Thomas Gray Books

Beveryly Gray is truly a wonderful biographer. She captures the tone and warmth of Ron Howard throughout the book. Beverly also puts you "in the know" for the locales, such as Greenwich, Connecticut, where Ron Howard moved to partially shield his children from the "glamorous temptations of the film industry." This is a book for people who want to take a walk with Howard and really get to know what drives him. It's warm, friendly, and low-key, just like its subject. And a great read! Well done, Beverly! Oh, by the way, did I mention Beverly also teaches film at UCLA Extension. A wonderful, warm person in her own right.

I found Ms. Gray's study of Ron Howard to be a highly creative and attention-grabbing presentation of a man with a constantly developing and fascinating career and personality, ranging from his child-actor beginnings through his current reputation as a successful director in many genres. The book brought to life his early years in the Andy Griffith television series and "The Music Man." The author's treatment of his recent film, "A Beautiful Mind," is especially moving and insightful and tied together Howard's consistency and creative exploration in all of his work. His ever-present optimism, human decency, energetic habit of taking on new challenges, and loyal respect for others in his life and his work is presented in a very appreciative and in-depth way.

One of the advantages of an "unauthorized" biography is that it should offer a more creative and exciting challenges to the biographer and a much greater illumination to the reader.
There is always the danger when a biography is authorized that a conflict of interest may arise and the truth may be compromised.

Beverly Gray's unauthorized biography Ron Howard From Mayberry to the Moon..and Beyond is a "putting the record straight" kind of a book, wherein some of the myths that have been prevalent in the press for so many years are explored and set aside.

Many of us have grown up with Ron Howard the child actor Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show, and then as Richie Cunningham of Happy Days.
Today, Ron Howard is a well known Hollywood film director and producer, who directed such films as: Through the Magic Pyramid, Night Shift, Cocoon, Willow, Parenthood, Backdraft, Far and Away, The Paper, Apollo 13, Ransom, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Academy award winner, A Beautiful Mind.

Gray practically begins her story from the cradle. Howard was born of parents, who themselves were actors, and at eighteen months he captured his first acting role as a crying baby, thanks to the efforts of his father.
Throughout his life, his parents, Rance and Jean Howard, played a tremendous role in shaping his life, and at the tender age of five years his father had imparted in him professionalism and basic acting techniques that have remained with him throughout his career.

As we read Howard's "unauthorized" biography, we are amazed at the extensive research that must have gone into the writing of this book, most of which was gleaned from Howard's interviews with the media over the years, as well as the author's interviews with many of his associates.
One advantage of writing Howard's biography in the prime of his life is that almost everyone is still around from his youth and his filmmaking career.

Practically no stone is left unturned, as we trudge along with the author from Howard's early childhood until his present day directing achievements.
We learn of his successes as well as his failures, and very often we are privy to some little known facts about him.
As an example, Howard was in awe by director George Lucas's talents and counter culture approach to filmmaking, as was in evidence in the film American Graffiti, where Howard had been asked to improvise scenes with other actors.

Movie buffs will surely appreciate the four appendices included at the end of the book that provide a timeline for the actor, filmography as an actor, filmography as a director and producer, and his major awards and honors.

One deficiency I found with the book, and one that is very prevalent in many biographies, is the creation of a narrative pattern that relies on the chronological tick of events; the day- by -day or year- by- year pattern should have been re-imagined. If the author had made Howard's story more innovative, it would have been more attractive to its readers.

Norm Goldman-Travel Writer and Editor Bookpleasures

I read Beverly Gray's book on "Ron Howard: From Mayberry to the Moon... and Beyond". I found it to be very easy to read, very entertaining and full of interesting stories about Ron. Ms. Gray was objective, diplomatic and kind, never to offend any party involved. I thoroughly enjoyed the book so much so that I finished reading it in one and a half day while sun bathing in Del Mar, California recently.

Did you ever want to be Opie when you were a kid? I did. The thing about Opie was that even when he got into trouble, and he did get into trouble, everybody still liked him. Beverly Gray, in Ron Howard From Mayberry to the Moon, presents a good case that the same is true of Mr. Howard. Everybody in the motion picture business likes him, that is if you exclude a few pretentious critics (and even they probably like him, just not always his happy endings). Nice guys do NOT always finish last.

Howard did not cooperate with this biography because "he felt himself to be in midcareer and not ready to participate in a long range assessment of his accomplishment." OK, fair enough. Keep that in mind while you are reading, but do read it.

