Right Here On Our Stage Tonight

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Right Here on Our Stage Tonight!

Author : Gerald Nachman
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520944860
Total Pages : 491 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (29 download)

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Book Synopsis Right Here on Our Stage Tonight! by : Gerald Nachman

Download or read book Right Here on Our Stage Tonight! written by Gerald Nachman and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2009-11-05 with total page 491 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before the advent of cable and its hundreds of channels, before iPods and the Internet, three television networks ruled America's evenings. And for twenty-three years, Ed Sullivan, the Broadway gossip columnist turned awkward emcee, ruled Sunday nights. It was Sullivan's genius to take a worn-out stage genre-vaudeville-and transform it into the TV variety show, a format that was to dominate for decades. Right Here on Our Stage Tonight! tells the complete saga of The Ed Sullivan Show and, through the voices of some 60 stars interviewed for the book, brings to life the most beloved, diverse, multi-cultural, and influential variety hour ever to air. Gerald Nachman takes us through those years, from the earliest dog acts and jugglers to Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and beyond. Sullivan was the first TV impresario to feature black performers on a regular basis-including Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, James Brown, and Richard Pryor-challenging his conservative audience and his own traditional tastes, and changing the face of American popular culture along the way. No other TV show ever cut such a broad swath through our national life or cast such a long shadow, nor has there ever been another show like it. Nachman's compulsively readable history, illustrated with classic photographs and chocked with colorful anecdotes, reanimates The Ed Sullivan Show for a new generation.

In On the Joke

Author : Shawn Levy
Publisher : Doubleday
ISBN 13 : 0385545797
Total Pages : 378 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (855 download)

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Book Synopsis In On the Joke by : Shawn Levy

Download or read book In On the Joke written by Shawn Levy and published by Doubleday. This book was released on 2022-04-05 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A sensitive and vivid study of early female stand-ups… [Levy is a] painstaking, knowledgeable guide.” —New York Times Book Review A hilarious and moving account of the trailblazing women of stand-up comedy who broke down walls so they could stand before the mic—perfect for fans of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Hacks Today, women are ascendant in stand-up comedy, even preeminent. They make headlines, fill arenas, spawn blockbuster movies. But before Amy Schumer slayed, Tiffany Haddish killed, and Ali Wong drew roars, the very idea of a female comedian seemed, to most of America, like a punch line. And it took a special sort of woman—indeed, a parade of them—to break and remake the mold. In on the Joke is the story of a group of unforgettable women who knocked down the doors of stand-up comedy so other women could get a shot. It spans decades, from Moms Mabley’s rise in Black vaudeville between the world wars, to the roadhouse ribaldry of Belle Barth and Rusty Warren in the 1950s and '60s, to Elaine May's co-invention of improv comedy, to Joan Rivers's and Phyllis Diller’s ferocious ascent to mainstream stardom. These women refused to be defined by type and tradition, facing down indifference, puzzlement, nay-saying, and unvarnished hostility. They were discouraged by agents, managers, audiences, critics, fellow performers—even their families. And yet they persevered against the tired notion that women couldn’t be funny, making space not only for themselves, but for the women who followed them. Meticulously researched and irresistibly drawn, Shawn Levy's group portrait forms a new pantheon of comedy excellence. In on the Joke shows how women broke into the boys’ club, offered new ideas of womanhood, and had some laughs along the way.

Broadway in the Box

Author : Kelly Kessler
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190674032
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (96 download)

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Book Synopsis Broadway in the Box by : Kelly Kessler

Download or read book Broadway in the Box written by Kelly Kessler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-01 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was as if American television audiences discovered the musical in the early 21st century. In 2009 Glee took the Fox Network and American television by storm with the unexpected unification of primetime programming, awkward teens, and powerful voices spontaneously bursting into song. After raking in the highest rating for a new show in the 2009-2010 season, Glee would continue to cultivate rabid fans, tie-in soundtracks and merchandising, and a spinoff reality competition show until its conclusion in 2015. Alongside Glee, NBC and Fox would crank up musical visibility with the nighttime drama Smash and a string of live musical productions. Then came ABC's comedic fantasy musical series Galavant and the CW's surprise Golden Globe darling Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Television and the musical appeared to be a perfect match. But, as author Kelly Kessler illustrates, television had at that point been carrying on a sixty-year, symbiotic love affair with the musical. From Rodgers and Hammerstein's appearance on the first Toast of the Town telecast and Mary Martin's iconic Peter Pan airings to Barbra Streisand's 1960s CBS specials, The Carol Burnett Show, Cop Rock, Great Performances, and a string of one-off musical episodes of sitcoms, nighttime soaps, fantasy shows, and soap operas, television has always embraced the musical. Kessler shows how the form is written across the history of American television and how its various incarnations tell the stories of shifting American culture and changing television, film, and theatrical landscapes. She recounts and explores this rich, decades-long history by traversing musicals, stars, and sounds from film, Broadway, and Las Vegas to the small screen.

