Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Imbolo Mbue.

Imbolo Mbue

<s>Imbolo Mbue Imbolo Mbue (born 1981) is a Cameroonian-American novelist and short-story writer based in New York City. She is known for her debut novel "Behold the Dreamers" (2016), which has garnered her the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Blue Metropolis Words to Change Award. Her works draw from her own experiences as an immigrant, as well as the experiences of other immigrants.</s><s>Early life and education. Mbue was born in 1981 in Limbe, Cameroon, in the English speaking region of the country, where she was raised until the family sponsored her higher education studies in the United States. After completing her undergraduate and graduate studies, she began a job in marketing for a media company, which she lost during the recession. During this period of time, Mbue observed the difference in classes while walking through New York City, where she observed cab drivers who were predominantly black, waiting to drive executives. This formed the basis of her novel "Behold the Dreamers" (2016). Mbue's writing, particularly "Behold the Dreamers", seeks to explore topics regarding the complexity of American immigration policies and achievements, and overall, the pursuance of the American Dream.

Imbolo Mbue

According to Mbue, the novel connects the characters' experiences and feelings with those of her own: financial struggles, hopelessness, reevaluation of one's goals, and struggles as an immigrant. She has stressed the importance of literature providing empathy, which she feels is lacked in immigration policies and overall politics. Her 2020 novel "How Beautiful We Were" takes on the environmental crisis in Africa, caused by corporate greed. Mbue became an American citizen in 2014, and currently lives in New York City with her husband and children.</s><s>Career and "Behold the Dreamers". Mbue came to the United States in 1998 to study business management as an undergraduate student at Rutgers University. After graduating in 2002, she went on to complete her M.A. from Columbia University, in 2006. She began to work in the corporate sector in New York City, but lost her job as did millions of Americans during the Great Recession. In 2014, she signed a million-dollar deal with Random House for her debut book "Behold the Dreamers", which was published in 2016. The novel garnered critical acclaim for, according to NPR, the way it "depicts a country both blessed and doomed, on top of the world, but always at risk of losing its balance

Imbolo Mbue

. It is, in other words, quintessentially American." According to the "Washington Post"s Ron Charles, as the book's release coincided with the 2016 presidential election, paired with the "anti-immigrant" rhetoric that was brought to light by candidates and their supporters, the novel brought to light the "vast bureaucracy designed to wall off the American Dream from outsiders". In 2017, the novel was selected by Oprah Winfrey for her book club. Mbue is a contributor to the anthology "New Daughters of Africa" (edited by Margaret Busby, 2019).</s><s>Bibliography.</s><s>Bibliography.:Novels. - "Behold the Dreamers", 2016, - "Voici venir les rêveurs" (French translation), 2016, - "Das geträumte Land" (German translation), 2017, - "How Beautiful We Were", 2021, - "Puissions-nous vivre longtemps", (French translation Catherine Gilbert), Éditions Belfond, 2021</s><s>Bibliography.:Short fiction. - Stories</s><s>See also. - Nsah Mala - John Nkemngong Nkengasong</s><s>References.</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Virginia Christine.

Virginia Christine

<s>Virginia Christine Virginia Christine (born Virginia Christine Ricketts; March 5, 1920 – July 24, 1996) was an American stage, radio, film, television, and voice actress. Though Christine had a long career as a character actress in film and television, she is probably best remembered as "Mrs. Olson" (or the "Folgers Coffee Woman") in a string of television commercials for Folgers Coffee during the 1960s and 1970s.</s><s>Early life. Christine was born in Stanton in Montgomery County in southwestern Iowa. She was of Swedish descent. Upon her mother's remarriage, she changed her last name to "Kraft". The family later moved to Des Moines in Polk County, where Virginia attended Elmwood Elementary School. The family relocated again to Des Moines County in southeastern Iowa, not to be confused with the state capital in central Iowa. There Christine attended Mediapolis High School, where she aspired to be a concert pianist. Her family later moved to California, where she enrolled at UCLA.</s><s>Career.</s><s>Career.:Radio and films. Christine began working in radio during college. Later, she appeared several times in the radio version of "Gunsmoke", including the December 4, 1954 episode "Chol

Virginia Christine

era", the February 19, 1955 episode "Poor Pearl", the September 3, 1955 episode "Change of Heart", the October 8, 1955 episode "Good Girl, Bad Company", the December 4, 1955 episode "Sunny Afternoon", the May 13, 1956 episode "Cows and Cribs", the September 9, 1956 episode "Belle's Back", the October 28, 1956 episode "Dirty Bill's Girl", the November 23, 1957 episode "Fingered", the October 5, 1958 episode "Tag You're It", the September 6, 1959 episode "Matt's Decision", the December 6, 1959 episode "Big Chugg Wilson", the January 24, 1960 episode "Bless Me 'Till I Die", the February 7, 1960 episode "Delia's Father", the February 28, 1960 episode "Prescribed Killing", the April 17, 1960 episode "Solomon River", the July 17, 1960 episode "Busted Up Guns", the August 28, 1960 episode "Tumbleweed", the September 18, 1960 episode "Two Mothers", the November 6, 1960 episode "Jedro's Woman", the December 4, 1960 episode "Kitty's Good Neighboring", the February 5, 1961 episode "Love of Money", and the

Virginia Christine

May 7, 1961 episode "Ma's Justice". She began training for a theatrical career with actor/director Fritz Feld, whom she married in 1940. In 1942, she made her stage debut in the Los Angeles production of "Hedda Gabler". While performing in the play, she was spotted by an agent from Warner Bros., who signed her to a film contract with the studio. Her first film for Warner was "Edge of Darkness" (1943), in which she played a Norwegian peasant girl. She was dropped by Warner Bros. in 1943 and signed with Universal Pictures in 1944. That year, Christine had a supporting role in "The Mummy's Curse" and "The Wife of Monte Cristo", with her husband Fritz Feld (the two went go on to appear together in the Western "4 for Texas" in 1963). In 1946, she appeared in "The Scarlet Horseman", a 13-chapter film serial playing Carla Marquette, or Matosca, followed by a supporting role in the mystery film "The Inner Circle". Christine's next film for Universal was the film noir classic "The Killers". She initially tested for the lead role of "femme fatale" Kitty Collins, but lost out to Ava Gardner. The

Virginia Christine

film's producer, Mark Hellinger, was impressed with her test and cast her as Lilly Harmon Lubinsky, the wife of Lt. Sam Lubinsky (Sam Levene). Christine also portrayed Miss Watston in the 1964 remake of the film, starring Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson. In 1950, she played an uncredited supporting role in "The Men". Although the part was small and the film was not a commercial success, her performance impressed the film's producer, Stanley Kramer. She became a favorite of his, and went on to appear in a number of his films, including "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1950) and "High Noon" (1952). Kramer later cast her in the 1955 drama "Not as a Stranger", where she played a countrywoman. She also coached the film's star Olivia de Havilland on her Swedish accent. The following year, she co-starred in the horror film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". In 1961, Kramer cast her again as a German housekeeper in "Judgment at Nuremberg". One of her most notable roles was as Hilary St. George, the bigoted co-worker of Katharine Hepburn's character in the 1967 film "Guess Who

Virginia Christine

's Coming to Dinner".</s><s>Career.:Television. In addition to her work in films, Christine also appeared in numerous television series. In the 1950s, she appeared in multiple guest roles on "The Abbott and Costello Show", "Four Star Playhouse", "Dragnet", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "The Ford Television Theatre", "Gunsmoke", "Science Fiction Theatre", "Matinee Theatre", "Father Knows Best", "Trackdown", "State Trooper", "", "The Rifleman", "Letter to Loretta", "Superman", and "General Electric Theater". In November 1959, Christine co-starred as the wife of a verbally abusive hypochondriac in the first-season episode of "The Twilight Zone" entitled "Escape Clause". In 1960 and 1961, Christine guest-starred on episodes of "Coronado 9", "Rawhide", and "The Untouchables". From 1961 to 1962, Christine had a recurring role as widow Ovie Swenson in the Western series "Tales of Wells Fargo". She made four guest appearances on "Perry Mason", including the role of defendant Beth Sandover in the season-six, 1962 episode, "The Case of the Double-Entry

Virginia Christine

Mind", and murderer Edith Summers in the season-seven, 1963 episode, "The Case of the Devious Delinquent". For the remainder of the decade, she continued with guest-starring roles in such shows as "77 Sunset Strip", "Ben Casey", "Bonanza", "The Fugitive", "Hazel", "Wagon Train", "The Virginian", "Going My Way", "The F.B.I.", and "Daniel Boone". In 1969, Christine co-starred in the ABC television movie "Daughter of the Mind". Her greatest fame came in 1965 when she began her 21-year stint as the matronly Mrs. Olson, who had comforting words for young married couples while pouring Folgers coffee in television commercials. They became a popular staple on television, whereupon the character began to be parodied by comedians and entertainers, including Carol Burnett, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Ann-Margret, and Jackie Gleason. She went on to appear in over 100 commercials for Folgers. In 1971, Christine's hometown of Stanton, Iowa, honored her by transforming the city water tower to resemble a giant coffee pot. During the 1970s, Christine continued to work primarily in television. Her last role was on

Virginia Christine

the 1979 animated series "Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo", in which she provided additional voices.</s><s>Career.:Later years. Christine retired from acting in 1979. After her retirement, she did volunteer work at Planned Parenthood, and served as a judge at the American College Theatre Festival. She was later appointed the honorary mayor of Brentwood, Los Angeles, where she and her husband resided for many years.</s><s>Personal life. In November 1940, Christine married character actor Fritz Feld. The couple had two sons, Steven and Danny. Christine and Feld remained married until his death in 1993.</s><s>Death. On July 24, 1996, Christine died at her Brentwood home of cardiovascular disease. Her interment was at the Jewish Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles.</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Sada Thompson.

