Name: Southern California Funny Cars
Brand: Mr. Steve Reyes
SKU: 9781467109727
Price: 23.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Southern California Funny Cars

9781467109727

$23.99

Southern California was the birthplace of organized drag racing, with the first organized race held at the Santa Ana airport in 1949 and the subsequent founding of the National Hot Rod Association in 1950. Over the next decade and a half, the dragster became the king of the quarter mile on Southern California drag strips. In 1964, veteran dragster owner/driver Jack Chrisman had an idea for something different to grace Southern California's drag strips. It was not a dragster but a stock-bodied race car using nitromethane for fuel in a supercharged engine. With the help of Gene Mooneyham, Mercury's Fran Hernandez, and sponsor Helen Sachs, Chrisman put together the world's first nitro-burning "funny car." It was a steel stock-bodied Mercury Cyclone with a supercharged 427 Ford engine running on pure nitromethane. Chrisman started the evolution that soon turned stock steel-bodied cars into fiberglass-bodied tube chassis funny cars. Southern California drag racers began to lead the way for racers all over the United States in the new funny car class.

Northern California Drag Racing

9781467108171

$23.99

Organized drag racing began in Northern California in 1949 thanks to World War II veterans with a "need for speed." Towns like Redding, Lodi, Fresno, Bakersfield, and Fremont would host their own drag events featuring homebuilt jalopies. Anyone with a driver's license and a paid entry fee could participate, and as the cars got more sophisticated and faster, more and more spectators came to watch the local "speed demons." By the 1960s, a metamorphosis began with the introduction of the slingshot-style dragsters. For the next 12 years, the slingshot dragster was the king of the quarter mile, and it made stars of Gary Ormsby, Frank Bradley, Dennis Baca, and James Warren. Meanwhile, in 1965, a funny new race car challenged "The King" as it gained popularity in Northern California. Leading this funny car charge was a Pennsylvania transplant named Russell James Liberman. However, the golden years of Northern California drag racing came to an end in the mid-1970s. Today, only 5 out of 17 drag strips are still open. Photographer Steve Reyes journeyed into the world of Northern California drag racing in 1963 as a 15-year-old kid. Upon seeing an advertisement from the Oakland Tribune that read, "Come see the nitro powered 200mph slingshot dragsters," Reyes and his father made the 23-mile trek to the Fremont drag strip. With the noise of high-powered engines filling the air, Reyes was hooked and made it his duty to capture this one-of-a-kind world on film.

Abalone Diving on the California Coast

9781467160285

$23.99

Abalones are marine snails from the family Haliotidae. This family of shellfish is comprised of 56 recognized species worldwide and eight known species in California. The Native Peoples of California fished and dove for abalone for thousands of years. Chinese immigrants first arrived in California around 1850 to work in the goldfields and on the railroads. Some found their way to Monterey and discovered an abundance of large red abalone that nobody was using. By the mid-1890s, Japanese fishermen had also discovered this rich abundance of abalone. Soon, the Japanese introduced helmet diving technology to the fishery. In 1908, a German restaurateur in Monterey began slicing abalone into steaks. Soon, men from the Azores and elsewhere started fishing abalone along the Central Coast of California. By the 1950s, there were hundreds of people and families fishing this delicacy commercially and thousands more fishing for recreation and subsistence. Steven L. Rebuck grew up in the abalone fishery and served as the abalone technical consultant to the Southern Sea Otter Recovery Team from 1993 to 2004. Christopher Rebuck, a software development manager, is a native Californian and Steven’s oldest son. He began surfing and hunting abalone at the age of five. Tim Thomas is the former historian and curator of the Monterey Maritime Museum. He authored The Abalone King of Monterey: “Pop” Ernest Doelter, Pioneering Japanese Fishermen & the Culinary Classic that Saved an Industry with The History Press in 2013.

