Outdoors Memoirs

When Richard “Frosty” Hesson was first approached by a young Jay Moriarty in 1990, the skinny kid with a sparkle in his eye only wanted one thing from the icon: His help in becoming a better surfer. Hesson, one of the first to conquer the huge waves off northern California known as Mavericks, recognized that the kid “had a vision.” Jay quickly demonstrated a resolve that reminded Frosty of his younger self, pursuing his goal with a seriousness far beyond his years. His attitude and work ethic earned Frosty’s respect and, eventually, his friendship.

In this searing and riveting New York Times best seller, Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu reveals the dark underbelly of Olympic gymnastics, the true price of success…and the shocking secret about her past and her family that she only learned years later.

THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From award-winning writer Nigel Slater, comes a new and exquisitely written collection of notes, memoir, stories and small moments of joy. 'Nigel Slater’s prose is the rarest delicacy of all: exquisite yet effortless, filled with heart, tenderness...

Anna McNuff had never run a mile without shoes on before. And yet, one British summer, she set off to run a (very) wiggly route from the Shetland Islands to London–on a mission to cover the distance of 100 marathons…in bare feet.

For wrestling fans, Jim Ross’ voice is the soundtrack of an era. This book is your ringside ticket to wrestling’s most unforgettable moments—from the announcer who made them iconic. In the last 50 years, professional wrestling has risen up from a collection of regional territories to become a global phenomenon—and Jim Ross has been there for it all. From the grit and glory days of the 1970s with NWA, to the rise of WCW and the heyday of WWF and WWE, to signing on as on-air talent and senior advisor for wrestling’s newest chapter at AEW, Jim Ross has long had the best seat in the house.

Mind Games follows the journey of Phil Jackson to the top of basketball’s coaching hierarchy, a rise that took him from obscurity in the Continental Basketball Association to nine championship rings in the NBA. Along the way he turned multimillionaire players on to meditation, transformed the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls from a one-man show to a five-man team of domination, and after battling with Bulls management, ended one dynasty to start another on the West Coast.

Embark on an unforgettable journey in Walk 12 Months 12 Journeys 1200, a poignant and inspiring travel memoir that chronicles a year of walking pilgrimages across the globe. Trading certainty for step-by-step discovery, Carol and her husband Karl wander through Portugal’s sunbaked villages, California’s misty coastlines, Croatia’s ancient paths, and beyond—each place offering its own rhythm, beauty, and unexpected wisdom. In this personal narrative, discover the highs and lows of their travels, the unexpected challenges, and the moments of pure joy and connection.

One April morning I left the Mexico border and walked north on the Pacific Crest Trail. For five months I hiked through the California desert, the snows of the Sierra Nevada, and the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington. My goal was to succeed in an epic challenge: to hike 2,650 miles and reach Canada before the October snows.

Trotz Multipler Sklerose knapp 600 Kilometer zu Fuß auf dem Jakobsweg gehen? "Warum nicht", dachte sich Samira und brach auf. In ihrem Hörbuch nimmt sie ihre Leser auf ihre Reise mit. Diese führt nicht nur über die grünen Bergketten Nordspaniens, auf wellenumtoste Landzungen und durch verschlafene Dörfer, sondern vor allem auch zu sich selbst: Die Begegnungen mit anderen Menschen, der immer wieder kurz entmutigende Kampf mit den Symptomen der MS und das Überwinden dieser.

A moving, heartbreaking, and lyrical true story of the author’s escape from an apocalyptic cult—and the survival skills that led to her freedom. My family prepared me for the end of the world, but I know how to survive on what the earth yields. As a child, Michelle Dowd grew up on a mountain...

"I never set out to hike 10,000 miles. It just sort of happened over the course of a decade." And so goes Lawton Grinter's compelling collection of short stories that have been over ten years and 10,000 trail miles in the making. I Hike brings the reader trailside with blissful moments on the highest mountain ridges to the mental lows of mosquito hell and into some peculiar situations that even seasoned hikers may find unbelievable.

