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.

Rod Serling's anthology series The Twilight Zone is recognized as one of the greatest television shows of all time. Always intelligent and thought-provoking, the show used the conventions of several genres to explore such universal qualities as violence, fear, prejudice, love, death, and individual identity.This comprehensive reference work gives a complete history of the show, from its beginning in 1959 to its final 1964 season, with critical commentaries, incisive analyses, and the most complete listing of casts and credits ever published. Biographical profiles of writers and contributors are included, followed by detailed appendices, bibliography and index.

This biography of Charles "Commy" Comiskey is one of the earliest and most important--and, up to now, one of the hardest for baseball researchers to get their hands on--in the baseball canon. Comiskey spent half a century in the big leagues as a successful player-manager and owner, his clubs winning nine pennants along the way. But the dark cloud that hangs over him is the 1919 Black Sox scandal, in which he is inextricably tangled, fair or not. Comiskey's tight-fistedness is often cited as a principal cause of the 1919 World Series scandal. Commy suspected that the fix was on after the White Sox lost the first two games, and even implored his old friend, American League president Ban Johnson, to suspend the Series, but the tide of history could not be dammed.Historians of the game will find much valuable insight here on the rise of baseball in the Windy City, Comiskey's playing career (as an innovative first baseman), his long stint as St. Louis Browns player-manager (which included four straight pennants from 1885 to 1888), his helping Johnson form the American League, and his keeping the White Sox a family-owned franchise for nearly 60 years. Surprisingly, this is the only biography of Comiskey ever published. Fortunately, Axelson allows "The Old Roman" to speak for himself briefly in the last seven pages of the book. Here Comiskey comes across as humble and earnest, concluding his message with, "What I have tried to do [in baseball] has been my level best.

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.