My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life

My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life PDF Author: Ryan O'Callaghan
Publisher: Akashic Books
ISBN: 1617757705
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
A riveting account of life as a closeted professional athlete from gay NFL player O’Callaghan, against the backdrop of depression, opioid addiction, and the threat of suicide. “[O’Callaghan’s] story is one of beautiful vulnerability, and it further shows the importance of knowing you aren’t alone.” —Oprah Daily, recommended by Gayle King Ryan O’Callaghan’s plan was always to play football and then, when his career was over, kill himself. Growing up in a politically conservative corner of California, the not-so-subtle messages he heard as a young man from his family and from TV and film routinely equated being gay with disease and death. Letting people in on the darkest secret he kept buried inside was not an option: better death with a secret than life as a gay man. As a kid , Ryan never envisioned just how far his football career would take him. He was recruited by the University of California, Berkeley, where he spent five seasons, playing alongside his friend Aaron Rodgers. Then it was on to the NFL for stints with the almost-undefeated New England Patriots and the often-defeated Kansas City Chiefs. Bubbling under the surface of Ryan’s entire NFL career was a collision course between his secret sexuality and his hidden drug use. When the league caught him smoking pot, he turned to NFL-sanctioned prescription painkillers that quickly sent his life into a tailspin. As injuries mounted and his daily intake of opioids reached a near-lethal level, he wrote his suicide note to his parents and plotted his death. Yet someone had been watching. A member of the Chiefs organization stepped in, recognizing the signs of drug addiction. Ryan reluctantly sought psychological help, and it was there that he revealed his lifelong secret for the very first time. Nearing the twilight of his career, Ryan faced the ultimate decision: end it all, or find out if his family and football friends could ever accept a gay man in their lives.

My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life

My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life PDF Author: Ryan O'Callaghan
Publisher: Akashic Books
ISBN: 1617757705
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Get Book Here

Book Description
A riveting account of life as a closeted professional athlete from gay NFL player O’Callaghan, against the backdrop of depression, opioid addiction, and the threat of suicide. “[O’Callaghan’s] story is one of beautiful vulnerability, and it further shows the importance of knowing you aren’t alone.” —Oprah Daily, recommended by Gayle King Ryan O’Callaghan’s plan was always to play football and then, when his career was over, kill himself. Growing up in a politically conservative corner of California, the not-so-subtle messages he heard as a young man from his family and from TV and film routinely equated being gay with disease and death. Letting people in on the darkest secret he kept buried inside was not an option: better death with a secret than life as a gay man. As a kid , Ryan never envisioned just how far his football career would take him. He was recruited by the University of California, Berkeley, where he spent five seasons, playing alongside his friend Aaron Rodgers. Then it was on to the NFL for stints with the almost-undefeated New England Patriots and the often-defeated Kansas City Chiefs. Bubbling under the surface of Ryan’s entire NFL career was a collision course between his secret sexuality and his hidden drug use. When the league caught him smoking pot, he turned to NFL-sanctioned prescription painkillers that quickly sent his life into a tailspin. As injuries mounted and his daily intake of opioids reached a near-lethal level, he wrote his suicide note to his parents and plotted his death. Yet someone had been watching. A member of the Chiefs organization stepped in, recognizing the signs of drug addiction. Ryan reluctantly sought psychological help, and it was there that he revealed his lifelong secret for the very first time. Nearing the twilight of his career, Ryan faced the ultimate decision: end it all, or find out if his family and football friends could ever accept a gay man in their lives.

Cooler Than Fiction

Cooler Than Fiction PDF Author: Jill S. Jarrell
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786461837
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
Designed for public librarians, school media specialists, teachers, and anyone with an interest in supporting teen literacy, this book features 133 nonfiction booktalks to use with both voracious and reluctant teen readers. These booktalks cover a wide and varied range of nonfiction genres, including science, nature, history, biography, graphic novels, true crime, art, and much more. Each includes a set of discussion questions and sample project ideas which could be easily expanded into a classroom lesson plan or full library program. Also included are several guidelines for classroom integration, tips for making booktalks more interactive and interesting, and selections for further reading.