From Opie to Richie to director, this is a detailed portrait of a man whom everyone agrees is a real mensch and who is wildly successful. It is also fascinating, and adds to Howard's charm, to realize who loyal he is to his family and friends, yet how honestly he treats them when casting projects. Simply put, if he feels they are right for a part, they get it; if not, they don't. That takes quite a bit of respect and love - from the actor and the director.

Gray's extensive interviews bring out some interesting bits of trivia about Howard. Her prose flows nicely and her organization is excellent. Maybe in another forty years or so, she can write an update - next time with Ron Howard's input.

The Essential Man-Thing, Volume 1 is an excellent publication that focuses upon storylines and elements not found in a typical comic book. As opposed to having as the protagonist a crime fighter superhero such as Captain America or a save the world team like The Avengers, Marvel Comics centered this series around an anti-hero guided by primitive emotions, a swamp creature who comes to be known as Man-Thing.

Initially, Man-Thing was a leading government scientist by the name of Ted Sallis, who was assigned to reproduce the serum created during a World War II experiment that made scrawny Steve Rogers into the indomitable Captain America. Whether the serum was truly recreated is unknown. What is known is that Sallis would be hunted down by enemies seeking the newly created formula, and in effort to protect his work, he injected himself with this chemical concoction. After being chased, Sallis loses control of his vehicle and ends up submerged deep in the swampy waters of the Florida Everglades. It is then that the injection reacts with the elements of the swamp, causing Sallis' physiology thus humanity to be severely altered. It is then that the origin of the Man-Thing has arrived!

No longer is Ted Sallis a flesh and blood human being; instead he is a 7-feet tall swamp monster composed entirely of plant and vegetable matter. He cannot speak, nor is he able to go back to civilization due to his deformed state. Thus, he thrives in the Everglades, dwelling among other creatures; any vestige of the cognitive capacity possessed by Ted Sallis has apparently ceased to exist within The Man-Thing, but is anyone really sure?

Under typical circumstances, the Man-Thing would likely remain in isolation and not come into any direct contact with humans. He has become a solitary figure with an uncanny ability to sense and elude those from outside his dwellings. So any record of seeing him might just as well join the ranks of The Loch Ness Monster and Sasquatch. However, this would not be so.

Where Man-Thing dwells is key to his survival. The algae and various types of protoplasm and vegetation serve as nutrition thus sustenance for this wild creature. It is because of both this basic necessity and the disregard for the environment that a selfish, corporate executive by the name of F.A. Schist has that Man-Thing must come out of hiding. Within this conflict is a reflection of the myriad financial dilemmas that parts of America were actually going through and a continual growth versus preservation duality that was not so highly entailed in other comics.

Sure, there were times that the alter egos of superheroes had to move from place to place, but it was only within the confines of financial difficulties or government reassignments. With the Man-Thing, however, none of those particular concerns are in his domain. His home is his way of life; there are essentially no ifs, ands, or buts. And with Schist entering the scene and wanting to demolish much of the swampland so that he can build and expand his enterprises via construction, we have in quite a few pages numerous clashes between the blue collar workers under contract with Schist and environmentalists who want to protect the local plants, trees, and wildlife.

For many readers, it is perhaps this stage that has them wondering for the first time if characters who, in many ways, might be regarded as heroes for doing what it takes to provide for and feed the family within the confines of U.S. law might be vilified as enemies in the broader context for carrying out the plans of a greedy individual whose business dealings have, unfortunately, been protected by law or the loopholes thereof. In one sequence, a construction worker exclaims, "I don't work...my kids don't eat...! That's the simplest ecology there is, right? Heck, we ain't villains--just hard-workin' guys tryin' to earn a dollar!" And it is from the Man-Thing storylines that we witness exploitation of the lowest common denominator: acknowledging the scarcity of resources for the common man and using that predicament to create and perpetuate dire situations setting everyday people against one another!

All in all, this bound volume creates a seeming paradox about comic book publications. Several themes in the Marvel World originated and championed by the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko team were inspired by Ayn Rand, and during the publication of Man-Thing, Rand and her intellectual contemporaries were vehemently against the environmentalist movement, for it was portrayed as a threat to subordinating the human race to other species and also destroying property rights, thus individual rights. Interestingly, Man-Thing simultaneously personifies what could be extrapolated as the best intentions of the environmentalist movement and the darkest, destructive elements of unregulated capitalism. How close to reality these opposing themes are is still up for debate after almost four decades!

In effect, one might suppose that Marvel, because it constantly upheld a pursuit of happiness philosophy in its themes, went off track with issuing Man-Thing. In response, I say that this volume reinforces the phrase "moderation in all things" which was pro-Aristotelian, which even Rand, herself, claimed to be!

