"Cownie, the mayor of Des Moines, awarded Bryson the key to the city and announced that October 21, 2006 would be known as ""Bill Bryson, The Thunderbolt Kid, Day"". In January 2007, he was the Schwartz Visiting Fellow at the Pomfret School in Connecticut. Bryson has written the following books: Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an Anglo-American author of books on travel, the English language, science, and other non-fiction topics. Born in the United States, he has been a resident of Britain for most of his adult life, returning to the United States between"
"He calls this the ""Bryson Line"" and it serves as a rough basis for the route he travels in the book, concentrating mainly on places that he didn't visit in ""Notes from a Small Island"". The U.K. cover depicts The Jolly Fisherman of Skegness skipping with the Seven Sisters in the background. Both of these are iconic images of British sea-side culture and landscape, although geographically distant from one another. The book has received mixed reviews. The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island is a"
"portrayed by Nick Nolte (Bryson is portrayed as being much older than he was at the time of his actual walk). In 2003, in conjunction with World Book Day, British voters chose Bryson's book ""Notes from a Small Island"" as that which best sums up British identity and the state of the nation. In the same year, he was appointed a Commissioner for English Heritage. His popular science book, ""A Short History of Nearly Everything"" is 500 pages long and explores not only the histories and current statuses of the sciences, but also reveals their humble and often humorous beginnings."
"January to February 1999. The book is also available in audio book format. Heavily abridged, the book was read in five fifteen-minute episodes by Kerry Shale for BBC Radio 4. It has been repeated on BBC Radio 7 several times. Bryson praises the city of Durham in the book. He later became Chancellor of Durham University from 2005 to 2011. The title of Briton Neil Humphreys' book ""Notes from an Even Smaller Island"" (written on his experiences in the former Crown Colony of Singapore) is a reference to Bryson's book, Humphreys stating in 2012, ""When I read Bill Bryson's travel"
"The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America is a book by travel writer Bill Bryson, chronicling his 13,978 mile trip around the United States in the autumn of 1987 and spring 1988. It was Bryson's first travel book. He begins his journey, made almost entirely by car, in his childhood hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, heading from there towards the Mississippi River, often reminiscing about his childhood in Iowa. The journey was made after his father's death, and so is in part a collection of memories of his father in Des Moines while"
"had praised Durham as ""a perfect little city"" in ""Notes from a Small Island"". In October 2010, it was announced that Bryson would step down at the end of 2011. In May 2007, he became the president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. His first area of focus in this role was the establishment of an anti-littering campaign across England. He discussed the future of the countryside with Richard Mabey, Sue Clifford, Nicholas Crane and Richard Girling at CPRE's Volunteer Conference in November 2007. Bryson has received numerous awards for his ability to communicate science with passion and enthusiasm."
"forgotten points of interest. This book is an overview of the United States from Bryson's point of view. There is less focus on factual insight into the history, geography and culture of the destinations in this book than is found in some of Bryson's later books, focusing instead on observations made with the intention of being humorous. Bryson, Bill (1989): ""The Lost Continent"": Travels in Small-Town America. London: Secker. 2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26.The_Lost_Continent The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America is a book by travel writer Bill Bryson, chronicling his 13,978 mile trip around the"
"A Short History of Nearly Everything A Short History of Nearly Everything by American author Bill Bryson is a popular science book that explains some areas of science, using easily accessible language that appeals more so to the general public than many other books dedicated to the subject. It was one of the bestselling popular science books of 2005 in the United Kingdom, selling over 300,000 copies. ""A Short History"" deviates from Bryson's popular travel book genre, instead describing general sciences such as chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics. In it, he explores time from the Big Bang to the"