Southern California Road Racing

9781467103626

$24.99

In California, the popularity of all kinds of motor sports reached its peak in the mid-20th century. None was more exotic or glamorous than the type commonly called road racing. Southern California Road Racing is a collection of historic photographs that depicts all the action and excitement of the golden age of motor sports. The images in this book will take you back to the days when the best cars Europe had to offer competed with homebuilt specials over world-famous road courses like Laguna Seca, Willow, Glen Helen, and Riverside International, plus show all the cars and people that made it happen.

Candlestick Park

9780738581590

$24.99

Opened in 1960 as the home of the San Francisco Giants, Candlestick Park is among America's most iconic sports facilities. It is a striking example of modernism and was the first reinforced-concrete stadium. The Giants' home for 40 years, it played host to two World Series, including in 1989, when it was infamously delayed by the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Renovated to a dual-purpose stadium in 1970, it became home to the San Francisco 49ers. In 1982, "The Catch," one of the most famous plays in NFL history, heralded the beginning of five Super Bowl Championships. Candlestick Park was also home to the early Oakland Raiders, was visited by Pope John Paul II, and saw the last Beatles concert.

Los Angeles's Historic Ballparks

9780738580326

$24.99

Baseball's long and storied history in Los Angeles has been played at venues including the turn-of-the-century Chutes Park, which was part of an amusement park, as well as Gilmore Field, where the Hollywood Stars played, and Wrigley Field, where many movies and television shows were filmed. The 1923-vintage Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum became the Dodgers' first home in California in 1958, when they moved from Brooklyn. Greater Los Angeles also featured professional baseball at Olive Memorial Stadium in Burbank, Brookside Park in Pasadena, on Catalina Island, plus at numerous diamonds throughout Orange and Riverside Counties, where legends including Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Connie Mack appeared. Most fans know Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium, but many other historic ballparks existed in Southern California. Their images are collected together here for the first time.

Los Angeles Dodgers Pitchers:

9781609497125

$21.99

The Los Angeles Dodgers have always fielded one of the best pitching staffs in the Major Leagues. With Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser and closers Mike Marshall and Eric Gagne, it's hard to imagine a more sterling roster. After their 1958 arrival from Brooklyn, the Dodgers won five World Series, competed in nine and made the playoffs in eleven other seasons--by leaning on their pitchers. The Dodgers have nine Cy Young Awards, more than any other franchise. In their fifty-three years in LA, the Dodgers have led the National League in team earned run average a staggering twenty times. Join author Don Lechman, a Los Angeles newspaperman for forty years, as he recounts the history of the team's aces.

Hollywood on the Santa Monica Beach

9781467160735

$24.99

Since pioneer filmmakers arrived on its shoreline in the early 20th century, the Santa Monica beach has been a popular location for the making of movies and television productions. Its enchanting beauty led studio moguls, producers, and celebrities to build beach houses there, creating what became known as "Hollywood's Playground." The sand and shore of the Santa Monica beach became a favored site for the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Marion Davies, William Randolph Hearst, and Cary Grant. It was on this beach that the Academy Awards were conceived, the movie The Wizard of Oz sprang forth, and a young Pres. John F. Kennedy stunned beachgoers with a surprise ocean swim without the protection of Secret Service agents. In 1962, the beach became the center of the universe as the site of President Kennedy's "Western White House," where the visitors included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Marilyn Monroe, and--famously--"anyone who was anyone."

San Francisco Giants

9780738576121

$24.99

In 1958, San Francisco welcomed its first major league baseball team when the Giants left New York and journeyed across the country to the Bay Area. Steeped in tradition, the orange-and-black team has captivated fans for decades with rosters including Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Will Clark, Barry Bonds, and Tim Lincecum. This book provides a look into the team's history, highlighting the players and other notables who were instrumental in shaping the Giants organization.

