Monday, April 29, 2013

Frozen in Time By Mitchell Zuckoff


An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest
for Lost Heroes of World War II
The New York Times bestselling author of Lost in Shangri-La

*Best Book of the Month for April 2013 – Amazon*
*Best Book of the Month for April 2013 – Barnes and Noble*
*Indie Next Pick for April 2013 – Independent Booksellers Association*
___________________________________________________________________________

“Zuckoff’s gripping narrative unfolds with immediacy and verve as men in fetid snow caves and sputtering aircraft pit their dogged camaraderie and desperate, white-knuckle improvisations against the fury of an Arctic winter.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An . . . exciting account involving characters of enormous courage and stamina.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“In a time when far too many television ‘reality’ shows reflect nothing back at us but narcissism and the celebration of me, me, and more me, it is refreshing indeed to read this masterfully told tale of great personal sacrifice in the service of others; FROZEN IN TIME is rigorously researched, beautifully told, and absolutely compelling from start to finish, a true adventure story that takes us deeply into the heart of what it means to serve a cause higher than oneself.
Mitch Zuckoff has done it again!”
— Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog

“Once again, Mitchell Zuckoff has uncovered a thrilling historical tale and told it masterfully. Seamlessly interweaving the past and the present, FROZEN IN TIME is one of those epic adventure stories that will hold you
in its grip from beginning to end.”
— David Grann, author of The Lost City of Z

“Mitchell Zuckoff has done it again—he’s found another amazing World War II story that everyone else somehow missed. Much like his acclaimed Lost in Shangri-La, this is a story about brave aviators fighting for their lives in a back-theater of the war. Only this time Zuckoff isn’t just chronicling the adventure—he’s part of it. FROZEN IN TIME is a beautifully-written war yarn, but at its heart, it’s a non-fiction mystery—the tale of a group of heroes
united in a desire to solve a riddle buried in the Arctic ice.”
— Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers and Hellhound on His Trail

“You would think that all the World War II stories have been told by now. But Mitchell Zuckoff has a remarkable knack for finding new ones, and he has done it again, with a gripping, moving tale, suspensefully told—whose final act
takes place today.”
— Adam Hochschild, author of To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918


FROZEN IN TIME, by acclaimed author Mitchell Zuckoff, is an exceptional book. Just as he did in the bestselling Lost in Shangri-La, Zuckoff has uncovered a forgotten story from World War II, this time bringing readers to Greenland’s Ice Cap, the scene of three military plane crashes and a harrowing mission to rescue the survivors--some of whom spent 148 days of an unforgiving Arctic winter living in the tail section of their broken plane. Zuckoff is a maestro, simultaneously telling the story of these men, as close to boyhood as to manhood, as well as the story of those who, seventy years later, dedicated themselves to retrieving the heroes left behind.

On November 5, 1942, a U.S. cargo plane on a routine flight slammed into the Greenland Ice Cap. Four days later, the B-17 assigned to the search-and-rescue mission became lost in a blinding storm and also crashed. Miraculously, all nine men on the B-17 survived. With the weather worsening, the U.S. military launched a daring rescue mission, sending a Grumman Duck amphibious plane to find the men. After picking up one member of the B-17 crew, the Duck flew into a severe storm, and the plane and the three men aboard vanished.

Full of evocative detail, FROZEN IN TIME brings this extraordinary ordeal vividly into focus, taking readers to the most inhumane place on earth, where temperatures routinely reach 40 degrees below zero and where the wind is so devastating that glacial dust can scratch glass and blind unprotected eyes. For nearly five months, the surviving men from the B-17 crash struggled to stay alive and sane while they waited for rescue. They blew on each other's faces when their eyelids froze together, rubbed each other's limbs to keep blood flowing, and shared their last crumbs of rations to keep from starving. One young navigator’s feet literally froze inside his boots and another lost all of his fingernails to frostbite making it painful to touch anything. They used large cans of dog food –meant for the sled dogs that never came to save them –as pillows, and passed endless hours playing word games and naming all the capitals, islands and every other geographical feature they could think of. All the while, search and supply pilots flew countless flights through storms and lost horizons to drop food and supplies while the stranded waited and waited for a half-mad rescue effort that rewrote the annals of Arctic flight.