"The Little Island (book) The Little Island is a book by Margaret Wise Brown under the pseudonym Golden MacDonald and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard. Released by Doubleday in 1946, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1947. It describes the four seasons as experienced by a little island. The book is lyrically written, an example being: ""Winter came/ and the snow fell softly/ like a great quiet secret in the night/ cold and still."" A little island in the ocean changes as the seasons comes and go -- spring and summer bring flowers, seals, and birds,"
"The Little Island The Little Island is a 1958 British animated short film directed, produced, and animated by Richard Williams. It was his first film. Self-financed, it was a half-hour philosophical argument without words. It won the 1958 BAFTA award for Animated Film. The film features three men who each only believe in one thing: one in Good, one in Truth, and one in Beauty. They cast themselves onto a small island where they sit next to each other. Many days pass, and they begin to express themselves. It starts in small ways, simply making noise. The three start to"
"Islands. As Stevenson once said, """"Treasure Island"" came out of Kingsley's ""At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies"" (1871); where I got the 'Dead Man's Chest'—that was the seed."" That is, Stevenson saw the three words ""Dead Man's Chest"" in Kingsley's book among a list of names, germinating in Stevenson's mind it was the ""seed"", which then grew into the novel. In ""Treasure Island"" Stevenson only wrote the chorus, leaving the remainder of the song unwritten, and to the reader's imagination: Another lyric in the novel, near its end: Stevenson does not make clear if this lyric is part"
"of ""A Short History of Nearly Everything"" (2003), a book widely acclaimed for its accessible communication of science. Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Agnes Mary (née McGuire) and sports journalist Bill Bryson Sr. His mother was of Irish descent. He had an older brother, Michael (1942–2012), and a sister, Mary Jane Elizabeth. In 2006 Bryson published ""The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid"", a humorous account of his childhood years in Des Moines. Bryson attended Drake University for two years before dropping out in 1972, deciding instead to backpack around Europe for four months."
"Small Island (novel) Small Island is a 2004 prize-winning novel by British author Andrea Levy. It was adapted for television in two parts by the BBC in 2009, and is being adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson. The novel is based on four main characters: Hortense, Queenie, Gilbert and Bernard and the story is told from each of their points of view. Its main plot is set in 1948 and focuses on the diaspora of Jamaican immigrants, who, escaping economic hardship on their own ""small island,"" move to England, the Mother Country, for which the men have fought during"
"Macfarlane"" (died 1926, Melbourne); Ben Hird, the supercargo and trader; Jack Buckland a copra trader and original of the Tommy Hadden character in ""The Wrecker"". Jack Buckland’s dedication copy of ""Island Nights’ Entertainments"" was inscribed by Stevenson to ""Jack Buckland, from Robert Louis Stevenson"". A character called ‘young Buncombe’ makes a brief appearance in chapter 2 of ""The Beach of Falesá"". Island Nights' Entertainments Island Nights' Entertainments (also known as ""South Sea Tales"") is a collection of short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1893. It would prove to contain some of his final completed work before his"
"co-author of ""The Big Brother Book of Lists"" (1984, Price/Stern/Sloan), published to commemorate the fateful year of 1984. Smith, formerly active as a land conservationist for environmental protection, wrote four editions of a quiz book called ""Block Island Trivia,"" about the tiny island off the coast of Rhode Island. In the 1990s, he was president of the Block Island Conservancy, a nonprofit group that purchases land to maintain it as open space. In the 1990s, he was vice-chair of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, which is responsible for preservation and orderly development of land within 200 yards of"
"surrounding area. Part two of the two-part novel, ""Berlin by Christmas"", features an opening chapter based entirely on the island. The fictional character of ""Phelps"" is often confused with the real life of the author. Nick Earls' 1996 novel ""After January"" includes a description of a visit to the beach and the ruins of World War II battlements on the northern end of the island. Bribie Island Bribie Island is the smallest and most northerly of three major sand islands forming the coastline sheltering the northern part of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. The others are Moreton Island and North Stradbroke"
"novel has won a number of prizes including: Small Island (novel) Small Island is a 2004 prize-winning novel by British author Andrea Levy. It was adapted for television in two parts by the BBC in 2009, and is being adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson. The novel is based on four main characters: Hortense, Queenie, Gilbert and Bernard and the story is told from each of their points of view. Its main plot is set in 1948 and focuses on the diaspora of Jamaican immigrants, who, escaping economic hardship on their own ""small island,"" move to England, the Mother"
