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$16.95 $10.17 |
Subtitle: "Memoirs of a Chippie of the California Highway Patrol". Bringing to light an entertaining array of anecdotes, this collection of police stories recalls some of the strangest, funniest, and most poignant accounts from the freeways, highways, and country roads throughout California. From the family who pulled over for a picnic on the median strip of a busy freeway to the angelic-looking 5-year-old girl who defused a tense traffic stop by sweetly confessing, ?my daddy has a beer under the seat,? this is an uncompromising view of the everyday pursuits, enforcement stops, arrests, accidents, and weird encounters that patrolmen must endure. Also featured is a panoply of unlikely drunk-driving suspects, including Santa Claus, a Boy Scout troop leader, a newlywed couple, and an airline pilot on his way to fly a plane; the traffic stop of an elderly driver whose license had expired 35 years earlier?and who explained he was on his way to the DMV; and many more hilarious, odd, and tragic stories of life and death on the open road. Encouraging a renewed respect for the men and women in uniform who risk their lives to protect the public, this compilation also contains advice on highway safety and how to behave when pulled over by a patrol officer.
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$15.95 $9.57 |
Subtitle: "The Bizarre, Freakish, and Just Curious Ways People Die in the Golden State." This book?s aim is to encompass shocking murders and accidents that at the time shook the very soul of Californians, but eventually and gratefully faded from memory. California has always been a destination for people with dreams of fame and fortune. Anything is possible in California, and when anything is possible, death always lurks nearby. ?Death in California? is a historic manuscript detailing the more arcane ways people have died in the Golden State. The thirty-one vignettes in ?Death in California? range from a description of being one of the fourteen different tourists to be swept to their deaths over Vernal Falls in Yosemite National Park, to singer Bob ?Bear? Hite of the blues/boogie band Canned Heat overdosing on heroin in a seedy Hollywood nightclub. The book?s diverse set of deaths include a tale of torture and murder by a chicken farmer in the desert in 1926, as well as the tragedy of a 10- ton jet airplane crashing into a Bay Area apartment kitchen in 1973. The litany of freakish and bizarre deaths in California also include hangings, gun accidents, crashes and suicide. Social status is no barrier: both the famous and obscure are profiled.
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$24.95 $14.97 |
Subtitle: Valley Veterans Remember World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War. The San Joaquin Valley?s rich history of courage, military service, duty and honor is preserved for future generations in Janice Stevens? new book Stories of Service, Volume II: Valley Veterans Remember World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War (Craven Street Books, November 2011). In this fascinating sequel to Stevens? original Stories of Service, ordinary soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians from the Valley tell in their own words their experiences during a half century of armed conflict. The one hundred personal memoirs in Stories of Service, Volume II record Valley veterans? trials, tragedies and triumphs from Pearl Harbor to the Mekong Delta. These are stories of harrowing combat, separation from loved ones, survival in POW camps, boredom, fear, bravery, victory and returning home ? plus all the bizarre, incongruous and humorous events of wartime and military service.
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$14.95 $8.97 |
"California Banditos" presents extraordinary, little-known tales of the infamous bandits and highwaymen who plied their trade in early California.
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$25.00 $15.00 |
In this collection of firsthand accounts by those who knew Cesar Chavez best, a portrait of an uncommonly complex man, both driven and focused, yet humble, empathic and exceedingly principled, emerges. The reader gains an understanding of the yoke Chavez chose to place upon his own shoulders, as well as the ideals he employed to accomplish for the migrant farmworkers what many predicted would be impossible. The more than 45 contributors range from the famous--Edward James Olmos, Henry Cisneros, Martin Sheen, Coretta Scott King, Jerry Brown and others--to members of the Chavez family, to UFW staff, to the farmworkers themselves. Illustrated by the compelling black and white photographs of George Elfie Ballis, who began photographing the farmworker movement in the 1950s.
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$26.95 |
From San Diego to the Salinas Valley, to the rugged coastlines of Monterey and San Francisco, and inland to Sonoma, El Camino Real traces the path of the Californias 21 historic missions. Under the leadership of Californias founding hero, Father Junipero Serra, Spanish priests and their Indian converts built these imposing and beautiful structures that are the earliest monuments of modern California. Remembering California Missions evokes all the beauty and history of Californias mission heritage in the lush watercolors of renowned California artist Pat Hunter and the insightful prose of Janice Stevens. Through exploring the history and enduring architectural, artistic, and cultural heritage of the California missions, this book reveals the full history of California itself, from Father Serras pioneering labors, to the conquest of the lands agricultural wealth, to Californias painful transfers from the Indians to Spain, Mexico and the United States. A treasury of captivating artistry and fascinating history, Remembering the California Missions celebrates and preserves the masterworks of Californias founding era.