Make 'Em Laugh

Author : Steve Allen
Publisher : Prometheus Books
ISBN 13 : 1615928510
Total Pages : 340 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (159 download)

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Book Synopsis Make 'Em Laugh by : Steve Allen

Download or read book Make 'Em Laugh written by Steve Allen and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2013-05-24 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The success of Steve Allen's How To Be Funny led first to the republication of that book, and now occasioned a companion volume, Make 'Em Laugh. This new how-to book about the art of comedy includes an even richer assortment of examples of the author's unique humor. In Make 'Em Laugh, Allen laces his formal instruction with hilarious ad-libs, written jokes, TV comedy sketches, satires, song parodies, humorous essays, amusing autobiographical reminiscences, one-act plays, witty speeches, and stand-up monologues from his comedy concerts. Noel Coward called Steve Allen the most talented man in America, and he is probably the most borrowed-from comedian of all time. The perceptive reader will recognize many of the comic ideas that Allen originated during the "Golden Age" of television comedy - ideas that are still influential in the 1990's. If there were a college course in creating and performing comedy, Make 'Em Laugh would be the ideal textbook.

The Dragon Turn

Author : Shane Peacock
Publisher : Tundra Books
ISBN 13 : 1770492739
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis The Dragon Turn by : Shane Peacock

Download or read book The Dragon Turn written by Shane Peacock and published by Tundra Books. This book was released on 2011-10-11 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Summer 1869, and Sherlock Holmes and his friend Irene celebrate her sixteenth birthday by attending the theater to watch a celebrated magician make a real dragon appear on stage. It is the London sensation. Sherlock and Irene meet the magician, Alistair Hemsworth – just as he is arrested for the murder of his rival, The Wizard of Nottingham. It seems that traces of the missing Wizard’s blood and his spectacles were found in Hemsworth’s secret studio. Hemsworth has a motive: not only is the Wizard his rival, but he also caused a scandal when he lured Hemsworth’s wife away. But is Hemsworth guilty? Sherlock has his doubts, and soon, so does the reader. With humor and plot turns as dizzying as a narrow London lane, Shane Peacock invites his readers into a fascinating world, and a fresh adventure with one of literature’s favorite characters. The Boy Sherlock Holmes series is an international success with readers and reviewers alike.

Straighten Up and Fly Right

Author : Will Friedwald
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0190882042
Total Pages : 657 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis Straighten Up and Fly Right by : Will Friedwald

Download or read book Straighten Up and Fly Right written by Will Friedwald and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most popular and memorable American musicians of the 20th century, Nat King Cole (1919-65) is remembered today as both a pianist and a singer, a feat rarely accomplished in the world of popular music. Now, in this complete life and times biography, author Will Friedwald offers a new take on this fascinating musician, framing him first as a bandleader and then as a star. In Cole's early phase, Friedwald explains, his primary task of keeping his trio going was just as much of a focus for him as his own playing and singing, always a collective or group performance. In the second act, Cole's collaborators were more likely to be arranger-conductors like Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins, rather than his sidemen on bass and guitar. In the first act, his sidemen were equals, in the second phase, his collaborators were tasked exclusively with putting the focus on him, making him sound good, while being largely invisible themselves. Friedwald brings his full musical knowledge to bear in putting the man in the work, demonstrating how this duality appears over and over again in Cole's life and career: jazz vs. pop, solo vs. trio, piano vs. voice, wife number one (Nadine) vs. wife number two (Maria), the good songs vs. the less-than-good songs, the rhythm numbers vs. the ballads, the funny songs and novelties vs. the "serious" songs of love and loss, Cole as an advocate for the Great American Songbook vs. Cole the intrepid explorer of other options: world music, rhythm & blues, country & western. Cole was different from his contemporaries in other ways; for roughly ten years after the war, the majority of hitmakers on the pop charts were veterans of the big band experience, from Sinatra on down.

