Memoirs

Buckley, William F., Jr., Overdrive: A Personal Documentary (Doubleday & Co., 1st ed., 1983). ISBN 0-385-18269-4. The celebrated conservative activist/writer documented a week in his life in this book. Reviewing it in The New York Times, Nora Ephron concluded, “A boy born to a small oil fortune grows up to be a man with three homes, five in help, a wife on the best-dressed list and the secure belief that even his preference in peanut butter will be of interest to his fans. His attitude toward life is so cheerful and good-natured - and what's more, he's right about the peanut butter - that it seems almost churlish to point out that it is possible to spend too much time in a limousine. The English used to say, give an Irishman a horse and he'll vote Tory, but never mind.” Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition, autographed on bookplate. HBB price: $35.

Eisenhower, Dwight D., At Ease: Stories I Tell To Friends (Doubleday, 1st ed., 1967). LOC 67-13781. The former president’s reminiscences of his life up to his becoming President. Entertaining, less formal than his official memoirs. Hardcover, octavo, 400 pp. Unclipped dust jacket, some wear and tear at the edges. Good condition: HBB price: $15.

Ellroy, James, My Dark Places: An L.A. Crime Memoir (Alfred A. Knopf, 1st ed., 1996). ISBN 0-679-44185-9. The author of The Black Dahlia sets out to close the file on his mother’s murder unsolved after 38 years. Hardcover, octavo, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. “Signed by the Author” sticker on front of dust jacket. HBB price: $200.

Ervin, Senator Sam, Humor of A Country Lawyer (University of North Carolina Press, 1st ed., 1983). ISBN 0-8078-1566-7. Reminiscences by the famed chair of the Watergate Committee. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition, inscribed “To Bruce Wofford, with all good wishes” and dated October 23, 1983. HBB price: $40.

Kanin, Garson, Remembering Mr. Maugham (Athenaeum, 1st ed., 1966). LOC 66-23574. The celebrated American playwright/director’s memories of British writer W. Somerset Maugham. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, clear Brodart cover, good condition, inscribed to film producer Robert Evans. Evans produced “Harold and Maude” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” both star vehicles for Kanin’s wife, actress Ruth Gordon. HBB price: $200.

Kellino, Pamela, and Mason, James, The Cats In Our Lives (Current Books, 1st ed, 2nd printing, 1949). The writer/actor couple’s tale of felines in their lives. Witty and entertaining, with illustrations of family cats by James Mason. Rare and unusual Hollywoodiana. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $50.

King, Alexander, Mine Enemy Grows Older (Simon & Schuster, 1st ed. 5th printing, 1958). LOC 58-13170. Austrian by birth, King (1899-1965 made his way to America, where he made a complete shambles of his life before becoming a famous regular on the Tonight Show with Jack Paar, and author of a series of memoirs. This one recounts his thirty year drug addiction and is probably one of the funnier works in that field. It’s also unusual for having two dust jackets: one bearing one of King’s Dali-esque paintings; the other, “a conservative cover for conservative people.” Having spent nearly sixty years under the painting, the conservative cover is in better shape. The book’s pages have yellowed. Good condition overall. Hardcover, with two! two! dust jackets. HBB price: $35.

Marshall, Garry, Wake Me When It’s Funny: How to Break Into Show Business And Stay There (Adams Publishing, 1995, 1st ed., 1st printing). ISBN 1-55850-526-1. Actor, writer and director, Marshall created 14 hit TV shows and directed major movies over a 35-year career he revisits in this memoir written with his daughter, Lori. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition, extensive underlining by previous owner (but at least the lines are straight). Autographed by both authors. HBB price: $20.

McCarthy, Matt, Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound With a Minor League Misfit (Viking, 1st ed., 2nd printing, 2009). “When I was twenty-one, I could throw a baseball 92 miles an hour. This led to a strange courtship between my left arm and a series of pencil-moustached, overweight men.”  Yale molecular biology major McCarthy got signed with the Provo Angels for a year before going to Harvard Medical School. This is the hilarious tale of a twelvemonth in The Show. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, mylar cover, fine condition, ex-library. HBB price: $15.