But that is only part of the story that unfolds in FROZEN IN TIME. While recounting the historical tale, Zuckoff weaves in the modern story of the U.S. Coast Guard and North South Polar Inc., led by an indefatigable dreamer named Lou Sapienza. Sapienza spent years trying to find the crash site of the Coast Guard Duck whose crew perished while attempting to rescue the downed soldiers. In August of 2012, nearly seventy years after the crash, Sapienza and a crew that included Zuckoff, travelled to Greenland and located the plane some 40 feet below the ice surface.  

Drawing on intensive research and a firsthand account of the dramatic and dangerous 2012 expedition, FROZEN IN TIME is a breathtaking blend of mystery, adventure, heroism, and survival. It is also a poignant reminder of the sacrifices of our military personnel and their families—and a tribute to the important, perilous, and often overlooked work of the US Coast Guard.

About Greenland in World War II

At more than sixteen hundred miles north to south and eight hundred miles across, Greenland is a strange and enormous place. Its coastline, jagged with fjords that can cut more than ninety miles inland, is longer than the circumference of the earth at the equator. Much of Greenland is covered with ice, two miles deep in places. And, with just fifty eight thousand residents, it boasts the lowest population density of any country or independent territory. To put that in perspective: if Manhattan had the same population density as Greenland its residency would be two.

Claimed by the Danish monarchy in the early 18th century, Greenland was mostly an afterthought until 1940 when Nazi Germany invaded Denmark and American leaders suddenly looked with fear at the gigantic island so close to North America. In 1941 the United States reached an agreement with Denmark’s government-in-exile to protect Greenland by building U.S. airbases and military installations on the island. Not only did this provide a buffer for the States, but it also gave us control of Greenland’s weather stations –and whoever controlled the weather stations there would know what the weather would be like in Europe the next day—critical information for the planning of air raids and other military maneuvers. 

About the 2012 Mission to Locate the Remains of the Grumman Duck

Just before Mitchell Zuckoff left for Greenland on a trip that would become a key part of his new book FROZEN IN TIME (Harper; on sale April 23), he sent the completed parts of the manuscript to his agent, Richard Abate, with instructions that if he didn't return home alive Richard should figure out a way to get the book finished and published. After spending months researching this strange and enormous place, Mitch knew the dangers--perhaps all too well: temperature so low unprotected eyes can freeze shut from blinking, wind so strong that blowing glacier dust can cut glass, and terrain laced with hidden crevasses hundreds of feet deep. Richard urged him to consider staying behind but Mitch wouldn’t hear of it.
Just as he did in the bestselling Lost in Shangri-La (2011), in FROZEN IN TIME Zuckoff has uncovered a forgotten true story from World War II, this time bringing readers to Greenland’s Ice Cap, the scene of three military plane crashes and a harrowing mission to rescue the survivors--some of whom wound up spending 148 days of an unforgiving Arctic winter living in ice caves and the tail section of their broken B-17 bomber. The last plane to disappear was a Grumman Duck amphibious Coast Guard plane that was sent out to rescue those already stranded. Flying into a blizzard, the Duck's crew was able to save two of the icebound men but on their second run they crashed and were never heard from again. When the mission to Greenland began, pilot John Pritchard Jr. and radioman Benjamin Bottoms were the only members of the Coast Guard still M.I.A. from World War II.

In 2011, while deep in the research for FROZEN IN TIME, Zuckoff heard about Lou Sapienza, CEO of North South Polar Inc., a team of explorers, scientists and field specialists who take on the most difficult recovery missions located in the most challenging environments on earth. Lou, a character in the truest sense of the word, had made it his mission to go to Greenland and recover the bodies of Pritchard and Bottoms; soon after their first meeting, Zuckoff was determined to go with him. 

In the months leading up to the August 2012 Greenland expedition, Zuckoff invested thousands of dollars from his own pocket into the project. By then, he had grown close to the relatives of Pritchard and Bottoms, and he also knew that the expedition was a key part of finishing FROZEN IN TIME. It started with a $15,000.00 loan in January, but by May that number had multiplied at a frightening rate. Determined to keep the mission from cratering, Zuckoff borrowed from his daughter’s college fund and gave Lou his credit card number.  In addition to his role as “bank,” Zuckoff also helped navigate the often fractious relations between North South Polar and the Coast Guard, whose support was essential.

