Showing results by narrator "Chris Abernathy" in All Categories

River of Lakes weaves together the biological, cultural, anthropological, archaeological, and ecological aspects of the St. Johns, capturing the essence of its remarkable history and intrinsic value as a natural wonder.

Twenty years ago, his Chicago political column was syndicated in two hundred papers, but he had an affair—and a son—with his intern, and lost it all. Now he writes a local column and drives for Uber to pay his bills. Jake is playing out the string when his tranquil world is turned upside down. His biracial son—an ambitious entrepreneur—is marked for death by a street gangster, his alcoholic daughter is pregnant and wants an abortion.

Hamilton McWhorter III's service to family and country make him a standout among America's Greatest Generation. A Georgia native whose family roots date from that region's settlement during the 1700s, McWhorter was a naval aviation cadet undergoing training when Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941. After earning his Wings of Gold in early 1942, Ensign McWhorter was trained as a fighter pilot in the robust but technologically outmoded F4F Wildcat. Initially assigned to VF-9, he saw first combat in November 1942 against Vichy French forces in North Africa.

When all the species of birds, trees, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, wildflowers, dragonflies, tiger beetles, and ants are tallied, Alabama harbors more species than ninety percent of the other states in the US. The state's 4,533 species, with more being inventoried and discovered each year, are supported by no less than sixty-four distinct ecological systems—each a unique blend of soil, water, sunlight, heat, and natural disturbance regimes. Although Alabama is teeming with life, the state's prominence as a refuge for plants and animals is poorly appreciated. 

Most people only consider the Mississippi River when they cross it or when it inconveniently abandons its banks. But every year, millions of tons of cargo are transported by towboats on the river. In Peep Light, Captain Lee Hendrix provides unique insight on people who work and live on and near the Mississippi River. Hendrix, formerly a pilot for the Delta Queen Steamboat Co., has worked on the Mississippi for fifty years. In 2014, Hendrix became captain of the towboat Mississippi with the US Army Corps of Engineers, then he later retired to return to passenger vessels.

In 2006, Johnny's pie-in-the-sky dreams of becoming world champion were dashed when his kings ran into aces in the World Series of Poker Main Event. But lady luck was with him when he met Amy, the woman of his dreams, who soon became his wife. Like many players, he drifted away from the game after Congress passed a law later that year that cut off funds to online poker and harkened the decline of the game. But even as Johnny returned to the working world, the itch remained.

In this era of information overload and real-time communication where anyone can publish and broadcast to millions of people with the click of a button, there is no shortage of people talking about the need to get their message across, or having a "narrative." But for business, marketing, and political campaigns, there is no definitive how-to on crafting a compelling narrative that achieves lasting results. On Message solves that problem, illustrating how effective communicators understand the power of narrative, emotion, and simple messaging.

In 1867, less than three years after the Civil War left the city in ruins, Hungarian Jewish immigrant Morris Rich opened a small dry goods store on what is now Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Over time, his brothers Emanuel and Daniel joined the business; within a century, it became a retailing dynasty. Join historian Jeff Clemmons as he traces Rich's 137-year history.

Close to midnight on May 17, 1951, four north Alabama lawmen drove to a bootlegger's home to serve an arrest warrant. Before the clock struck twelve, the bootlegger lay dead in front of the house he shared with his wife and eight children, and three of the four officers were also dead. Afterward, a sixteen-year-old boy would face a series of trials that would divide a county and thrust the state of Alabama into the national spotlight.

How far would you go to protect your child at the end of the world? Bloody, exhausted, and barely alive, Carter Blake escapes the burning compound of the now deceased cult leader, Jeremiah. He’s rescued his daughter, Emma, from Jeremiah’s grip, but the nightmare isn’t over. The EMP that shattered civilization has left the world in darkness, and all Carter wants is to find safety for them both. Emma, reeling from the trauma of Jeremiah’s mind games and the devastating loss of her best friend, only wants one thing: to get home to her mother in Nashville.

Four former classmates gather in the charming small town of Paradise Cove to plan their 40 year reunion. When one of them dies on the beach, old grudges and deceptions are brought to light. Can Detective Whiskers catch the killer before more than the reunion gets cancelled? Sunset Cottage has a new resident as Sheila's grandson decides to stay for the summer so he can take a job as a bartender at the Parrot Eyes Inn and spend time with Sheila's housecleaner, Susi. His Summer of Love is in danger, though, when he is suspected of murder.

The Bourbon Drinker's Companion is a narrative journey into the heart of American craft distilleries, taking listeners from the well-known Jim Beam Booker Noe plant to craft whiskey brewers on the West Coast to the emerging new traditional distillers of the South, in search of America's best whiskey. Bestselling author Colin Spoelman is back to celebrate all things whiskey as he explores the effect branding, taste, region, and distilling processes have on America's beloved and most notorious drink.

Who decides what’s best for Alaskans? Mandates from on high, for the greater good. Reduce violence. Eliminate hunger. Save the people by dehumanizing them. Make them dependent. Take the citizens' voice. Remove their claws. Cory Beringer’s old man took him to Rhodesia to fight as a mercenary when the boy was thirteen. Who does that? Someone who believes when society falls, it won’t be a catastrophic train wreck.

Although Tennessee has a rich history of political scandals dating back to the founding of the state, the last fifty years have been a confusing, confounding, and sometimes ludicrous period of ne'er-do-welling. Welcome to Capitol Hill is a guide to the state's modern history of corruption. From Governor Ray Blanton's pardon scandals to the FBI investigation that started with now lieutenant governor Randy McNally wearing a wire in the late 1980s to the sexual misconduct that plagues Tennessee politics, this book chronicles it all.