Eddie the Eagle: My Story

Eddie Edwards

Summary

This is the autobiography of Eddie the Eagle, whose incredible life inspired the hit film starring Hugh Jackman, Taron Egerton, and Christopher Walken. 

Short and stocky, sporting thick glasses prone to fogging, Eddie was nobody’s athletic ideal. Through struggle, sacrifice, even near-starvation—this British plasterer made his dream a reality: competing in the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary. Here, in his own words, is Eddie’s story—from the schoolboy stunts that developed his physical courage, to the menial labor that paid for training, to the qualifying jumps that had millions around the world glued to their television sets to watch him.

Eddie the Eagle is the tale of an ordinary man’s extraordinary journey above and beyond expectations . . . a journey that rocketed this ultimate underdog to an Olympic legend.

Available since: 02/28/2016.

Other books that might interest you

Benjamin Britten - A Life for Music

Neil Powell

This spellbinding centenary biography by Neil Powell looks at the music, the life, and the legacy of the greatest British composer of the twentieth centuryBenjamin Britten was born on November 22, 1913, in the East Suffolk town of Lowestoft. Displaying a passion and proficiency for music at an early age, to the delight of his mother, Edith, a talented amateur musician herself, he began composing music when he was only five years old. After studying at the Royal College of Music, Britten went on to write documentary scores for the General Post Office Film Unit, where he met and collaborated with the poet W. H. Auden.Of more lasting importance was Britten's introduction in 1937 to the tenor Peter Pears, who was to become the inspirational center of his emotional and musical life. Their partnership lasted nearly four decades, during a dangerous time when homosexuality was illegal in England. Conscientious objectors, Britten and Pears followed Auden to America before the war began in 1939. While there, they joined the extraordinary Brooklyn ménage of George Davis, Louis MacNeice, and Paul Bowles.Eventually intense homesickness, provoked in part by George Crabbe's poem "Peter Grimes," drove the pair home to East Anglia in 1942 and gave Britten the inspiration for his finest opera. Throughout his career, Britten did not want modern music to be just for "the cultured few" and instead always composed his music to be "listenable-to." The shared quotidian lives of Britten and Pears unfold in this intimate biography and the story of two men who created a truly remarkable legacy.

Show book

Robert Plant - The Voice that...

Dave Thompson

Robert Plant: The Voice That Sailed the Zeppelin follows the iconic singer through his heights of fame with classic rock giant Led Zeppelin, his second life as a multimillion-selling solo artist, and his more idiosyncratic pursuits. A wealth of former associates lend their voices and recollections to an account that steps far beyond the tried and tested tales of Zeppelin's life and times.This biography details Plant's early years as an unknown in Birmingham, England, with fresh depth and insight. It likewise tells the Zeppelin story from new and unexpected angles, focusing on Plant's contributions to the band's success and on the toll/effect of that success on him as a performer and an individual.After drummer John Bonham died in 1980 and Zeppelin broke up, Plant went solo two years later, in time becoming the only former band member to maintain an unbroken career to this day. His single-mindedness in meeting this challenge might well be his greatest personal attribute, enabling him to push forward without regard for his past or any related expectations. Dave Thompson shows how it is Plant's determination alone that ensured Zeppelin reunions would not become a routine part of the classic rock furniture, as he created a body of work that in so many ways artistically rivals what he recorded with the band.

Show book

Love and Light

Brenda Monteith Smith

Love and Light: By Brenda Monteith Smith has achieved a remarkable feat by being as Top #50 best seller in one of Amazon's categories.#45 Best Seller ★ in Love Triangle Romance (June 4, 2024)"Love and Light" by Brenda Monteith Smith is an uplifting journey into the boundless power of love in our lives. With unwavering positivity and boundless enthusiasm, Smith invites readers to embrace love as the ultimate solution to life's challenges. Through heartfelt anecdotes, insightful reflections, and practical advice, she illuminates the myriad ways love manifests itself from the profound bonds of friendship to the healing embrace of self-acceptance.This book is not merely a call to arms but a gentle reminder that love is a feeling and a transformative force that can guide us through even the darkest times. With every turn of the page, readers are encouraged to tap into the wellspring of love within themselves to cultivate compassion, understanding, and forgiveness in their daily lives.Smith's message is clear: love is not a passive emotion but an active choice that can light up even the darkest corners of our world. Her inspiring words empower readers to embrace love as both a shield against adversity and a catalyst for personal growth. "Love and Light" is a roadmap to a brighter, more compassionate world.

