Kerry O'Brien, A Memoir

Author: Kerry O'Brien
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760637874
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1238

Book Description
Born the day after the first American occupying troops landed near Tokyo in August 1945, Kerry O'Brien's life has spanned the post-war era through the maelstrom of the nuclear and digital age-a remarkable time of intense and dynamic change that has no match in human history. He has witnessed life changing events, interviewed the great and good, and explained the intricacies of the world to millions of Australians as we sat in the comfort and safety of our lounge rooms. Whether strolling the history-laden corridors of the White House unhindered while waiting to interview Barack Obama, or talking with Nelson Mandela on his first day in the presidential residence in Pretoria in a room filled with the blood-soaked ghosts of apartheid, or receiving a haughty rebuke from an indignantly regal Margaret Thatcher, or exploring ideas with some of the great artists, philosophers and scientists of our time, Kerry O'Brien has sought to unearth the truth behind the news. In Australia, he has watched thirteen prime ministers come and go and has called the powerful to account without fear or favour. In this intimate ground-breaking account told with wit and insight O'Brien reflects on the big events, the lessons learned and lessons ignored, along with the foibles and strengths of public figures who construct our world. The end result is a memoir like no other - an engrossing study of a private life lived in the public eye and wrapped in nearly three-quarters of a century of social and political history.

Keating

Author: Kerry O'Brien
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1925268489
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 816

Book Description
Paul Keating is widely credited as the chief architect of the most significant period of political and economic reform in Australia's history. Twenty years on, there is still no story from the horse's mouth of how it all came about. No autobiography. No memoir. Yet he is the supreme story-teller of politics. This book of revelations fills the gap. Kerry O'Brien, the consummate interviewer who knew all the players and lived the history, has spent many long hours with Keating, teasing out the stories, testing the memories and the assertions. What emerges is a treasure trove of anecdotes, insights, reflections and occasional admissions from one of the most loved and hated political leaders we have known-a man who either led or was the driving force through thirteen years of Labor government that changed the face of Australia. This is a man who as prime minister personally negotiated the sale of a quarter of the government-owned Qantas in his own office for $665 million, then delighted in watching the buyer's hand shake so much that champagne spilt down his shirtsleeve. He tells of his grave moment of doubt after making one of the riskiest calls of his political life, and how he used an acupuncturist and a television interviewer to seize the day. There are many stories of this kind. The revealing inside stories and even glimpses of insecurities that go with the wielding of power, from a man who had no fear collecting his share of enemies and ended up with more than enough, but whose parliamentary performances from 25 years ago are watched avidly on YouTube today by a generation that was either not yet born or in knee pants when he was at his peak. We'll never get an autobiography or a memoir from Keating. This is as good as it gets-funny, sweeping, angry, imaginative, mischievous, with arrogance, a glimmer of humility and more than a touch of creative madness. Keating unplugged.

The Heart and Soul of Kerry Football

Author: Weeshie Fogarty (decd.)
Publisher: The O'Brien Press Ltd
ISBN: 1847178979
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Book Description
Why has Kerry, in the rugged south-west, won more All-Ireland Gaelic football championships than any other county? It's a fascinating question, and The Heart & Soul of Kerry Football provides plenty of answers. Weeshie Fogarty tells stories about the great players he played with and against, Kerry's intense rivalries and its outstanding captains. He extols the handing down of a unique tradition, and explains why the increasing profile of girls and women bodes well for the future of the sport. Weeshie also selects his all-time most skilful/classy/stylish team, which is sure to spark debate in the homes and pubs of Kerry. Gaelic football is the very heartbeat of Irish life and culture, both in the Kingdom and beyond, and players and coaches from the most successful county have grown the sport in Ireland and internationally. This unique book reveals the living heart and soul of Kerry football.

Kerry

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781847179302
Category : Kerry (Ireland)
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Book Description
The Kingdom of Kerry is both a visitor's and a photographer's delight. Everywhere you turn, in every season, there's a feast for the eyes, from magnificent sunsets to huge Atlantic waves to the bare trees of winter. Discover miles and miles of beaches, rugged peninsulas, inlets and cliffs, as well as mountains, lakes, sheep and wild goats. The soft rains produce an abundance of flora, like bog cotton and fuchsia, while the lush, sweet grass is perfect for Kerry's famous dairy farming. The towns, like Killarney and Tralee, are lively and welcoming, and the people are proud of all things Kerry, from their Gaelic footballers to their writers and artists. In summer, festivals abound, like the Puck Fair in Killorglin, Listowel Writers' Festival or the Rose of Tralee, while locals and visitors alike also enjoy great fishing, regattas and GAA. John Wesson celebrates Kerry's people and lifestyle, its moods and its magnificence. Come and explore this phenomenal natural wilderness, nestled on the Atlantic's edge. Here there is room to be alone ... but never lonely.