Hot Rodding in Ventura County

9780738599687

$24.99

Stretching from Ventura to Santa Maria, California, a vibrant and colorful community of hot rod clubs bloomed throughout the middle of the 20th century. Hot Rodding in Ventura County takes a look at the people, places, and, above all, the cars that made up this historic period in automotive culture. Take a look into the golden years of hot rodding through vintage images of the first national championship drag races; visit long-lost drag strips such as Goleta, Saugus, and Santa Maria; and gain access to hot rodding's paramount clubs like the Motor Monarchs, the Kustomeers, and the Pharaohs.

Rincon Point

9781467108706

$23.99

Rincon Point is renowned as the Queen of the Coast, one of the premier surfing spots in the world, but that is only a fragment of its rich history. Before the arrival of Europeans, it was a Chumash village called Shuku. In the 19th century, it was part of Rancho El Rincon, whose owners included a rich but illiterate Californio rancher, an English physician who made house calls by bicycle, and a Chilean pharmacist who dispensed drugs out of an old ship's cabin. It was the site of a scandalous love-triangle murder in the 1870s, a rickety highway on stilts in the 1910s, and a raunchy honky-tonk in the 1920s. Banditos, nudists, movie stars, long-boarders--they have all shaped Rincon Point, a place immortalized by novelists, poets, painters, photographers, and the Beach Boys.

Surfing in Santa Cruz

9780738570761

$24.99

Santa Cruz is located on the northern tip of Monterey Bay on California's central coast. Surfing was first introduced to the U.S. mainland in Santa Cruz by three visiting Hawaiian princes in the late 1880s. Since those early days, the Santa Cruz surfing culture has blossomed into a thriving lifestyle. Many of the world's most highly regarded surfers hail from Santa Cruz. In fact, Santa Cruz, or "Surf City" as its known, has become a popular destination for surfing aficionados of all ages. Surfing in Santa Cruz is a concise historical overview of the diverse and colorful surfing culture inhabiting the area.

San Diego Baseball Fantography

9781467131698

$24.99

No sport provides a better opportunity to document the fan experience than baseball. Fantography: San Diego Baseball features amateur photographs taken by real fans--ballpark memories that often reach beyond the game-winning hit or strikeout pitch. Within these pages is an assortment of images that peers into the Padres' Pacific Coast League days, the early years of struggling in the National League, the 1984 World Series season, and its recent years. Featured are household names like Tony Gwynn, Jerry Coleman, and Trevor Hoffman, as well as more forgotten players, managers, broadcasters, and ballparks. These are your snapshots, and they are from your personal albums. These images are accompanied by many Padres stories--your stories--that have never before seen print.

Dodger Stadium

9780738528687

$24.99

Since 1962, the inspiring architecture and sweeping vistas of Dodger Stadium have inspired millions of Los Angeles Dodgers baseball fans. What team president Walter O Malley envisioned nearly half a century ago endures as one of professional baseball s most striking pieces of architecture, standing in the shadow of the dramatic San Gabriel Mountains. Dodger Stadium is also one of only two such parks built during the 20th century constructed entirely with private funds. Most people think of the stadium as a world-class baseball park, and Dodger Stadium has certainly earned such a reputation, hosting eight World Series, an All-Star contest, and hundreds of action-filled games through the years, during which the Dodgers won eight National League championships and four World Series. But the stadium has been much more than a sporting ground, hosting Olympic ceremonies and events, a papal visit from John Paul II in 1987, and world-renowned musical events, ranging from Elton John to KISS to The Three Tenors. Other events have included ski-jumping competitions, boxing, and a Harlem Globetrotters basketball exhibition. For four years in the 1960s the stadium was also used by the Los Angeles Angels baseball team.

Motorcycling in California's Central Valley

9781467108911

$23.99

The heart of California's Central Valley--from Lodi, Stockton, and Tracy through Modesto, Oakdale, and Turlock--embraced motorcycling from the beginning of the sport and lifestyle. Eleven riders from the region are in the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Hall of Fame, spanning every decade from the 1900s. The popularity of bicycling in the 1890s led to early motorcycle shops, riders, and champion racers in the 1900-1910s. Area motorcycle club recreational rides and field meets started in 1914. Central Valley police departments were among the first to develop motorcycle traffic units in the 1920s, before the California Highway Patrol. Early racing venues such as repurposed bicycle velodromes, college stadiums, and horse tracks were expanded when the Lodi Cycle Bowl was developed in the 1950s; it gave newcomers such as Modesto's Kenny Roberts and Stockton's Alex Jorgensen, Chris Carr, and Fred Merkel--all now AMA Hall of Famers--a track at which to compete weekly.

