Sports & Recreation

American author Jack London—best known for his fiction writing set during the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1800s—was also an avid sailor. Small-Boat Sailing was published in 1917 in The Human Drift, a collection of short stories and essays. London recounts his time at sea, including travels on fishing schooners and coal ships but mostly on small sailboats on San Francisco Bay. His description of the hard work, excitement, and thrill of handling a small boat in trouble on the water will be exhilarating to anyone who's experienced it or only wished they had. 

 This short work is part of Applewood's American Roots series, tactile mementos of American passions by some of America’s most famous writers.

Hemingway's Iconic Guide to Camping

In this piece from 1920—originally published as a newspaper article in the Toronto Daily Star—a young Ernest Hemingway provides solid advice to the novice camper. In his typically succinct style, Hemingway gives tips on bug avoidance, bed preparation, and offers expert outdoor cooking instructions. Any city man enjoying an open-air vacation who follows Hemingway’s advice “ought to be able to sleep comfortably every night, to eat well every day and to return to the city rested and in good condition.” This short work is part of Applewood’s “American Roots,” series, tactile mementos of American passions by some of America’s most famous writers.

Union Pacific Railroad's Averell Harriman had a bold vision to restore rail passenger traffic decimated by the Great Depression: create ski tourism in Idaho's remote Wood River Valley. A $1.5 million investment opened Sun Valley in December 1936 with a lavish lodge, luxury shopping, Austrian ski instructors and extensive backcountry skiing. Prestigious tournaments featured the world's best skiers. Chairlifts invented by Union Pacific engineers serviced skiers quickly and comfortably. Ski instructor and filmmaker Otto Lang recalled that seemingly overnight, it became "a magnet for the 'beautiful people,' a meeting place for movie stars and moguls, chairmen and captains of industry, Greek shipping tycoons, and peripatetic playboys--and playgirls--of the international social set." After World War II and Harriman's departure, Union Pacific's willingness to pay the $500,000 yearly subsidy waned. Bill Janss purchased it in 1964 and reimagined it as a year-round resort but lacked the capital for growth. Sinclair Oil owners Earl and Carol Holding acquired it in 1977, revitalizing it into a premier resort with international status. Award-winning ski historian John W. Lundin celebrates America's first destination ski resort using unpublished Union Pacific documents, oral histories, contemporaneous accounts and more than 150 historic images.

Amos Bronson Alcott, a transcendentalist philosopher and early American educator, first penned his 58 Maxims for Teaching in 1826. These collected words of wisdom and counsel guided his own educational techniques, and later informed his teaching practices at Boston's Temple School.

The true story of Marshall "Major" Taylor, who overcame racial prejudice to become one of the most dominant cyclists in history. Part of Belt's Revival series and with an introduction by Zito Madu.

The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World, which Taylor self-published in 1928, gives a riveting first-person account of his rise to the highest echelons of professional cycling. Born in Indianapolis, he eventually became the first African American cycling world champion, going on to set seven world records in the sport. Readers will learn about Taylor's exploits as an athlete, including his early taste of success in a grueling six-day race, his unparalleled dominance as a sprinter, and some of his most bitter defeats. But the man who achieved international fame as the "Black Cyclone" also details the extreme prejudice he faced both on and off the track. It's a story about one of the greatest athletes in American history but also a moving testament to Taylor's resilience and determination in the face of overt racism and seemingly impossible odds.

As he tells us himself, "I am writing my memoirs . . . in the spirit calculated to solicit simple justice, equal rights, and a square deal for the posterity of my down-trodden but brave people, not only in athletic games and sports, but in every honorable game of human endeavor."

Every history of the Appalachian Trail tells the story from the top down, focusing on who proposed the trail, who built it, who maintain it, and on a few of the most famous hikers. A Hiker’s History of Appalachian Trail tells the trail’s history from the ground up, or more accurately, from the boots up.

Several million hikers each year set foot on the trail for a few hours, a few days, or perhaps a few weeks. The trail was created for them, yet their role in its history is largely ignored. Working with trail shelter logbooks, hiker accounts submitted to trail clubs, newspaper and magazine stories about the experiences of casual hikers, Mills Kelly reveals what it was like to hike the trail from the late 1920s until the 2020s.

What did those hikers eat? What kind of gear did they carry? Why did they go hiking in the first place? What was their relationship to the natural world they found along the trail? What was it like to hike as a woman, as a person of color, as someone with a disability? And how did all those things change over the 100 years of the trail’s history?

Slipcase for Documents of Freedom Assembly product to include Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights.

Former horse jockey Randy Romero, winner of the Breeders' Cup, is a Louisiana sports legend still well loved in racing circles today. In 1985 he was at the top of his game, ranked number two in the country. This gripping biography covers the triumphs and tragedies in his exciting career, until his retirement in 1999.

Gary Player's golf career will come full circle in April 2012 when he joins Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as honorary starters at the Masters Tournament. Player rose from humble beginnings in South Africa to become an international golf superstar, and his success at Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters is the highlight of his impressive resume. His accomplishments include three Masters wins, the record for most starts at the Masters and numerous other distinctions. Player's career includes 167 worldwide wins, which includes all the Grand Slam titles on the regular tour and the senior tour. At age 76 you might think Player is ready to slow down, but in fact he is still a relevant and influential figure. His brand is thriving with business deals around the globe, and the tireless effort he put in long ago to make the game truly international is paying off as foreign-born players have dominated the majors in recent years. This book will highlight and celebrate Player's remarkable career with a special emphasis on his time in Augusta, and it also will tell how Player is an inspiration not only to his fellow South Africans but to golfers all around the globe

Attorney Pat Browne Jr., a star athlete at Jesuit High School and Tulane University and a New Orleans All-American golfer, was blinded in a car accident. He would go on to win twenty-three blind pro golf tournaments. Arnold Palmer nominated him for the World Golf Hall of Fame. This inspiring book is his story.