Bøker av Fred Gray

This memoir is the quintessential account of Fred Gray-sheepherder, soldier, husband and father, surveyor, and businessman-growing up and living in the Western frontier town of Buffalo, Wyoming, during the century following his birth in 1924. The reader will find him backtracking through his 90-plus-year-life during good times and hard times. He begins with tales of his childhood that will make you chuckle. He tells of his slice of Western American life through the plain, hard work that characterized those who struggled through the hard-scrabble Depression, World War II, and life raising a family. His tales are sure to warm your heart and make you smile.

Of all the architectural delights of British seaside resorts, the most astonishing and idiosyncratic is the seaside pier. Remarkable visual spectacles, piers are architecturally extraordinary in concept and at times outrageous in execution. They brought together the Victorian genius for technological and material innovation, architectural ambition and engineering ingenuity in the search for new designs for leisure (as well as profit) over the sea. This superbly illustrated book explores the history of the design processes leading to the architectural and engineering innovations that have allowed people to walk on water in such diverse and delightful ways. Coverage includes the development of piers into the crowning architectural glory of British seaside resorts; the key people, materials, inventions and technologies in the field, particularly the work of Eugenius Birch, the greatest pier designer; the remarkable diversity of piers ranging from the earliest simple landing stages, through staid promenade piers and the glories of fully-fledged pleasure piers, to the boisterous joys of funfair and amusement piers; the rich variety of architectural styles, including exotic ''Orientalism'' and streamlined Modernism and, finally, today''s contemporary prospects for renewal and reinvention.

In Palm Fred Gray portrays the cultural and historical significance of this iconic and controversial plant over thousands of years. Superbly illustrated, this lively and engaging book is the first of its kind.