Marty McGee – författare

The Central Blue Ridge, taking in the mountainous regions of northwestern North Carolina and southwestern Virginia, is well known for its musical traditions. Long recognized as one of the richest repositories of folksong in the United States, the Central Blue Ridge has also been a prolific source of commercial recording, starting in 1923 with Henry Whitter's "hillbilly" music and continuing into the 21st century with such chart-topping acts as James King, Ronnie Bowman and Doc Watson. Unrivaled in tradition, unequaled in acclaim and unprecedented in influence, the Central Blue Ridge can claim to have contributed to the musical landscape of Americana as much as or more than any other region in the United States.This reference work--part of McFarland's continuing series of Contributions to Southern Appalachian Studies--provides complete biographical and discographical information on more than 75 traditional recording (major commercial label) artists who are natives of or lived mostly in the northwestern North Carolina counties of Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Surry, Watauga and Wilkes, and the southwestern Virginia counties of Carroll and Grayson. Primary recordings as well as appearances on anthologies are included in the discographies. A chronological overview of the music is provided in the Introduction, and the Foreword is by the celebrated musician Bobby Patterson, founder of the Mountain and Heritage record labels.

Published in 1914, Busting 'Em was the first of three books credited to Ty Cobb the author. Though in fact it was ghostwritten by John N. Wheeler, who also penned Mathewson's Pitching in a Pinch, the book fascinates with its insights into Cobb as a public figure. The reader is presented Cobb's explanation of the beating incident at Hilltop Park, the Baker spiking, and his contentious relationship with teammates. His thoughts--or those he sanctioned--of umpires, his contemporaries, crowds, and strategy are also shared.This book, long out of print and increasingly hard to find, is essential reading for those who would understand Cobb's awareness of and investment in the shape of his public image.

Richter's History and Records of Base Ball, the American Nation's Chief Sport, originally published in 1914, is the most comprehensive and ambitious among the early books about baseball. "This volume," Richter writes, "is designed to supply the growing need of a concise, yet complete, record of our National Game" and "to serve this purpose in such a form as to make it valuable, possibly indispensable, as a book of special information, of ready reference, and of general interest to all love's and students of the great game."The book is divided into three parts. Part I covers the origins of baseball, the first professional league, the National and American leagues, the American Association, baseball tours, warring leagues, the World Series, and the minor leagues. Part II includes team and individual performance records through 1914, Richter's takes on the great pitchers of early baseball, and brief commentary on two classic poems inspired by the game. Part III includes the history and text of the first National Agreement, the development of baseball playing rules, and information on the pioneering players, owners, executives, and writers.