D. J. Herda – författare

A fresh, lively retelling of the life of one of the most infamous characters of the Old West, Doc Holliday, by an imaginative, yet accurate storyteller.

Slave or citizen? This was the key question that Dred Scott brought to the United States Supreme Court in May of 1857. Author D. J. Herda examines the ideas and arguments behind this landmark case. Presented in a lively, thought-provoking overview, Herda brings into sharp focus the people, the case, and the fateful decision that upheld the legality of slavery.

Should news providers be allowed to publish stories that may prove embarrassing to the United States government? This was the question the United States Supreme Court had to consider in the case of New York Times v. United States in 1971. Author D. J. Herda examines the mood of the country during this time, along with the ideas and arguments behind this landmark case. Presented in a lively, thought-provoking overview, Herda brings into sharp focus the people and events of this decision maintaining freedom of the press.

Should the death penalty be considered cruel and unusual punishment? This was the question brought before the United States Supreme Court in 1972. Author D. J. Herda examines the ideas and arguments behind this landmark case. Presented in a lively, thought-provoking overview, Herda brings to life the people and events of this controversial decision and sheds light on the current controversy still raging across the country today.

Abortion has long been a hot-button issue. In 1973, in the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court finally decided that women should be allowed to have an abortion, with some limits. This book gives the background on the case and the path the case took to make it to the Supreme Court and presents both the majority and dissenting opinions related to the case. It also takes a look at the lasting impact the case has continued to have on policies and the legal system. Also included are questions to consider, primary source documents, and a chronology of the case.

In 1857, a slave sued for his freedom, and lost. Readers will take an in-depth look at what some call the worst Supreme Court decision in history. The author also looks at the aftermath of the case, including the Civil War, and the great changes in the United States on the issue of slavery. Included are questions to consider, primary source documents, and a chronology of the case.

The death penalty is surely one of the most highly contentious points the Supreme Court has had to weigh in on. Whether you believe in the death penalty or not, the Furman v. Georgia case was groundbreaking in its decision to stay Furman’s execution because it was arbitrary and, very possibly, racially motivated. Though it did not stop capital punishment, the case changed the way states had to weigh their decisions. Also included are questions to consider, primary source documents, and a chronology of the case.

Freedom of speech is one of the cornerstones of American liberty, but it was not always taken for granted as it is now. During the Vietnam War, the government made some choices the American public did not necessarily agree with. When the New York Times published articles detailing a war nobody knew about, it caused some waves in the United States government as it scrambled to cover up what it could and control what it couldn’t. This title gives a balanced report of what went on during this time and how the case made it to the Supreme Court. It also gives lots of detail on the differing opinions and what the ultimate decision was. Also included are questions to consider, primary source documents, and a chronology of the case.

Calamity Jane follows the life of Martha Jane Cannary, a nineteenth-century woman who went from penniless orphan to one of the most famous figures of the American West. In an era when women had few options in life, Calamity Jane had the audacity to carve them out for herself. The gun-toting, tough-talking, hard-drinking woman embodied the Western American spirit.

Young Martha Jane Cannary began life as a camp follower and street urchin. Parentless by the age of twelve, she morphed into the mother of two who just as often took employment as a waitress, laundress, or dance hall girl as she did an Indian scout or bullwhacker. Just as likely to wear a dress as she was buckskins, she was impossible to ignore no matter what she wore, particularly after she’d had a few drinks! And she shamelessly parlayed into a legend the aura of fame that Edward L. Wheeler’s dime novels crafted around her.Perhaps most amazing of all, in an era where women had few options in life, Calamity Jane had the audacity to carve them out for herself. The gun-toting, tough-talking, hard-drinking woman was all Western America come to life. Flowing across the untamed small towns and empty spaces of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana like the wild running rivers of the American West, she helped create the legend of Calamity Jane from scratch. Part carnie barker, part actor, part sexually alluring siren, part drunken lout--she was all of these and much more.

From Farmer and Sailor to Mountain Man, Crow Killer, and Town Sheriff,One man’s reputation lives past all othersWhen it came to western mountain men, no one on earth ever matched the physical prowess or will to survive of John “Liver-Eating” Johnson. Throughout his life, John Johnston was known by several names, including “Crow Killer” and “Liver-Eating Johnson” (without the “t”), names he earned through his penchant for killing Crow Indians before cutting out and eating their livers. Born around 1824 in New Jersey, Johnston headed west after deserting from the U.S. Navy and became a well-known and infamous mountain man. His many lives would involve him working as a miner, hunter, trapper, bootlegger, woodcutter, and army scout. When his Flathead Indian wife and child were killed by Crow Indians while he was away hunting and trapping, he swore to avenge their deaths and began his next life as a man after revenge . He killed hundreds and earned his nickname because he was said to cut out and eat his victims’ livers. Twenty-five years after his wife’s death, his life would take another turn when he joined the Union Army in Missouri. And that was just the start of his second act.