Front Stoops in the Fifties

Author : Michael Olesker
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 1421411601
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (214 download)

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Book Synopsis Front Stoops in the Fifties by : Michael Olesker

Download or read book Front Stoops in the Fifties written by Michael Olesker and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2013-11 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Olesker's doo-wop portrait of Baltimore is nostalgic, but it has a hard edge.

Becoming Belafonte

Author : Judith E. Smith
Publisher : University of Texas Press
ISBN 13 : 0292756704
Total Pages : 341 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (927 download)

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Book Synopsis Becoming Belafonte by : Judith E. Smith

Download or read book Becoming Belafonte written by Judith E. Smith and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2014-09-15 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This biography of the singer, actor, and fearless anti-racism activist is “so engaging that readers will crave a sequel” (Kirkus Reviews). A son of poor Jamaican immigrants who grew up in Depression-era Harlem, Harry Belafonte became the first black performer to gain artistic control over the representation of African Americans in commercial television and film. Forging connections with an astonishing array of consequential players on the American scene in the decades following World War II—from Paul Robeson to Ed Sullivan, John Kennedy to Stokely Carmichael—Belafonte established his place in American culture as a hugely popular singer, matinee idol, internationalist, and champion of civil rights, black pride, and black power. In Becoming Belafonte, Judith E. Smith presents the first full-length interpretive study of this multitalented artist. She sets Belafonte’s compelling story within a history of American race relations, black theater and film history, McCarthy-era hysteria, and the challenges of introducing multifaceted black culture in a moment of expanding media possibilities and constrained political expression. Smith traces Belafonte’s roots in the radical politics of the 1940s, his careful negotiation of the complex challenges of the Cold War 1950s, and his full flowering as a civil rights advocate and internationally acclaimed performer in the 1960s. In Smith’s account, Belafonte emerges as a relentless activist, a questing intellectual, and a tireless organizer—and a performer who never shied away from the dangerous crossroads where art and politics meet.

The Life and Music of Graham Jackson

Author : David Cason
Publisher : University Press of Florida
ISBN 13 : 0813072875
Total Pages : 162 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis The Life and Music of Graham Jackson by : David Cason

Download or read book The Life and Music of Graham Jackson written by David Cason and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2023-08-15 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking Black artist and his career in the Jim Crow South This book is the first biography of Graham Jackson (1903-1983), a virtuosic musician whose life story displays the complexities of being a Black professional in the segregated South. David Cason discusses how Jackson navigated a web of racial and social negotiations throughout his long career and highlights his little-known role in events of the twentieth century. Widely known for an iconic photo taken of him playing the accordion in tears at Franklin D. Roosevelt’s funeral, which became a Life magazine cover, Jackson is revealed here to have a much deeper story. He was a performer, composer, and high school music director known for his skills on the piano and organ. Jackson was among the first Black men to enlist in the Navy during World War II, helping recruit many other volunteers and raising over $2 million for the war effort. After the war he became a fixture at Atlanta music venues and in 1971, Governor Jimmy Carter proclaimed Jackson the State Musician of Georgia. Cason examines Jackson’s groundbreaking roles with a critical eye, taking into account how Jackson drew on his connections with white elites including Roosevelt, Coca-Cola magnate Robert Woodruff, and golfer Bobby Jones, and was censured by Black Power figures for playing songs associated with Confederate memory. Based on archival, newspaper, and interview materials, The Life and Music of Graham Jackson brings into view the previously unknown story of an ambitious and talented artist and his controversial approach to the politics and culture of his day. Publication of this work made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

That Was Me

Author : Richard D. Driver
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1793632081
Total Pages : 293 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (936 download)

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Book Synopsis That Was Me by : Richard D. Driver

Download or read book That Was Me written by Richard D. Driver and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-07-24 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the cultural significance of the Beatles and the solo career of Paul McCartney re-emerging from, re-connecting with, and ultimately representing the Beatles legacy.

A Companion to the History of American Broadcasting

Author : Aniko Bodroghkozy
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1118646355
Total Pages : 512 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (186 download)

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Book Synopsis A Companion to the History of American Broadcasting by : Aniko Bodroghkozy

