Jay Leno
Book Recommendations:
Recommended by Jay Leno
“I am inspired by his courage… [Anthony] is a reminder of the amazing things that can happen when we don’t give in; when we hang on for just a little longer than our bodies and minds are telling us to.” (from Amazon)
by Anthony Robles, Austin Murphy·You?
by Anthony Robles, Austin Murphy·You?
The powerful and inspiring story of an all-American wrestler who defied the odds Anthony Robles is a three-time all-American wrestler, the 2011 NCAA National Wrestling Champion, and a Nike-sponsored athlete. He was also born without his right leg. Doctors could not explain to his mother, Judy, what led to the birth defect, but at the age of five, the one-legged toddler scaled a fifty-foot pole unassisted. From that moment on, Judy knew without a doubt that her son would be unstoppable. When Anthony first began wrestling in high school, he was the smallest kid on the team and finished the year in last place. Yet Anthony’s family and coaches supported his decision to continue, and he completed his junior and senior years with a 96–0 record to become a two-time Arizona State champion. In college, Anthony had to prove all over again that he could excel. Despite hardships on and off the mat—including the temptation to quit school and get a job to help his family when they lost their home to foreclosure—Anthony focused his determination and became a champion once again. Since winning the national championship in March 2011, Anthony has become a nationally recognized role model to kids and adults alike. But Unstoppable is not just an exciting sports memoir or an inspirational tale of living with a disability. It is also the story of one man whose spirit and unyielding resolve remind us all that we have the power to conquer adversity—in whatever form.
Recommended by Jay Leno
“A.J. Baime has a great way of telling a story. We didn't just win World War II because we had the best soldiers. We did it because we could build airplanes literally faster than the Germans could shoot them down. An exciting read.” (from Amazon)
by A. J. Baime·You?
A New York Times Bestseller A dramatic, intimate narrative of how Ford Motor Company went from making automobiles to producing the airplanes that would mean the difference between winning and losing World War II. In 1941, as Hitler’s threat loomed ever larger, President Roosevelt realized he needed weaponry to fight the Nazis—most important, airplanes—and he needed them fast. So he turned to Detroit and the auto industry for help. The Arsenal of Democracy tells the incredible story of how Detroit answered the call, centering on Henry Ford and his tortured son Edsel, who, when asked if they could deliver 50,000 airplanes, made an outrageous claim: Ford Motor Company would erect a plant that could yield a “bomber an hour.” Critics scoffed: Ford didn’t make planes; they made simple, affordable cars. But bucking his father’s resistance, Edsel charged ahead. Ford would apply assembly-line production to the American military’s largest, fastest, most destructive bomber; they would build a plant vast in size and ambition on a plot of farmland and call it Willow Run; they would bring in tens of thousands of workers from across the country, transforming Detroit, almost overnight, from Motor City to the “great arsenal of democracy.” And eventually they would help the Allies win the war. Drawing on exhaustive research from the Ford Archives, the National Archives, and the FDR Library, A. J. Baime has crafted an enthralling, character-driven narrative of American innovation that has never been fully told, leaving readers with a vivid new portrait of America—and Detroit—during the war.