Stephen Fried – författare

We take our medicines on faith. We assume our doctors are well-informed, our drug companies scrupulous, our FDA diligent—and our medications safe. All too often we''re wrong. Just how wrong is documented in this critically acclaimed portrait of the international pharmaceutical industry by one of our most highly respected investigative journalists.According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), adverse drug reactions are the fourth leading cause of death in America. Reactions to prescription and over-the-counter medications kill far more people annually than all illegal drug use combined.Stephen Fried''s wife took a pill for a minor infection—and ended up in the emergency room. Some drug reactions go away in a few hours or days. Diane''s did not. This emotionally wrenching experience launched Fried into a five-year examination of the entire pharmaceutical industry, the most profitable legal business in the world. Rigorously documented, Bitter Pills is a full-scale portrait of pill making and pill taking in America today, presented through the powerful human drama of doctors, patients, drug companies, the FDA, and government regulators as they war for control of our medicine cabinets.From the Trade Paperback edition.

From award-winning journalist Stephen Fried comes a vividly intimate portrait of American Judaism today in which faith, family, and community are explored through the dramatic life of a landmark congregation as it seeks to replace its legendary retiring rabbi--and reinvent itself for the next generation. The New RabbiThe center of this compelling chronicle is Har Zion Temple on Philadelphia’s Main Line, which for the last seventy-five years has been one of the largest and most influential congregations in America. For thirty years Rabbi Gerald Wolpe has been its spiritual leader, a brilliant sermonizer of wide renown--but now he has announced his retirement. It is the start of a remarkable nationwide search process largely unknown to the lay world--and of much more. For at this dramatic moment Wolpe agrees to give extraordinary access to Fried, inviting him--and the reader--into the intense personal and professional life of the clergy and the complex behind-the-scenes life of a major Conservative congregation. These riveting pages bring us a unique view of Judaism in practice: from Har Zion’s strong-willed leaders and influential families to the young bar and bat mitzvahs just beginning their Jewish lives; from the three-days-a-year synagogue goers to the hard core of devout attendees. We are touched by their times of joy and times of grief, intrigued by congregational politics, moved by the search for faith. We witness the conflicts between generations about issues of belief, observance, and the pressures of secular life. We meet Wolpe’s vigorous-minded ailing wife and his sons, one of whom has become a celebrity rabbi in Los Angeles. And we follow the author’s own moving search for meaning as he reconnects with the religion of his youth. We also have a front-row seat at the usually clandestine process of choosing a new rabbi, as what was expected to be a simple one-year search for Rabbi Wolpe’s successor extends to two years and then three. Dozens of résumés are rejected, a parade of prospects come to interview, the chosen successor changes his mind at the last minute, and a confrontation erupts between the synagogue and the New York–based Conservative rabbis’ “union” that governs the process. As the time comes for Wolpe to depart, a venerated house of worship is being torn apart. And thrust onto the pulpit is Wolpe’s young assistant, Rabbi Jacob Herber, in his first job out of rabbinical school, facing the nearly impossible situation of taking over despite being technically ineligible for the position--and finding himself on trial with the congregation and at odds with his mentor. Rich in anecdote and scenes of wonderful immediacy, this is a riveting book about the search for personal faith, about the tension between secular concerns and ancient tradition in affluent America, and about what Wolpe himself has called “the retail business of religion.” Stephen Fried brings all these elements to vivid life with the passion and energy of a superbly gifted storyteller.

Why do men hog the remote? Refuse to stop and ask for directions? Have such a hard time sharing their emotions? Why can’t they drop their socks in the laundry basket instead of near it? What does a man mean when he says “uh-huh”?  (No, it doesn’t always mean he’s not listening.)In his wickedly observant collection of essays, Stephen Fried, widely praised as an investigative journalist, turns his attention to the subject of marriage–his own and others’. The result is a daring, provocative, often hilarious read that throws incisive light on mysteries that have long plagued womankind: the inner workings of the male mind.Originally published as a series of popular columns in Ladies’ Home Journal—and now compiled in one volume at the request of his enthusiastic readers—Fried’s pitch-perfect essays fearlessly tackle the realities of love, sex, and marriage with both wit and tenderness. Drawing from candid conversations with fellow husbands as well as with his own wife, Fried’s eye-opening work will surprise, disarm, entertain—and tell you more about the man in your life than you could ever learn by asking him.From the Hardcover edition.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Featured in the PBS documentary The Harvey Girls: Opportunity BoundThe legendary life and entrepreneurial vision of Fred Harvey helped shape American culture and history for three generations—from the 1880s all the way through World War II—and still influence our lives today in surprising and fascinating ways. Now award-winning journalist Stephen Fried re-creates the life of this unlikely American hero, the founding father of the nation’s service industry, whose remarkable family business civilized the West and introduced America to Americans.Appetite for America is the incredible real-life story of Fred Harvey—told in depth for the first time ever—as well as the story of this country’s expansion into the Wild West of Bat Masterson and Billy the Kid, of the great days of the railroad, of a time when a deal could still be made with a handshake and the United States was still uniting. As a young immigrant, Fred Harvey worked his way up from dishwasher to household name: He was Ray Kroc before McDonald’s, J. Willard Marriott before Marriott Hotels, Howard Schultz before Starbucks. His eating houses and hotels along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad (including historic lodges still in use at the Grand Canyon) were patronized by princes, presidents, and countless ordinary travelers looking for the best cup of coffee in the country. Harvey’s staff of carefully screened single young women—the celebrated Harvey Girls—were the country’s first female workforce and became genuine Americana, even inspiring an MGM musical starring Judy Garland.With the verve and passion of Fred Harvey himself, Stephen Fried tells the story of how this visionary built his business from a single lunch counter into a family empire whose marketing and innovations we still encounter in myriad ways. Inspiring, instructive, and hugely entertaining, Appetite for America is historical biography that is as richly rewarding as a slice of fresh apple pie—and every bit as satisfying.*With two photo inserts featuring over 75 images, and an appendix with over fifty Fred Harvey recipes, most of them never-before-published.From the Hardcover edition.