Download or read book A Companion to the History of American Broadcasting written by Aniko Bodroghkozy and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presented in a single volume, this engaging review reflects on the scholarship and the historical development of American broadcasting A Companion to the History of American Broadcasting comprehensively evaluates the vibrant history of American radio and television and reveals broadcasting’s influence on American history in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. With contributions from leading scholars on the topic, this wide-ranging anthology explores the impact of broadcasting on American culture, politics, and society from an historical perspective as well as the effect on our economic and social structures. The text’s original and accessibly-written essays offer explorations on a wealth of topics including the production of broadcast media, the evolution of various television and radio genres, the development of the broadcast ratings system, the rise of Spanish language broadcasting in the United States, broadcast activism, African Americans and broadcasting, 1950’s television, and much more. This essential resource: Presents a scholarly overview of the history of radio and television broadcasting and its influence on contemporary American history Contains original essays from leading academics in the field Examines the role of radio in the television era Discusses the evolution of regulations in radio and television Offers insight into the cultural influence of radio and television Analyzes canonical texts that helped shape the field Written for students and scholars of media studies and twentieth-century history, A Companion to the History of American Broadcasting is an essential and field-defining guide to the history and historiography of American broadcasting and its many cultural, societal, and political impacts.

Furious Cool

Author : David Henry
Publisher : Algonquin Books
ISBN 13 : 1616202718
Total Pages : 313 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (162 download)

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Book Synopsis Furious Cool by : David Henry

Download or read book Furious Cool written by David Henry and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Richard Pryor was chain lightning to everything around him. He shocked the world through with human electricity. He blew all our comfortable balance to hell. And Furious Cool captures it brilliantly.” —Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin Richard Pryor was arguably the single most influential performer of the second half of the twentieth century, and certainly he was the most successful black actor/comedian ever. Controversial and somewhat enigmatic during his life, Pryor’s performances opened up a whole new world of possibilities, merging fantasy with angry reality in a way that wasn’t just new—it was theretofore unthinkable. Now, in this groundbreaking and revelatory work, Joe and David Henry bring him alive again both as a man and as an artist, providing an in-depth appreciation of his talent and his lasting influence, as well as an insightful examination of the world he lived in and the myriad influences that shaped both his persona and his art. “Brothers David and Joe Henry have brought Richard Pryor back to pulsating life, affirming both his humanity and his immortality as a comic--and tragic--genius.” —The Huffington Post “A sleek, highly literate biography that places the comic in the pop-cultural context of his times.” —Bloomberg News “It would be enough if Furious Cool was a profile of Pryor’s uncanny talents, psychic turmoil, and ungovernable behavior, but it’s also a fascinating history of black comedy . . . Furious Cool captures Pryor’s frenetic routines and stage presence on the page . . . The inextricable legacy of Richard Pryor—his boldness, inventiveness, candor, and empathy—lives on.” —Los Angeles Magazine “An addictively readable study of the path of this outsized talent . . . Someday, when fewer people know Richard Pryor’s name, Furious Cool will be the best defense against the worst sort of forgetting--the kind that involves who we are now, who we loved once, and why.” —Esquire

Broadway to Main Street

Author : Laurence Maslon
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199832544
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (998 download)

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Book Synopsis Broadway to Main Street by : Laurence Maslon

Download or read book Broadway to Main Street written by Laurence Maslon and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-03 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The music of Broadway is one of America's most unique and popular calling cards. In Broadway to Main Street: How Show Tunes Enchanted America, author Laurence Maslon tells the story of how the most beloved songs of the American Musical Theater made their way from the Theater District to living rooms across the country. The crossroads where the music of Broadway meets popular culture is an expansive and pervasive juncture throughout most of the twentieth century--from sheet music to radio broadcasts to popular and original cast recordings--and continues to influence culture today through television, streaming, and the Internet. The original Broadway cast album--from the 78 rpm recording of Oklahoma! to the digital download of Hamilton--is one of the most successful, yet undervalued, genres in the history of popular recording. The challenge of capturing musical narrative with limited technology inspired the imagination of both the recording industry and millions of listeners: between 1949 and 1969, fifteen different original cast albums hit number one on the popular music charts, ultimately tallying more weeks at number one than all of the albums by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles combined. The history of Broadway music is also the history of American popular music; the technological, commercial, and marketing forces of communications and media over the last century were inextricably bound up in the enterprise of bringing the musical gems of New York's Theater District to living rooms along Main Streets across the nation. Featuring new interviews with Stephen Schwartz, Chita Rivera, Steve Lawrence, and prominent record producers and music critics, the story of this commercial and emotional phenomenon is told here in full--from the imprimatur of sheet music from Broadway in the early 20th century to the renaissance of Broadway music in the digital age, folding in the immense impact of show music on American culture and in the context of the recording industry, popular tastes, and our shared national identity. A book which connects cherished cultural artifacts to the emotional narratives at the core of American popular music, Broadway to Main Street: How Show Tunes Enchanted America is an ideal companion for all fans of American musical theater and popular music.