The book is a good combination of drama, mysticism, ecology and action, because, unlike other swamp things, "Manny" doesn't spend entire stories feeling sorry for himself; if danger arises, he is there to face it and, if need be, enforce his own brand of mute justice.
Great were the guest appearence of "Ka-Zar", the agents of "AIM" and "The Glob", but the introduction of "Howard, The Duck" was both hilarious and welcome, for that loquacious fowl really "went" with all the bizarre stuff around him!!!
Is there a "Volume 2" coming?

The comic starts off slowly, repetitively, but soon flowers into an existential, anarchic,nihilist-naive, neo primitivist landscape, which prefigures and pre empts and "pre imagines" Charles Burns "Black Hole" and aspects of Alan Moore by decades.

The action takes place in a swamp -- a secluded place, a dank,, threatening, yet pure place, untouched by the corruption of man -- yet it's a place constantly under threat from corrupt, violent men,pushing at its ( mental and physical/psychical ) edges and boundaries.


However, the swamp is protected by the pure of heart, Man Thing -- the beast is a being who instinctively despises corruption, the concept of "might makes right" thuggery and the bully. In other words, a very modern comic figure !!

The art is great too, with lots of good character profiles of 70's hippies, anarchist bikers, draft dodgers, homophobic hard hats, 1950's rockabilly gangs,hippy chicks and eccentric professors.

Get ready to take the man thing trip, from the swamps to the edge of the stratosphere out to the edges of your dreams, blurring waking and sleeping consciousness!

Great stuff, from a somewhat dull start on to a great set of tales : If you are into existential,lonely central figures and very "post modern", apocalyptic themes,expressing a deep mistrust of modern society, then you'll love Man Thing. I can't believe he was left behind and taken over by Swamp Thing and "Black Hole" ! Man Thing deserves a far higher profile and respect in the comics world.

When my local comic book store got its copies of "Essential Man-Thing, Volume 1," one of the clerks made a point of urging me to buy the book because it included a couple of issues of what he maintained was the comic book with the greatest name in the history of the Marvel or any other universe. He was referring, of course, to the first two issues of "Giant-Size Man-Thing." I did not comment on either the appropriateness of this declaration being made in a loud voice in the presence of young children or the attendant irony of this information being gleefully communicated by someone who has six inches and about a hundred pounds on me. But I did let him know that I already had my own copy that I could read about the Man-Thing regardless of size in the privacy of my own home.

Man-Thing made his (its?) first appearance in May 1971 in "Savage Tales" #1, and while there is a tendency to think of the Marvel character as a second rate version of DC's much more successful Swamp Thing, that character first appeared a month later in "House of Secrets" #92, the June-July 1971 issue. The first appearance of Man-Thing was written by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas, with Gary Morrow as the artist, where as the first Swamp Thing story was written by Len Wein and drawn by Berni Wrightson. To make things even more interesting, Conway and Wein were roommates at the time, and Wein wrote the second Man-Thing story drawn by Neal Adams (originally intended for "Savage Tales" #2, it was incorporated to a Ka-Zar story by Roy Thomas drawn by John Buscema in "Astonishing Tales" #12. Obviously Conway and Wein knew what the other one was doing, and there is evidence that Wein took pains to make their origins dissimilar. Collected in Volume 1 and arranged in chronological order, are "Savage Tales" #1, "Astonishing Tales" #12-13, "Adventure into Fear" #10-19, "Man-Thing" #1-14, "Giant-Size Man-Thing," #1-2, and "Monsters Unleashed" #5 & #8-9.

Originally the biochemist Theodore "Ted" Sallis, the Man-Thing was created when Sallis was betrayed by his lover who was in league with agents from Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) for wanted his miracle drug formula. When the origin was revised this became a super-soldier serum (in the manner of how Captain America was created), and it was the mixture of the serum and the swamp were Sallis drown that caused the transformation. When Steve Gerber took over the script and revealed the Everglades includes the Nexus of All Realities, magical forces became retroactively involved in the creation of the Man-Thing as the guardian of the Nexus. Sallis' intelligence was basically destroyed and the defining elements of the shambling muck-monster were that the Man-Thing sensed strong emotions and reacted to fear with rage, secreting a chemical (or magical?) corrosive so that "Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch," starting with the woman who betrayed him and continuing to those the creature comes upon as he stumbles through the swamp and keeps coming across humans doing bad things and deserving such punishment.