Coffee Killed My Mother

Coffee Killed My Mother PDF Author: Donna Koros Stramella
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781951896386
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Anna Lee is an anxious 17-year-old whose life is stuck, largely because of her strained relationship with her mother Jacqueline, a quirky recovering alcoholic who is now addicted to coffee. The two take off on a trip to explore independent coffee shops along the east coast, but Jacqueline's real agenda is an opportunity to reveal a series of disturbing family secrets to Anna Lee--a twin that died in utero, a fatal drunk driving accident, an abusive parent, and her mother's betrayal of a woman Anna Lee holds dear. "Coffee Killed my Mother is a wonderfully written tale about a mother-daughter journey. The mother is delightfully eccentric while the teenage daughter is the practical part of the duo. As for the title, all is revealed at the end. Stramella's novel shows an admirable level of professionalism with its characters and settings and promises great things for the first-time author." - Nancy Stancill, Author, Saving Texas and Winning Texas Donna Koros Stramella is a writer from Maryland whose fiction and nonfiction pieces have been published in Adelaide Literary Magazine, Scarlet Leaf Review, Columbia Magazine, and the Baltimore Sun. She is a previous award-winning journalist and a graduate of the University of Tampa MFA in Creative Writing. Currently, she is working on her second novel, Among the Bones.

I'm Not Done with You Yet

I'm Not Done with You Yet PDF Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN: 0593546938
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
Some friends—and friendships—are worth killing for in this dark, twisty suspense novel by national bestselling author Jesse Q. Sutanto. Jane is unhappy. A struggling midlist writer whose novels barely command four figures, she feels trapped in an underwhelming marriage, just scraping by to pay a crippling Bay Area mortgage for a house—a life—she's never really wanted. There's only ever been one person she cared about, one person who truly understood her: Thalia. Jane's best and only friend nearly a decade ago during their Creative Writing days at Oxford. It was the only good year of Jane’s life—cobblestones and books and damp English air, heady wine and sweet cider and Thalia, endless Thalia. But then one night ruined everything. The blood-soaked night that should have bound Thalia to Jane forever but instead made her lose her completely. Thalia disappeared without a trace, and Jane has been unable to find her since. Until now. Because there she is, her name at the top of the New York Times bestseller list: A Most Pleasant Death by Thalia Ashcroft. When she discovers a post from Thalia on her website about attending a book convention in New York City in a week—“Can’t wait to see you there!”—Jane can’t wait either. She’ll go to New York City, too, credit card bill be damned. And this time, she will do things right. Jane won’t lose Thalia again.

Most Delicious Poison

Most Delicious Poison PDF Author: Noah Whiteman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861544528
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
A deadly secret lurks within our kitchens, medicine cabinets and gardens... Digitalis purpurea. The common foxglove. Vision blurs as blood pressure drops precipitously. The heartbeat slows until, finally, it stops. Atropa belladonna. Deadly nightshade. Eyes darken as strange shapes flutter across your vision. The heart begins to race and soon the entire body is overcome with convulsions. Papaver somniferum. The opium poppy. Pupils constrict to a pinprick as the senses dull. Gradually, breathing shudders to a halt. Scratch the surface of a coffee bean, a chilli flake or an apple seed and find a bevy of strange chemicals – biological weapons in a war raging unseen. Here, beetles, birds, bats and butterflies must navigate a minefield of specialised chemicals and biotoxins, each designed to maim and kill. And yet these chemicals, evolved to repel marauding insects and animals, have now become an integral part of our everyday lives. Some we use to greet our days (caffeine) and titillate our tongues (capsaicin), others to bend our minds (psilocybin) and take away our pains (opioids). Inspired by his father’s love of the natural world and his eventual spiral into the depths of addiction, evolutionary biologist Noah Whiteman explores how we came to use – and abuse – these chemicals. Delving into the mysterious origins of plant and fungal toxins, and their unique human history, Most Delicious Poison provides a kaleidoscopic tour of nature’s most delectable and dangerous poisons. ***** 'Deeply researched and fascinating.' —JENNIFER DOUDNA, WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY 'Magisterial, fascinating and gripping.' —NEIL SHUBIN, AUTHOR OF YOUR INNER FISH 'Exuberant, poignant and mind-blowing.' —DANIEL E. LIEBERMAN, AUTHOR OF EXERCISED