"he was growing up. The book is split into two sections: 'East' and 'West', the former part being considerably longer than the latter. These sections correspond to two separate journeys made in the autumn of 1987 and spring of 1988. The first section covers the Midwest, the Deep South, the East Coast and New England, before returning to Des Moines. The second section focuses on the Great Plains, the South West, California and the Rocky Mountains. Bryson's goal in this trip was generally to avoid tourist destinations, instead choosing to experience the real every-day America, stopping at small towns and"
"in poverty. Also briefly discussed is the rise and fall of Charles Ponzi's postal coupon business, the original Ponzi scheme. The primary focus of the book, however, is on daily life, and popular culture during that summer, such as daredevil flying, the party life of sports stars, the habits of eccentric geniuses, and what people did during hot times when air conditioning was unknown except as a scarce luxury at a few theaters and hotels. The focus on a particular moment in history as a means to explore the wider world parallels Bryson's previous book, 2010's """", which used a"
"of the process, the book's timeline expands beyond a single year. The island is described as being: ""A part of the world and a world of its own all surrounded by the bright blue sea."" ""The Little Island"" is all about faith. Having the kitten go fishing is an allusion to the famous Biblical reference of teaching a man to fish, rather than providing him with fish, and the kitten that comes from ashore learns a secret about the island and a lesson about faith. The connection to John Donne is made in the context of the kitten visitor to"
"syndrome (""This Is My Son"", and ""Emily, Emily""), displaced persons (""Eleven Memory Street""), gifted children (""Sit Down and Shut Up, or Get Out""), and sickle-cell anemia (""To All My Friends On Shore""). Using the pseudonym ""Ellison Carrol"", he was nominated for an Emmy for his 1963 Breaking Point screenplay ""And James Was A Very Small Snail""; and again in 1969 for the Hallmark Hall of Fame (episode 81) ""Teacher, Teacher"". In 1972, he won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama (Original Teleplay) with ""To All My Friends On Shore"". His papers are held in the Hargrett Library at"
"the history, geography, unusual plants and animals of the country, and his wry impressions of the life, culture and amenities (or lack thereof) in each locality. In a style similar to his book ""A Walk in the Woods"", or William Least Heat-Moon's ""Blue Highways"", Bryson's research enabled him to include many stories about Australia's 19th-century explorers and settlers who suffered extreme deprivations, as well as details about its natural resources, culture, and economy. His writings are intertwined with recurring humorous themes. The book consists of three parts. 1. Into the Outback The first part of the book mainly describes the"
"mainland across the sea. The weather affects the sea, the island, and the mainland alike as do the tides. The story is strengthened by what children choose to read the book and have opportunities to share scientific facts, spiritual connections, and to explain the mutual dependency that occurs in nature. The Little Island (book) The Little Island is a book by Margaret Wise Brown under the pseudonym Golden MacDonald and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard. Released by Doubleday in 1946, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1947. It describes the four seasons as experienced by a"
"place of a former colleague at Townsville who was travelling abroad. Except for occasional short holidays on the mainland, he spent the rest of his days on the island. In 1907 he wrote a tourists' guide for the Queensland government, ""Within the Barrier"", and in 1908 appeared his ""Confessions of a Beachcomber"" which immediately gave him a place of his own among Australian writers. This was followed by ""My Tropic Isle"" (1911), and ""Tropic Days"" (1918). His ""Last Leaves from Dunk Island"" was published posthumously in 1925 in collaboration with Alec Chisholm and Bertha Banfield. The title of Banfield's first"
"became widely known as ""The Beachcomber"". He wrote three other books that focused on ""Dunk Island: My Tropic Isle""; ""Tropic Days"" and ""Last Leaves from Dunk Island"", which was published posthumously in 1925 and edited by naturalist Alexander Hugh Chisholm, publisher and author of many books on Australia's flora and fauna between 1922 and 1966. ""Last Leaves"" contained detailed observations about the impact of the devastating 1918 cyclone on the island and surrounding area. Many of the writing contained in these books had been published as articles in the Townsville Daily Bulletin, The North Queensland Register and the Queensland Geographical"