Motorcycling in California's Central Valley

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

9780738569253

$24.99

After more than 50 years, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca near Monterey is regarded as one of the most famous racetracks in the world. Mazda Raceway offers competitors challenges unlike any other with its mix of corners, which includes the Corkscrew, where drivers encounter the largest elevation change in the shortest distance of any track worldwide. The raceway also offers spectators sweeping open vistas of the track, and all within view of the Pacific Ocean.

Mexican American Baseball in the Inland Empire

9780738593166

$24.99

Mexican American Baseball in the Inland Empire celebrates the thriving culture of former teams from Pomona, Ontario, Cucamonga, Chino, Claremont, San Bernardino, Colton, Riverside, Corona, Beaumont, and the Coachella Valley. From the early 20th century through the 1950s, baseball diamonds in the Inland Empire provided unique opportunities for nurturing athletic and educational skills, ethnic identity, and political self-determination for Mexican Americans during an era of segregation. Legendary men's and women's teams--such as the Corona Athletics, San Bernardino's Mitla Café, the Colton Mercuries, and Las Debs de Corona--served as an important means for Mexican American communities to examine civil and educational rights and offer valuable insight on social, cultural, and gender roles. These evocative photographs recall the often-neglected history of Mexican American barrio baseball clubs of the Inland Empire.

Mexican American Baseball in East Los Angeles

9781467124713

$24.99

Mexican American Baseball in East Los Angeles highlights the unforgettable teams, players, and coaches who graced the hallowed fields of East Los Angeles between 1917 and 2016 and brought immense joy and honor to their neighborhoods. Off the field, these players and their families helped create the multibillion-dollar wealth that depended on their backbreaking labor. More than a game, baseball and softball were political instruments designed to promote and empower civil, political, cultural, and gender rights, confronting head-on the reactionary forces of prejudice, intolerance, sexism, and xenophobia. A century later, baseball and softball are more popular than ever in East Los Angeles. Dedicated coaches still produce gifted players and future community leaders. These breathtaking photographs and heartfelt stories shed unparalleled light to the long and rich history of baseball and softball in the largest Mexican American community in the United States.

San Francisco 49ers

9780738529660

$24.99

Frankie Albert. Leo Nomellini. Bob St. Clair. Jimmy Johnson. Joe Montana. Jerry Rice. Bill Walsh. Steve Young. Ronnie Lott. Hugh McElhenny. Joe Perry. John Henry Johnson. Roger Craig. The legendary names roll off the tongue of every 49ers fan--never to be forgotten. Since 1946 when they were born into the All-American Football League, the 49ers have been pro football's most exciting and envied franchise. All of the cliffhangers and heartbreakers at grand old Kezar Stadium, and the blustering winds of Candlestick Park . . . where games were decided in the last seconds. The 49ers' unrivaled record includes 5 Super Bowl appearances and 5 victories, 17 NFC Western division titles, and an unbelievable 16 consecutive seasons with at least 10 regular-season wins. Eleven 49ers have been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. San Francisco 49ers is a must for every fan's library. Packed with over 200 rare archival photographs and stories and statistics, this collection is a detailed tribute to the 49ers' most memorable seasons, in all their undying glory.