Who Killed Kate

Who Killed Kate PDF Author: Kate Korbel
Publisher: New Generation Publishing
ISBN: 1785074008
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
Who Killed Kate is a high paced action thriller, following the dual investigations of an unpredictable serial killer and mystery of a person disappearance. An ex-undercover detective Kate spent five years in one of the toughest women prison in California based in Chowchilla. The name of the city represent the dangerousness of the prison facility as it can be translate into the word 'Murderers' due to the wild nature of the countryside and its past inhabitants. Eventually, Kate is released but instead of starting a new decent life she is thrown back into chaotic world full of crime, murders and betrayal. Disengaging herself from both underworld world that she used to be part of and law enforcement that she was ruled by, Kate starts a dangerous journey to uncover the truth behind her sister disappearance. Along the way, she encounters a young, vibrant and intelligent new San Jose Homicide detective Gina Selby who recently returned back to work following the murder of her younger brother by the hand of serial killer. Burden by the quilt Gina befriends Kate and together they join forces in order to solve both cases as clues indicate that answer to one mystery can be linked to the answer of the other. At the end, Kate faces the biggest test of her life where she needs to choose between two sides.

A Kingdom of Tender Colors

A Kingdom of Tender Colors PDF Author: Seth Greenland
Publisher: Europa Editions
ISBN: 1609455843
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
A young Hollywood screenwriter faces lymphatic cancer in this witty memoir. One unremarkable day at the age of thirty-seven, Seth Greenland finds himself in everyone’s nightmare: a routine doctor visit, some swollen glands, a series of tests, a biopsy, and finally a diagnosis of an aggressive form of lymphatic cancer. A screenwriter and satirist with a blooming career in Hollywood, Seth has felt pretty good about his life until now; suddenly, the world has tipped on its axis. With the support of friends and family, Seth launches into an attempt to save his own life without losing either his sanity or his sense of humor. From chemotherapy treatments, to meditation and more alternative treatments, he battles the disease with wit, honesty, and no small amount of sheer terror. There are no pat answers or inspirational revelations here, just one man confronting hopes and fears recognizable to us all—and triumphing. Praise for A Kingdom of Tender Colors “Intelligent, self-aware, and resistant to easy answers, A Kingdom of Tender Colors defies any expectation of being a cancer survival guide. Instead, more radically, it is a book about finding a way of being. It is existential in the way of Camus’s The Stranger, without the murder and with more jokes.” —Tom Teicholz, Los Angeles Review of Books “[Greenland] provides genial, engaging, humorous company throughout the narrative, showing how one can gain a new appreciation for life at its most mundane as well as miraculous.” —Kirkus Reviews “Absorbing and funny . . . Readers may come for the screenwriter/novelist’s cancer story, but they’ll stay for his gifts as a raconteur.” —Shelf Awareness “A Kingdom of Tender Colors brings a charming humor to a subject that is nothing if not dire. . . . Greenland holds nothing back, including his feelings of inadequacy and incredulity.” —Alta Journal

THE COMPLETE NICK ARMBRISTER POETRY COLLECTION Volume 2 1996 - 2013

THE COMPLETE NICK ARMBRISTER POETRY COLLECTION Volume 2 1996 - 2013 PDF Author: Nick Armbrister
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1291663118
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 418

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Book Description
THE COMPLETE NICK ARMBRISTER POETRY COLLECTION Volume 2 covers it all, Nick Armbrister's work from early 1996 right through to late 2013. An epic career of poems on many topics and views. Much of his work has been published in the 'small press' poetry scene over the years and in his previous books. Also included here is new unpublished work. This book will appeal to anyone who wants to read Nick Armbrister's multi emotional work and to new readers who want to read something different and unique.

Lineage

Lineage PDF Author: Skyla Dawn Cameron
Publisher: Skyla Dawn Cameron
ISBN: 0992128161
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
Family reunions suck. What’s a woman to do when her dad’s the antichrist, her grandma’s the devil, the end of the world is at her doorstep, and she’s out to avenge the murders of her husband and kids? Kill everything in her way. Quarter-demon Peri Takata exists with but one goal in mind: annihilate everyone responsible for the death of her family. Then—her need for vengeance quelled—she plans to take her own life. Her mission brings her to vampire Zara Lain, the only known survivor of the event that destroyed Peri’s family five years ago. Hunting down a secret society of those who don’t want to be found has its challenges, however, especially when forces are working to keep the antichrist’s daughter very much alive. The apocalypse is closing in and Peri may be playing a role in it whether she wants to or not. And when a heart long-thought dead begins to beat again with love for another, she’s not so sure about anything anymore. ------ Series order (main novels): Bloodlines, Hunter, Lineage, Exhumed, Oblivion (coming soon)

They!

They! PDF Author: Chuck Keyes
Publisher: Larry Larson
ISBN: 1465704779
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description