Sada Thompson

<s>Sada Thompson Sada Carolyn Thompson (September 27, 1927 – May 4, 2011) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She was known to television audiences as Kate Lawrence in "Family" (1976-1980).</s><s>Life and career. She was born Sada Carolyn Thompson in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1927 to Hugh Woodruff Thompson and his wife Corlyss (née Gibson). The family moved to Fanwood, New Jersey a few years later. where she attended Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, graduating in the class of 1945. Thompson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now known as Carnegie Mellon University), after which she worked steadily in regional theatre in such plays as "The Seagull", "Pygmalion", "Our Town", "Arms and the Man", and "Blithe Spirit". She received training at Pittsburgh Playhouse, where she appeared in numerous productions. She made her Off-Broadway debut in a 1955 production of "Under Milkwood", and the following year she appeared on television in a "Goodyear Television Playhouse" production. She made her Broadway debut in the 1959 musical "Juno". Her additional New York City stage-credits include "

Sada Thompson

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds", "Tartuffe", and "Twigs". Her stage performances won her an Obie Award, a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play (for "Twigs"), three Drama Desk Awards and two Sarah Siddons Awards (the last presented for outstanding performances in Chicago theatre). She was elected to the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2005. On the strength of her success in "Twigs", Thompson was signed to play neighbor Irene Lorenzo on "All in the Family". After taping her first episode, however, she was replaced by Betty Garrett, when it became obvious that she and producer Norman Lear had different opinions about how the character should be played. She was subsequently cast as matriarch Kate Lawrence on "Family". Thompson's portrayal of Kate was lauded for its realism. She won the 1978 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the role, which also garnered three nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama. She was nominated for the Emmy Award nine times, including a nomination for her portrayal of Carla's mother on "Cheers". Thompson's additional television credits included "", "The Love Boat

Sada Thompson

", "Father Dowling Mysteries", "Andre's Mother", "", "ER" and "Law & Order". Her feature films included "The Pursuit of Happiness", "Desperate Characters", and "Pollock".</s><s>Personal life. Thompson was married to Donald E. Stewart from December 18, 1949, until her death. She and her husband lived in Southbury, Connecticut. Their daughter, Liza Stewart, is a costume designer.</s><s>Death. Thompson died on May 4, 2011, in Danbury, Connecticut, of lung disease, aged 83.</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Jean Muir (actress).

Jean Muir (actress)

<s>Jean Muir (actress) Jean Muir (born Jean Muir Fullarton; February 13, 1911 – July 23, 1996) was an American stage and film actress and educator. She was the first performer to be blacklisted after her name appeared in the anti-Communist 1950 pamphlet "Red Channels".</s><s>Early years. An only child, Muir was born in Suffern, New York as Jean Muir Fullarton; her father was a certified public accountant, and her mother was a substitute teacher. She attended the Dwight School in Englewood, New Jersey.</s><s>Career. Muir's Broadway debut came in "The Truth Game" (1930) at age 19. She was a model for the Walter Thornton Model Agency in New York during the early 1930s. She was signed by Warner Bros. in 1933 and made 14 films in her first three years there. She played opposite several famous actors including Warren William, Paul Muni, Richard Barthelmess and Franchot Tone, but she returned to Broadway in 1937 because she was unsatisfied with the roles. She appeared occasionally in films through 1943. She was also one of the candidates for the role of Melanie in "Gone with the Wind". Muir incurred the dis

Jean Muir (actress)

favor of studio executives because of her involvement in formation of the Screen Actors Guild, her tendency to question the way the film business operated, and her resistance to posing for publicity photographs.</s><s>Blacklist. In 1950 Muir was named as a Communist sympathizer by the notorious pamphlet "Red Channels," and immediately removed from the cast of the television sitcom "The Aldrich Family", in which she had been cast as Mrs. Aldrich. NBC had received between 20 and 30 phone calls protesting her being in the show. General Foods, the sponsor, said that it would not sponsor programs in which "controversial persons" were featured. Though the company later received thousands of calls protesting the decision, it was not reversed. Muir was the first performer to be deprived of employment because of a listing in "Red Channels". The apparent cause of the accusation was her six-month membership in the Congress of American Women, which federal authorities considered a subversive group.</s><s>Later years. Muir resumed acting in 1958, appearing in an episode of "Matinee Theater" on NBC-TV. After teaching drama and directing plays at two community centers in New York, Muir moved to Missouri in 1968 and became the Master Acting Teacher at Stephens College, in addition

Jean Muir (actress)

to directing several productions there. She also completed her college degree at Stephens in 1977. Reaching Stephens' mandatory retirement age forced her to stop teaching there, and in 1981 she had a one-year appointment to teach at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.</s><s>Personal life. On December 20, 1940, Muir married entertainment attorney, and later television producer, Henry Jaffe in New York. They had three children. In the mid-1950s she reportedly suffered from alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver.</s><s>Death. Muir died in a nursing home in Mesa, Arizona on July 23, 1996 at the age of 85.</s><s>Recognition. Muir has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6280 Hollywood Blvd.</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Cierre Wood.

Cierre Wood

<s>Cierre Wood Cierre Marcelle Wood (born February 21, 1991) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Notre Dame. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Houston Texans in 2013.</s><s>High school career. Wood attended Santa Clara High School in Oxnard, California. He rushed for 1,632 yards and 20 touchdowns and caught eight passes for 182 yards and four touchdowns as a senior. During his junior year, he had 2,612 yards rushing with 34 touchdowns. Wood was a "USA Today" All-American in 2008. He was also selected to play in the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. Considered a four-star recruit by "Rivals.com", Wood was listed as the No. 8 running back in the nation. He chose to attend Notre Dame over USC, UCLA, and California.</s><s>College career. After redshirting in the 2009 season, Wood emerged on the depth chart as the No. 2 running back in 2010. He was used sparingly over the first few games, but after an injury to starter Armando Allen, he started the final six games where he recorded 603 yards on 119 carries and three touchdowns, and

Cierre Wood

20 receptions for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns. In his junior year, he took over the starting role. He recorded 1,102 yards on 217 carries (5.1 AVG) and 9 touchdowns, and 27 receptions for 187 yards. In 2012, Wood had been suspended for the opening two games, against Navy and Purdue, for violating team rules. In the final 11 games, he rushed for 742 yards on 114 carries (6.5 avg) and four touchdowns after splitting carries with classmate Theo Riddick.</s><s>Professional career. In January 2013, Wood decided to forgo his final year of eligibility, entering the 2013 NFL Draft. He went undrafted and was signed as a free agent with the Houston Texans hours after the draft.</s><s>Professional career.:Houston Texans. The Texans released Wood, along with two others players, on October 21, 2013, for unspecified violations of team rules prior to a game in Kansas City.</s><s>Professional career.:New England Patriots. The New England Patriots signed Wood to their practice squad on November 5, 2013. He was released on December 26, 2013.</s><s>Professional career.:Baltimore Ravens. He was signed by the Ravens to a reserve-future deal on January 15, 2014. The Ravens released Wood on August 25,

Cierre Wood

2014.</s><s>Professional career.:Seattle Seahawks. Wood was signed by the Seahawks to their practice squad on November 12, 2014.</s><s>Professional career.:Buffalo Bills. The Buffalo Bills signed Wood to their roster on August 19, 2015. On September 4, 2015, he was released by the Bills. On September 6, 2015, the Bills signed Wood to their practice squad. Wood was promoted to the Bills active roster on Friday October 2. However, in Week 5, Wood tore his ACL, ending his season.</s><s>Professional career.:Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Wood signed with the Canadian football team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on March 9, 2017.</s><s>Professional career.:Montreal Alouettes. On May 1, 2017, Wood was traded to the Montreal Alouettes along with defensive end Denzell Perine, in exchange for defensive back Khalid Wooten. He was released on May 1, 2018.</s><s>Personal life. Wood and his girlfriend were arrested on April 10, 2019 by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on charges of first-degree homicide and child abuse, after the death of the girlfriend's five year-old daughter, who was found with extreme bruising and trauma. Wood was additionally accused of forcing the child to

Cierre Wood

participate in extreme exercise routines as a punishment for being overweight. Wood is currently in the custody of Clark County, Nevada without any bond.</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Jan-Michael Gambill.