Surfing in Huntington Beach

9781467102773

$24.99

Officially known as Surf City USA®, Huntington Beach is a surf town like no other. Ever since Hawaiian transplant George Freeth "walked on water" beside the famous Huntington Beach Pier in 1914, the city has had a storied relationship with surf culture that endures to this day. Combining a rough-and-tumble working-class spirit leftover from the city's epic oil boom with its role as a popular beach resort destination, Huntington Beach has produced some of surfing's most memorable personalities and moments. From legendary surfing heroes to long-standing competitions and titans of industry, these vintage photographs trace the evolution of this once small seaside settlement into a West Coast surf mecca, where surfing truly is a way of life.

Baseball in San Diego

9780738534121

$24.99

Baseball in San Diego: From the Plaza to the Padres, takes the reader on a seven-decade journey from Horton Plaza, the site of San Diego's first base ball game in 1871, to lower Broadway and the future home of Lane Field. Before the Pacific Coast League, San Diego had three Class D teams. One was the Bears, whose frustrated owner Dick Cooley complained, "I don't believe they'll make baseball pay here in a thousand years." With America's finest year-round climate, barnstorming and black baseball were popular attractions. Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants
practically lived in San Diego in the winter of 1913. All the while, there were constant struggles between the forces of amateur and professional baseball for players, diamonds, and sports coverage.

San Francisco Seals

9780738529851

$24.99

For more than half a century, San Francisco Seals baseball was a fertile source of future major league players, with a legacy firmly grounded in the annals of Pacific Coast League baseball. Paul and Lloyd Waner, Ping Bodie, Earl Averill, William Kamm, Ferris Fain, Harry Heilmann, Smead Jolley, "Lefty" O'Doul, Frankie Crosetti, the DiMaggio brothers (Joe, Vince, and Dom), Larry Jansen, and others all launched their careers as Seals. From 1903 to 1957, the Seals were the toast of the town, offering tight pennant races and intense games with the Oakland Oaks--their cross-bay rivals--while playing at Recreation Park and Seals Stadium. In almost 6 decades, the Seals won 11 pennants and 4 Governor's Cups. They survived the earthquake and fire of 1906, the Great Depression, and two world wars. Never forgotten will be Smead Jolley, who in 1928 had what many consider the best all-around season in PCL history by hitting .404 and winning the Triple Crown; Gus Suhr's record-breaking 51 homeruns in 1929; Joe DiMaggio's 61-game hitting streak during his 1933 rookie season; and pitcher Bob Joyce's 31 victories and 35 complete games in 1945.

Sacramento Baseball

9781467117104

$24.99

Sacramento has enjoyed baseball since the Gold Rush. As early as 1869, the first professional baseball team in America, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, came to Sacramento and played against a locally organized team. A few years later, the Sacramento team joined the California League to compete against those from San Francisco and Oakland, becoming a charter member of the newly formed Pacific Coast League in 1903. All the while, children and adults alike were picking up the sport in the many parks, sandlots, and schoolyards throughout the city. In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, amateur and sponsored teams competed against each other for trophies and bragging rights. Then, in the 1950s, Little League, Babe Ruth League, and American Legion Baseball flourished.

Sports of Santa Cruz County

9781467130073

$24.99

Its inviting climate, enticing rugged mountains, and welcoming beaches have always made Santa Cruz County a haven for athletic activities. A wide variety of sporting endeavors, some beyond the norm, have called Santa Cruz home over the decades. In the 19th century, Santa Cruz served as a springboard for modern surfing. It was an early bastion for organized baseball, too, beginning in the 1860s, and it was home to a series of professional teams as early as the 1870s. Other colorful athletic activities took place here (including fire hose teams, long-distance walking, and bicycling), along with more traditional American sports like basketball, football, boxing, and tennis. The region boasts of a strong tradition of women athletes as well, in particular Marion Hollins, perhaps the greatest all-around woman athlete of the early 20th century.

