"Everybody on the Truck!" is an unabashed valentine to the unfairly unsung Dillards, who were bluegrass when bluegrass wasn't cool and country rock when there wasn't such a thing. As breezily told by Lee Grant, The Dillards' story is refreshingly devoid of raging egos, self-destruction and bitter ends. You'll come away from this compelling biography knowing, perhaps identifying with, and most assuredly liking The Dillards.

Grant sketches the original Dillards - brothers Douglas and Rodney Dillard, Dean Webb and Mitch Jayne - as proud sons of Missouri who longed to set the world afire with their hell-for-leather approach to bluegrass music. Grant's account of the band's misadventures during their go-for-broke journey from the Show Me state to California in late 1962 is funnier and more unbelievable than anything Hollywood could concoct. Against all odds, The Dillards enjoyed nearly instant but well-deserved success soon after reaching Los Angeles, landing a major recording contract and what would become a recurring role on "The Andy Griffith Show".

Grant devotes a good chunk of his book to his subject's indelible association with the Darlings, the eerily deadpan but musically gifted hillbilly clan The Dillards played on six episodes of "TAGS." Interestingly, The Darlings are the source of lingering ambivalence for Rodney Dillard, the group's integrity-conscious musical heart, who wasn't wild, at first, about playing a hayseed stereotype.

Between 1963 and 1970, The Dillards produced five critically-acclaimed albums, rubbed shoulders with the likes of Perry Como, Judy Garland, the Byrds and Bob Dylan and seldom rested from public appearances. "Truck" lets The Dillards themselves analyze the music and their somewhat anachronistic place in the swingin' Sixties. The insights and anecdotes of Mitch Jayne, who played bass and dispensed folksy humor in the role of group spokesman, are particularly entertaining.

To paraphrase Jayne, this "Truck" will run. Hitch a ride and hold on.

This book is an excellent reference for one of bluegrass music's legendary bands, the Dillards. Anyone interested in learning about Rodney, Doug, Dean and Mitch need to get a copy of this book, and fast. Lee Grant has provided us Dillards junkies with a veritable "bible" on the lives and careers of the boys. It is an engaging read. When I bought my copy, I read it straight through in one sitting! For me, that is a rarity. :-)

Suggestion: put on a copy of their CD, "There Is A Time", while reading this book. See why Briscoe Darling once said, "they's all keyed up"!

They were, and you'll be, too.

Lee Grant's fresh southern (but not too southern) writing style lights up the page. This book is a real joy to read. I highly recommend it. I am eagerly awaiting another Lee Grant book. I have heard rumors of a novel in the works. I am waiting anxiously to see if this is a rumor or plain old fact.

GG

Anyone who was fascinated by the PBS program on these two polar bears will enjoy this book. It tells the story of their early years before being transfered to the Florida zoo. The photos are amazing! I've used this book as a resource with K-6th graders, and all ages have loved it. The text under the photos is very small and in blue, making it difficult to read, but the main text is fine, and otherwise the book is wonderful. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in these two very special bears.

Although I did not see the television documentary on these two little darlings, I nevertheless loved the book. Although they are now big bears, the story of little Klondike and Snow's early years is interesting, educational and touching. Abandoned by their mother as cubs, the two bears were raised by humans. This book clearly illustrates the love and devotion of the Denver Zoo towards the cubs' care and development. Klondike and Snow are now thriving at Sea World's Wild Arctic exhibit, were they have plenty of living space and attention!

This book is wonderful for any animal lover and people interested in animal/human interaction.

I was truly fascinated by the special program on Klondike and Snow and will watch it every time I see it. I have not yet found the video to purchase. If you loved watching these two bears grow up, then this will be a great book to purchase to remember them when they were cute and cuddly. I recommend this book to help teach children to love and respect animals. When we see how truly beautiful they are you could never harm them. Children learn these values early in life.