Jan-Michael Gambill

<s>Jan-Michael Gambill Jan-Michael Charles Gambill (born June 3, 1977) is an American former professional tennis player who made his professional debut in 1996. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 14, which he achieved on June 18, 2001. Best known for his unusual double-handed forehand, Gambill reached the quarterfinals of the 2000 Wimbledon Championships, the final of the 2001 Miami Masters, and won three singles titles.</s><s>Early life. Gambill spent the early years of his life in the countryside of Spokane, Washington. He currently resides in both Los Angeles, California and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii with his partner, architect and developer Malek Alqadi. While Jan-Michael has been sponsored by car manufacturer Jaguar, he also supports real-life Jaguars and tigers through Cat Tales Zoological Park, an organization dedicated to saving the lives of big cats. Gambill has also raised money for his long-time friend Sir Elton John's charity, the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Gambill's high-profile career as a professional athlete has evolved into coaching world-class tennis players as well as being an international analyst for BeIn sports. Gambill was also sponsored by Prince for both his racquets

Jan-Michael Gambill

and apparel.</s><s>Tennis career.</s><s>Tennis career.:1996–2005. Gambill began playing tennis at the age of five, looking up to multiple Grand Slam singles titlists Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. He has defeated, amongst other top players, former World No. 1s, Roger Federer, Carlos Moyá, Lleyton Hewitt, Gustavo Kuerten, Marcelo Rios, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi, as well as Grand Slam champions Michael Chang, Thomas Johansson, Sergi Bruguera, and Gastón Gaudio. His best performances at Grand Slams have been reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2000 and the fourth round of the US Open in 2002. His run at Wimbledon in 2000 saw him beat Lleyton Hewitt, Fabrice Santoro, Paul Goldstein and Thomas Enqvist before losing to eventual champion Pete Sampras. His run to the final of the 2001 Miami Masters included wins over Hewitt, Gaudio, and Thomas Enqvist. He was coached by his father Chuck Gambill (1947–2020), who coached Jan-Michael's younger brother Torrey, who was also pro tennis player. Throughout his career, Gamb

Jan-Michael Gambill

ill was hampered by numerous injuries. Most prominently, while still in the world's top 40, he suffered a recurring shin condition, which severely limited him on the ATP Tour after 2004. He also started serving harder to try and compensate for lack of movement, which resulted in a shoulder injury.</s><s>Tennis career.:Post–2005. Gambill played for the Boston Lobsters in the World Team Tennis league from 2008 on, alongside other successful American players such as Andre Agassi, John Isner, and Robby Ginepri. In September 2009, Gambill reached the semifinals of the USA F23 Futures tournament (losing to second seed Michael McClune) in his first pro match of the year. He competed in three Challenger events in 2010, and reached the quarterfinals of the USA F25 Futures in Irvine, California. Since October 2010, Gambill has not competed on the pro tour. Since July 2011, he has coached top 10 player Coco Vandeweghe, his former Boston Lobsters teammate, on the WTA Tour. In 2017, he coached top 50 player Jared Donaldson on the ATP Tour. As of 2020, he is currently in broadcasting and television as a Sports Analyst on the Tennis Channel.</s><s>Personal life. Gambill

Jan-Michael Gambill

is in a relationship with architectural designer and developer Malek Alqadi.</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Ryan Brasier.

Ryan Brasier

<s>Ryan Brasier Ryan David Brasier (born August 26, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Listed at and, he both throws and bats right-handed. Brasier previously played for the Los Angeles Angels of MLB, and for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).</s><s>Career. Brasier attended Rider High School in Wichita Falls, Texas, and Weatherford College in Weatherford, Texas.</s><s>Career.:Los Angeles Angels. The Angels selected him in the sixth round of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft. From 2007 through 2013, Brasier pitched for various Angels farm teams, starting with the Rookie League Orem Owlz and reaching the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees. He made a career-high 55 appearances (all in relief) with the Bees in 2012, recording 13 saves along with a 7–3 record, 54 strikeouts, and 24 walks in innings pitched. The Angels promoted Brasier to the major leagues for the first time on May 1, 2013. He made his MLB debut the next day, pitching an inning of relief against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing two runs on two hits. After making one additional appearance in May,

Ryan Brasier

he returned to the minors and was recalled in September when the major league rosters expanded; he made five appearances during the month. Overall, with the 2013 Angels, Brasier made seven appearances, striking out seven and walking four in nine innings pitched with a 2.00 ERA. Brasier was outrighted off of the Angels 40-man roster on October 28, 2014.</s><s>Career.:Oakland Athletics. On July 7, 2015, Brasier signed a minor league deal with the Oakland Athletics. He spent 2015 and 2016 in Oakland's farm system, including 46 relief appearances with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds in 2016, recording a 3.56 ERA in innings.</s><s>Career.:Hiroshima Toyo Carp. The Athletics sold his contract to the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball on December 14, 2016. With the Carp in 2017, Brasier made 26 relief appearances; in 30 innings of work he struck out 19, walked eight, and had a 3.00 ERA.</s><s>Career.:Boston Red Sox. On March 4, 2018, Brasier signed a minor-league contract with the Boston Red Sox. Pitching for the Pawtucket Red Sox of the Triple-A International League, he was

Ryan Brasier

selected to appear in the Triple-A All-Star Game. The Red Sox promoted Brasier to the major leagues on July 8; he made his Boston debut the next day, pitching one inning against the Texas Rangers and retiring the side in order. On August 30, Brasier recorded his first MLB win, pitching an inning of scoreless relief in a come-from-behind victory over the Chicago White Sox. Brasier proved to be a consistent reliever down the stretch, finishing with a 1.60 ERA in 34 appearances, and was the recipient of the Red Sox' Lou Gorman Award. Brasier was included on Boston's postseason roster, making a total of nine appearances and allowing one earned run in innings, as Boston went on to win the World Series. Brasier was included on Boston's Opening Day roster to start the 2019 season. On April 3, Brasier recorded his first major league save in closing out a 6–3 win over the Athletics. He was placed on the bereavement/family medical emergency list on June 11, and re-activated on June 17. Brasier was optioned to Pawtucket on July 16, and recalled to Boston on August 17. Overall with the 2019 Red Sox, Brasier appeared in 62 games, compiling a 2

Ryan Brasier

–4 record with seven saves, along with a 4.85 ERA and 61 strikeouts in innings. With the 2020 Red Sox, Brasier appeared in 25 games (one start), compiling a 1–0 record with 3.96 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 25 innings pitched. In early December 2020, Brasier and the Red Sox reached a one-year deal for the 2021 season. Before appearing in a 2021 game, Brasier was placed on the 60-day injured list with a calf injury on May 3. On June 3, he was hospitalized after being hit in the head by a line drive during a simulated game at Boston's training complex in Fort Myers, Florida. Brasier returned to the Red Sox on September 1, was optioned to the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox on September 17, and recalled on September 21. Overall during the 2021 regular season, Brasier made 13 appearances with Boston, all in relief, compiling a 1.50 ERA and 1–1 record while striking out nine batters in 12 innings. He also made seven relief appearances in the postseason, as the Red Sox advanced to the American League Championship Series. On November 30, the Red Sox agreed to terms with Brasier on a one-year contract for 2022, reportedly worth $1.4

Ryan Brasier

million. Brasier began the 2022 season as a member of Boston's bullpen. On May 20, with a 6.28 ERA in 18 appearances, he was optioned to Triple-A Worcester. He was recalled to Boston on May 28. In 68 relief appearances with the Red Sox, Brasier posted an 0–3 record with a 5.78 ERA and one save while striking out 64 batters in innings. On January 13, 2023, the Red Sox and Brasier reached agreement on a one-year contract, avoiding salary arbitration.</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Mark Murphy (singer).

Mark Murphy (singer)

<s>Mark Murphy (singer) Mark Howe Murphy (March 14, 1932 – October 22, 2015) was an American jazz singer based at various times in New York City, Los Angeles, London, and San Francisco. He recorded 51 albums under his own name during his lifetime and was principally known for his innovative vocal improvisations. He was the recipient of the 1996, 1997, 2000, and 2001 "Down Beat" magazine readers' jazz poll for Best Male Vocalist and was also nominated five times for the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Jazz Performance. He wrote lyrics to the jazz tunes "Stolen Moments" and "Red Clay".</s><s>Early life. Born in Syracuse, New York, in 1932, Murphy was raised in a musical family, his parents having met when his father was appointed director of the local Methodist Church choir. He grew up in the nearby small town of Fulton, New York, where his grandmother and then his aunt were the church organists. Opera was also a presence in the Murphy home. He started piano lessons at the age of seven. In his teens, Murphy joined his brother Dwight's jazz dance band as the singer (and occasional pianist), influenced by Peggy Lee, Nat "King" Cole, June Christy, Anita O'Day

Mark Murphy (singer)

, and Ella Fitzgerald. The Jazz pianist Art Tatum was another early influence. Murphy graduated from Syracuse University in 1953, having majored in Music and Drama. Whilst there he was spotted singing at the Embassy Club by Sammy Davis Jr, who invited him to perform a guest spot at his own gig shortly afterwards, and put him in touch with TV host Steve Allen. The following year Murphy moved to New York City, taking part-time jobs as he looked for work as an actor and singer. He appeared in productions for the Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company and a musical version for television of "Casey at the Bat". He also twice took second place at Apollo Theatre amateur singing contests.</s><s>The first albums. Murphy was eventually introduced to record producer Milt Gabler, who was an artist and repertoire director (A&R) for Decca. His resulting debut recording was "Meet Mark Murphy" (1956), followed closely by "Let Yourself Go" (1957). After disappointing album sales, in 1958 Murphy moved to Los Angeles, where he recorded three albums for Capitol Records, and had a minor hit single with "This Could Be the Start of Something". But this was not enough for him to be retained by Capitol, so he returned to New

Mark Murphy (singer)

York in the early '60s. Here he recorded two albums for Riverside Records: the album "Rah" (1961) included "Angel Eyes", a version of Horace Silver's "Doodlin'", and "Green Dolphin Street", featuring Bill Evans, Clark Terry, Urbie Green, Blue Mitchell and Wynton Kelly as accompanists. His favorite recording to date, "That's How I Love the Blues", soon followed. In 1963, Murphy hit the charts across the country with his single of "Fly Me to the Moon" and was voted New Star of the Year in "Down Beat" Magazine's Reader's Poll. Around this time he fell under the spell of Miles Davis, and for the rest of his career maintained that he tried as far as possible to sing like Miles played.</s><s>London. In 1963 Murphy moved to London, England, where he quickly found acceptance and played frequently at Ronnie Scott's Club, as well as making regular appearances on BBC Radio. He recorded three more albums in London, and one in Germany that is amongst his best - "Midnight Mood" (1968). From London he made frequent trips to Holland, where he worked on Dutch radio, mainly with producer Joop de Roo. Between 1964 and 1972 he acted

