Central Kansas Library System

The lives and tragic deaths of famous personalities from Rudolph Valentino to Princess Diana.

"His parents may have named him Edson Arantes do Nascimento, but to the rest of the world, he was known as Pelé. The soccer forward stunned Brazil when he began playing for the Santos soccer club at age fifteen. He then went on to captivate the world when he joined his country's national soccer team and helped them win three World Cup championships. Although he was hailed as a national hero for his accomplishments in soccer, Pelé was also an influential...

"A true American to the end, there was nothing John Wayne loved more than his country. In John Wayne: Made in America, John Wayne's patriotism is explored through photos, his personal letters and mementos, and more memorabilia from the Wayne family archives. Carefully curated by the editors of the Official John Wayne magazine, this book gives new insight to the man who embodied the American spirit and was a living legend for more than 40 years."

"Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Michael Phelps began swimming at age seven at the urging of his mom. As a young boy, Michael was brimming with energy-more energy than most other kids his age-and Mrs. Phelps thought this sport could help keep him calm and focused. As Michael grew older, his skills improved, and he transformed into one of the greatest swimmers in the world, winning twenty-eight Olympic medals"--

"In this magisterial history of the continent, Kathleen DuVal traces the power of Native nations from the rise of ancient cities more than 1000 years ago to the present. She reframes North American history, noting significantly that Indigenous civilizations did not come to a halt when a few wandering explorers or hungry settlers arrived, even when the strangers came well-armed. A millennium ago, North American cities rivaled urban centers around the...

A fictionalized biography of Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, who grew up as a painfully shy child, ridiculed by his overbearing father, but who became one of the most widely-read poets in the world.