Category: Biography

Biographies for both youth and adult

Meet David Cassidy

David Cassidy-Teen Idol

Biography 7 comments

Meet David Cassidy
Hudson
1972

As the resident “elder” at ALB, I can tell you that Cassidy was all that and a bag of chips in the early 1970s. Since this was the early 1970s and Cassidy was about 22, so this is mostly just fluff and stuff about the television show. I would imagine this was probably done by a publicity department with stills from the shows and his concerts.

Cassidy struggled with his fame and public perception his whole life. Struggles with alcoholism, issues with his father, the actor Jack Cassidy and toward the end of his life, dementia. Cassidy did pen a couple of memoirs: C’mon, Get Happy … Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus 1994 and Could It Be Forever? My Story 2007. Cassidy died in 2017.

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Daniel Boone cover

Daniel Boone

Biography 9 comments

Daniel Boone
Daugherty
1939

Submitter: In Daniel Boone, Native Americans are variously described as savages, demons, “rats in the night,” “infesting the woods,” cat-eyed, and “as doomed as the buffalo.” White skin or white racial identity is frequently painted as superior to other races, for example: “The great landlords were demanding costly land titles and bringing in slave labor so that it was a disgrace for a white man to work with his hands” (page 25).

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Nsync cover

Bye Bye Bye

Biography 5 comments

*NSYNC
Boekhoff and Kallen
2003

Submitter: This book is ‘tearing up my heart’ knowing it’s still sitting on the shelf all these years. So who’s  going to weed this book? “It’s gonna be me.” I guess I could have gone with Bye Bye Bye old book…

Holly: This was published just as the group was breaking up. I think we can safely let it go. “This I Promise You.”

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The Cars cover

Victim of Love

Biography, Celebrity Gossip and Advice 7 comments

The Cars
Kamin and Goddard
1986

Submitter: This was an excellent book about a local band to purchase for this library. 35 years later, the band split up, reunite under a new name, reunite under the old name, and saw two of the found members die, and all not covered here. Time to Shake It Up and replace!

Holly: This was NOT Just What I Needed. You Might Think so…but you’d be wrong. Weed it. Drive it off a cliff. Give it to My Best Friend’s Girl. Weeding is not Magic, it’s science. Library Science.

Ok, I’m done now.

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Al Franken cover

Al Franken

Biography, Celebrity Gossip and Advice 19 comments

Al Franken: Giant of the Senate
Franken
2017

Submitter: So, I was making a delivery of intra-network media transfers to a local college library the other day, and as I was waiting for the right person to accept the delivery and fetch my pick-up, my eyes scanned the shelves, just happening to fall upon the “political commentary” shelves. I spotted this tome sitting there, pulled it off, and immediately recognized it as probably dated with “weeding” potential.

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Truth About Fonzie cover

Secrets about Fonzie

Biography 10 comments

The Truth About Fonzie
Herz
1976

From the Happy Days Files, here is the definitive work about the Fonz. Happy Days was a family favorite back when I was a teenager. I am sure if you are my age or older you probably did invoke the phrase “sit on it” at some point (teachers and parents being the preferred target). I always have been a fan of Henry Winkler, as an actor, the author of Hank Zipzer book series for kids and as one of my junior high crushes. I would have loved this book if it had been available in 1974, but by the late 70s and the infamous “jump the shark” episode in 1977, Happy Days was quickly starting to fade as a cool show.

Sit on it, everyone,

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