Delaware County District Library

Mobituaries, great lives worth reliving, Mo Rocca with Jonathan Greenberg ; illustrations by Mitch Butler

eng

Includes bibliographical references

collective biography

no index present

non fiction

Mobituaries

bibliography

Mo Rocca with Jonathan Greenberg ; illustrations by Mitch Butler

great lives worth reliving

"Mo Rocca has always loved obituaries--reading about the remarkable lives of global leaders, Hollywood heavyweights, and innovators who changed the world. But not every notable life has gotten the send-off it deserves. His quest to right that wrong inspired Mobituaries, his #1 hit podcast. Now with Mobituaries, the book, he has gone much further, with all new essays on artists, entertainers, sports stars, political pioneers, founding fathers, and more. Even if you know the names, you've never understood why they matter...until now. Take Herbert Hoover: before he was president, he was the "Great Humanitarian," the man who saved tens of millions from starvation. But after less than a year in the White House, the stock market crashed, and all the good he had done seemed to be forgotten. Then there's Marlene Dietrich, well remembered as a screen goddess, less remembered as a great patriot. Alongside American servicemen on the front lines during World War II, she risked her life to help defeat the Nazis of her native Germany. And what about Billy Carter and history's unruly presidential brothers? Were they ne'er-do-well liabilities...or secret weapons? Plus, Mobits for dead sports teams, dead countries, the dearly departed station wagon, and dragons. Yes, dragons. Rocca is an expert researcher and storyteller. He draws on these skills here. With his dogged reporting and trademark wit, Rocca brings these men and women back to life like no one else can. Mobituaries is an insightful and unconventional account of the people who made life worth living for the rest of us, one that asks us to think about who gets remembered, and why."--, Provided by publisher

Death of the fantastic: dragons {3000 BC-1735} and other mythical creatures we thought were real (mermaids, Kishi, The Roc, Unicorns, Frankenberry) -- Death of a founding father: Thomas Paine {1737-1809} and other famously disembodied body parts (T-Pain, aka Faheem Rasheed Najm; Einstein's rain, Grover Cleveland's jaw, Galileo Galilei's middle finger, Louis XIV's heart) -- Forgotten forerunner: Elizabeth Jennings {1827-1901} "The Rosa Parks of New York" -- Death of an influencer: Beau Brummell {1778-1840} and other dead fashion trends (fur coats, corsets, hobble skirts, the codpiece -- Death of an American story: Chang and Eng Bunker {1811-1874} and other sideshow sensations (Tiny Lavinia Warren, Captain Marin Van Buren Bates, Victor the Wild Boy of Aveyon, Sara Baartman the Hottentot Venus -- Death of representation: The black congressmen of Reconstruction {1870-1901} and other political firsts who didn't make your high school history book (Robert Smalls, Blanche K. Bruce, Hiram Rhodes Revels, Robert Brown Elliott, Susan Madora Salter, Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, Charles Curtis, Harvey Milk, Romualdo Pacheco, Shirleey Chisholm) -- Forgotten forerunner: when a woman ruled Hollywood: Lois Weber {1879-1939} -- Death of Medieval Science {800-1928} Alchemy, Astrology, Blodletting, Scrying, and other less science that was less than scientific (Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup; Cocaine; Phrenology; Phlogiston Theory; Trepanning; Spontaneous Combustion, Dr. Mamba's Miracle Balm) -- Death of a Sports Team: Los Dragones de Ciudad Trujillo {1937-1937} and other teams you can't root for anymore (The Philadelphia Sphas; The New Jersey Generals; The Washington Senators; Maurice Rocca's Little League Career) -- Forgotten Forerunner: Thee Byronic Woman, Ada Lovelace {1815-1852} -- Death of a Country: Prussia {1525-1947} and other places you won't find on a map (K©œnigsberg; Assyria; Republic of West Florida; Tannu Tuva; Sodom and Gomorrah; Hanging Gardens of Babylon) -- Heroes of the New Jersey Turnpike (historic figures memorialized by rest stops on the NJT): Clara Barton; John Fenwick; Walt Whitman; James Fenimore Cooper; Richard Stockton; Woodrow Wilson; Molly Pitcher; Joyce Kilmer; Grover Cleveland; Thomas Edison; Alexander Hamilton; Vince Lombardi

Great lives worth reliving