Ask a Manager

Download Ask a Manager PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ballantine Books
ISBN 13 : 0399181822
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (991 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Ask a Manager by : Alison Green

Download or read book Ask a Manager written by Alison Green and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

The Advocate

Download The Advocate PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 96 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Advocate by :

Download or read book The Advocate written by and published by . This book was released on 2001-08-14 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Advocate is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) monthly newsmagazine. Established in 1967, it is the oldest continuing LGBT publication in the United States.

Indianapolis Monthly

Download Indianapolis Monthly PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 360 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Indianapolis Monthly by :

Download or read book Indianapolis Monthly written by and published by . This book was released on 2004-09 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indianapolis Monthly is the Circle City’s essential chronicle and guide, an indispensable authority on what’s new and what’s news. Through coverage of politics, crime, dining, style, business, sports, and arts and entertainment, each issue offers compelling narrative stories and lively, urbane coverage of Indy’s cultural landscape.

More Than Peach (Bellen Woodard Original Picture Book)

Download More Than Peach (Bellen Woodard Original Picture Book) PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Scholastic Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1338840460
Total Pages : 45 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (388 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis More Than Peach (Bellen Woodard Original Picture Book) by : Bellen Woodard

Download or read book More Than Peach (Bellen Woodard Original Picture Book) written by Bellen Woodard and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2022-07-26 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Penned by the very first Crayon Activist, Bellen Woodard, this picture book will tug at readers' heartstrings and inspire them to make a difference! When Bellen Woodard’s classmates referred to "the skin-color” crayon, in a school and classroom she had always loved, she knew just how important it was that everyone understood that “skin can be any number of beautiful colors.” This stunning picture book spreads Bellen’s message of inclusivity, empowerment, and the importance of inspiring the next generation of leaders. Bellen created the More Than Peach Project and crayons with every single kid in mind to transform the crayon industry and grow the way we see our world. And Bellen has done just that! This moving book includes back matter about becoming a leader and improving your community just like Bellen. Her wisdom and self- confidence are sure to encourage any young reader looking to use their voice to make even great spaces better!

News Editing

Download News Editing PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 422 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (319 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis News Editing by : Bruce H. Westley

Download or read book News Editing written by Bruce H. Westley and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Serpent King

Download The Serpent King PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Ember
ISBN 13 : 0553524046
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (535 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Serpent King by : Jeff Zentner

Download or read book The Serpent King written by Jeff Zentner and published by Ember. This book was released on 2017-06-06 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named to ten BEST OF THE YEAR lists and selected as a William C. Morris Award Winner,The Serpent King is the critically acclaimed, much-beloved story of three teens who find themselves--and each other--while on the cusp of graduating from high school with hopes of leaving their small-town behind. Perfect for fans of John Green's Turtles All the Way Down. "Move over, John Green; Zentner is coming for you." —The New York Public Library “Will fill the infinite space that was left in your chest after you finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” —BookRiot.com Dill isn't the most popular kid at his rural Tennessee high school. After his father fell from grace in a public scandal that reverberated throughout their small town, Dill became a target. Fortunately, his two fellow misfits and best friends, Travis and Lydia, have his back. But as they begin their senior year, Dill feels the coils of his future tightening around him. His only escapes are music and his secret feelings for Lydia--neither of which he is brave enough to share. Graduation feels more like an ending to Dill than a beginning. But even before then, he must cope with another ending--one that will rock his life to the core. Debut novelist Jeff Zentner provides an unblinking and at times comic view of the hard realities of growing up in the Bible belt, and an intimate look at the struggles to find one’s true self in the wreckage of the past. “A story about friendship, family and forgiveness, it’s as funny and witty as it is utterly heartbreaking.” —PasteMagazine.com “A brutally honest portrayal of teen life . . . [and] a love letter to the South from a man who really understands it.” —Mashable.com “I adored all three of these characters and the way they talked to and loved one another.”—New York Times

Mind Gym

Download Mind Gym PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN 13 : 0071504648
Total Pages : 238 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (715 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Mind Gym by : Gary Mack

Download or read book Mind Gym written by Gary Mack and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2002-06-24 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise for Mind Gym "Believing in yourself is paramount to success for any athlete. Gary's lessons and David's writing provide examples of the importance of the mental game." --Ben Crenshaw, two-time Masters champion and former Ryder Cup captain "Mind Gym hits a home run. If you want to build mental muscle for the major leagues, read this book." --Ken Griffey Jr., Major League Baseball MVP "I read Mind Gym on my way to the Sydney Olympics and really got a lot out of it. Gary has important lessons to teach, and you'll find the exercises fun and beneficial." --Jason Kidd, NBA All-Star and Olympic gold-medal winner In Mind Gym, noted sports psychology consultant Gary Mack explains how your mind influences your performance on the field or on the court as much as your physical skill does, if not more so. Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes--many of whom he has worked with--you will learn the same techniques and exercises Mack uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle." Mind Gym will give you the "head edge" over the competition.