Finally, on August 21, 2012, Mitch, Lou and their team left for the ice cap. After a harrowing helicopter ride to the Koge Bay glacier, the real work began.  For almost two weeks, the seventeen-member expedition team worked upwards of fifteen hours a day using state-of-the-art radar to locate the remains of the Grumman Duck, now entombed some 40 feet below the surface of the glacier. When a potential spot was located, the crew used a large and heavy machine called a Hotsy to melt holes in the ice. Then they dropped a video camera into each hole hoping to find some sign of the plane’s remnants.  Attempt after attempt returned no signs of the Grumman Duck. As time was running out and they were becoming more desperate, Mitch went onto the open glacier without safety ropes, not wanting to be slowed down. He clutched an ice ax, poised to save himself if the ice gave way.

At the very end of the trip, with a storm bearing down and an emergency evacuation under way, Mitch and just one other crew member nicknamed WeeGee remained on the glacier and continued their work. With his wife and daughters weighing heavily on his mind, it occurred to Mitch that he had joined Lou in the world of windmill-tilting dreamers who don’t know when to quit. Was this an invitation for Greenland to swallow him whole? Then, literally at the last minute, something miraculous happened.  On their final attempt, Mitch and WeeGee dropped the video camera down that very last hole, and there it was. The Duck Hunt was over.


Praise for Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

“A truly incredible adventure.”
   —New York Times Book Review

“In his compelling new book, Lost in Shangri-La, Mitchell Zuckoff has uncovered, and vividly reconstructed, such an astonishing tale. . . . The book has an immediacy born of extensive reporting. . . . From this abundant material, Zuckoff is able to glimpse events from alternate vantage points, and skillfully builds narrative tension and deft character portraits. He has a sharp eye for the revealing detail. . . . Zuckoff has pulled off a remarkable feat — and
held the reader firmly in the grip.”
   — David Grann, Washington Post


“A riveting tale in the hands of a good storyteller. . . . The incidents and people themselves make this a riveting story, but they would not be so alive to the reader had the author not made such skillful use of sources, including, after 60-plus years, interviews with Walter and other aged participants in the adventure. Lost in Shangri-La is the most thrilling book, fiction or nonfiction, that I have read since I can’t remember when.”
   — Seattle Times

“[A] grippingly cinematic account. . . . A remarkable cast of characters. . . . A.
   — Entertainment Weekly

“This is an absorbing adventure right out of the Saturday-morning serials. . . . Lost in Shangri-La deserves a spot on the shelf of Greatest Generation nonfiction. It puts the reader smack into the jungle. ”
   — Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Zuckoff transforms impressive research into a deft narrative that brings the saga of the survivors to life. His access to journal accounts, letters, photos, military records, and interviews with the eyewitnesses allows for an almost hour-by-hour account of the crash and rescue, along with vivid portraits of his main subjects.”
   — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A lost world, man-eating tribesmen, lush and impenetrable jungles, stranded American fliers (one of them a dame with great gams, for heaven’s sake), a startling rescue mission. And then, an unread diary and a single survivor living quietly half a century later in Oregon, still remembered by the jungle-men of New Guinea. This is a true story made in heaven for a writer as talented as Mitchell Zuckoff.
Whew—what an utterly compelling and deeply satisfying read!”
   — Simon Winchester

“Mitchell Zuckoff has found one of the great untold yarns of World War II. In the bold tradition of The Lost City of Z and other well-crafted armchair adventures, Lost in Shangri-La takes us on a breathless descent through
forbidding jungles into the heart of the Stone Age.”
   — Hampton Sides, bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers

“Polished, fast-paced and immensely readable—ready for the big screen.”
   — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Mitchell Zuckoff is the author of Lost in Shangri-La, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Winship/PEN New England Award. His previous books include Robert Altman: The Oral Biography, and Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend. He has written for national and regional publications and is a former special projects reporter for the Boston Globe, where he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for investigative reporting. He is a professor of journalism at Boston University.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

#1 Bestselling Finance Author in USA Has Financial Advice for Prospering on Obama


HOW TO SURVIVE OBAMAGEDDON AND THE COMING OBAMA GREAT DEPRESSION
 Wayne Allyn Root shows not only how to survive but to thrive and prosper under Obama

President Obama's second term in office guarantees that more American families than ever before will fall into poverty. Obama's destructive agenda is aimed squarely at the middle class, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and those with capitalist drive. Wayne Allyn Root's The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide: How to Survive, Thrive, and Prosper During Obamageddon is the handbook all Americans need not just to survive the next four years, but to outsmart the coming big-government disaster.