Baseball in San Diego

9780738532615

$24.99

The first color action photo of Ted Williams (as shown on the front cover) was taken at Lane Field in San Diego on October 5, 1941 by an amateur photographer. Nobody knew of its existence until an old wooden cigar box was found in a basement in 1999. This book is a treasure chest of such old San Diego baseball pictures and memories. From the Padres to Petco focuses on San Diego's love affair with the Padres from the Pacific Coast League years at Lane Field (1936-57), Westgate Park (1958-67), San Diego Stadium (1968) and through 35 more exciting and often exasperating National League summers in Mission Valley (1969-2003). Through it all, Padre fans have been faithful and forgiving. With a new ballpark, San Diego looks to build a winning tradition.

Fishing on the Russian River

9781467132381

$24.99

The Russian River tells a rich story of Sonoma County, both historically and ecologically. For as long as can be remembered, there has been an intimate relationship between the people of the Russian River and the fish, specifically the salmon and the steelhead. This tale of fishing begins with the Pomo people's communal fishing forays, winds through Russian exploration and early American settlement, and lands in the present time. For millennia, fishing has been a cultural cornerstone on the Russian River. Unfortunately, this once lively and productive salmonid fishery is dying. Overfishing, gravel mining, increased sedimentation from logging and agriculture, dams, and overdevelopment along the riverbanks and tributaries have all caused a decline in salmonid numbers. Thankfully, through collaborative efforts of local residents, nonprofit organizations, ranchers, farmers, and government agencies, fish populations are rebounding.

The Hollywood Stars

9780738530567

$24.99

The Hollywood Stars were created in 1926, when the Salt Lake City franchise of the Pacific Coast League was transferred to the greater Los Angeles area. To avoid confusion with the resident Los Angeles Angels, the new ballclub was called Hollywood. It was a wise choice of names. The movie capital had a glamour that was soon attached to the Stars and created an interest wherever they played. But the Hollywood story is actually one of two separate entities. The first operated from 1926 to 1935 and played at Wrigley Field as a tenant of the Angels. When a dispute arose in 1935 over a proposed increase in rent, owner Bill Lane moved his team to San Diego. After a hiatus of two years, the second incarnation was created in 1938 when the Mission Reds of San Francisco moved to Southern California. They moved into their new park, Gilmore Field, in 1939 and remained there through 1957, when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Hollywood won pennants in 1949, 1952, and 1953 and was the team of choice for the movie world.

Del Mar Fairgrounds

9780738558226

$24.99

The Del Mar Fairgrounds--which hosts the county's annual fair and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club--unites local communities in an arena that attracts worldwide attention. The stunning beauties who were crowned Fairest of the Fair and the smoldering good looks of Tommy Hernandez as Don Diego symbolized the hospitality of the San Diego County Fair, whose historic roots began humbly in the genteel port town of National City, just 10 miles north of the Mexican border. That 1880 inaugural autumn fair, initiated by developer Frank A. Kimball, showcased citrus, agriculture, and horses. Today the 22nd District Agricultural Association hosts the summer fair, which features international superstars, flower shows, livestock contests, exhibits, sports events, carnival rides, and its famed fast food, together with the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's racing meet, which has helped make the city of Del Mar a star-studded world-class destination with a colorful history.

Surfing in San Diego

9780738547565

$24.99

San Diego County has nearly 75 miles of picturesque coastline on the mighty Pacific Ocean, and for decades, San Diego has boasted of producing some of the world's finest surfers. But here surfing is more
than a sport--it is a Southern California lifestyle--and as such has heavily influenced the beach towns throughout the county. Much research points to surfing having come to Southern California in 1907,
and it may have taken hold in San Diego as early as 1910. Join with us in this wonderful pictorial journey through San Diego's little-known surfing past.

Surfing Newport Beach:

9781609498405

$21.99

Corona del Mar was once California's premier surfing spot, holding the sport's first Pacific Coast competition in 1928. Attempts to tame Corona and to make the Newport Beach harbor mouth safe for watercraft drastically altered board riding, destroying the great wave-making machine" of Corona and creating the surf giant of today known as the "Wedge." Read about Newport before World War II: experience the Great Rescue of 1925 by Duke Kahanamoku and others, the rum runners of Balboa and the evolution of Newport Bay. Pioneering surfers such as George Freeth, Tom Blake, the Vultee brothers and Pete Peterson helped make a name for the city in surf culture. Authors Claudine Burnett and her surfer husband, Paul, have delved deeply into the past, sharing stories that will give readers never-before-revealed facts not only about surfing but Newport Beach and Corona del Mar history as well."