Show book

Treat Me Like Dirt - An Oral...

Liz Worth

This compendium of interviews with key players in the Toronto punk scene is “easily one of the best rock biographies you’ll read this year.”  (Montreal Mirror)  Treat Me Like Dirt captures the personalities that drove the original Toronto punk scene. This is the first book to document the histories of the Diodes, Viletones, and Teenage Head, along with other bands such as the B-Girls, Curse, Demics, Dishes, Forgotten Rebels, Johnny & the G-Rays, the Mods, the Poles, Simply Saucer, the Ugly and more. Also included are interviews from fans that brought the punk scene to life in Toronto. This book is a punk rock road map, full of chaos, betrayal, pain, disappointments, failure, success, and the pure rock ’n’ roll energy that frames this layered history of punk in Toronto and beyond.  Treat Me Like Dirt is a story assembled from individual personal stories that go beyond the usual “we played here, this famous person saw us there” and into sex, drugs, murder, conspiracy, booze, criminals, biker gangs, violence, art (yes, art) and includes one of the last interviews with the late Frankie Venom, the singer of Teenage Head. Including a wealth of previously unpublished photographs, Treat Me Like Dirt  is the uncensored oral history of the 1977 Toronto punk explosion.     Exclusive to this edition is a selected discography of all key Toronto punk releases referenced in the book, contributed by Frank Manley, author of Smash The State, the acclaimed and pioneering discography of Canadian punk, and subsequent vinyl compilations, that activated the current international interest in Canadian punk from the ‘70s and early ‘80s.

Show book

Couple Found Slain - After a...

Mikita Brottman

This program includes an introduction read by the author.“Mikita Brottman is one of today’s finest practitioners of nonfiction.”—The New York Times Book ReviewCritically acclaimed author and psychoanalyst Mikita Brottman offers literary true crime writing at its best, taking us into the life of a murderer after his conviction—when most stories end but the defendant's life goes on.On February 21, 1992, 22-year-old Brian Bechtold walked into a police station in Port St. Joe, Florida and confessed that he’d shot and killed his parents in their family home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He said he’d been possessed by the devil. He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and ruled “not criminally responsible” for the murders on grounds of insanity.But after the trial, where do the "criminally insane" go? Brottman reveals Brian's inner life leading up to the murder, as well as his complicated afterlife in a maximum security psychiatric hospital, where he is neither imprisoned nor free. During his 27 years at the hospital, Brian has tried to escape and been shot by police, and has witnessed three patient-on-patient murders. He’s experienced the drugging of patients beyond recognition, a sadistic system of rewards and punishments, and the short-lived reign of a crazed psychiatrist-turned-stalker.In the tradition of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Couple Found Slain is an insider’s account of life in the underworld of forensic psych wards in America and the forgotten lives of those held there, often indefinitely.A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

Show book

Money in the Streets - A...

Barry Habib

Money in the Streets is more than one man's journey in hard-knocks New York. It's more than the recounting of risking it all to win. Told with heart and laced with the sentiment of tremendous gratitude, Barry Habib deftly weaves tales of his upbringing to take the listener back in time. From his childhood, where he'd pick up the discarded toys of other children because he had so few of his own to play with, on into the sales world, where Habib got creative as a sort-of street vendor, Money in the Streets blends humor and hardship through the incredible moments of Habib's life. He wrote this book to answer a compulsion to share what worked for him as he scaled the ladder—creating multiple successful companies, growing into an international speaker, and frequenting major media networks, as well as producing various entertainment productions—most notably as the driving force and lead producer of one of the longest-running shows on Broadway (later made into a film): Rock of Ages.Habib offers his life as proof that you can keep going no matter what. He shares some of his most painful memories while also exulting in personal and business triumphs to encourage everyone to aim for the same. An accessible book that will play on the listener's every emotion, this standout work and Habib's voice are unforgettable.

Show book