Albion's Seed

Download Albion's Seed PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019974369X
Total Pages : 981 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (997 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Albion's Seed by : David Hackett Fischer

Download or read book Albion's Seed written by David Hackett Fischer and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1991-03-14 with total page 981 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating book is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time. In this sense, nearly all Americans are "Albion's Seed," no matter what their ethnicity may be. The concluding section of this remarkable book explores the ways that regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics from 1789 to 1988, and still help to shape attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence, on which differences between American regions are greater than between European nations.

Cowboy Seeks Bride

Download Cowboy Seeks Bride PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1402270224
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (22 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cowboy Seeks Bride by : Carolyn Brown

Download or read book Cowboy Seeks Bride written by Carolyn Brown and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2013-08-06 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He's Tough as Nails and Ready to Ride...She's Way Out of Her Element Rancher Dewar O'Donnell is just an old-fashioned cowboy at heart, and he can't wait to reenact the historic Chisholm Trail ride with his buddies. The trial-run cattle drive for a reality TV show sounds like a great time—until H.B. McKay pulls up in her slick red sports car. Haley McKay is a feisty, high-powered businesswoman with the power suit and stiletto heels to prove it. She's keen to research her company's hot new idea for a reality TV show—but mount up with a bunch of modern-day cowboys? Are they kidding? It's too late to back out now, so Haley sets out to prove that it will take more than snakes, storms, and stampedes to make her back down. Besides, sleeping under the stars with Dewar O'Donnell could prove mighty interesting. Spikes & Spurs Series Love Drunk Cowboy (Book 1) Red's Hot Cowboy (Book 2) Darn Good Cowboy Christmas (Book 3) One Hot Cowboy Wedding (Book 4) Mistletoe Cowboy (Book 5) Just a Cowboy and His Baby (Book 6) Cowboy Seeks Bride (Book 7) Praise for Bestselling Contemporary Western Romances by Carolyn Brown: "An old-fashioned love story told well... A delight."—RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars "Sizzling hot and absolutely delectable."—Romance Junkies "Funny, frank, and full of heart... One more welcome example of Brown's Texas-size talent for storytelling."—USA Today Happy Ever After "Alive with humor... Another page-turning joy of a book by an engaging author."—Fresh Fiction

Unbroken

Download Unbroken PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN 13 : 0812974492
Total Pages : 530 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (129 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Unbroken by : Laura Hillenbrand

Download or read book Unbroken written by Laura Hillenbrand and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2014-07-29 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more. In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when World War II began, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to a doomed flight on a May afternoon in 1943. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will. Appearing in paperback for the first time—with twenty arresting new photos and an extensive Q&A with the author—Unbroken is an unforgettable testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit, brought vividly to life by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand. Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award “Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] one-in-a-billion story . . . designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring.”—New York “Staggering . . . mesmerizing . . . Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.”—People “A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.”—The Washington Post “Ambitious and powerful . . . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.”—The New York Times Book Review “Magnificent . . . incredible . . . [Hillenbrand] has crafted another masterful blend of sports, history and overcoming terrific odds; this is biography taken to the nth degree, a chronicle of a remarkable life lived through extraordinary times.”—The Dallas Morning News “An astonishing testament to the superhuman power of tenacity.”—Entertainment Weekly “A tale of triumph and redemption . . . astonishingly detailed.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “[A] masterfully told true story . . . nothing less than a marvel.”—Washingtonian “[Hillenbrand tells this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.”—Time “Hillenbrand [is] one of our best writers of narrative history. You don’t have to be a sports fan or a war-history buff to devour this book—you just have to love great storytelling.”—Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Talent Code

Download The Talent Code PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bantam
ISBN 13 : 0553906496
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (539 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Talent Code by : Daniel Coyle

