Laura Hillenbrand is from Fairfax, Virginia and she attended school at Kenyon College. During her sophomore year at college, she got a severe case of food poisoning that she could never fully recover from. She was later diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Her sickness left her feeling weak, but she still managed to write Seabiscuit: An American Legend. She wrote the book over the course of four years through extensive research and help from sources who were in some way connected to the story. (Hillenbrand, 2003) Hillenbrand got the basics of the Seabiscuit's story from places where most people would think to look for information, such as newspapers and other archives from the Library of Congress, official track chart books, etc., but she knew she wanted more than just what these resources could offer. She dug deeper. She started to contact people who were alive during Seabiscuit's time and those who had access to important, reliable information regarding the epic story of one horse and the people who helped him become one of the greatest racehorses of all time. (Hillenbrand, 2002) Just a few of …show more content…
Just a few include: Colonel Michael C. Howard, Tommy and Helen Luther, Norah Pollard Christianson, Edie Pollard Wilde, Bill Buck, Keith Stucki, and Farrell Jones. Colonel Michael C. Howard, Charles Howard’s great-grandson, gave Hillenbrand access to old family treasures, and gave her the encouragement and help she needed to write the book. Tommy Luther was the creator of the Jockey’s Guild and one of the greatest jockeys of his time. Luther, along with his wife Helen, gave Hillenbrand a large amount of stories about Red Pollard. Stories about Pollard’s life also came from his daughter, Norah Pollard Christianson, and his sister, Edie Pollard Wilde. They gave Hillenbrand a deeper look into the details of Pollard’s life. (Hillenbrand,
"James Roy was born an odd colour in Trundle Base Hospital [NSW] in 1968 and got to ride in an ambulance shortly after. Strangely he doesn’t remember the name of the driver." (Inside Cover – C.M.) He spent much of his childhood in missionary camps in Papua New Guinea and Fiji. This is where his love of literature began, he spent his days playing on the beaches and coral islands, but at night he would read books and dream of one day writing his own. Captain Mack is Roy’s third book and was short-listed for a Children’s Book Council of Australia (C.B.C.A.) Award. Billy Mack’s War is Roy’s seventh book, which he has written after many calls to complete the open-ended conclusion of Captain Mack. It has also won a C.B.C.A. honour award; "Roy’s well written story is full of insight and compassion without resort to sentimentality." (C.B.C.A.) James Roy’s style of writing is relaxed, succinct and subtle but thought provoking. He now lives with his family in the Blue Mountains and enjoys sailing, bushwalking and performing in his band ‘Cranky Franky.’ Roy draws on some of these varied life experiences to create the plots for his books.
O’Brien, Tim. “How To Tell a True War Story.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2003. p. 420-429.
Philip was not much of a student failing and dropping out of his university and later joined a community college. So one day when the military came to his school and he enlisted himself to serve under the Marine Corp hoping to feed is hunger of adventure. First, Philip was sent to training camp where he learned the history of the marines, different war tactics and their basic weaponry functions. At this point Philip was very much egger to into the jungle and “fight for America”. After his basic training his time to enter the war came around he was sent to Okinawa where his group was stationed at. The days there grow long and dreadful as not action was seen for and long period of time but now just a couple of weeks after his group would be stepping into the war field. The group was given basic information of the war. Although it was more exciting then their train camp it wasn 't the war they were expecting, simply protecting their base camp for any enemy that tried to gain access to. This task didn 't last to long until one day another group got
Paul Revere's Ride is a collection of historical accounts centering around Paul Revere's midnight ride to warn the countryside of the battles that occurred. The novel is made up of narrative accounts that tell the whole story of the midnight ride. David Hackett Fischer goes to great lengths to cover every possible angle in telling the story. "Fischer illuminates the figure of Paul Revere, a man far more complex than a simple artisan and messenger"(3). By adding different perspectives he allows the reader to see not only the American idealistic point of view, but we get a chance to hear British accounts of these particular events. In this way Hackett Fischer paints an accurate and unbiased picture not only of Paul Revere and his ride, but also of many other supporting historical figures that were important in making these events happen.
Born in Virginia, to mother Martha Puller and father Matthew Puller, he grew to become a well recognized marine globally (Russell & Cohn, 2012). His father’s dead while he was 10 years did not stop him to achieve a high point career; in fact, his childhood lifestyle of listening to war stories...
The adjustment from years on the frontlines of World War I to the mundane everyday life of a small Oklahoma town can be difficult. Ernest Hemingway’s character Harold Krebs, has a harder time adjusting to home life than most soldiers that had returned home. Krebs returned years after the war was over and was expected to conform back into societies expectations with little time to adapt back to a life not surrounded by war. Women take a prominent role in Krebs’s life and have strong influences on him. In the short story “Soldier’s Home” Hemingway uses the women Krebs interacts with to show Krebs internal struggle of attraction and repulsion to conformity.
DeMyers, Sandra. "Intro to the Hero's Journey." Loyno.edu. Northshore High School, 21 June 2000. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
Louise Wright talks about her life during the time of the American Civil War. In her experiences she talks about how she thought Richmond refugees were strong and brave to take on the elements without everyday necessities, such as food and shelter and not hear them complain. She also talks about ambulances during this time. In particular she sees mules taking the wounded soldiers to hospitals.
In the fall of 1969, stable owners Ogden Phipps and Penny Chenery met in the offices of the New York Racing Association for what turned out to be one of the most important coin tosses in sports history. The winner would receive the recently born foal of the sire Bold Ruler and the mare Hasty Matelda, while the loser would get the second foal from Bold Ruler with a different mare,
Gibson, Donald B. The Red Badge of Courage: Redefining the Hero. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988.
Young, Alfred Fabian. Masquerade: The Life and Times of Deborah Sampson, Continental Soldier. New York: Alfred A. Knopf :, 2004.
Blount begins the journey through Lee’s life with Lee’s father, Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee. Henry was a Revolutionary War hero who went bankrupt and disgraced the Lee name. When Robert was a young child his father went to Baltimore to assist in the defense of a newspaper that was opposed to the war o...
Several stories into the novel, in the section, “How to tell a true war story”, O’Brien begins to warn readers of the lies and exaggerations that may occur when veterans tell war stories.
Sheehan, Keeley. "THE LONE SURVIVOR SHARES TALE; Author and ex-SEAL Marcus Luttrell talks of his experiences." Tampa Bay Times [St. Petersburg, FL] 12 Mar. 2014: 1B. Student Resources in Context. Web. 9 May 2014.
Thomas L. Clancy Jr., son of a mailman and department store credit employee, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1947. He attended a local catholic parochial elementary and secondary school. Most of his friends were interested in sports, and following their favorite teams throughout the season, but Tom had more important things on his mind like guns, tanks, and planes. He went to Loyola College, a Jesuit college of liberal arts in Baltimore where he majored in English. While attending college he joined the ROTC in order to serve in Vietnam, but poor eyesight kept him from fulfilling his desire. The first short story he wrote was rejected by Analog Sci-Fi magazine, crushing another dream of having his name on a book. In 1973 he became an insurance agent, as he wasn’t making any head way as a writer. Eventually he joined his wife’s father’s insurance agency, and later bought it in 1980 for $125,000. It was an established business with around 1,000 clients. Tom was so effective, and the business so profitable, that he could accomplish all the work in the morning and have the rest of the day to devour all sorts of technical journals and papers.3 After his writing career took off in 1984, he eventually moved into a 400 acre estate on the Chesapeake Bay.