Algren was born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of three he moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois where they lived in a working-class, immigrant neighborhood on the South Side. His father was the son of a Swedish convert to Judaism and a Jewish American woman, as his mother (who owned a candy store) was of German Jewish descent. When Algren was eight years old, his parents moved from 7139 S. South Park Avenue (now S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive) in the far South Side neighborhood of St. Columbanus to an apartment in the Albany Park neighborhood on the North Side. Algren's father worked as an auto mechanic nearby on North Kedzie Avenue. Algren was educated in Chicago's public schools, graduated from Hibbard High School (now Roosevelt), and went on to study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in journalism during the Great Depression in 1931.

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The popular actor and comedian shares his observations on why things are the way they are while sharing his offbeat opinions about the meaning of life and his personal role in it. Reprint." • Tim Allen Books  • Tim Allen Movies

His books often depict fantastic, uncontrolled events and utilize sometimes brutal irony. Van Allsburg breaks out of the comfortable world of children's literature to explore the darker side of human nature. For example, his book The Sweetest Fig is about a selfish man who is suddenly given the opportunity to make his wildest dreams come true. His greed is eventually his downfall. This is not an unusual moral for a story in children's books, but Van Allsburg's chilling characterization of the man brings a frightening tone to the narrative. The Wretched Stone , in which a ship's crew is mesmerized and corrupted by the titular rock, is an allegorical tale about the negative impact of television. • Chris Van Allsburg Books

Burstyn debuted on Broadway in 1957 and joined Lee Strasberg's The Actor's Studio in 1967. In 1975, she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in Same Time, Next Year (a role she would reprise in the film version, three years later). In 1990 she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre. Until 1970, she was credited as "Ellen McRae" in nearly all her film and TV appearances. • Ellen Burstyn Books • Ellen Burstyn Movies

The visions and predictions of Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac became reality after his departure from New France. Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded the city of New Orleans, near the mouth of Mississippi, in 1718. The straits became a strategic location. To defend its access, Fort Niagara was built in 1725 on the right bank of the river between lakes Erie and Ontario and, in 1726, Fort Oswego was fortified even more on Lake Ontario. Later renamed "Detroit", Fort Pontchartrain enjoyed an ideal location between the Great Lakes and the river basins.

Ages 8 to 14 years. This book outlines Antoine de la Mothe Cadillacs hunger for power and adventure led him to the New World where he founded Detroit, now one of the oldest cities in North America. Features include maps, his family history, and the legacy he left behind. • Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac Books

During the War of 1812, Cass served as a brigadier general and participated in the Battle of the Thames. As a reward for his service, he was appointed Governor of the Michigan Territory by President James Madison on October 29, 1813, and served until 1831. He was frequently absent, and several territorial secretaries often served as acting governor in his place. In 1817, he was one of two commissioners (along with Duncan McArthur) who negotiated the Treaty of Fort Meigs, which was signed September 29 of that year with several Native American tribes.• Lewis Cass Books

The answers to anything you ever wanted to know about Madonna that AREN'T on the gossip pages lie within the pages of this book. Mary Cross unleashes a deluge of well-researched, and accurate, information about Madonna the mega-star and how she came to be. A fascinating and easy read, Cross tells the story of a woman with a "never say die" attitude, in an entertaining way, without resorting to trashy, tell-all techniques. The book is organized in a very accessible format, including a detailed timeline that chronicles Madonna's rise to stardom right from the day she was born. Her #1 hits, albums, music videos, films, books and plays are also organized into individual timelines. The book even includes a section of photographs that takes the reader through the varied incarnations of Madonna's frenetic life. • Madonna Louise Ciccone Books

Dewey was born and raised in Owosso, Michigan, where his father owned, edited, and published the local newspaper, the Owosso Times. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1923, and from Columbia Law School in 1925. While at the University of Michigan, he joined Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national fraternity for men of music, and was a member of the Men's Glee Club. • Thomas E. Dewey Books

By the time Brinkley had finished the manuscript, Ford's story had been told, copiously and repeatedly, in newspaper obituaries recording his death at age 93 last December, and his contributions to American life had been praised in memorial ceremonies in California, Washington and Grand Rapids, Mich. -- and in dozens of columns and editorials. As his body was carried across the country, from his final home near Palm Springs, to the Capitol where he had served, and then back to Michigan for burial, the praise rolled in for the man who had applied the healing comfort of his common sense and goodwill to a nation badly bruised by the ordeals of the Vietnam War and Watergate. • Gerald R. Ford Books

Harris's screen debut was in 1952, repeating her Broadway success as the monumentally lonely teenage girl Frankie in Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. That film also preserves the original Broadway cast performances of Ethel Waters and Brandon DeWilde. That same year, she won her first Best Actress Tony for originating the role of insouciant Sally Bowles in I Am a Camera, the stage version of Christopher Isherwood's Goodbye to Berlin (later musicalized as Cabaret on Broadway in 1966 and, in the 1972 film, with Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles.) Harris repeated her stage role in the 1955 film version of I Am a Camera. She also appeared in such seminal films as East of Eden (1955), with film icon James Dean (with whom she became close friends), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) and Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967). • Julie Harris Books • Julie Harris Movies

John Kellogg and his brother Will Keith Kellogg started the Sanitas Food Company to produce their whole grain cereals around 1897, a time when the standard breakfast for the wealthy was eggs and meat, while the poor ate porridge, farina, gruel, and other boiled grains. John and Will later argued over the recipe for the cereals (Will wanted to add sugar to the flakes). So in 1906, Will started his own company, the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, which eventually became the Kellogg Company, triggering a decades-long feud. John then formed the Battle Creek Food Company to develop and market soy products. • John Harvey Kellogg Books

Krone retired for the first time on April 18, 1999, with a three-winner day at Lone Star Park, near Dallas. She embarked upon a broadcasting career in horse racing. From 1999-2000 she worked as an analyst for TVG Network, then worked as a paddock analyst for Hollywood Park from 1999-2002. • Julie Krone Books