From Farmer and Sailor to Mountain Man, Crow Killer, and Town Sheriff,One man’s reputation lives past all othersWhen it came to western mountain men, no one on earth ever matched the physical prowess or will to survive of John “Liver-Eating” Johnson. Throughout his life, John Johnston was known by several names, including “Crow Killer” and “Liver-Eating Johnson” (without the “t”), names he earned through his penchant for killing Crow Indians before cutting out and eating their livers. Born around 1824 in New Jersey, Johnston headed west after deserting from the U.S. Navy and became a well-known and infamous mountain man. His many lives would involve him working as a miner, hunter, trapper, bootlegger, woodcutter, and army scout. When his Flathead Indian wife and child were killed by Crow Indians while he was away hunting and trapping, he swore to avenge their deaths and began his next life as a man after revenge . He killed hundreds and earned his nickname because he was said to cut out and eat his victims’ livers. Twenty-five years after his wife’s death, his life would take another turn when he joined the Union Army in Missouri. And that was just the start of his second act.

Wilma Pearl Mankiller’s great-grandfather had survived the deadly forced westward march of Native Americans known as the “Trail of Tears.” She rose to lead the Cherokee Nation more than 150 years later as principal chief, the first elected female chief of a Native nation in modern times. Throughout her reign from 1985-1995, cut short only by her own severe health challenges, she advocated for extensive community development, self-help, and education and healthcare programs that revitalized the Nation of 300,000 citizens. Wilma Mankiller will continue to shine as an inspirational example of the faith in her belief that ethnicity should never be forgotten--nor come before family unity, society, and country.

From Farmer and Sailor to Mountain Man, Crow Killer, and Town Sheriff,One man’s reputation lives past all othersWhen it came to western mountain men, no one on earth ever matched the physical prowess or will to survive of John “Liver-Eating” Johnson. Throughout his life, John Johnston was known by several names, including “Crow Killer” and “Liver-Eating Johnson” (without the “t”), names he earned through his penchant for killing Crow Indians before cutting out and eating their livers. Born around 1824 in New Jersey, Johnston headed west after deserting from the U.S. Navy and became a well-known and infamous mountain man. His many lives would involve him working as a miner, hunter, trapper, bootlegger, woodcutter, and army scout. When his Flathead Indian wife and child were killed by Crow Indians while he was away hunting and trapping, he swore to avenge their deaths and began his next life as a man after revenge . He killed hundreds and earned his nickname because he was said to cut out and eat his victims’ livers. Twenty-five years after his wife’s death, his life would take another turn when he joined the Union Army in Missouri. And that was just the start of his second act.

The mystery began simply enough with her identity. Who was she? As a young woman, she took the name, “Place,” from the maiden name of the mother of her lover, Harry Longabaugh (the Sundance Kid), and combined it with several first names, including "Mrs. Ethel Place.” The Pinkertons knew her as "Ethel,” "Ethal,” "Eva," and "Rita" before finally settling on "Etta" for their wanted posters.After Sundance introduced her to Robert Parker (Butch Cassidy), the three joined the rest of their Wild Bunch gang and set off on a spree of bank, stagecoach, and train robberies. With the law hot on their heels, they rode up to Robber’s Roost in southwestern Utah where they laid low until word reached local authorities of their whereabouts.On the run again, Place accompanied Longabaugh to New York City where they purchased a lapel watch and stickpin at Tiffany’s before pausing to pose for the famed DeYoung portrait at a Union Square photo studio on Broadway. On February 20, 1901, she sailed with Butch and Sundance, posing as Etta’s fictional brother "James Ryan," aboard the British ship, Herminius, for Buenos Aires.Settling there with the two outlaws on a ranch they purchased jointly near Cholila in the Chubut Province of west-central Argentina, they were granted 15,000 acres of adjacent land to develop, 2,500 of which belonged to Place, who had the distinction of being the first woman in Argentina to own real estate there.On March 3, 1902, she and Longabaugh returned to New York City on the SS Soldier Prince to visit her family and friends. On April 2, they registered at a New York City rooming house before touring Coney Island and visiting his family. They traveled to Dr. Pierce's Invalid Hotel in Buffalo where she underwent an unspecified medical treatment. They sought additional treatment in Denver before returning to Buenos Aires from New York on July 10, 1902, aboard the steamer, Honorius, where they posed as stewards. On August 9, she registered herself and Sundance at the Hotel Europa in Buenos Aires and six days later sailed with him aboard the steamer SS Chubut to return to their Cholila ranch.She made another visit to the states with Longabaugh in the summer of 1904 where the Pinkertons traced them to Fort Worth, Texas, and to the St. Louis World Fair but failed to arrest them before they returned to Argentina. In early 1905, the trio sold their Cholila ranch as the law closed in on them. The Pinkertons had known their whereabouts for several months, but the rainy season had prevented their agents from traveling there to make an arrest. Governor Julio Lezana issued a warrant, but before it could be executed, Sheriff Edward Humphreys, a Welsh Argentine who was friends with Parker and enamored of Place, tipped them off. The trio fled north to San Carlos de Bariloche where they embarked on the steamer Condor across Lake Nahuel Huapi into Chile.By the end of that year, they were back in Argentina. On December 19, 1904, Place, Longabaugh, Parker, and an unknown male robbed the Banco de la Nacion in Villa Mercedes, four hundred miles west of Buenos Aires. Pursued by armed federales, they crossed the Pampas and the Andes and returned to Chile.But Place had grown tired of life on the run and deeply lamented the loss of their ranch and the promise of stability it had held for her. In June 1906, Longabaugh accompanied her from Valparaiso, Chile, to San Francisco, where she sought medical aid and kissed him goodbye for the last time before he returned to South America and infamy.As for Etta Place, her mystery had only begun. And it would continue for another forty-six years before finally being resolved.