Mark Murphy (singer)

in a number of drama productions for TV and radio, and appeared as a singer in the 1967 British comedy film "Just Like a Woman." Meanwhile he continued to cultivate his jazz audiences in Europe, singing in clubs and on radio. It was in London that Murphy, who was gay, met his long-time partner Eddie O'Sullivan.</s><s>The Muse years. He returned to the States in 1972 and began recording an average of an album per year for more than 14 years on the Muse label. These included the Grammy-nominated albums "Satisfaction Guaranteed, Bop for Kerouac" and "Nat's Choice: Nat King Cole Songbook Vol. II." Murphy's other highly regarded Muse recordings include "Bridging a Gap" (featuring Ron Carter, Jimmy Madison, Randy Brecker and Michael Brecker), "Mark Murphy Sings" (again featuring the Brecker Brothers along with David Sanborn)"," "Living Room", "Beauty And the Beast" and "Stolen Moments. Bop for Kerouac" (1981), with Richie Cole and Bill Mays, was a result of Murphy's enthusiasm for the writing of Jack Kerouac, whom Murphy regarded as a soul-mate. It included readings from the author

Mark Murphy (singer)

's books "On the Road" and "The Subterraneans". Murphy followed it up with "Kerouac Then And Now", released in 1989. Having been a fan of Brazilian music since the late 1950s, in 1984 together with the band Viva Brasil he recorded the album "Brazil Song" ("Cancões do Brasil"), which featured work by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Milton Nascimento. He wrote lyrics for the title track, by Oliver Nelson, of his "Stolen Moments" album, and it quickly became a radio favourite, remaining one of his most popular recordings.</s><s>New directions. In 1987, Murphy continued his explorations of Brazilian music by recording "Night Mood", an album of songs by composer Ivan Lins, followed by the Grammy-nominated "September Ballads" - both on Milestone Records. In the UK Murphy's recorded output gained a new lease of life in the mid-Eighties during the acid jazz dance craze. DJ's, principally Gilles Peterson, played his bop and latin recordings at club nights, creating a new generation of Mark Murphy fans. He continued to work extensively in Europe, recording in Germany, Holland, Austria, England, Italy, France, Sweden

Mark Murphy (singer)

, Denmark and Slovenia, often as a guest artist. Murphy also appeared on UFO's last two releases (for Polydor Records), in which he wrote and rapped lyrics on songs composed with the group. This collaboration opened up further new audiences in the acid-jazz and hip-hop genres, demonstrating jazz's timelessness while transcending generations and styles. In August 1997, BMG/RCA Victor released "Song For The Geese", for which he received his fifth and final Grammy nomination. In that same month, the 32 Records label released a double CD anthology "Stolen and Other Moments", which features some of his recordings for the now defunct Muse label. The CD features material from the two "Kerouac" albums and a selection of "the best of Mark Murphy". It was followed by three further anthologies. After Muse boss Joe Fields sold the label and set up HighNote Records in its place, Murphy recorded five more albums for the new label, including "Some Time Ago" (2000), "Links" (2001) and "Memories of You" (2003). Murphy's release "Once to Every Heart" (2005) on Verve, features sensuous ballads, where the listener can hear him singing at the top of his

Mark Murphy (singer)

form, with an orchestra arranged by Nan Schwartz. It was one of the best-selling albums of Murphy's career. In 2007 Verve released "Love is What Stays". Both albums were produced by German trumpeter Till Brönner. Murphy also collaborated with Tenth & Parker, a modern UK electronica/acid jazz group on their "Twenty:Twelve" (2001) album; plus the Five Corners Quintet, a modern Finnish jazz band, appearing on their albums "Chasin' the Jazz Gone By" (2005) and "Hot Corner" (2008). In 2010 he released the independently produced CD, "Never Let Me Go", accompanied by pianist Misha Piatigorsky, bassist Danton Boller and drummer Chris Wabich. The CD contains all songs he selected, mostly ballads, and was the first time he recorded Bill Evans' "Turn Out The Stars". Murphy also participated as a guest on "The Royal Bopsters Project" by Amy London, Darmon Meader, Dylan Pramuk, and Holli Ross, recorded in 2012 and released in 2015 by Motema Music. His final recording was a limited edition EP/MP3, "A Beautiful Friendship: Remembering Shirley Horn" on Gear

Mark Murphy (singer)

box Records, released in 2013. Murphy continued to tour internationally into his 80s, appearing at festivals and concerts, in jazz clubs and on television programs, throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan and elsewhere. John Bush at AllMusic.com described Murphy as "a major name in vocal jazz." A longtime resident of the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, he died there on October 22, 2015.</s><s>Discography.</s><s>Discography.:As leader. - 1956 "Meet Mark Murphy" (Decca) - 1957 "Let Yourself Go" (Decca) - 1959 "This Could Be the Start of Something" (Capitol) - 1960 "Mark Murphy's Hip Parade" (Capitol) - 1960 "Playing the Field" (Capitol) - 1961 "Rah" (Riverside) - 1962 "That's How I Love the Blues!" (Riverside) - 1965 "Swingin' Singin' Affair" (Fontana) - 1966 "Who Can I Turn To & 11 Other Great Standards" (Immediate) - 1968 "Midnight Mood" (Saba) - 1970 "This Must Be Earth" (Phoenix) - 1972 "Bridging a Gap

Mark Murphy (singer)

" (Muse) - 1973 "Mark II" (Muse) - 1975 "Mark Murphy Sings...On the Red Clay, Naima and Other Great Songs" (Muse) - 1977 "Mark Murphy Sings Mostly Dorothy Fields & Cy Coleman" (Audiophile) - 1978 "Stolen Moments" (Muse) - 1979 "Satisfaction Guaranteed" (Muse) - 1981 "Bop for Kerouac" (Muse) - 1982 "The Artistry of Mark Murphy" (Muse) - 1983 "Brazil Song (Cancões Do Brasil)" (Muse) - 1983 "Mark Murphy Sings the Nat King Cole Songbook, Volume One" (Muse) - 1983 "Mark Murphy Sings Nat's Choice: The Nat King Cole Songbook, Volume Two" (Muse) - 1984 "Living Room" (Muse) - 1986 "Beauty and the Beast" (Muse) - 1986 "Kerouac, Then and Now" (Muse) - 1987 "Night Mood: The Music of Ivan Lins" (Milestone) - 1988 "September Ballads" (Milestone) - 1990 "What a Way to Go" (Muse)

Mark Murphy (singer)

- 1991 "I'll Close My Eyes" (Muse) - 1991 "One for Junior" (Muse) - 1993 "Very Early" (West and East Music) - 1993 "Just Jazz" (Jazzette) - 1995 "The Dream" (Jive) - 1996 "Shadows" (TCB Music) - 1996 "North Sea Jazz Sessions, Volume 5" (Jazz World) - 1997 "Song for the Geese" (RCA Victor) - 1999 "Some Time Ago" (HighNote) - 2000 "The Latin Porter" (Go Jazz) - 2000 "Links" (HighNote) - 2001 "Lucky to Be Me" (HighNote) - 2003 "Memories of You: Remembering Joe Williams" (HighNote) - 2004 "Bop for Miles" (HighNote) - 2004 "Dim the Lights" (Millennium) - 2005 "Once to Every Heart" (Verve) - 2006 "Love Is What Stays" (Verve) - 2010 "Never Let Me Go" (Mark Murphy Productions) - 2013 "A Beautiful Friendship: Remembering Shirley Horn" (Gearbox) - 2013 "Another Vision" (Edel) - 2016 "Live In Athens, Greece"

Mark Murphy (singer)

(Harbinger) - 2016 "Live In Italy 2001" (Splasch) - 2017 "Wild And Free: Live at the Keystone Korner" (HighNote)</s><s>Guest appearances. With Madeline Eastman - 1991 "You're the Dangerous Type" – from "Mad About Madeline!" (Mad Kat) With Till Brönner - 2002 "Dim the Lights" – from "Blue Eyed Soul" (Universal) With Gill Manly - 2009 "I Keep Goin' Back to Joe's" – from "With a Song in My Heart" (Linn) With Guillaume de Chassy and Daniel Yvinec - 2009 "I'll Walk Alone"/"Then I'll Be Tired of You"/"Taking a Chance on Love"/"I Wish You Love" – from "Songs from the Last Century" (Bee Jazz) With The Five Corners Quintet - 2005 "This Could Be the Start of Something"/"Before We Say Goodbye"/"Jamming (with Mr. Hoagland)" - from "Chasin' the Jazz Gone By" (Ricky-Tick Records) - 2008 "Kerouac Days in Montana"/"Come and Get Me"/"Layers of Layers"

Mark Murphy (singer)

– from "Hot Corner" (Ricky-Tick Records)</s><s>Guest appearances.:Videos. - 2008 "Mark Murphy: Murphy's Mood" – with Pete Candoli and Conte Candoli</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Jennifer Paz.

Jennifer Paz

<s>Jennifer Paz Jennifer Paz-Fedorov (born April 23, 1974) is an American actress. She is mostly known for her recurring role as Lapis Lazuli in "Steven Universe" and "Steven Universe Future".</s><s>Career. The youngest of four children, Paz moved with her family at the age of 5 from the Philippines to Seattle, where her mother's brother was living at the time. After completing her freshman year at the University of Washington in Seattle, Paz - then at the age of 21 - played the alternate of the lead role of Kim in the 1st National "Miss Saigon" US Tour. Since this professional debut, Paz has received multi-award nominations and wins including a 2008 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Best Lead Actress. In 2013, Paz returned to playing the lead role of Kim in Miss Saigon at the Casa Mañana theatre. Paz is known for providing the voice of Lapis Lazuli and part of the voice of Malachite on the Cartoon Network television series, "Steven Universe".</s><s>Personal life. Paz became engaged to boyfriend Anthony Fedorov on December 25, 2012. Their son, Julian Paz Fedorov, was born on April 1

Jennifer Paz

, 2013.</s><s>Recordings. - The Lost Chords: Cinderella - "I Lost My Heart At the Ball", "The Face That I See in the Night" - Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection: Cinderella - "I Lost My Heart At the Ball", "The Face That I See in the Night" - Awakening - Featured Vocals{{cite news|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L68AV7G/|title=Awakening |accessdate=2019-06-04 | work=Amazon.com}} - The Lost Chords: The Rescuers - "The Need to Be Loved" - Steven Universe, Vol. 2 (Original Soundtrack) - "That Distant Shore" - Steven Universe the Movie (Original Soundtrack) - "Happily Ever After", "Who We Are", "Finale" - Steven Universe Future (Original Soundtrack) - “Shining Through”</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Bobby Thomson.