CALL 516-735-5468 or e-mail Sandy to schedule interviews with Wayne Allyn Root.

"First get mad... then get even," says Capitalist Evangelist, serial entrepreneur, and former Libertarian Vice-Presidential nominee Wayne Allyn Root. As a former classmate of President Obama at Columbia University, Root exposes how President Obama is working to steal our liberty, wages, assets, property, opportunities, and ultimately destroy the middle class using a brutally simple plan they were both taught at Columbia University. Then Root shows Americans how to fight back and protect their assets, protect the American dream, and thrive in the midst of the Obama Great Depression.

The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide exposes "The Obama Axis of Evil" - taxation, regulation, unionization, litigation, intimidation, and government strangulation. Then (unlike most books critical of the Obama administration) The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide offers no-nonsense, practical, real-life strategies for any individual to fight back, protect themselves, and even benefit from Obama’s harmful policies. The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide is essential reading for anyone who not only wants to survive Obamageddon but thrive.

In The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide, you will learn:

·         How Obama is "Boiling the Frog" by overwhelming the country with deficit, debt, entitlements, onerous regulations, and tax hikes designed to slowly collapse the U.S. economy without a fight.

·         Why Obama's real goal is to destroy the middle class and create just two classes of Americans - the super-rich who are rewarded with bribes, stimulus and government contracts; and the poor who loyally vote for Obama in return for the handouts they need to survive.
·         Why Texas should be the gold standard for saving America and why Detroit is the model for Obama's America.

·         How to use Y-Pods - Your Personal Obama Defense Shields - to protect your assets, save yourself from the fall-out of the spiraling national debt, and improve your financial position.

·         Which not-so-obvious investments from farmland, the oil patch, collectibles, and medical real estate could be the keys to creating your own Booming Personal Economy.

·         Why a U.S. Special Forces Commando says every family member should have a MOLLIE or an ALICE and why owning a gun is essential to survival.

·         What solutions and techniques eighteen self-made super-rich millionaires are employing to protect themselves from Obamageddon.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Wayne Allyn Root - the 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee - is an entrepreneur, CEO, best-selling business author and speaker, small business defender, and crusader for smaller government, lower taxes and fewer regulations. Wayne is a nationally known TV and radio commentator on the topics of business, economics, entrepreneurship, and politics. He is also President Obama's college classmate from Columbia University (class of '83).

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Dick Morris Radio

Our good friend, Dick Morris, is the host of a new radio show which launches Monday on CBS Radio’s WPHT 1210-AM in Philadelphia. “The Dick Morris Show” airs 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

CBS Radio Senior Vice President/Market Manager Marc Rayfield said: “Dick is a great addition to our lineup of live and local personalities, and provides a voice that will raise the audience's interest in what's happening in politics today.

“His show won’t just be a win for Philadelphia and WPHT — it’s a win for radio.”

Dick is the co-author, along with his wife Eileen McGann, of a dozen New York Times best-selling books.  Having worked with Dick for many years, we're thrilled that he has his own show now.  Dick has always been one of the most popular guests on talk radio and it'll be great to be able to tune in to hear his words of wisdom on a daily basis. [more...]

Uncommon Sense by Rabbi D.B. Ganz


Uncommon Sense
The Talmud's Timeless Solutions to Political
and Social Challenges

The central text of traditional Judaism is called the Talmud - a vast collection of Jewish laws and traditions touching on a wide range of subjects. In this context, Rabbi D.B. Ganz, a Talmudic scholar, has written a new book that applies the wisdom of the Talmud to many major social and political topics faced by today's Western societies. Uncommon Sense: The Talmud's Timeless Solutions to Political and Social Challenges redefines these topics and illustrates how to come up with solutions to many problems we face today. Rabbi Ganz presents ancient Talmudic concepts and demonstrates their contemporary relevance and application... and you don't have to be Jewish to appreciate and learn from this text.