This book is obviously a restaraunt promotion, and alleged cookbook. The reason I call it an alleged cookbook is because the author mixes hard to find ingredients with directions that are sure to make the home cook fail, thereby ensuring that the cook will have to come to The Fort restaraunt to sample the recipe. Here is the list of some of the hard to find ingredients in his cookbook. Sour salt, buffalo, elk, tamarind, verjuice, malagueta pepper, devils claws,damiana, and guinea hen are among just some of the hard to get ingredients. To be fair the book does have a section on where to get some of these ingredients, and the book does have merit in that it has interesting facts about old Western, and especially Southwestern cooking, and it gives many ideas to an experienced cook. Some of the good recipes are Pittsburgh steaks, Green Chili steak bowl, barbecued steak, Martha Washington's chicken grains of paradise, potted buffalo, and beef with caramelized onion, beet salad, a excellent succotash recipe, numerous flans, a ice cream cake, and chocolate chili cake. Sam Arnold claims to have a library of 5,000 cookbooks, and manuscripts from the old West, and this book sort of annoys me, because I'm sure he could come up with a better cookbook, if he really wanted to. For example, he mentions the ingredients in Washtunkala stew, but does not give an account on how to make it. Self-promotion is more important than useful help for the home cook. I also disagree with Sam Arnold in his preparation of a couple of classic recipes. His Country Captain recipe only has a small fraction of the bell pepper, and onion needed, and leaves out the white pepper, and parsley entirely. His barbecue sauce is good, but when I make his barbecued steak, I'm going to use Stonewall Jackson barbecue sauce, the best barbecuse sauce ever made. Barbecue sauce should not have ketchup, or Worchestshire sauce in it. I really have a pet peeeve with recipes for chili that do not have tomato in them. Do not let Texans tell you that chili con carne does not have tomatoes in it. The original recipe for chile, by Mary Alcedo does include tomatoes. I seriously doubt that 1 cup of chili puree, and 1 teaspoon of Mexican oregeno can make 4 pounds of pork taste anything but bland. His recipe for chili doesn't even have cumin in it. If I was going to go to the trouble of stewing down 4 pounds of pork shoulder than I would much rather make a southern style barbecue, or a Brunswick stew.

While it is true that some ingredients require a little effort to find, the Fort Cookbook is a tremendously entertaining, historically illuminating and just-plain-fun cookbook. I have made several recipes from it, and have encountered good results. BTW, some hard-to-find items may be found at Homebrew stores ("sour salt" aka citric acid, juniper berries, etc.)

Can't wait until my travels bring me back to Denver, so I can try the real McCoy!

This is a cookbook that has already become a family treasure and my mom and I have an extensive collection of many different kinds of cookbooks. Needless to say, a cookbook that gives you history of the area that their restaurant is located, plus the history behind all of the fascinating recipes that are in store for the reader/cook is a real gem to own. Two finger lickin' thumbs up.

I just started playing the guitar a few months ago, and thought 'if I could just learn a few John Denver songs I would be successful.' I got this book and now, in just a few weeks, I know even more then a few. I do wish the book would lay flat, or that the songs that had three pages would fold out, it's hard to flip pages in the middle of songs, but that's the way it goes.

This book has been so much fun. I am a huge John Denver fan, and just learning how to play the guitar. The problem with this book is that it didnt have a spiral binding. Thankfully I have a thoughtful husband who took it to Kinkos to have a spiral binding put in it before giving it to me for Christmas! It should be able to lay flat so you can read it and play the guitar at the same time.

So many of his songs, arranged perfectly for new guitarists or seasoned players...beautifully done. I highly recommend this anthology!

Bob Horn has obviously gone to every one of these areas, or gathered info from other climbers and detailed them well in this book. His line drawings and sketches are better then usual and are easy to find and follow.
My only gripe is that a lot of the southern front range bouldering classics are on private property and no directions are given to several areas. I think when a climber is accessing private property, a simple stop at the owners residence will often gain you legal access to these precious gems.
From and ex-greenhorn valley dweller, enjoy!