Much is made of the first appearance of Howard The Duck in "Fear" #19 (originally a duck whose name is revealed to be Howard), but the story I remember best is "It Came Out of the Sky!" in "Fear" #17, where Gerber takes the well-known origin of Superman and plays out what would have happened if the kindly old couple had seen a space ship crashing to Earth in 1951 and gone the other way rather than face Martians or Communists. It would be 20 years before Man-Thing would release the babe inside, now the fully-grown Wundarr, who thinks Man-Thing is his mother. That issue was the best bit of satire by Gerber and an indication of what was to come when Howard the Duck got his own strip, but when we had Korrek, Warrior Prince of Katharta comes out of a half-eaten jar of peanut butter (also in "Fear" #19), it is hard to take things seriously, which I would think it a prerequisite for a comic book where the end game is supposed to involve things burning because they fear the touch of the Man-Thing.

In reading these early stories again my preference is clear for the later issues collected here when Mike Ploog took over as the artist on "Man-Thing" #5. Frank Brunner was my favorite Man-Thing artist, but all he did were covers (including the one for this collection, which was from the cover of "Man-Thing" #1), and Ploog was the artist who got most of Marvel's horror comic titles off the ground, starting with "Werewolf By Night," but also including "Ghost Rider" and "The Monster of Frankenstein." So it was usual, but quite welcomed, for him to show up in the middle of a book's run. Gerber was focusing more on human stories where the peculiar justice of the Man-Thing's burning touch was most appropriate, as opposed to all the mystical stuff with Dakimh the Enchanter and the results are a lot better. No doubt because Gerber was enjoying unfettered freedom in writing "Howard the Duck."

"Man-Thing" was a mixture of horror and crime along with fantasy and science fiction, and the appearance of other Marvel superheroes such as Mr. Fantastic and Tony Stark in "Giant-Size Man-Thing" #2, usually did not work. However, there was a little more success with villains, most notably the Fool-Killer ("Man-Thing" #3-4). This was one of those comic books where I tended to like the art more than the stories, such as when Tom Sutton finished John Buscema's layouts in "Man-Thing" #13 and Alfredo Alcala did the art for #14. So when we started getting text stories by Gerber with accompanying artwork by Pat Broderick, I would tend to just look at the pictures and not bother with the stories. Ultimately I find Man-Thins is one of those characters were less is more, because there are only so many injustices a muck-monster can address while shambling around the Everglades.

Excellent and interesting, not stuffy at all. Easy to follow with practice lessons at the end of every chapter. Good essential information for the beginner investor, not just for online traders. Covers the "how-to's" of analyzing stocks and mutual funds to add to your portfolio put in easy to understand and fun terms. By: Ellen Hochman

This is a very detailed book which covers all aspects on online investing. Most people can skip chapter 1 which shows basic Internet browsing and navigation. The rest of the book shows web pages you can look at. I like this book because the authors highlight and explain the different parts of each of the web pages. At 400 pages, this book is short enough so that you won't get bored and long enough that the author just don't explain a concept in a sentence or a paragraph. The authors give enough detail so that you can understand and profit.

"Teach Yourself Investing Online", by Thomas S. Gray and Claire Mencke, is the ideal book for online investors, both novices and old-timers. The information is easy to understand, easy to read, and very interactive. There are sites to visit, quizzes and worksheets to fill out, and pages and pages of screenshots and sidebars and intriguing reading. This book can be used for quick reference or for straight-forward research. Very up-to-date and needed in this fast-paced Internet world, with online catalogs and stock trading sites, this book is your manual to succeed in this day in age. The book covers such subjects as stock quotes to saving for your child's college fund to shopping online. I was clueless and, frankly, frightened of the stock market and Internet investments before I peeked at these pages -- now I'm hooked, making extra money, and learning how to budget my finances. This book is for young and old investors alike, and it's easy to follow, with clear language and straight-forward visuals. It was obvious to me that these authors know what they're talking about. A must! If you think you could never make it in this busy online investing economy, you need this book! If you think you know all there is to know, you need this book! Finally, I read something I needed so much!

This book was very good back in the "buy and hold years" of 1998-2001. It's still a good read and very enjoyable.

These days, in my opinion, a trader needs more practical and up to date strategies especially if he wants to start day trading online on a regular basis.

Stock trading is all about making buy and sell decisions. When you make a trade either your going to lose money or your going to make money, and some other times you will break even. When you win some body else will lose and so forth, but that's NOT what's important.

The most important aspect of day trading is the "know-how" strategies you employ to make your buy & sell decisions. There are many "surefire" systems outhere, but you need to test them in order to discover which ones help you the most. That's part of your homework as an online stock trader. Test, test and test again.

Complicated systems that rely on a truck load of technical analysis indicators can make you slow, and being slow in this game can be as dangerous as not knowing what to do in the first place.