Bobby Thomson

<s>Bobby Thomson Robert Brown Thomson (October 25, 1923 – August 16, 2010) was a Scottish-born American professional baseball player, nicknamed the "Staten Island Scot". He was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants (1946–53, 1957), Milwaukee Braves (1954–57), Chicago Cubs (1958–59), Boston Red Sox (1960), and Baltimore Orioles (1960). His pennant-winning three-run home run for the Giants in 1951 is popularly known as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World", and is one of the most famous moments in baseball history. It overshadowed his other accomplishments, including eight 20-home-run seasons and three All-Star selections. "It was the best thing that ever happened to me", he said. "It may have been the best thing that ever happened to anybody."</s><s>Early life. Thomson was born in the Townhead area of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. He was the youngest of six children born to parents James and Elizabeth. He arrived in the United States two years later. James, a cabinet maker, had moved to New York City shortly before Bobby's birth and sent for his family in 1925. Thomson grew up on Staten Island in New York

Bobby Thomson

City and signed with the New York Giants for a $100 bonus right out of Curtis High School in 1942. On December 5, 1942, he joined the United States Army Air Forces and trained as a bombardier. His entire service was within the continental United States. He played semiprofessional baseball in the summer of 1945 while awaiting his discharge.</s><s>Early baseball career. Thomson batted.283 with 29 home runs and 82 runs batted in (RBIs) in his rookie year, 1947. The following season, he batted.248 with 16 home runs. In 1949, Thomson had career bests in RBIs (109) and batting average (.309). His batting average dropped to.252 in 1950. He then hit a career-high 32 home runs in 1951, the fifth-best total in the major leagues; he also had the fourth-highest slugging average in baseball that year.</s><s>The "Shot Heard 'Round the World". Thomson became a celebrity for his walk-off home run off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca to win the 1951 National League pennant. The home run, nicknamed the "Shot Heard 'Round the World", was dramatic, as until 1969, league pennants were only decided by a playoff when the teams involved finished

Bobby Thomson

the regular season in a tie. Prior to 1951, playoffs had only been necessary in 1946 (NL) and 1948 (AL). Although in mid-August, the Giants were games behind the league-leading Dodgers, they won 37 of their final 44 games to tie Brooklyn on the final day of the regular season, forcing a three-game playoff. The Giants won the first game 3–1 as a result of a two-run home run by Thomson (off Branca). Brooklyn's Clem Labine shut out the Giants in the second game, 10–0. The decisive contest, played on October 3 at the Polo Grounds, was the first major sporting event televised coast-to-coast in the United States. The Dodgers took a 4–1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, but Giants shortstop Alvin Dark singled, advanced to third on a single by Don Mueller, and scored on a double by Whitey Lockman. With Lockman on second and pinch runner Clint Hartung at third, Thomson's walk-off home run turned looming defeat into a 5–4 victory. The moment was immortalized by Giants play-by-play announcer Russ Hodges's excited multiple repetitions: "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the penn

Bobby Thomson

ant!" Waiting in the on-deck circle to hit behind Thomson was rookie Willie Mays. The Giants' season ended, however, at the 1951 World Series; the Yankees swept the last three games to win the best-of-seven series, four games to two. Thomson batted.238 in the series with no home runs. The bat from the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. The uniform worn by Thomson on that day is apparently a part of a large private collection owned by Dan Scheinman, a member of the San Francisco Giants ownership group.</s><s>The "Shot Heard 'Round the World".:Sign stealing. Longstanding rumors that the Giants engaged in systematic sign stealing during the second half of the 1951 season were confirmed in 2001. Several players told "The Wall Street Journal" that beginning on July 20, coach Herman Franks used a telescope positioned in the Giants clubhouse behind center field to steal the finger signals of opposing catchers. Stolen signs were relayed to the Giants dugout via a buzzer wire. Joshua Prager, the author of the "Journal" article, outlined the evidence in greater detail in a 2008 book. Although Thomson always insisted that

Bobby Thomson

he had no foreknowledge of Branca's pitch, Sal Yvars told Prager that he relayed Rube Walker's fastball sign to Thomson. Branca was privately skeptical of Thomson's denials, but made no public comment at the time. Later, he told "The New York Times", "I didn't want to diminish a legendary moment in baseball. And even if Bobby knew what was coming, he had to hit it... Knowing the pitch doesn't always help." Whether the telescope-and-buzzer system contributed significantly to the Giants' late-season 37–7 win streak remains a subject of debate. Prager notes in his book that sign stealing was not specifically forbidden by MLB rules at the time and, moral issues aside, "...has been a part of baseball since its inception". Sign stealing using optical or other mechanical aids was outlawed by MLB in 1961.</s><s>Later years. In 1952, Thomson led the National League with 14 triples while batting.271 with 25 home runs and 109 RBIs for the Giants. In his final season with the Giants in 1953, Thomson hit 26 home runs and 106 RBIs, and a.288 average. That winter, he was sent to the Milwaukee Braves in a multiplayer deal. During his first spring training

Bobby Thomson

with the Braves in 1954, he suffered a broken ankle, which allowed rookie Hank Aaron to earn a place in the Milwaukee lineup. Thomson batted a career-low.232 in 1954. The Braves traded Thomson back to the Giants during the 1957 season, and he was in the lineup for the club's final game at the Polo Grounds. The Giants moved to San Francisco for the 1958 season, but Thomson was gone, traded to the Cubs. He spent two seasons in Chicago before closing out his major-league career in the American League with the Red Sox and Orioles. He played one final season in 1963 with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan. Thomson was a career.270 hitter with 264 home runs and 1,026 RBIs in 1,779 games. He was selected an All-Star in 1948, 1949, and 1952. In the 1990s, over 40 years after his famous home run, Thomson received a letter from a Marine who had been stationed in Korea in 1951: After baseball, Thomson became a sales executive at a New York City paper-products company. He lived in Watchung, New Jersey, until 2006, when he moved to Savannah, Georgia, to be near his daughter Nancy and his grandchildren. He died August 16, 2010, at his home in

Bobby Thomson

The Marshes of Skidaway Island, a continuing care facility in Savannah.</s><s>Honors. Scottish baseball team Edinburgh Diamond Devils named their home Bobby Thomson Field. It was opened by Thomson himself in 2003, while he was in Scotland to be inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. The UK Chapter of The Society for American Baseball Research is named the Bobby Thomson Chapter. The Curtis High School Field in Staten Island was renamed Bobby Thomson Field in 2007. Thomson was inducted into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame in the class of 1995.</s><s>See also. - List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders - List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders - List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Jefferson Thomas.

Jefferson Thomas

<s>Jefferson Thomas Jefferson Allison Thomas (September 19, 1942 – September 5, 2010) was one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1999, Thomas and the other students of the Little Rock Nine were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton.</s><s>Early life and education. Jefferson Thomas, the youngest of seven children, was born in Little Rock to Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Thomas. His parents named him after Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States. Thomas first attended Horace Mann High School, a segregated all-black school, where he was a track athlete. In 1957, he volunteered to be among the first group of black students to integrate all-white Little Rock Central High School for the 1957–58 school year as a sophomore. On September 4, 1957, the Little Rock Nine made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Central High School, which had been segregated. The Arkansas National Guard, under orders from the governor, and an angry mob of about 400 surrounded the school and prevented them from going in. On September 23, 1957, a mob of about 1000 people surrounded the school again as the

Jefferson Thomas

students attempted to enter. The following day, President Dwight D. Eisenhower took control of the Arkansas National Guard from the governor and sent federal troops to accompany the students to school for protection. Both federal troops and federalized National Guard soldiers were deployed at the school for the entirety of the school year.</s><s>Career. Despite the harassment, Thomas graduated from Central High School in May 1960, and entered Wayne State University, Detroit. In mid-1961, he relocated to Los Angeles, California. He served as Treasurer of the NAACP Youth Council and State President of the Progressive Baptist Youth Convention. He also attended Los Angeles State College, joined the Student Government, and was elected President of the Associated Engineers. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. Thomas also served in the U.S. Army's 9th Infantry Division as an infantryman during the Vietnam War.</s><s>Later life. Thomas narrated the United States Information Agency's 1964 film "Nine from Little Rock". In the film Thomas said, "If Little Rock taught us nothing more, it taught us that problems can make us better. Much better." The goal of this government film, in the context of the Cold War, was to show, to countries concerned about American racism, the progress the United States had

Jefferson Thomas

made with respect to civil rights. It achieved this goal at least in part as the film received wide acclaim (including an Academy Award) and was distributed to 97 countries. Thomas resided in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Mary. He served as a volunteer mentor in the Village to Child Program co-sponsored by Ohio Dominican University, where he received his Honorary Degree, "Doctor of Humane Letters", on May 13, 2001, for his lifelong efforts in human rights and equality advancement. Thomas was a frequent speaker at numerous high schools, colleges and universities throughout the country. He was the recipient of numerous awards from local and federal governmental agencies which include the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the Little Rock Nine by President Bill Clinton in 1999. Also, in 1999, he and the other members of the Little Rock Nine received the NAACP's prestigious Spingarn Award "for their bravery and heroism throughout Central High's first year of integration". In August 2005, the State of Arkansas honored the Little Rock Nine with statues of their likeness on the Capitol grounds. After more than 27 years as a civil servant, Thomas retired on September 30, 2004, from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in Columbus, Ohio. In his later years, he served on the board of directors for the City of Refuge Learning

Jefferson Thomas

Academy at the First Church of God. Thomas died from pancreatic cancer in Columbus, Ohio, two weeks before his 68th birthday. He was the first and, as of 2023, the only member of the Little Rock Nine to have died. After a funeral in Columbus, he was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.</s><s>Media portrayals. In 1993, actor Tico Wells portrayed Thomas in the Disney Channel movie "The Ernest Green Story".</s><s>See also. - "Nine from Little Rock" Jefferson Thomas of the Little Rock Nine</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Mike Melvill.

