Laurents’s unpublished writings, as well as interviews with Streisand, Redford, and other key players, this is the definitive account of a film that changed the rules of moviemaking and has defined romance ever since. Robert Hofler is the lead theater critic for TheWrap, and in 2020, he received the award for Best Theater Reviews from the Los Angeles Press Club. Previously, he has been an editor at several magazines and newspapers, including Life and Variety. He lives in New York City.

The definitive edition of the classic, myth-shattering history of the American family Leave It to Beaver was not a documentary, a man's home has never been his castle, the "male breadwinner marriage" is the least traditional family in history, and rape and sexual assault were far higher in the 1970s than they are today. In The Way We Never Were, acclaimed historian Stephanie Coontz examines two centuries of the American family, sweeping away misconceptions about the past that cloud current debates about domestic life. The 1950s do not present a workable model of how to conduct our personal lives today, Coontz argues, and neither does any other era from our cultural past. This revised edition includes a new introduction and epilogue, exploring how the clash between growing gender equality and rising economic inequality is reshaping family life, marriage, and male-female relationships in our modern era. More relevant than ever, The Way We Never Were is a potent corrective to dangerous nostalgia for an American tradition that never really existed.

This novel was written years ago. It was found "Like a treasure in a grandma's attic" and reviewed by close literary friends who advised publication. It is an absorbing story of a day when the United States was embattled among Communism, Fascism, Peace, War, Strikes, Depression, hopeful and hopeless love. It was a time when many in the population were immigrants and their children, strangers. Television had not erupted; radio was dominant. Every city had several newspapers usually for less than a nickel. Gangster Dillingers were thought to be Robin Hoods, (which they were not) and often achieved their nebulous glory before they were thirty. It was a time of Billie Holiday, Paul Robeson, The Scottsboro Boys, America First, Father Coughlin, Franklin Roosevelt, Hemingway, and Steinbeck. The urbanite relaxed by going to a crowded beach along a waterfront. Young love sometimes had a dollar to splurge on a date. Young love made do and was often oblivious to the whirling crises of the times. Much of this is in The Way They Were written fifty-odd years ago. An enthralling view.

The purpose of this book is to help the millions of people who visit old forts along the coast, rivers, on the plains and in the mountains each year. Also, if you are looking for a way to interest your children in a new hobby that will help their school grades, improve their understanding of our great land or an interesting thing for the family. I wish to provide enough information to prepare and hopefully, it will interest each visitor. Many parents do not know the value of patiently pointing out as a teacher to their children. It is easy and an experience that will come only once in a lifetime, long remembered. Interest promotes better grades and it is more fun to do it first hand. Exploring old forts can be rewarding, adventurous, exciting and a fun hobby for all ages. It will also build vocabularies, too. You must know something of the forts origin, if you are to enjoy exploring it. The ingredients of the building, the reasons for the location and the famous people who fought and died there are important to understand. In many cases our heritage depended on the outcome of yesterday.

How to deal with your parents’ divorce when you’re not a kid anymore As the divorce rate soars among the baby-boomer generation, more and more people in their twenties and thirties are being faced with the divorce of their parents, and few resources exist to help them cope with their unique circumstances. Written by an award-winning journalist who has lived through her own parents’ midlife divorce, this practical, comforting guide includes advice on: • How to help your parents without getting caught in the middle • How to have tough conversations with your parents about money, property, and inheritance—theirs and yours • How to understand the complexities of infidelity and stepfamilies • How to rebuild relationships with each parent after the divorce

"History" sounds really official. Like it's all fact. Like it's definitely what happened. But that's not necessarily true. History was crafted by the people who recorded it. And sometimes, those historians were biased against, didn't see, or couldn't even imagine anyone different from themselves. That means that history has often left out the stories of LGBTQIA+ people: men who loved men, women who loved women, people who loved without regard to gender, and people who lived outside gender boundaries. Historians have even censored the lives and loves of some of the world's most famous people, from William Shakespeare and Pharaoh Hatshepsut to Cary Grant and Eleanor Roosevelt. Join author Lee Wind for this fascinating journey through primary sources—poetry, memoir, news clippings, and images of ancient artwork—to explore the hidden (and often surprising) Queer lives and loves of two dozen historical figures.

Susannah and Rob were childhood sweethearts. But as with most early love affairs, they broke up, moved on and now find themselves in very different places. And not entirely happy - who is? A chance meeting between them sends shockwaves through their lives. What happens when your first love makes a surprise reappearance?