"the subject of the feature review in ""The New York Times Book Review"" the day before publication. One chapter (""The Birth of an Island"") was published in ""The Yale Review""; it won the George Westinghouse Science Writing prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. After the book's release, Carson was inundated with an unexpected volume of fan mail and media attention. She was soon the object of attention from ""the literary crowd,"" and because of a subsequent condensation in ""Reader's Digest"", a broad general audience as well. The book sold more than 250,000 copies in 1951, in"
"Klein was an employee of the Brussels-based trading company ""Société Anonyme Belge pour le Commerce du Haut-Congo"", and died shortly after being picked up on the steamboat Conrad was piloting. Further, ""Klein"" means ""little"" in German, and as Marlow muses in the novella, ""Kurtz"" means ""short"" in the same language. Conrad also expressed an admiration of Robert Louis Stevenson's Pacific Ocean writings, in particular the stories ""The Beach of Falesá"" and ""The Ebb-Tide"", as well as the non-fiction account of Tembinok' of the Gilbert Islands that appeared in ""In the South Seas"". All three texts contain megalomaniacs who manipulate their"
"The Beach of Falesá ""The Beach of Falesá"" is a short story by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It was first published in the ""Illustrated London News"" in 1892, and later published in book form in the short-story collection ""Island Nights' Entertainments"" (1893). It was written after Stevenson moved to the South Seas island of Samoa just a few years before he died there. The story is told in the first person by John Wiltshire, a British copra trader on the fictional South Sea island of Falesá. Upon arriving on the island, he meets a rival trader named Case, who"
"World War II. While the novel focuses on the narratives of Gilbert and Hortense as they adjust to life in England, after a reception that is not quite the warm embrace that they have hoped for, the interracial relationship between Queenie and Michael is central to the plot and the connections that are established between all of the characters. As the story is narrated from various view points, it is achronological, skipping around to discuss each character's life before the outbreak of WWII. In 2009 ""The Guardian"" selected ""Small Island"" as one of the defining books of the decade. The"
"Treasure Island Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of ""buccaneers and buried gold"". Its influence is enormous on popular perceptions of pirates, including such elements as treasure maps marked with an ""X"", schooners, the Black Spot, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen bearing parrots on their shoulders. ""Treasure Island"" was originally considered a coming-of-age story and is noted for its atmosphere, characters, and action. It is one of the most frequently dramatized of all novels. It was originally serialized in the children's magazine ""Young Folks"" from 1881 through 1882 under the title"
"credited in the ample bibliography"". At Home: A Short History of Private Life At Home: A Short History of Private Life is a history of domestic life written by Bill Bryson. It was published in May 2010. The book covers topics of the commerce, architecture, technology and geography that have shaped homes into what they are today, told through a series of ""tours"" through Bryson's Norfolk rectory that quickly digress into the history of each particular room. This chapter starts with Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and all the difficulties and problems needed to overcome"
"in ""Science Digest"" and ""The Yale Review"" — the latter chapter, ""The Birth of an Island"", winning the American Association for the Advancement of Science's George Westinghouse Science Writing Prize. Nine chapters were serialized in ""The New Yorker"" beginning June 1951 and the book was published July 2, 1951, by Oxford University Press. ""The Sea Around Us"" remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 86 weeks, was abridged by ""Reader's Digest"", won the 1952 National Book Award for Nonfiction and the John Burroughs Medal, and resulted in Carson's being awarded two honorary doctorates. She also licensed a"
"placing emphasis on the development of the modern ""Homo sapiens"". Furthermore, he discusses the possibility of the Earth being struck by a meteorite and reflects on human capabilities of spotting a meteor before it impacts the Earth, and the extensive damage that such an event would cause. He also describes some of the most recent destructive disasters of volcanic origin in the history of our planet, including Krakatoa and Yellowstone National Park. A large part of the book is devoted to relating humorous stories about the scientists behind the research and discoveries and their sometimes eccentric behaviours. Bryson also speaks"