Hot Rods and Custom Cars of the Sacramento Delta

9781467139953

$21.99

The Sacramento Delta has produced some of the finest hot rods and custom cars ever made. The passion of the area's builders is evident in the incredible cars they created, which drew nationwide attention. Harry Westerguard, who taught George Barris bodywork, worked on the second "America's Most Beautiful Roadster"----a 1923 "T" that was a style-setter for its day. Bob Dron built his first custom when he was only fifteen and a half, and Lenny Byer created his own "Candy Apple Red" in Rio Vista. Detroit might have had its vision, but the Delta region built its own. Discover the stories behind the cars and their builders as author John V. Callahan takes us on a trip down memory lane.

Hot Rods and Custom Cars of the Sacramento Delta

Hot Rodding in Santa Barbara County

9781467132183

$24.99

California's central coast was fertile ground for hot rodding, and all motor sports in general, during the 1940s and 1950s. Hot Rodding in Santa Barbara County takes the reader back in time with a collection of remarkable photographs from the earliest days of the hot rod movement. This book includes images of the first drag strips in the country, rough-and-tumble jalopy racing, early road-racing action, and lots of great hot rods and customs. Follow local hot-rodders as they take trips to El Mirage dry lake and the world-famous salt flats at Bonneville, Utah, and visit a long-lost world as seen through photographs taken from the personal albums of people who contributed to the birth of a culture that would spread across the nation.

The 1960 Winter Olympics

9781467130141

$24.99

The 1960 Olympic Winter Games were a long-shot effort that succeeded beyond the wildest expectations. Working in a sparsely populated valley in the Sierra Nevada with only rudimentary facilities, organizers created a world-class Olympic site in four short years. For the only time in Olympic history, the venues and athlete residence halls were located in a compact, intimate setting that encouraged sportsmanship and interaction between athletes. There was elaborate pageantry in the ceremonies and decorations. The underdog American ice hockey team won the first-ever USA gold medal in that sport. American figure skaters swept gold in the individual events. Well-trained Soviet and Scandinavian athletes dominated the speed skating and cross-country skiing events. American women proved their mettle in the Alpine skiing events. German skiers made surprise upsets in the Nordic combined and ski jumping contests. And CBS-TV was there to capture the most exciting moments and make groundbreaking live broadcasts to American audiences.

Japanese American Baseball in California

9781626195820

$24.99

Four generations of Japanese Americans broke down racial and cultural barriers in California by playing baseball. Behind the barbed wire of concentration camps during World War II, baseball became a tonic of spiritual renewal for disenfranchised Japanese Americans who played America's pastime while illegally imprisoned. Later, it helped heal resettlement wounds in Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Central Valley and elsewhere. Today, the names of Japanese American ballplayers still resonate as their legacy continues. Mike Lum was the first Japanese American player in the Major Leagues in 1967, Lenn Sakata the first in the World Series in 1983 and Don Wakamatsu the first manager in 2008. Join Kerry Yo Nakagawa in this update of his 2001 classic as he chronicles sporting achievements that doubled as cultural benchmarks.

Japanese American Baseball in California

Urethane Revolution

9781467139908

$23.99

One crazy year on the California coast--in 1975 a hippie skunkworks, bred in garages and shacks, launched the modern skater movement. Strap in for a wild ride replete with two car chases, two plane crashes, a massive truck bomb, Colombian narcos, the Mafia, senior White House staff, a gypsy fortuneteller, three straight-up miracles, Jacques Cousteau, big piles of cocaine and naked hippie chicks. Author John O'Malley was in the thick of it all, and he retraces the trip that starts with a bang and races to a melt-in-your-mouth ending.