The Emergence of Rock and Roll

Author : Mitchell K. Hall
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 113505357X
Total Pages : 245 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (35 download)

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Book Synopsis The Emergence of Rock and Roll by : Mitchell K. Hall

Download or read book The Emergence of Rock and Roll written by Mitchell K. Hall and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-05-09 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rock and roll music evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and 1950s, as a combination of African American blues, country, pop, and gospel music produced a new musical genre. Even as it captured the ears of the nation, rock and roll was the subject of controversy and contention. The music intertwined with the social, political, and economic changes reshaping America and contributed to the rise of the youth culture that remains a potent cultural force today. A comprehensive understanding of post-World War II U.S. history would be incomplete without a basic knowledge of this cultural phenomenon and its widespread impact. In this short book, bolstered by primary source documents, Mitchell K. Hall explores the change in musical style represented by rock and roll, changes in technology and business practices, regional and racial implications of this new music, and the global influences of the music. The Emergence of Rock and Roll explains the huge influence that one cultural moment can have in the history of a nation.

The 1950s

Author : James S. Olson
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 349 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis The 1950s by : James S. Olson

Download or read book The 1950s written by James S. Olson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2018-10-01 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume serves as an invaluable guide to key political, social, and cultural concepts of the 1950s. This volume covers the entire decade of the 1950s, from the uneasy peace following World War II to the beginnings of cultural discontent that would explode in the 1960s. It highlights key historical, social, and cultural elements of the period, including the Cold War and perceived communist threat; the birth of the middle class and establishment of consumer culture; the emergence of the civil rights movement; and the normalization of youth rebellion and rock and roll. An introduction presents the historical themes of the period, and an alphabetical encyclopedic entries relating to period-specific themes comprises the core reference material in the book. The book also contains a range of primary documents with introductions and a sample Documents Based Essay Question. Other features are a list of "Top Tips" for answering Documents Based Essay Questions, a thematically tagged chronology, and a list of specific learning objectives readers can use to gauge their working knowledge and understanding of the period.

Historical Dictionary of Vaudeville

Author : James Fisher
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 153811335X
Total Pages : 691 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (381 download)

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Book Synopsis Historical Dictionary of Vaudeville by : James Fisher

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Vaudeville written by James Fisher and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-06-15 with total page 691 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historical Dictionary of Vaudeville contains a chronology, an introduction, an extensive bibliography, and the dictionary section has more than 1,000 cross-referenced entries on performing artists, managers and agents, theatre facilities, and the terminology central to the history of vaudeville.

Althea

Author : Sally H. Jacobs
Publisher : St. Martin's Press
ISBN 13 : 1250246563
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (52 download)

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Book Synopsis Althea by : Sally H. Jacobs

Download or read book Althea written by Sally H. Jacobs and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2023-08-15 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A captivating book that brilliantly reveals an American sports legend long overlooked. Sally Jacobs tells the riveting story of Althea Gibson, my personal shero, who overcame daunting odds – on the tennis court and off - to stand at the world pinnacle of her sport and became an inspiration to many.” — Billie Jean King In 1950, three years after Jackie Robinson first walked onto the diamond at Ebbets Field, the all-white, upper-crust US Lawn Tennis Association opened its door just a crack to receive a powerhouse player who would integrate "the game of royalty." The player was a street-savvy young Black woman from Harlem named Althea Gibson who was about as out-of-place in that rarefied and intolerant world as any aspiring tennis champion could be. Her tattered jeans and short-cropped hair drew stares from everyone who watched her play, but her astonishing performance on the court soon eclipsed the negative feelings being cast her way as she eventually became one of the greatest American tennis champions. Gibson had a stunning career. Raised in New York and trained by a pair of tennis-playing doctors in the South, Gibson’s immense talent on the court opened the door for her to compete around the world. She won top prizes at Wimbledon and Forest Hills time and time again. The young woman underestimated by so many wound up shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth II, being driven up Broadway in a snowstorm of ticker tape, and ultimately became the first Black woman to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated and the second to appear on the cover of Time. In a crowning achievement, Althea Gibson became the No. One ranked female tennis player in the world for both 1957 and 1958. Seven years later she broke the color barrier again where she became the first Black woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). In Althea, prize-winning former Boston Globe reporter Sally H. Jacobs tells the heart-rending story of this pioneer, a remarkable woman who was a trailblazer, a champion, and one of the most remarkable Americans of the twentieth century.