**A New York Times Bestseller**Patrick J. Kennedy, the former congressman and youngest child of Senator Ted Kennedy, details his personal and political battle with mental illness and addiction, exploring mental health care''s history in the country alongside his and every family''s private struggles.On May 5, 2006, the New York Times ran two stories, “Patrick Kennedy Crashes Car into Capitol Barrier” and then, several hours later, “Patrick Kennedy Says He''ll Seek Help for Addiction.” It was the first time that the popular Rhode Island congressman had publicly disclosed his addiction to prescription painkillers, the true extent of his struggle with bipolar disorder and his plan to immediately seek treatment. That could have been the end of his career, but instead it was the beginning. Since then, Kennedy has become the nation’s leading advocate for mental health and substance abuse care, research and policy both in and out of Congress. And ever since passing the landmark Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act--and after the death of his father, leaving Congress--he has been changing the dialogue that surrounds all brain diseases.A Common Struggle weaves together Kennedy''s private and professional narratives, echoing Kennedy''s philosophy that for him, the personal is political and the political personal. Focusing on the years from his ''coming out'' about suffering from bipolar disorder and addiction to the present day, the book examines Kennedy''s journey toward recovery and reflects on Americans'' propensity to treat mental illnesses as "family secrets."Beyond his own story, though, Kennedy creates a roadmap for equality in the mental health community, and outlines a bold plan for the future of mental health policy. Written with award-winning healthcare journalist and best-selling author Stephen Fried, A Common Struggle is both a cry for empathy and a call to action. 

From the Hardcover edition.

The remarkable story of Benjamin Rush, medical pioneer and one of our nation''s most provocative and unsung founding fathersIn the summer of 1776, fifty-six men put their quills to a dangerous document they called a Declaration of Independence. Among them was a thirty-year-old doctor named Benjamin Rush. One of the youngest signatories, he was also, among stiff competition, one of the most visionary--and he was just getting started. Rush''s true brilliance was as a physician and scientist, and he is still known as the "American Hippocrates" for pioneering a national healthcare system and revolutionizing our treatment of mental illness and addiction. Yet his provocative medicine was only part of his legacy. Over his lifetime, Dr. Rush was both a progressive thorn in the side of the American political establishment--a vocal opponent of the American slave trade and capital punishment--and close friends with its most prominent leaders. He was the protégée of Franklin, the editor of Common Sense, Washington''s Surgeon General, and the broker of peace between Adams and Jefferson, yet his stubborn convictions more than once threatened his entire career, and his place in the narrative of America''s founding. Drawing on a trove of previously unpublished letters and images, as well as the voluminous correspondence between Rush and his better-known counterparts, and his candid and incisive candid personal writings, New York Times bestselling author and journalist Stephen Fried resurrects the most significant Founding Father we''ve never heard of, and installs Dr. Rush in the pantheon of great American leaders.

As each generation of portable electronic devices and storage media becomes smaller, higher in capacity, and easier to transport, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to protect the data on these devices while still enabling their productive use in the workplace. Explaining how mobile devices can create backdoor security threats, Mobile Device Security: A Comprehensive Guide to Securing Your Information in a Moving World specifies immediate actions you can take to defend against these threats. It begins by introducing and defining the concepts essential to understanding the security threats to contemporary mobile devices, and then takes readers through all the policy, process, and technology decisions that must be made to create an effective security strategy. Highlighting the risks inherent when mobilizing data, the text supplies a proven methodology for identifying, analyzing, and evaluating these risks. It examines the various methods used to store and transport mobile data and illustrates how the security of that data changes as it moves from place to place. Addressing the technical, operational, and compliance issues relevant to a comprehensive mobile security policy, the text: Provides methods for modeling the interaction between mobile data and mobile devices—detailing the advantages and disadvantages of eachExplains how to use encryption and access controls to protect your data Describes how to layer different technologies to create a resilient mobile data protection programProvides examples of effective mobile security policies and discusses the implications of different policy approachesHighlights the essential elements of a mobile security business case and provides examples of the information such proposals should containReviews the most common mobile device controls and discusses the options for implementing them in your mobile environmentSecuring your mobile data requires the proper balance between security, user acceptance, technology capabilities, and resource commitment. Supplying real-life examples and authoritative guidance, this complete resource walks you through the process of creating an effective mobile security program and provides the understanding required to develop a customized approach to securing your information.