I think the worst thing that can happen to a beginner trader is to get information OVERLOAD. It's better to go step by step, and test a simple trading system that can show you how to focus on concrete ways to profit day in and day out.

Fortunatly there are some good sites on the web today that can show you how to trade in a practical and effective way. One of those sites is Smart Day Trading (SmartDayTrading com)

In the end, day trading is all about buying and selling according to your knowledge FILTER. Once you master and follow youre proven filter parameters like a clock, you can expect to start making serious amounts of cash on a consistent basis.

A great stocking stuffer! This book is very encouraging. You'll feel as though you're having a cup of tea with Alice while she imparts God's wisdom and promises through her delightful stories for the storms of our lives. And Jesus said, "The storms will come," and believe me none of us will escape them, they will come sooner or later. Be ready to withstand them by growing spiritually through these treasures for women. Buy this book for your friends who are hurting . . . sometimes it doesn't even have to be a huge hurt either, for the little ones can really plague us, too! Almost everyone I know will benefit from Alice's deep abiding faith and trust in the Heavenly Father.

Alice Gray's book is a treasure-trove of hope. I was captured from the moment I read the prologue through to the last chapter. She made me feel I was sitting across the table from her as I enjoyed her stories and heartfelt words of wisdom and comfort. If anyone is in despair and can't see the dawn for the dark, this book will reassure them that in truth, we can dare to hope for that joy that comes in the morning.

Marilyn McAuley
Vancouver, WA

I've had the privilege of reading this book. What an encouragement of hope it is in my life. I've gone through some bleak times, and this book hits the "hope" nail on the head! It not only will be a "re-readable" resourse book for me, as I share in many women's lives, but I plan to give this book as gifts to those ladies needing its advise and encouragements. A "must" read for "every" woman, and then propagate it to other ladies!

I have read and "studied" several of Mr.Kunstler's books and enjoyed them all.I particularly enjoy the artists comments as to why he does some of the things the way he does.This book is different in that his art is not accompanied by his explanations but by another writer's text.This text is very good and really brings out the personalities of these great characters.As one who believes that it is important to understand the personalities of the people involved if one is to understand why things happened the way they did;this is very well done.
As to the title of my review;I find eyes fascinating.The first thing I look at in Mr.Kunstler's paintings is the eyes.Let me point out Confederate Sunset on pg.56 both Lee's and Jackson's eyes are very beady and staring resulting in them looking like figures in a wax museum;giving the painting a posed and unnatural feeling.Other examples are of Jackson on pages 38and 40.Note the difference in Jackson's eyes on page44.Another thing I like to study is how some paintings look very stiff,posed almost like a diorama in a museum,eg.The Return of Stuart on pg.126.Compare this to The Last Council on pg.102 which is so realistic. Am I alone in seeing this aspect of Mr.Kunstler's work?

Outstanding compilation of information, and the best images of primiere Civil War artist Mort Kunstler. A "must have" for all serious students of the American Civil War.

Take a step back into time with the daughters of Confederate veterans. The war will not seem like such a long time ago when these recent narratives bring you into the lives of these men.

This book was such easy reading of historical facts. The information was written in such a way that you could feel you were a part of the speakers memories. I would highly recommend this book.

Reading "Small Acts of Grace" by Alice Gray is like sitting down with a mentor. Her writing style is not "forced." She tells stories of real people, real happenings, and real feelings, through which the reader finds gentle encouragement to make needed changes in her own life. I appreciate the thought questions at the end of each section. Sometimes, I need to "sit" on them for a few days as I consider what is lacking in my own life regarding relationships and reaching out to others. When a book makes me stop and think, I know the writer has connected!

Alice Gray gives one specifics as to how do small acts of grace toward others. They are practical, and everyone can do them. This book is definitely a must read, must do! Not only does one practice these, but in practicing these small acts of grace from God, they too are blessed. I highly recommend it for self use, and as a gift giver!

Gray Temple turns the subject of homelessness over again and asks the reader to plan to get involved, on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis with the homeless - our next door neighbors. This Episcopal priest knows his material - he lived with the homeless during a summer while on sabbatical. This is a great collection of practical ways to give - that it might be given back to you again, and again, and again!

This is a terrific reference for anyone interested in getting more out of the poetry of Thomas Gray. Richard Bentley's wonderful illustrations come to life in the elegant and moving writing of Loftus Jestin. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Blake created his series of 116 watercolors at the turn of the century to illustrate 13 poems by Thomas Gray: this reproduces his watercolors in an affordable edition, allowing a much wider audience access to his works. Blake's Watercolours For The Poems Of Thomas Gray republishes all 116 plates originally in the Trianon Press edition.