Mike Melvill

<s>Mike Melvill Michael Winston Melvill (born November 30, 1940 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a world-record-breaking pilot and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne on its first flight past the edge of space, flight 15P on June 21, 2004, thus becoming the first commercial astronaut, and the 435th person to go into space. He was also the pilot on SpaceShipOne's flight 16P, the first competitive flight in the Ansari X Prize competition.</s><s>Life and career. In 1978, Melvill met aerospace designer and Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan when he flew to California to show Rutan the VariViggen he had built at his home. Rutan then hired him on the spot. In 1982, he was named Rutan's lead test pilot. In 1997, Melvill and Dick Rutan, Burt's brother, flew two Long-Eze aircraft that they built side-by-side around the world. This "around the world in 80 nights" flight was called The Spirit of EAA Friendship World Tour, and some legs of it lasted for over 14 hours. His famous 2004

Mike Melvill

flights in SpaceshipOne earned him and the entire project team the Ansari X Prize of $10 million and helped spur the beginning of the global private space race. Later in his career, he became Vice President/General Manager at Scaled Composites. Mike Melvill holds FAA Commercial certificate, ASEL, AMEL, instrument airplane, rotorcraft-helicopter, glider and now astronaut.</s><s>Awards and achievements. As of January, 2020, Melvill is the sole or joint holder of ten FAI aviation world records in various categories. He was awarded the Iven C. Kincheloe Award in 1999 for high altitude, developmental flight-testing of the model 281 Proteus aircraft. Through SpaceShipOne flight 15P in 2004, he is known as the first privately funded human spaceflight mission pilot to reach space.</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of George Eacker.

George Eacker

<s>George Eacker George I. Eacker ( 1774 – January 4, 1804) was a New York lawyer. He is best known for having fatally shot Philip Hamilton, the eldest son of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, in a duel on November 23, 1801, in Weehawken, New Jersey.</s><s>Early life and education. Eacker was born in Palatine, New York. He was the son of Jacob Eacker, who fought in the American Revolution and served as a county judge and a member of the New York State Assembly, and Anna Margaret Finck, daughter of Andreas Finck. He had one younger brother, Jacob I., and four sisters. He attended a preparatory school in Schenectady, New York, and graduated from Columbia College in 1793. He then studied law under Henry Brockholst Livingston, a future Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.</s><s>Career. Eacker was admitted to the New York bar at 21. He soon built his practice in Manhattan into a lucrative business, which allowed him to take a house on Wall Street and to employ a married couple as his valet and housekeeper. He gained popularity in New York City's well-to-

George Eacker

do social circles as a lawyer, Freemason, cavalry captain, and fire brigade inspector. For an unknown offense in 1798, which the historian Eric Henry Monkkonen interprets as an earlier duel or conflict, Eacker appeared in court and paid a recognizance, likely as a bond for good behavior. In 1801, Eacker was appointed as a master in the New York Court of Chancery, which was the highest court in the state.</s><s>Duels with Price and Philip Hamilton. Eacker was selected in 1801 to deliver the Fourth of July oration at an Independence Day celebration held in New York City by a brigade of the New York State Militia, the Tammany Society, and two of the city's labor organizations: the Mechanics' Society and Coopers' Society. The Tammany Society, better known as Tammany Hall, was a Democratic-Republican Party political organization that Aaron Burr had built into a political machine. In politics, Eacker was known to be aligned with Burr. According to a supporter, the speech that Eacker delivered was commended by "nearly everybody" except for partisans who were "blinded... to every virtue" by "party spirit, which at that time was very bitter." Some accounts questioned whether the

George Eacker

speech was critical of Alexander Hamilton, as was later characterized. According to a 19th-century historian who relied on Eacker's younger brother as a source, the speech was entirely patriotic and did not name or allude to Hamilton. On November 20, 1801, a Friday night, Eacker attended a play at the Park Theatre with his fiancée Harriet Livingston, a daughter of Walter Livingston and Cornelia Schuyler. Philip Hamilton, the eldest son of Alexander Hamilton, and Stephen Price approached or entered Eacker's box together and loudly ridiculed him. Eacker called them "damned rascals." In response to that insult, as was then common, both challenged Eacker to a duel. Price faced the 27-year-old Eacker in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey, on November 22. Four shots were exchanged, but neither party was injured. At the same location on the following day, Eacker fatally shot the 19-year-old Hamilton in a second duel. Hamilton refused to raise his pistol to fire after he and Eacker had counted ten paces and faced each other. Hamilton followed his father's instructions to reserve his fire. Eacker, determined to fire second, did not shoot. After a minute, E

George Eacker

acker finally raised his pistol, and Hamilton did the same. Eacker shot and struck Philip above his right hip. The bullet went through his body and lodged in his left arm. In what may have been an involuntary spasm, Hamilton fired his pistol in the air. In a letter to Rufus King, Robert Troup wrote of Alexander Hamilton, "Never did I see a man so completely overwhelmed with grief as Hamilton had been." Nevertheless, he was said to be civil and professional in his later relationship with Eacker. Hamilton would die in a duel with Aaron Burr only a few years later, on July 11, 1804, on the same dueling ground in Weehawken.</s><s>Death and legacy. Eacker died on January 4, 1804. His death was attributed to consumption, or tuberculosis. According to Eacker's brother, the prolonged illness began in January 1802 on a bitterly cold night when Eacker fought a raging fire with his brigade and contracted a severe cold that "settled upon his lungs" until his death. His remains were interred at St. Paul's Chapel with military honors, and his funeral procession included members of the military, fire brigade, and the Howard Lodge of Freemasons. Eacker and his fiancée

George Eacker

never married. In January 1808, Harriet Livingston married the steamboat inventor Robert Fulton with whom she had four children.</s><s>In popular culture. Eacker appears as a minor character in the 2015 Broadway musical "Hamilton" in which the musical number "Blow Us All Away" dramatizes his duel with Philip Hamilton. The role of Eacker originated on Broadway by a member of the show's ensemble, Ephraim M. Sykes, who also appears as Eacker on the original cast recording.</s><s>See also. - List of people killed in duels</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Jeff Beukeboom.

Jeff Beukeboom

<s>Jeff Beukeboom Jeffrey Scott Beukeboom (born March 28, 1965) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played as a defenceman for the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers between 1986 and 1999</s><s>Playing career. Beukeboom played junior hockey for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (1982–1985). After being selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 1983 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, he played in juniors for two more years before joining the Oilers. While playing for the Oilers, he won three Stanley Cups, and was known as a hard-hitting defenceman. Beukeboom was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the New York Rangers on November 12, 1991. At the time, neither the Rangers nor Oilers made any announcement to indicate that Beukeboom was part of the Mark Messier trade. He played on the top defensive pairing with Brian Leetch, and was an alternate captain. Beukeboom's stay-at-home play allowed Leetch to lead the rush and kept opposing players out of the goal crease. He led the team in penalty minutes three times (1992–93, 1993–94

Jeff Beukeboom

, 1995–96) and won his last Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1994. He was also known for his philanthropy, including Ice Hockey in Harlem. Beukeboom won the Rangers' Crumb Bum Award, given for service to local youngsters, in 1996. While with the Rangers, Beukeboom also appeared in a memorable "This is Sportscenter" spot in which he assaults ESPN's Steve Levy after being told Levy had referred to Beukeboom as "Puke-a-boom." Due to his physical play, Beukeboom suffered multiple concussions, the most devastating of which came as a result of a sucker punch by Matt Johnson of the Los Angeles Kings in November 1998. Johnson received a 12-game suspension for intent to injure. While Beukeboom returned after a few games off, he bumped his head again in a minor collision with Martin Gelinas in February 1999 and he was forced to miss the rest of the season. Afterward, Beukeboom was left with recurrent headaches, memory loss, nausea, and mental fogginess that lasted for months. He was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, and ordered to never play hockey again. Beukeboom officially retired in July 1999 with a total

Jeff Beukeboom

of 1,890 NHL penalty minutes in 804 games played, and is currently second all-time on the Rangers' penalty minutes list. After retiring, he continued to suffer post-concussion symptoms for almost two years before recovering.</s><s>Post-NHL career. Beukeboom returned to hockey as an assistant coach for the Toronto Roadrunners American Hockey League (AHL) for the 2003–04 season. In 2005, he became the president and part owner of the Lindsay Muskies of the Ontario Provincial Junior "A" Hockey League, and in 2008, Beukeboom became an assistant coach for the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and worked in both teams. In June 2009, Beukeboom was named the assistant coach of the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League. That same year, he served as a coach for Team Canada Red at the World Jewish Hockey Tournament. In 2012, he returned to the AHL as an assistant coach for the Connecticut Whale who would later be renamed to Hartford Wolf Pack. On July 1, 2016, he was hired as an assistant coach for the New York Rangers.</s><s>Personal life. Beukeboom was born in Ajax, Ontario, but grew up in Lindsay, Ontario