When most sports fans hear the stat 3,000, they immediately turn to baseball. But for those fans whose breath comes out in frosty puffs, and who bleed ice and snow, 3,000 can only mean one thing - the glory of Montreal Canadiens hockey. The "Original One" of the "Original Six", the Montreal Canadiens hockey team is practically synonymous with superlative: The most Stanley Cup championship victories, with 24? The Montreal Canadiens. The highest number of regular-season wins? The Montreal Canadiens. The oldest active franchise in the NHL? The Montreal Canadiens.

Back again with even more "mostly true" tales from the trail, Lawton Grinter's new book I Hike Again is sure to find a place in every adventurer's library! I Hike Again imparts hard-earned wisdom from trails both in the United States (Arizona Trail, Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Grand Enchantment Trail, Wind River High Route) and abroad (Spain's GR11 and New Zealand's Te Araroa).

It’s been 85 years since Brian McFarlane first laced a pair of skates and tested the black ice on a tiny pond. And then he discovered the joy of hockey. Ultimately, there would be grade school hockey, high school hockey, junior hockey, college hockey, and, miraculously, two decades with the NHL Oldtimers anchoring his life. Now, in this revealing autobiography, he remembers it all. For Brian McFarlane, it has been a helluva life in hockey.

This anthology of survival stories covers the craziest and most enthralling wilderness encounters in American history. After mining our 126-year archive, we uncovered 10 tales of adventure and near tragedy that include close calls with aggressive grizzly bears, epic blizzards, hungry wolves, and much more. The thread that ties all of these narratives together is the authors’ grit and will to preserve — and then tell the tale.

Uffa Fox was the most celebrated and successful yacht designer in the world. Much more than a sailor and boat designer, he was an irrepressible extrovert and novel thinker, as well as a singer, musician, journalist, author, painter, sportsman, campaigner, controversial businessman, and friend of royalty. In the years since his death, his reputation has grown rather than diminished.

Philipp Pflieger war bei Olympia 2016 der schnellste deutsche Marathonläufer. Ein Jahr später sorgte er für Schlagzeilen, als er beim Berlin-Marathon seine Kräfte überschätzte und das Rennen orientierungslos abbrechen musste. Daraus hat er viel gelernt, nicht nur über die Königsdisziplin des Laufens, sondern auch über sich selbst. Sein nächstes Ziel: Olympia 2020 in Tokio. In seinem Hörbuch nimmt Pflieger uns mit hinter die Kulissen des professionellen Marathonlaufens. Er erzählt über die Faszination des Laufens, lässt uns Siege und Niederlagen miterleben, und gibt Tipps, was Amateure von den Profis lernen können.

Leon Searcy was an All-American at Miami who won three national championship titles with the Hurricanes. He was a first round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and played in Super Bowl XXX. He was also selected as one of the Top 25 Jacksonville Jaguars players of all time. Hear Leon's stories about a life of luxury and glory as the NFL's highest paid offensive lineman, and the series of choices and circumstances which ended with Leon's retirement from the game of football broke and alone. In the fourth down of his life, how did Leon find redemption?

At his three-year debut in June 1960, no one could know that Mrs. Allaire DuPont’s small, deerlike gelding named Kelso would come to dominate American racing like no other horse before or since. In Kelso: The Horse of Gold, Linda Kennedy tells the remarkable story of one of the greatest athletes of the ages, recreating the excitement of "Kelly's" unique and brilliant career while placing his unparalleled achievements in the context of racing history.

When Gerald Eskenazi started reporting, sports journalism had a different look than it does today. Eskenazi gives a behind-the-scenes look into the journalistic techniques that go into crafting a story, as well as the pitfalls reporters fall into. There are cautionary tales of journalistic excess, as well as moments of triumph such as the time Eskenazi got Joe Namath to open up to him by admitting he was a sportswriter who knew nothing about football. Along the way, Eskenazi discusses interviewing other reluctant subjects and writing under the intense pressure of a deadline.