Times Remembered

In the late 1970s legendary pianist Bill Evans was at the peak of his career. He revolutionized the jazz trio (bass, piano, drums) by giving each part equal emphasis in what jazz historian Ted Gioia called a “telepathic level” of interplay. It was an ideal opportunity for a sideman, and after auditioning in 1978, Joe La Barbera was ecstatic when he was offered the drum chair, completing the trio with Evans and bassist Marc Johnson. In Times Remembered, La Barbera and co-author Charles Levin provide an intimate fly-on-the-wall peek into Evans’s life, critical recording sessions, and behind-the-scenes anecdotes of life on the road. Joe regales the trio’s magical connection, a group that quickly gelled to play music on the deepest and purest level imaginable. He also watches his dream gig disappear, a casualty of Evans’s historical drug abuse when the pianist dies in a New York hospital emergency room in 1980. But La Barbera tells this story with love and respect, free of judgment, showing Evans’s humanity and uncanny ability to transcend physical weakness and deliver first-rate performances at nearly every show.

In Forgotten Times Remembered, Glendon, through the eyes of a boy growing up during the Great Depression of the 1930s, narrates the love and determination of his Scots mother to keep, a roof over their heads, of his older siblings seeking work when the country was mired in massive unemployment, of the daily struggles of a family just staying afloat. In spite of hardships this is a story of optimism, of a time when there were front porches, a time when a neighbors help was essential to life itself. It is a warm look at a time when laughter, oft times, covered the grim reality of their futures.

Lyric Poems of Times Remembered sings of dearly remembered times and places. These are poems about good people, good things, and good times to warm your heart. In reading them, you may be reminded of good people, good things, and good times God has given you, and you may want to rejoice and give thanks. John invites, “Come sit with me in the comfort of this little book, and be blessed.”

On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, 1992, Ben Ewell’s brother, sister-in-law, and niece were all murdered. While trying to make sense of this staggering tragedy, Ben can’t help but think back through his life: the hard work and the many peaceful Sunday afternoons growing up on his family farm in Ohio in a house without a bathroom or running water; his high school antics in the 1950s; his time in Haight-Ashbury while attending law school in 1960s San Francisco; and the highs and lows, both personal and professional, of life after school. Threaded throughout these reminiscences, Ben reveals the details of the investigation of his family members’ murders—and the arrest and trial of the parties involved. In this decades-long saga, there is marriage and divorce, love and loss, family and friendship; there are political campaigns and business ventures, some failed and some fruitful. Ultimately, this is a story of perseverance in the face of tragedy, of creating opportunities out of problems, and of appreciating the gift of life and the world around us—with some humor along the way.

Who better to tell the story of the gentrification of a musical genre than the man who started out as Jungle's most streetwise ambassador and went on to collect an MBE from Buckingham Palace? But Goldie's uncensored, hard-hitting memoir is far more than just the story of the house-training of drum 'n' bass. As one of Britain's most influential DJs, producers, promoters, and record-label owners - whose contributions to the UK rave scene in the 1990s defined the genres jungle and urban rave, Goldie is an iconic figure. Hugely addictive, this gonzo memoir is a vertiginous thrill-ride from the darkest depths of the West Midlands care-home system to the snowiest uplands of coke-crazed international celebrity. It is an explosive story of abuse, revenge, graffiti, gold teeth, sawn-off shotguns, car crashes, hot yoga, absent fatherhood, and redemption through reality TV.

This book is a collection of poems short stories and things remembered from the author's years of growing up. The poems were started when, while watching tv, I started writing down stuff about angels. The next thing I knew I had three poems written about angels. Things just kept going from there. The book of Ruth has always been a favorite of mine. Before I got through writing the story about Ruth, I felt led to write the story on Ester. A dear friend who is a retired school teacher, read these poems and stories and encouraged me to continue and put all my writings into a book. Many of the stories are from family experiences, so, one could say they really are true stories. I hope something in this book will touch and change someones life.

This was my daughters idea, one day she said, "Dad, your life has been filled with fun and funny stories, some day you will be gone and we will never hear them." Now you can.