Download or read book Who Was Hurricane Higgins written by Tony Francis and published by Hodder & Stoughton. This book was released on 2011-10-13 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins transcended sport in a way very few sportsmen ever have. In this definitive biography, Tony Francis describes how Alex threw himself into life like a man throwing himself off a cliff. No safety net. No plan. No fear. No shame. Francis interviews more than sixty witnesses to this extraordinary life and comes up with a remarkable series of adventures to surprise even Alex's staunchest fans. We hear from his ex-wife Lynn who tolerated him for ten years, helped him recover from a suicide attempt, watched him trash the house, but still has a fondness for the father of her kids. Snooker champion Jimmy White, Alex's best friend, says: 'I loved him, I hated him, I loved him, I hated him!' The author investigates the Irish drink culture which undermined his family, colleagues and, of course Higgins himself. How did Higgins' fellow Irish sportsman and biggest fan, Barry McGuigan, escape the excesses which dragged Higgins and George Best into the gutter? Did drink account for Higgins' wild outbursts or was there something more to it? Why did his lost love describe the man who once head-butted a tournament official as 'the gentlest man I ever met'? For all his faults, Higgins was, for a time, the most loved sportsman in Britain. He remains a legend and the most outstanding, charismatic snooker player who ever walked into an arena. Francis traces his crazy life from the time when as a baby he was kept in a shoe box in his mother's top drawer, to the sheltered accommodation in Sandy Row, Belfast where died. If you want to know what kind of man could mesmerise and terrorise his way to the top; be acclaimed by millions one moment and literally thrown out of a pub the next; die in pitiful isolation yet be celebrated by thousands lining the streets in what amounted to a state funeral, then Who Was Hurricane Higgins? is a must-read.
Download or read book The Hurricane written by Bill Borrows and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born on a council estate in Belfast, Alex Higgins left school at 15. At 17 he won the Northern Ireland and All Ireland snooker championships, and turned professional when he was 20. In 1972, aged just 23, he became the youngest person ever to win the World Championship. He repeated this achievement in an emotional final 10 years later, in the process becoming the biggest box-office draw the game has ever known. Alex Higgins was a showman, gambler, comedian, bully, charmer and alcoholic. His antics - and ferocious temper - were legendary yet he was loved by millions. Now, dying of cancer, he has spent everything he has and divided his time between Manchester and Belfast, where he survives by playing u10 snooker matches in pubs. Bill Burrows has had unprecedented access to Higgins and reconstructs vividly the terrifying roller-coaster ride that is his life. Outrageous, gripping and ultimately, emotionally wrenching, this is the definitive account of one of the most charasmatic and self-destructive figures ever to appear in British sport."
Download or read book Eye of the Hurricane written by John Hennessey and published by Mainstream. This book was released on 2001 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Alex Higgins' first manager, John McLaughlin, bestowed the nickname 'Hurricane Higgins' on the young, feisty snooker player he had no idea just how apt it was to prove over the next thirty years. Eye of the Hurricane details a sad but uplifting story of a man who had everything to play for but now has to play hard for anything he can get. It describes Higgins, sitting fitfully on snooker's sidelines, still has a story to tell, another controversy to spark. Author John Hennessey promises a 'wart and all' account of Alex Higgin's life and that is precisely what he delivers in this thoroughly absorbing book. . . well-told but cautionary tale of how narr ow the line is between genius and insanity 'This first proper account of Higgin's life is all the more clear-eyed for being written without his co-operation.
Download or read book Snooker Legends written by Jason Francis and published by John Blake. This book was released on 2018-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jason Francis is the man who created the Snooker Legends Tour and who's been at Ronnie O'Sullivan's side on tour for the past 6 years. This is his story, sharing tales on the road with "the Rocket" and some of the game's greatest ever snooker legends like Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry. From his initial idea, to meeting and staging the last ever snooker show with Alex "Hurricane" Higgins to taking over the World Seniors Tour, Jason reveals what he learnt about the players themselves and also the sport as it developed over the years under the guidance of Barry Hearn. Through his tour, Jason was at the center of it all, able to bring the former players together again to renew old rivalries and create new memories. He struggled against those in the game who didn't want him to succeed but never gave up. This is his story, a snooker fan's story.