McKissick, John (with Billy G. Baker), Called To Coach II (United Graphics, 2004, 1st ed, #1688 of 3100 copies, 2004). ISBN 09759948-0-8. A book of “life lessons” from the winningest high school football coach in America. McKissick became head coach at Summerville, SC High School in 1952 and has remained there ever since. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $75.

Ouimet, Francis, A Game of Golf: A Book of Reminiscence (1932, limited ed. by The Old Golf Shop, Cincinnati, 1978, No. 57 of 250). 20 year old former caddie and unknown amateur Francis Ouimet stunned the sports world by beating the godlike Harry Vardon in the 1913 U.S. Open, making the front page of the New York Times in the process. Ouimet (1893-1967) changed the perception of golf as the game for the super-rich and became a beloved figure in golf through the decades. This very limited edition is part of an annual series reprinting of books by the honoree of the annual Memorial Tournament, started in 1976 to honor those- living and dead- who did the most to advance the sport. A very rare edition of an excellent autobiography. Green boards with gilt edging and titles, no dust jacket, very good condition. 8.75” x 5.75”, 274 pp. HBB price: $175.

Robinson, Luther, We Made Peace With Polio (Broadman Press, no stated edition, 1960). LOC 60-5194. A Rowan County elementary school principal’s memoir of the polio waves of the early 1950s, and how it struck his family. Part of a substantial body of books and memoirs on the last days of the crippling disease and its long-term aftermath. Hardcover, blue boards, dust jacket taped together and a bit fragile. Otherwise, good condition. Octavo, 165 pp. Rare. HBB price: $35.

Sarazen, Gene, with Herbert Warren Wind, Thirty Years of Championship Golf (1950, limited ed. by The Old Golf Shop, Cincinnati, 1979, No. 109 of 260). Sarazen (1902-99) was one of the world’s best golfers in the 1920s and ‘30s, and one of the five pro golfers to win the Grand Slam. The book recalls his remarkable career. This very limited edition is part of an annual series reprinting of books by the honoree of the annual Memorial Tournament, started in 1976 to honor those- living and dead- who did the most to advance the sport. A very rare edition of an excellent autobiography. Green boards with gilt edging and titles, no dust jacket, very good condition. 8.75” x 5.75”, 276 pp. HBB price: $75.

Speizman, Morris, This Week’s Miracle (Charlotte, NC: Heritage Printers, 1968). LOC 68-29086. Morris Speizman was born in Lodz, Poland in 1905. Six months later, his family immigrated to the United States. He attended the Philadelphia School of Textiles. In 1936, he and his wife, Sylvia Valenstein, came to Charlotte and founded Speizman Industries, Inc., a textile machinery company. In addition to his business, Speizman was very active in the Jewish and civic communities. As an author, he wrote This Week's Miracle, Our World To Come (Charlotte: Graham Publishing Co., 1975), The Jews of Charlotte (Charlotte: McNally & Loftin, 1978), and Some Things I Wish I Had Said--And Some I Did! (Charlotte: Graham Publishing Co., 1983). He died in Charlotte on July 25, 1987 and was buried in the Hebrew Cemetery. A well-written series of short essays on life and business. Valuable as a portrayal of the now-vanished textile industry economy in the Southeast. Speizman was a friend and correspondent with Charlotte author and editor Harry Golden; his papers are in the UNC-Charlotte library. Paperback, 8.5” x 5.5”, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $25.

Yardley, Jonathan, Our Kind of People: The Story of An American Family (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1989. ISBN 1-55584-174-0. NC native, book critic and Pulitzer Prize winner’s story of his family, centering around his parents’ half-century marriage. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. Presentation copy inscribed to Charlotte NC-based jazz musician and songwriter Loonis McGlohon. HBB price: $75.