This book offers easy to read maps and drawings with a personal touch not seen in other guides of this type. A wealth of information has been gathered and revealed within the text. This just one of a series of books that has a unique handcrafted touch were value will increase with time. In Front Range Bouldering texts the author has obviously taken the time to walk around and observe each individual boulder by drawing them and notating their features. Great bargain.

Lessons Learned is a long-winded tome on DIA and the complexities of airport management and design. Most of the book's facts and information are derived from already published sources. I would have liked to have seen exclusive interviews with the actual people involved in the making of DIA (politicians, workers, et al) -- this book is simply devoid of the investigative touch. Nevertheless, a lot of time and work went into writing Lessons Learned, of which the authors deserve credit. DIA is a story worthy of the 500 plus pages of material, unfortunately Lessons Learned drifts off into territory that will only interest those involved in airport design and management -- some of the technical discussion is boring and does not pertain to DIA directly. The book does explain in detail the political maneuvering within Denver that went into the making of DIA -- this material is the most interesting part of the book. In conclusion, if you share an interest in DIA or airports, get this book. I did and I don't regret it.

I had the extraordinary good fortune to have Paul Dempsey as a professor at the University of Denver College of Law. DU Law School is nationally, if not internationally, recognized as having one of the best transportation law programs in the United States. Paul Dempsey is, more than anyone, responsible for this honor. He regularly travels the globe as a consultant in all areas of transportation law. In the year I had Professor Dempsey, he went to China and Italy to consult with the local governments. Dempsey is also a founding and continuing member of the board of Frontier Airlines. If you are a CNN junkie, you've probably seen Dempsey testifying before Congress. In short, if you want the definitive inside scoop on the airline industry, and the building of DIA, you're not likely to find a more informed person than this guy.

Dempsey is a prolific author, and a highly respected academic. He has published far more than what you see listed here at Amazon.com.

For more information on Paul Dempsey, check out his exhaustive listing of publications at http://www.law.du.edu/support/facbibs/dempsey.htm. For even more information on Professor Dempsey, you can see Frontier Airlines latest 10K report at http://www.sec.gov/edaux/formlynx.htm

Dan Lobnitz, 2L, DU Law

I love the lyrics of John Denver. I always have. And to find them all in one neat little volume is great. The commentary that is provided on certain songs was written by John for his anthology songbooks. I recogonize every one of them. And I like that even the lesser (and downright UN-known) songs are included.

The little blurb by Tom Paxton is touching and to the point and was a treat to read.

However, Mr. Okun, if you're reading this, PLEASE, OH, PLEASE, do NOT perpetuate the "John Denver Never Wrote a Song In A Minor Key" myth! I can think off hand of at least two songs without blinking: "Wooden Indian" From "Poems Prayers and Promises" is written in E Minor. In fact that is the only chord in the entire song. (A very powerful song, at that). And "Aspenglow", best known from "Rocky Mountain Christmas" is in A minor. There are a few others as well. (That I'm sure John would have known about).

The inclusion of the myth is the only reason that I've given this 4 stars and not 5. I'm a stickler for accuracy.

I find this collection of John's lyrics beautiful to read...for John's unqiue ability to communicate was expressed not only in his voice and the music he wrote--but the lyrics themselves read as a good book of poetry. In fact, there is an interesting ability to deeply understand and ponder the meanings when you read the lyrics alone.

I am very glad Milt Okun put this book together.

In addition to the lyrics themselves, Okun has also included the inspiration behind songs in John's own words for many of the songs.

I highly recommend this book!

Christine Smith

Sybil Downing does a wonderful job of evoking the menace of the 1920s in Colorado when the KKK ran the state, from the governor's office to the local precinct. Newspaper reporter Liz O'Brien balks at the constraints of "society reporter," sets out to cover the hard news, and finds herself up against the KKK and murder. It's a terrific plot, with strong and determined characters. No one intends to back down--certainly not the KKK and not Liz! I very much enjoyed this novel. Downing is that rare writer who knows how to serve up a lot of solid history while telling a terrific story.