Download or read book John Virgo Say Goodnight JV written by John Virgo and published by John Blake. This book was released on 2019-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this revelatory memoir, snooker player John Virgo turns the spotlight on himself, sharing secrets from his forty years at the top of one of the world's most popular sports. Famous for his hilarious impersonations of snooker's biggest stars, JV is a household name thanks to his razor-sharp BBC Snooker commentary and the much-loved quiz show Big Break. A fascinating insight into British sporting life, taking readers from John's childhood in Salford, through smoky snooker dens, to tournaments and championships all over the world, as he relives travelling on Concorde, rubbing shoulders with royalty and much more. Admiringly nicknamed 'Mr Perfection', John tells how he overcame adversity to become UK champion, yet also reveals how gambling wrecked his dreams of becoming World Champion, and almost bankrupted him. An affectionate reminder of a time when Britain - and sport - took themselves a little less seriously. With a foreword by snooker legend Jimmy White.
Download or read book Behind The White Ball written by Jimmy White and published by Random House. This book was released on 2011-12-31 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After Hurricane Higgins crashed out of snooker's top league, Jimmmy White has been the `People's Champion' even though he never quite made the top World spot, pipped at the post in 1995 by Stephen Hendry, after missing one single black. Aged 16, White was the youngest player to win the English Amateur Championship. At 18, he won the World Amateur title. By 1984, he's a professional success, married but not at all settled. He's the kind of man who goes out for a packet of cigarettes and comes home two weeks later. Gambling, women, marathon binges with showbiz friends like Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, have threatened the stability of his marriage. But somehow White has survived, to tell in candid detail, a most unusual, often outrageous story of a very sporting life.
Download or read book Whirlwind written by Aubrey Malone and published by eBook Partnership. This book was released on 2012-12-20 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jimmy 'Whirlwind' White is Britain's best-loved snooker player. A one-time ragamuffin straight out of the pages of Charles Dickens, he has enthralled audiences worldwide for three decades with his electrifying brilliance, winning ten world-ranking events - although, heartbreakingly, he has lost six Crucible World Championship finals. In this in-depth, warts-and-all biography, die-hard fan Aubrey Malone examines White's background, his illiteracy, drinking and tempestuous relationship with his wife Maureen, set against his incredible rise to the top in snooker's halcyon days of the 1980s. There are tales of Jimmy using a walking stick to make a century break at his local snooker hall, his battles with the twin demons of drink and the yips, and how he nearly lost the world trophy, despite never having won it! But in the end it is White's obsession with winning, and his astonishing ability on the baize, often against all the odds, that shines through.
Download or read book Hurricane written by Karen Harper and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Falls" takes readers into the eye of a storm in southwest Florida, where two parents fight to rescue their children from the overwhelming menace of a hurricane.
Download or read book Do Tornadoes Really Twist written by Melvin Berger and published by Turtleback Books. This book was released on 2000-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides answers to a variety of questions about tornadoes and hurricanes, including Where do most tornadoes strike, and How long do hurricanes last?
Download or read book Clear Choices written by Matt Higgins and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No resource on earth is more precious than water. In one way or another, every living thing depends on it. Clear Choices: The Water You Drink examines the challenges to the world water supply and the impact they have on humans, animals, and plants-while discussing the far-reaching environmental, commercial, and political costs if those challenges are not met. Clear Choices is part of the Second Nature series. Each book examines environmental science from every angle-local, global, historical, and even personal. Young readers learn how to get to the heart of a problem, find out about people who are trying to solve it, and discover how they can get involved now...and in the future. The Second Nature series brings together teachers, scientists, authors, and editors to create a "team strategy" for exploring the most pressing environmental issues of our day. Book jacket.
Download or read book Needs and Wants written by Nadia Higgins and published by Money Smarts. This book was released on 2018 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Needs and Wants, early readers learn the difference between a want and a need. Vibrant, full-color photos and carefully leveled text will engage early readers as they discover basic economic principles.