Talmudic wisdom is neither Liberal nor Conservative. When applied to social issues, it does indeed often take strong positions. Yet, surprisingly often, it explains why this is not a choice between two valid alternatives. Rather, one approach to the issue is correct, and the other is clearly mistaken. The Talmud has been speaking brilliantly and unambiguously on virtually every social and moral topic for millennia. It therefore more easily cuts through the maze of conflicting opinions that becloud virtually every publicly debated issue.

Among the topics covered in this volume are: abortion, illegal immigration to the USA, medical malpractice policy and high medical costs, runaway government deficit spending, and a policy on taxation. There is also an Epilogue on the Talmud's approach to attaining contentment and happiness. You will learn:
  • How to strengthen the U.S. military while at the same time reigning in its spending.
  • How much of society the government should control and at what rate people should be taxed.
  • To what extent should the U.S. regulate employer/employee agreements and otherwise interfere with private sector business activity.
  • What the U.S. should do about its entitlement spending.
  • What the U.S. should do about illegal immigrants.
  • Why liberals are liberal about everything except for people and ideas that are not liberal.
  • An approach to when the U.S. should and should not intervene in foreign conflicts.
  • How hostility toward those with opposing beliefs is often a function of one's own flawed thinking.
  • ...and so much more!
Amidst our faltering economy, Americans will want to read Rabbi Ganz's chapters on the economy and the government. Particularly fascinating is his chapter on wealth creation. He discusses the phenomenon of governments that are inherently inefficient managing ever more of what people depend on. In this light, he discusses Obamacare and how it will likely impact upon the U.S. public. Rabbi Ganz talks about the national debt crisis brought on by governments that borrow a significant percentage of what they spend without the ability to repay and what options the country faces to resolve this conundrum of public policy.

Uncommon Sense is a well-thought-out work of Talmudic logic. It was not written in an attempt to mix religion with politics. Almost anyone can sidestep its spiritual origins and gain beneficial insights from Talmudic wisdom.An ancient and yet entirely fresh voice, the Talmud is not at all dated. Rabbi Ganz discusses ancient Talmudic concepts and their relevance to many of the major political issues of the day that bedevil modern society.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rabbi D.B. Ganz studied Talmud full time for 15 years at the Rabbinical Seminary of America (AKA Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim) in Queens, NY. He served as Dean of the Hebrew Academy of Suffolk County, an Orthodox Jewish elementary school in Long Island. He then published Defining Humanity, a book on Talmudic ethical principles and human insights, after which he founded the Jewish Heritage Initiative of Cambridge (JHI), which promotes in-depth Talmud study among the local university students at Harvard and MIT.

Friday, April 5, 2013

PROPERTY RIGHTS AND FREE MARKET UNDER FIRE IN FLORIDA



Two pieces of legislation under consideration in Florida could either alter or protect the way the secondary ticketing market functions... one will ELIMINATE the rights of fans in the property (tickets) we buy; the other will PROTECT our right to our property. This SHOULD be an easy choice for conservatives, right?

Florida House Bill 1353 and Senate Bill 1652, which are being proposed and promoted in similar versions across the country by Ticketmaster, control what consumers do with tickets they purchase and own by letting venues (and corporations like Ticketmaster) dictate whether and how tickets can be resold – or even given away! 

A recent Zogby poll shows Floridians heavily opposed to any legislation that restricts our property rights in the tickets WE purchase with OUR money. How heavily opposed? How about 76%! Yet some Republicans in the legislature (being urged forward by Ticketmaster’s lobbyists) persist in wanting to legislate winners (Ticketmaster) and losers (fans). The Ticketmaster scheme gives them a huge GOVERNMENT MANDATED advantage over competitors in the ticket resale market. This is government favoring one business over another, picking winners and losers. [more...]

It is time to put FANS FIRST, starting in Florida! Go to www.fanfreedom.org to find out more about this issue that is popping up from Tennessee to Texas to Florida and beyond.

Steve Gill is a conservative political commentator and nationally syndicated radio talk host. His website is www.gillreport.com