The laundry can wait. Once you start following Downing's Liz O'Brien into the dark world of the Ku Klux Klan in 1922 Denver, you won't want to stop until the end. Murder and intimidation, plus the blighting of innocent lives simply due to their Race or Religion, is the major theme of the book, but the reader also gets a generous helping of what it was like being a woman struggling for a career in a male-dominated field, in that era.
I loved this gutsy yet vulnerable lady. It's a splendid read.

Trust Downing to uncover the drama that everyone else forgot--KKK in Colorado!! And it's a good story. Downing's Liz O'Brien takes on the Klan in the 1920s when most women were still stuck in Victorian mode. O'Brien's courage takes her into life-threatening situations that reveal what all of us need to remember, namely that courage and standing up for our rights is always an individual decision. This is a great read, not only because it reveals a piece of history not well known, but because it allows the reader to believe in humanity. Go for it!

The ethnography in this text is insufficient, and the writers in the local Denver scene seem like cartoon characters, especially when compared to New York writers. However, the last quarter of Ferrell's book on anarchist criminology is powerful and goes a long way to developing a theory how graffiti impinges on the power stucture it is being painted on. graffiti upsets the aesthetics of authority.

Ferrell offers a major contribution to sociology, criminology, and to youth studies. This brief book not only offers insight and analysis of graffiti artists, it explores the ways in which power is negotiated and challenged. In the graffiti artists' use of space and in their definitions of beauty and neighborhood, they uncover the way power and meanings are manufactured. Ferrell's work is a powerful, clear, and engaging book; one which shows stunning new ways of seeing and studying 'crime.'

Crimes of Style is a journey into the burgeoning underground Denver Graffiti scene. Jeff Ferrel's participant observations of local taggers and writers gives a fascinating insight into a sometimes beautiful and sometimes offensive subculture of vandalism....or is it? The question of vandalism or art remains an underlying question throughout Ferrel's book. And the reader must decide for himself where the line between art and crime stands. Jeff Ferrel's work is divine inspiration to the fledgling sociologists like myself.

This book may be entertaining to those unfamiliar with Animal Planet's popular Emergency Vets TV program, but somewhat confusing to those who are faithful fans of the show. The plot revolves around the adventures of a fictional young woman named Megan, who is supposedly the niece of the real Dr. Robert Taylor, owner of Alameda East Veterinary Clinic in Colorado, where the E-Vets series is filmed. Megan gets to spend the summer working at the clinic, interacting with the series' veterinarians as well as a number of fictional characters, such as her friend Rick. Many of their escapades are highly improbable, and much misinformation is provided about both the vets and the clinic; the book's inevitable happily-ever-after ending, for example, suggests a lack of security at Alameda East that surely does not exist. The problem with the book is that it is neither fact nor fiction, but reads more like a teenager's fantasy, based on her favorite TV show. Marino would have done better by her young readers had she written either a real novel or a real work of non-fiction.

This book is the ruler of words the king of the best everybody will love this book if they love animals. Teachers and librarians should love this book because it is ecucational and it teaches and rules!

This book is great. If I could rate it 1-100 I'd give it 100. Maybe even more. It is about a girl, named Meagan, who wants to be a vet and is so excited when her dad says she is going to intern at an animal hospital. Her Uncle Bob works there. He's Dr. Robert Taylor from the show "Emergency Vets". She has a fun-filled summer with her cousins Allsion and Tommy -- Dr. Taylor's kids. She goes to a party at the zoo at night. It is called the Do At The Zoo. She goes with her friend Rick. She has a delightful six weeks including injuries, dog-napping and a whole lot of talking parrots. You'll have fun reading this story.