Download or read book The Talent Code written by Daniel Coyle and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2009-04-28 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the secret of talent? How do we unlock it? This groundbreaking work provides readers with tools they can use to maximize potential in themselves and others. Whether you’re coaching soccer or teaching a child to play the piano, writing a novel or trying to improve your golf swing, this revolutionary book shows you how to grow talent by tapping into a newly discovered brain mechanism. Drawing on cutting-edge neurology and firsthand research gathered on journeys to nine of the world’s talent hotbeds—from the baseball fields of the Caribbean to a classical-music academy in upstate New York—Coyle identifies the three key elements that will allow you to develop your gifts and optimize your performance in sports, art, music, math, or just about anything. • Deep Practice Everyone knows that practice is a key to success. What everyone doesn’t know is that specific kinds of practice can increase skill up to ten times faster than conventional practice. • Ignition We all need a little motivation to get started. But what separates truly high achievers from the rest of the pack? A higher level of commitment—call it passion—born out of our deepest unconscious desires and triggered by certain primal cues. Understanding how these signals work can help you ignite passion and catalyze skill development. • Master Coaching What are the secrets of the world’s most effective teachers, trainers, and coaches? Discover the four virtues that enable these “talent whisperers” to fuel passion, inspire deep practice, and bring out the best in their students. These three elements work together within your brain to form myelin, a microscopic neural substance that adds vast amounts of speed and accuracy to your movements and thoughts. Scientists have discovered that myelin might just be the holy grail: the foundation of all forms of greatness, from Michelangelo’s to Michael Jordan’s. The good news about myelin is that it isn’t fixed at birth; to the contrary, it grows, and like anything that grows, it can be cultivated and nourished. Combining revelatory analysis with illuminating examples of regular people who have achieved greatness, this book will not only change the way you think about talent, but equip you to reach your own highest potential.

The Invisible String

Download The Invisible String PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (143 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Invisible String by : Patrice Karst

Download or read book The Invisible String written by Patrice Karst and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Liza and Jeremy run to their mother during a scary storm, she comforts them by telling them about the Invisible String, which connects people who love each other no matter where they are and means that they are never alone. This heartwarming picture book for all ages explores questions about the intangible yet unbreakable connections between us, and opens up deeper conversations about love.

Let the World See You

Download Let the World See You PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Thomas Nelson
ISBN 13 : 1400220459
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (2 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Let the World See You by : Sam Acho

Download or read book Let the World See You written by Sam Acho and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NFL linebacker, speaker, podcaster, and humanitarian Sam Acho gives a blueprint for taking off our masks and living lives of genuine authenticity. Most of us hide. We play small and don't live up to our full potential. Sam Acho was one of those people. As an NFL linebacker, for example, he earned his MBA but told no one because he was afraid of what people might think if they found out that he cared about things that weren't "normal" for his profession. After many years of hiding himself, the person he had become had no connection to the real Sam. Only when he lost a friend and a mentor did he realize he was doing it all wrong--just like many us do, when we try to become someone we're not. All the while, we ignore the unique gifts and talents and personality we truly possess. But there is another way of living: Let the world see you. Your quirks, your passions, and your inner desires were not given to you by accident. And the world needs your gifts. In Let the World See You, Sam Acho shares lessons from his own life as well as stories from others to reveal how you can overcome your fears and discover your true selves. Being the real you pays big. No one else has what you have. No one else can share what you share. Let the World See You helps crack the shell of people who are in hiding and reveals the benefits of a lifestyle lived on purpose.

Down by Contact

Download Down by Contact PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 039958630X
Total Pages : 166 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (995 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Down by Contact by : Santino Hassell

Download or read book Down by Contact written by Santino Hassell and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-01-16 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two rival football players begin a game with higher stakes than the Super Bowl in this steamy romance from the author of Illegal Contact. Simeon Boudreaux, the New York Barons’ golden-armed quarterback, is blessed with irresistible New Orleans charm and a face to melt your mama’s heart. He’s universally adored by fans and the media. Coming out as gay in solidarity with his teammate hasn’t harmed his reputation in the least—except for some social media taunting from rival linebacker Adrián Bravo. Though they were once teammates, Adrián views Simeon as a traitor and the number-one name on the New Jersey Predators’ shit list. When animosity between the two NFL players reaches a boiling point on the field, culminating in a dirty fist fight, they’re both benched for six games and sentenced to joint community service teaching sullen, Brooklyn teens how to play ball. At first, they can barely stand to be in the same room, but running the camp forces them to shape up. With no choice but to work together, Simeon realizes Adrián is more than his alpha-jerk persona, and Adrián begins to question why he’s always had such strong feelings for the gorgeous QB…