Jeff Beukeboom

. His son, Brock, played for the UPEI Panthers. Brock was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third round (63rd pick) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. He was traded to the Blues in February 2011, along with a third round draft pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, in exchange for Eric Brewer. However, the Blues did not sign him and he decided to attend the New York Rangers' prospect camp in 2013. In 2018, he signed overseas with Fehérvári Titánok in the Erste Liga. His daughter, Tyson, played college rugby for St. Francis Xavier University. In 2012, she was named the CIS Female Athlete of the Year. In 2014, she was named to Canadian national team. Beukeboom is the brother of former Ontario Hockey League players John and Brian Beukeboom, the cousin of fellow former NHL player Joe Nieuwendyk, the nephew of the late Ed Kea, and the second cousin of Adam Beukeboom. He is the uncle of Johnny and Scott McGuire. Johnny played in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), American Hockey League (AHL), and ECHL, while Scott spent two seasons in the Central Ontario Junior C Hockey League

Jeff Beukeboom

.</s><s>Awards and honors. - Four-time Stanley Cup champion (1987, 1988, 1990, 1994). - NY Rangers Crumb Bum Award - service to local youngsters (1996). - OHL All-Star First Team (1984–85) - In the 2009 book "100 Ranger Greats", was ranked No. 50 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Mindy Smith.

Mindy Smith

<s>Mindy Smith Melinda Leigh Smith (born June 1, 1972, Long Island, New York) is an American singer-songwriter. Her first record deal came after she sang a cover version of the song "Jolene" by Dolly Parton.</s><s>Music career. Smith was adopted at birth by a non-denominational Protestant minister and his wife, who was choir director at the church. She grew up on Long Island, New York. After her mother died of cancer in 1991, Smith attended Cincinnati Bible College for two years. Smith and her father moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where she began listening to folk and bluegrass music, Alison Krauss, and the Cox Family. In 1998, she moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music. Two years later, she reached the finals of a contest at the Kerrville Folk Festival. This led to a contract with Big Yellow Dog Music. Smith attracted attention in 2003 when she sang a cover version of "Jolene" by Dolly Parton for the tribute album "". Soon after, she signed a contract with Vanguard Records, who released her debut album, "One Moment More" in 2004. In addition to Dolly Parton, she has expressed admiration for John Prine

Mindy Smith

, Alison Krauss, Patty Griffin, Shania Twain, Kris Kristofferson, Buddy Miller, and Bill Gaither. "Come to Jesus" was her biggest hit, receiving airplay on country, Christian, adult album alternative (AAA), and adult contemporary radio. The song charted at No. 32 on the Adult Top 40 chart of "Billboard" magazine. In 2004 Smith appeared at the Cambridge Folk Festival in the U.K., which was broadcast nationally on BBC Radio. In October 2006, Smith released "Out Loud", the first single from her second album "Long Island Shores". The song was well received by AAA rock radio and Country Music Television (CMT). On January 10, 2007, she performed "Please Stay" on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". In October 2007, Smith released a Christmas album, "My Holiday". She wrote six original songs, including "I Know the Reason" with Thad Cockrell. In August 2009, Smith released her fourth studio album, "Stupid Love". She appeared on "The Early Show" on August 15, 2009, to perform the first single, "Highs and Lows". On September 29, 2009, while promoting the album on the syndicated radio show "World Cafe",

Mindy Smith

she disclosed that she had obsessive–compulsive disorder. In June 2012, Smith released an independent studio album, "Mindy Smith" on her own Giant Leap label in conjunction with TVX. In October of the same year Vanguard Records released a compilation album of her songs entitled "The Essential Mindy Smith". On October 29, 2013, Smith released a Christmas EP entitled "Snowed In" on the Giant Leap/TVX label. This release contained original material and covers of Christmas songs.</s><s>Charity. In March 2013, Smith worked with Anthropologie during an in-store performance to raise money and awareness for the Captain Planet Foundation, a non-profit organization. Anthropologie donated fifteen percent of sales made in the first hour after Smith's performance to CPF.</s><s>Awards and honors. - Best New/Emerging Artist of the Year, Americana Music Association, 2004</s><s>Special appearances. - "" (2003) - Track: "Jolene" - "" (2005) - Track: "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" - "This Bird Has Flown – A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul" (2005) - Track: "The Word" - "Stronger Than Before"

Mindy Smith

by Olivia Newton-John (2005) - Track: "Phenomenal Woman" - "Those Were The Days" by Dolly Parton (2005) - Track: "The Cruel War"</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Deitrick Haddon.

Deitrick Haddon

<s>Deitrick Haddon Deitrick Vaughn Haddon (born May 17, 1973) is an American gospel singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, record producer, pastor, and actor. He is best known for progressive gospel, and contemporary styles of music. He is also one of the cast members in Oxygen's reality television show "Preachers of L.A."</s><s>Early years. Haddon launched his solo career as a Christian R&B vocalist with the "Lost & Found" on Tyscot/Verity in 2002. The set peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Gospel Charts and received wide critical acclaim and spawned the hit "Sinner's Prayer" which was played extensively on gospel and mainstream R&B radio stations. The 1970s-leaning "Crossroads" followed in 2004, led off by the upbeat single "God is Good". In an uncharacteristic move for marketing a gospel album, Haddon made an appearance on the long-running syndicated series "Soul Train" performing the single and the title track from the album. Haddon appeared to be pushing his Gospel artistry further into the ranks of mainstream venues with "7 Days", released October 10, 2006. "7 Days" was produced

Deitrick Haddon

almost entirely by R&B producers Tim & Bob Balancing out the contemporary bulk of the album is the traditional gospel-flavored lead single "Heaven Knows" which Haddon produced himself. Haddon and his brother Gerald also produced the comeback album "Brand New Day" for veteran gospel vocalist Vanessa Bell Armstrong. Deitrick Haddon & Voices of Unity's "Live the Life" won Gospel Music Workshop of America Excellence Awards for "New Artist of the Year—Urban Contemporary" and "Album of the Year—Urban Contemporary". On September 2, 2008, Haddon released an album called "Revealed". This album includes the popular single, "Love Him Like I Do" (featuring Mary Mary and Ruben Studdard). On July 27, 2010 Haddon made his film debut in a movie released directly to DVD called "Blessed and Cursed". On January 25, 2012, Haddon released "Church on the Moon", his fifth album with Verity Records. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboards Top Gospel charts and No. 65 on the Billboard 200. Haddon is part of the cast of the reality television show "Preachers of L.A.", which chronicles the lives of six Los Angeles preachers

Deitrick Haddon

, including Haddon. The show began airing on October 9, 2013 and airs on the Oxygen network in the United States.</s><s>Television. In 2019, Deitrick Haddon starred as Clarence Burnett in the TV One original summer movie "Sins of the Father".</s><s>Personal life. In 1996, Haddon married Damita Chandler. They pastored together the church that Deitrick's father founded: Kingdom Culture Church of Detroit. They remained together for 15 years before a divorce in 2011. Haddon is now married to his second wife, Dominique Haddon (née McTyer). The couple have two daughters, Destin and Denver, and one son, Deitrick II. Haddon and his wife are now the Founders/Senior Pastors of Hill City Church in Los Angeles, where Haddon is founder/senior pastor and Dominique is executive pastor.</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Joe McGinniss.

Joe McGinniss

<s>Joe McGinniss Joseph Ralph McGinniss Sr. (December 9, 1942 – March 10, 2014) was an American non-fiction writer and novelist. The author of twelve books, he first came to prominence with the best-selling "The Selling of the President 1968" which described the marketing of then-presidential candidate Richard Nixon. He is popularly known for his trilogy of bestselling true crime books—"Fatal Vision", "Blind Faith" and "Cruel Doubt"—which were adapted into TV miniseries in the 1980s and 90s. His last book was "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin", an account of Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska who was the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee.</s><s>Early life and family. McGinniss was born in Manhattan, the only child of travel agent Joseph A. McGinniss and Mary (nee Leonard), a secretary at CBS. He was raised in Forest Hills, Queens, and Rye, New York. In his youth he was given a chance to pick a middle name and chose Ralph, after the baseball player Ralph Kiner. McGinniss attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains and graduated in 1964 from the College of the Holy Cross

Joe McGinniss

in Worcester, Massachusetts. After his application to the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism was rejected, something he later pointed to with pride, he became a general assignment reporter at the "Worcester Telegram". He left within a year to become a sportswriter for the "Philadelphia Bulletin" before joining "The Philadelphia Inquirer" as a general interest columnist. In 1979, he became a writer-in-residence at the "Los Angeles Herald Examiner". From 1982 to 1985, he taught creative writing at Bennington College in Vermont. While at Bennington, his students included Donna Tartt and Bret Easton Ellis. At the time of his death, "The New York Times" described him as a "gregarious man who was generous with other writers."</s><s>Career.</s><s>Career.:"The Selling of the President". McGinniss's first book, "The Selling of the President 1968", landed on "The New York Times" Best Seller list when he was 26 years old, making him the youngest living writer with that achievement. The book was on "The New York Times" non-fiction bestseller list for 31 weeks from October 1969 to May 1970. The book described the marketing of Richard Nixon during the 1968 presidential campaign. The idea