Download or read book Alex Higgins Snooker Legend written by J Hennessey and published by Random House. This book was released on 2013-05-24 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Alex Higgins' first manager, John McLaughlin, bestowed the nickname 'Hurricane Higgins' on the young, feisty snooker player he had no idea just how apt it was to prove over the next thirty years. Eye of the Hurricane details a sad but uplifting story of a man who had everything to play for but now has to play hard for anything he can get. It describes Higgins, sitting fitfully on snooker's sidelines, still has a story to tell, another controversy to spark. Author John Hennessey promises a 'wart and all' account of Alex Higgin's life and that is precisely what he delivers in this thoroughly absorbing book. . . well-told but cautionary tale of how narr ow the line is between genius and insanity 'This first proper account of Higgin's life is all the more clear-eyed for being written without his co-operation.
Download or read book Successful Snooker written by Steve Davis and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 95 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Snooker s World Champions written by Luke Williams and published by Random House. This book was released on 2012-10-05 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The top snooker players in the world compete for several trophies every year, but one carries more prestige than all the others put together - the World Championship. No other tournament in the sport carries with it so much history, so many golden moments of spectacular success and dramatic failure. Meticulously researched and including exclusive interview material with Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy, among others, Masters of the Baize is a comprehensive guide to the men who have lifted the greatest prize in snooker. From the legendary Joe Davis, the first champion in 1927, to modern-day masters like Mark Williams, all the sport's world champions are put under the microscope, while the colourful careers of forgotten figures such as Walter Donaldson and John Pulman and rogue heroes like Alex Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan are brought vividly to life. After uncovering the inauspicious origins of the game in nineteenth-century India, the authors examine every former world champion in his own comprehensive chapter. Additionally, a special section focuses on the extraordinary popularity of Jimmy White, by far the greatest player never to have won the title and one of the most emotive names in the sport.
Download or read book Hometown Tales Highlands and Hebrides written by Colin MacIntyre and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2018-06-28 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Original tales by remarkable writers Hometown Tales is a series of books pairing exciting new voices with some of the most talented and important writers at work today. Some of the tales are fiction and some are narrative non-fiction - they are all powerful, fascinating and moving, and aim to celebrate regional diversity and explore the meaning of home In these pages on the Highlands and Hebrides, you'll find two unique tales. 'The Boy in the Bubble' is a bright, intensely funny and deeply felt memoir about growing up on the Isle of Mull from award-winning musician, the man behind Mull Historical Society, and author of The Letters of Ivor Punch, Colin MacIntyre. 'A9' is a captivating piece of short fiction about a girl torn between her love in Inverness and the chance to spread her wings, by Ellen MacAskill.
Download or read book Routledge Handbook of Global Sport written by John Nauright and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-01-03 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of global sport is the story of expansion from local development to globalized industry, from recreational to marketized activity. Alongside that, each sport has its own distinctive history, sub-cultures, practices and structures. This ambitious new volume offers state-of-the-art overviews of the development of every major sport or classification of sport, examining their history, socio-cultural significance, political economy and international reach, and suggesting directions for future research. Expert authors from around the world provide varied perspectives on the globalization of sport, highlighting diverse and often underrepresented voices. By putting sport itself in the foreground, this book represents the perfect companion to any social scientific course in sport studies, and the perfect jumping-off point for further study or research. The Routledge Handbook of Global Sport is an essential reference for students and scholars of sport history, sport and society, the sociology of sport, sport development, sport and globalization, sports geography, international sports organizations, sports cultures, the governance of sport, sport studies, sport coaching or sport management.
Download or read book Let Me Tell You About Alex Crazy Days and Nights on the Road with the Hurricane written by John Virgo and published by Kings Road Publishing. This book was released on 2012-04-02 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For a nation with a long and proud military tradition, one token stands above all others as a mark of recognition for the ultimate acts of individual feats of arms: the Victoria Cross. Awarded for one reason alone--to mark extreme acts of great heroism by British and Commonwealth servicemen in the face of the enemy--it is unquestionably the hardest club in the world to gain entrance to. Its holders--ordinary soldiers, sailors and airmen--are linked by an uncommon bond of exceptional bravery, displayed often at great personal risk and against impossible odds. The VC has been awarded only thirteen times since the end of the Second World War in 1945. Three of these awards were made to recipients who had paid the ultimate sacrifice while demonstrating gallantry beyond the call of duty. Forged in battle, from the shell-scarred hills of Korea, to the windswept marshland of East Falkland and today's counter-insurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, each one of these VCs has a uniquely inspiring tale to tell. This is their incredible story.