Results

Download Results PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Crown Business
ISBN 13 : 0307337316
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (73 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Results by : Bruce A. Pasternack

Download or read book Results written by Bruce A. Pasternack and published by Crown Business. This book was released on 2005-10-18 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every company has a personality. Does yours help or hinder your results? Does it make you fit for growth? Find out by taking the quiz that’s helped 50,000 people better understand their organizations at OrgDNA.com and to learn more about Organizational DNA. Just as you can understand an individual’s personality, so too can you understand a company’s type—what makes it tick, what’s good and bad about it. Results explains why some organizations bob and weave and roll with the punches to consistently deliver on commitments and produce great results, while others can’t leave their corner of the ring without tripping on their own shoelaces. Gary Neilson and Bruce Pasternack help you identify which of the seven company types you work for—and how to keep what’s good and fix what’s wrong. You’ll feel the shock of recognition (“That’s me, that’s my company”) as you find out whether your organization is: • Passive-Aggressive (“everyone agrees, smiles, and nods, but nothing changes”): entrenched underground resistance makes getting anything done like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall • Fits-and-Starts (“let 1,000 flowers bloom”): filled with smart people pulling in different directions • Outgrown (“the good old days meet a brave new world”): reacts slowly to market developments, since it’s too hard to run new ideas up the flagpole • Overmanaged (“we’re from corporate and we’re here to help”): more reporting than working, as managers check on their subordinates’ work so they can in turn report to their bosses • Just-in-Time (“succeeding, but by the skin of our teeth”): can turn on a dime and create real breakthroughs but also tends to burn out its best and brightest • Military Precision (“flying in formation”): executes brilliant strategies but usually does not deal well with events not in the playbook • Resilient (“as good as it gets”): flexible, forward-looking, and fun; bounces back when it hits a bump in the road and never, ever rests on its laurels For anyone who’s ever said, “Wow, that’s a great idea, but it’ll never happen here” or “Whew, we pulled it off again, but I’m tired of all this sprinting,” Results provides robust, practical ideas for becoming and remaining a resilient business. Also available as an eBook From the Hardcover edition.

A Lillian Smith Reader

Download A Lillian Smith Reader PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Georgia Press
ISBN 13 : 0820349984
Total Pages : 345 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (23 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Lillian Smith Reader by : Lillian Eugenia Smith

Download or read book A Lillian Smith Reader written by Lillian Eugenia Smith and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing together short stories, lectures, essays, op-ed pieces, interviews, andexcerpts from her longer fiction and nonfiction, A Lillian Smith Reader offers thefirst comprehensive collection of her work.

My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life

Download My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Akashic Books
ISBN 13 : 1617757705
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (177 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life by : Ryan O'Callaghan

Download or read book My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life written by Ryan O'Callaghan and published by Akashic Books. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A riveting account of life as a closeted professional athlete from gay NFL player O’Callaghan, against the backdrop of depression, opioid addiction, and the threat of suicide. “[O’Callaghan’s] story is one of beautiful vulnerability, and it further shows the importance of knowing you aren’t alone.” —Oprah Daily, recommended by Gayle King Ryan O’Callaghan’s plan was always to play football and then, when his career was over, kill himself. Growing up in a politically conservative corner of California, the not-so-subtle messages he heard as a young man from his family and from TV and film routinely equated being gay with disease and death. Letting people in on the darkest secret he kept buried inside was not an option: better death with a secret than life as a gay man. As a kid , Ryan never envisioned just how far his football career would take him. He was recruited by the University of California, Berkeley, where he spent five seasons, playing alongside his friend Aaron Rodgers. Then it was on to the NFL for stints with the almost-undefeated New England Patriots and the often-defeated Kansas City Chiefs. Bubbling under the surface of Ryan’s entire NFL career was a collision course between his secret sexuality and his hidden drug use. When the league caught him smoking pot, he turned to NFL-sanctioned prescription painkillers that quickly sent his life into a tailspin. As injuries mounted and his daily intake of opioids reached a near-lethal level, he wrote his suicide note to his parents and plotted his death. Yet someone had been watching. A member of the Chiefs organization stepped in, recognizing the signs of drug addiction. Ryan reluctantly sought psychological help, and it was there that he revealed his lifelong secret for the very first time. Nearing the twilight of his career, Ryan faced the ultimate decision: end it all, or find out if his family and football friends could ever accept a gay man in their lives.