Ireland Through Birds

Author: Conor W. O'Brien
Publisher: Merrion Press
ISBN: 1785373072
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 155

Book Description
Twelve birds. One country. A wild Ireland waiting to be discovered. In Ireland Through Birds, Conor O’Brien takes the reader on an ornithological adventure around Ireland in search of twelve of our rarest and most elusive birds. Along the journey the author explores every kind of landscape and habitat our island has to offer across all four seasons, from the remote isles of Donegal to the rugged mountains of Kerry and urban parks of Dublin. Through it all, O’Brien is enchanted by calling corncrakes, mesmerised by hunting harriers, and chased by angry skuas. It’s a journey through a staggering array of landscapes that’ll bring the reader face to face with the rich history and stunning wildlife to be savoured right on our doorstep. It explores the stories of the remarkable birds that live here: the genius of the jay, the sublime mimicry of the cuckoo, the nocturnal prowess of the barn owl, while paying a moving,poetic tribute to our natural heritage – and a warning about the threats that face it. Ireland Through Birds is a unique blend of natural history and travelogue, making it a great read for anyone with an interest in Ireland’s natural world.

The Next Big Story

Author: Soledad O'Brien
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101466111
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 211

Book Description
From top CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O'Brien comes a highly personal look at her biggest reporting moments from Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in Southeast Asia, the devastating Haiti earthquake, and to the historic 2008 U.S. elections and high profile interviews with everyday Americans. Drawing on her own unique background as well as her experiences at the front lines of the most provocative issues in today's society, and from her work on the acclaimed documentaries Black in America and Latino in America, O'Brien offers her candid, clear-eyed take on where we are as a country and where we're going. What emerges is both an inspiring message of hope and a glimpse into the heart and soul of one of America's most straight-talking reporters.

Country Girl

Author: Edna O'Brien
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316230367
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 358

Book Description
"Country Girl is Edna O'Brien's exquisite account of her dashing, barrier-busting, up-and-down life."-National Public Radio When Edna O'Brien's first novel, The Country Girls, was published in 1960, it so scandalized the O'Briens' local parish that the book was burned by its priest. O'Brien was undeterred and has since created a body of work that bears comparison with the best writing of the twentieth century. Country Girl brings us face-to-face with a life of high drama and contemplation. Starting with O'Brien's birth in a grand but deteriorating house in Ireland, her story moves through convent school to elopement, divorce, single-motherhood, the wild parties of the '60s in London, and encounters with Hollywood giants, pop stars, and literary titans. There is love and unrequited love, and the glamour of trips to America as a celebrated writer and the guest of Jackie Onassis and Hillary Clinton. Country Girl is a rich and heady accounting of the events, people, emotions, and landscape that have imprinted upon and enhanced one lifetime.

When I was a Young Man

Author: Bob Kerrey
Publisher: Harvest Books
ISBN: 9780156027434
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Book Description
Kerrey's much-acclaimed and fascinating memoir tells the tale of a young boy's life in Nebraska, his journey as a young man into the dangers of Vietnam and finally to the Nixon White House. As much a story of the American heartland at mid-century as it is a story of a man who rebuilt his life after it was wrenched awry by war. photo insert.

Paradise Falls

Author: Keith O'Brien
Publisher: Pantheon
ISBN: 0593318439
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 497

Book Description
The staggering story of an unlikely band of mothers in the 1970s who discovered Hooker Chemical's deadly secret of Love Canal—exposing one of America’s most devastating toxic waste disasters and sparking the modern environmental movement as we know it today. “Propulsive...A mighty work of historical journalism...A glorious quotidian thriller about people forced to find and use their inner strength.” —The Boston Globe Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and other mothers loved their neighborhood on the east side of Niagara Falls. It had an elementary school, a playground, and rows of affordable homes. But in the spring of 1977, pungent odors began to seep into these little houses, and it didn’t take long for worried mothers to identify the curious scent. It was the sickly sweet smell of chemicals. In this propulsive work of narrative storytelling, NYT journalist Keith O’Brien uncovers how Gibbs and Kenny exposed the poisonous secrets buried in their neighborhood. The school and playground had been built atop an old canal—Love Canal, it was called—that Hooker Chemical, the city’s largest employer, had quietly filled with twenty thousand tons of toxic waste in the 1940s and 1950s. This waste was now leaching to the surface, causing a public health crisis the likes of which America had never seen before and sparking new and specific fears. Luella Kenny believed the chemicals were making her son sick. O’Brien braids together previously unknown stories of Hooker Chemical’s deeds; the local newspaperman, scientist, and congressional staffer who tried to help; the city and state officials who didn’t; and the heroic women who stood up to corporate and governmental indifference to save their families and their children. They would take their fight all the way to the top, winning support from the EPA, the White House, and even President Jimmy Carter. By the time it was over, they would capture America’s imagination. Sweeping and electrifying, Paradise Falls brings to life a defining story from our past, laying bare the dauntless efforts of a few women who—years before Erin Brockovich took up the mantle— fought to rescue their community and their lives from the effects of corporate pollution and laid foundation for the modern environmental movement as we know it today.

Kings of September

Author: Michael Foley
Publisher: O'Brien Press
ISBN: 9781847171184
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 317

Book Description
On the 19th September 1982 Kerry ran out in Croke Park chasing immortality. Victory over Offaly in the All-Ireland football final would secure them five titles in a row, a record certain never to be matched again. It had taken Offaly six heartbreaking years under manager Eugene McGee to drag themselves up from their lowest ebb, but now they stood on the cusp of a glorious reward. The result was a classic final that changed lives and dramatically altered the course of gaelic football history. The Kings of September is an epic story of triumph and loss, joy and tragedy, a story of two teams who illuminated a grim period in Irish life and enthralled a nation.