Sean Astin

I Don't Need an Acting Class explores critical aspects of the technique of acting, utilizing conversations via email with countless actors. Some are aspiring students, others are seasoned professionals. The conversations document the challenges these diverse actors face as they digest what they have learned in a class or rehearsal while exploring in practical terms how to use their growing technique. Milton Justice first began receiving emails from actors in 2008. In this book, Justice brings together email conversations between teacher and student, along with observations and commentary about acting technique and craft. Not all of the emails in the book are overly thought-out or complete. Quite the contrary, they are meant to capture the feeling of a living, breathing process as it happens. When an actor sends a teacher or director an email with a problem, be it a simple comment or confusion, it is evidence of a creative artist exploring new ground. Many years ago, Stella Adler sent Justice a letter in response to a panicked note he had written to her while lost in the weeds during rehearsals for a new play. She set a tone for him as she succinctly defined the problem and reminded him of its elegant solution. He was overwhelmed by the care she had given him. That letter still hangs over his desk, perfectly demonstrating the power of a written exchange between a teacher and a student.

IRONMAN is a sports phenomenon that has come to symbolize the very best of human striving, achievement and excellence. And race announcer Mike Reilly is known throughout the endurance sports world as the "Voice of IRONMAN." Every year, over three hundred thousand people around the world compete in a series of long-distance triathlons that test the outer limits of their physical abilities and mental toughness. Some do it for glory, some to test themselves, some to honor lost loved ones or colleagues, some to bring healing to their troubled lives. Over the years, hundreds of IRONMAN athletes have shared their tales with Reilly. In this book, he tells some of the stories that have touched and inspired him, in the hope that they will do the same for the reader. A young woman races in a contest against cancer that threatens her life. A soldier carries a flag through the full marathon distance to keep alive the memory of fallen comrades. Two of the sport's most decorated champions do battle in the greatest head-to-head competition ever seen in any sport. Parents put their family back together after the loss of a child. Reilly has witnessed it all, and brings it to life in a series of riveting stories that will have readers re-thinking their notions of what people are capable of when pushed to their limits.