Joe McGinniss

for the book came to McGinniss almost serendipitously: [He] stumbled across his book's topic while taking a train to New York. A fellow commuter had just landed the Hubert Humphrey account and was boasting that 'in six weeks we'll have him looking better than Abraham Lincoln.' McGinniss tried to get access to Humphrey's campaign first, but they turned him down. So he called up Nixon's, and they said yes. The book was well received by critics and has been recognized as a "classic of campaign reporting that first introduced many readers to the stage-managed world of political theater." Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, who served as a Richard Nixon campaign adviser and featured prominently in the book, said in a statement that McGinniss "changed political writing forever in 1968." It "spent more than six months on best-sellers lists... and McGinniss sold a lot of those books through television, appearing on the titular shows of Merv Griffin, David Frost, and Dick Cavett, among others." Conservative writer William F. Buckley, Jr., "assumed McGinniss had relied on 'an elaborate deception which has brought joy and hope to the Nixon-haters.' But even Buckley liked

Joe McGinniss

the book." After the success of his book in 1968, McGinniss left the "Inquirer" to write books full-time. He next wrote a novel, "The Dream Team". It was followed by "Heroes" and "Going to Extremes", a nonfiction account of his year exploring Alaska.</s><s>Career.:True crime.</s><s>Career.:True crime.:"Fatal Vision". In the 1980s and early '90s, McGinniss wrote a trilogy of bestselling true crime books, "Fatal Vision", "Blind Faith" and "Cruel Doubt". All three books were made into television miniseries, with "Fatal Vision" (1984) and "Blind Faith" (1990) receiving Emmy Award nominations. His 1983 account of the Jeffrey MacDonald murder case, "Fatal Vision", became a sensation and has never been out of print. MacDonald sued McGinniss in 1984, alleging that McGinniss pretended to believe MacDonald innocent after he had already come to the conclusion that MacDonald was guilty, in order to continue MacDonald's cooperation with him. After a six-week civil trial in 1987 that resulted in a hung jury, his publisher's insurance company chose to settle out of court with MacDonald for

Joe McGinniss

a reported $325,000. In her 1990 book "The Journalist and the Murderer", based on her two-part 1989 "The New Yorker" piece, Janet Malcolm used the McGinniss-MacDonald trial to explore the problematic relationship between journalists and their subjects. McGinniss responded to Malcolm in an epilogue included in later editions of "Fatal Vision" and on his website. In 1995, Jerry Allen Potter and Fred Bost published "Fatal Justice: Reinvestigating the MacDonald Murders", arguing against the jury's guilty verdict of triple murder against MacDonald. After more than 20 years of silence on the subject of the MacDonald murders, McGinniss testified under subpoena, in a 2012 North Carolina hearing, on whether MacDonald should be granted a new trial. He then wrote and published "Final Vision", revisiting the case, with the online journalism site Byliner.com. (MacDonald's appeal was denied on July 24, 2014, as McGinniss had predicted.)</s><s>Career.:True crime.:"Blind Faith" and "Cruel Doubt". "Blind Faith" (published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in 1989) is based on the 1984 Marshall murder case in which American businessman Robert O

Joe McGinniss

. Marshall was charged with (and later convicted of) the contract killing of his wife, Maria. Described as "suspenseful and engrossing reading, with a courtroom drama that is cathartic as well as gripping" by Anne Rice in "The New York Times", it was followed by "Cruel Doubt" (published by Simon and Schuster in 1991). "Cruel Doubt" documents the 1988 murder of Lieth Von Stein and the attempted murder of his wife. Bonnie, by his stepson, Chris Pritchard, and two of Pritchard's friends. In its review of "Cruel Doubt", "The Boston Globe" remarked, "McGinniss is the Alfred Hitchcock of the true-crime genre, a genre he often transcends."</s><s>Career.:"The Last Brother". McGinniss's book "The Last Brother: The Rise and Fall of Teddy Kennedy" was published in 1993. The volume was widely panned for its skimpy sourcing, lack of attribution, wild suppositions, lack of footnotes, possible plagiarism and prurient outlook. In "The New York Times", Christopher Lehmann-Haupt called it "half-baked" and added, "The

Joe McGinniss

book isn't bad; it's awful". "It is, by a wide margin, the worst book I have reviewed in nearly three decades; quite simply, there is not an honest page in it," wrote Jonathan Yardley in "The Washington Post." Yardley called it "a genuinely, unrelievedly rotten book, one without a single redeeming virtue, an embarrassment that should bring nothing except shame to everyone associated with it." He also characterized it as "slimy, meretricious and cynical." Also in the "Post", Richard Cohen wrote, "This is not biography; this is pornography." "McGinniss concludes that the Kennedys are all-American frauds," wrote "Publishers Weekly". "The reader will wonder if McGinniss isn't one also." James Atlas wrote that the book was, "even by the standards of celebrity journalism, a sordid spectacle." In "The New Republic", Joe Klein called it an "odiography." McGinniss suggested to the "Los Angeles Times" that Kennedy himself had orchestrated a smear campaign against him. "This has been a practice of theirs [the Kennedy family] for years," he said and quoted a "Boston Globe" reporter who recently wrote that the family "'only

Joe McGinniss

had two approaches to journalists, either buying or demonizing them." McGinnis declared, "They didn't buy me." He added, "They want to... mutilate the body so badly that no other messenger is ever going to come down the pike." Sales of the book were ultimately "disappointing," reported "The Baltimore Sun".</s><s>Career.:"The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin". McGinniss returned to the subject of Alaska in 2008 to research an article for Conde Nast's business magazine "Portfolio" about then Governor Palin's promotion of a $26 billion plan to construct a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope of Alaska to a pipeline hub in Canada. In 2009, McGinniss signed a contract to write an unauthorized biography about Palin and began research which took him to Alaska that fall and again in the spring of 2010. In late May he rented a house next door to Palin's home on Lake Lucille in Wasilla. On her Facebook page, Palin warned him to stay away from her children and mused: "Wonder what kind of material he'll gather while overlooking Piper's bedroom, my little garden, and the family's swimming hole?" causing a brief media frenzy and, according to

Joe McGinniss

"The Washington Post", "fury from Palin fans". McGinniss responded that there was no view of anyone's bedroom from the rental house and suggested that Palin should have simply come over with a plate of cookies and had a civil discussion with him. McGinniss left Alaska in September 2010 to write his book on the Palin phenomenon. Broadway Books, a division of Random House, published "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin" on September 20, 2011. According to advance reviews, the book alleges premarital sex and drug use, allegedly including conjecture that Sarah Palin is not the biological mother of her son, Trig Palin. Early reviews by the "Los Angeles Times" and "The New York Times" criticized "The Rogue" for its use of unnamed sources and for its tone. On September 26, 2011, ABC News reported that Palin's attorney John Tiemessen had written a letter to the book's author and publisher saying that Palin might sue them "for knowingly publishing false statements." No such lawsuit was ever filed. In "The Washington Post", Gene Weingarten called "The Rogue" "thin and crappy and lazy, filled with poorly sourced innuendo."</s><s>Career.:Other works. In 1995, McGinniss was

Joe McGinniss

awarded a $1 million advance as well as a media seat at the O. J. Simpson murder case, expecting to write a book about it. But after sitting through the entire protracted trial, McGinniss decided that he couldn't write any book about the case and he returned the entire $1 million advance to his publisher. After Simpson was acquitted, McGinniss stated that the trial had been "a farce." His next book was the critically acclaimed "The Miracle of Castel di Sangro". Published in 1999, the book followed the fortunes of an Italian soccer team from a tiny town during one dramatic season in the big leagues. "The Big Horse" was published in 2004. In his next book, "Never Enough" (2007), McGinniss returned to his study of the dark side of the American family with a nonfiction account of the murder of investment banker Robert Kissel by his wife Nancy in Hong Kong, that is called the milkshake murder.</s><s>Later life and death. In his later years, as his career waned, McGinniss struggled with alcoholism and depression. He was described by his son, novelist Joe McGinniss Jr., as a sometimes neglectful father who nonetheless encouraged his son's writing career. Lloyd Grove wrote

Joe McGinniss

that "in good times and bad, he threw himself headlong into an unforgiving, brutal but seductively rewarding line of work." On January 24, 2013, he confirmed the diagnosis of terminal prostate cancer which had been revealed online in May 2012. McGinniss died March 10, 2014, at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester from the disease at the age of 71. A private memorial was held in New York in May 2014. Guests such as Roger Ailes, Andrew Sullivan, Gene Weingarten, and Ray Hudson spoke. As news of McGinniss' death spread, several tributes and obituaries were published in publications such as "The New York Times", Associated Press, "The Washington Post", The Dish, and others. "The New York Times" Public Editor Margaret Sullivan wrote:</s><s>Bibliography. - "Death Stalks a Grieving Father" (1967) in "The Philadelphia Inquirer" - "The Selling of the President 1968" (1969),, Penguin, 272 pages. - "The Dream Team" (1972),, Penguin Books, 160 pages. - "Heroes" (1976),, Touchstone Books, 176 pages. - "Going to Extremes" (1980),, Epicenter Press, 320

Joe McGinniss

pages. - "Fatal Vision" (1983),, Putnam Adult, 663 pages. - "Blind Faith" (1989),, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 381 pages. - "Cruel Doubt" (1991),, Simon & Schuster, 464 pages. - "The Last Brother: The Rise and Fall of Teddy Kennedy" (1993),, Simon & Schuster, 624 pages. - "The Miracle of Castel di Sangro" (1999),, Little Brown and Company; 407 pages. - "The Big Horse" (2004),, Simon & Schuster, 272 pages. - "Never Enough" (2007),, Simon & Schuster, 368 pages. - "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin" (2011),, Crown, 336 pages</s><s>See also. - "Fatal Vision" - 1984 television miniseries - "Blind Faith" - 1990 television miniseries - "Cruel Doubt" - 1992 television miniseries</s>