Böcker av Mike Schneider

"Behind the costumes, life isn't always magic and fairy dust for the people who play the iconic characters of Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Cinderella at Walt Disney World. In a surprising tale of corruption alongside activism, Mickey and the Teamsters reveals the little-known story of Teamsters Local 385, the union that represents these performers. It spotlights Donna-Lynne Dalton, a former cast member who stood up for other Disney performers against deep-rooted problems in the union that was supposed to protect them.Journalist Mike Schneider, who covered the story as it unfolded, includes exclusive interviews with labor leaders and workers at the park, detailing how the union prevented its members from leaving, severely mismanaged union business, and promoted a culture of hostile leadership. Members of the Teamsters local felt that they no longer had a voice, fearing devastating consequences if they spoke up. But Dalton brought the issues to investigators in an act of whistleblowing that threatened her livelihood. In return, the local union fired Dalton and began harassing her and other union members who opposed its leaders. The story escalates as Schneider describes protests by the Disney performers and the interventions of James Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Mickey and the Teamsters offers a behind-the-scenes look at some of the hidden struggles that surround Disney World, which employs the largest single-site workforce in the United States. Through the efforts of Dalton and others to reform their union and improve the lives of employees at the workplace they loved, Schneider shows the importance of individual and collective action to hold unions accountable and preserve their potential to do good."--

Spring Mills, a small town in rural, central Pennsylvania, becomes in these poems by Mike Schneider a gathering place for four generations of a family over a century of time. Schneider takes readers to where a grandfather recalls using a hand-crank to start his Model T-"shining image of youth & freedom"-and Guernseys in a pasture bellow to be fed. Readers learn how father and son form links in a chain of "manual transmission, / hands-on sequenced pattern of the letter H," and the poet's sonic facility opens our ears to the "metallic / industrial click / of shifting gears." With these poems, we also go to where physicists search among what's "fizzy out there in the universe"-not only for elusive cosmological "dark matter" but also to hear our inner voices, human "dark matter." In "Once Upon a Time," a remarkable marriage of poetry with skilled science writing, the Big Bang is an "unfolding like a rose in bloom" and "Love is evolution of the cosmos. What else can we do?"-a thought the poem answers with longing for, perhaps, a simpler time, a Spring Mills of "Summer evening quietness. A breeze. / The big tree across the street. / Everything made sense."

Lifetime bzw. Reverse Mortgages sind Kreditprodukte, die in Deutschland bislang am Markt nicht verfugbar sind. In diesem Buch wird die Funktionsweise von Lifetime bzw. Reverse Mortgages sowie ihre Kalkulation am Beispiel des US-amerikanischen HECM-Modells vorgestellt. Eine ausfuhrliche kritische Analyse wird genutzt, um auf Basis eines adjustierten Modells erstmalig Auszahlungsgroen fur Deutschland zu generieren.

A poem sequence that interrogates intimacy, each poem a face the poet discovers, a reflection revealed in response to inner questioning. In a voice of quiet sonority, these lyrics journey from a high-school gym dance to a moonlit beach polka. They linger over sushi in Montreal and an airline meal at 40,000 feet on a flight. They touch joy and pain and celebrate the vicissitudes of love.

Originally sold in five-and-ten-cent stores during the 1940s and 1950s, expertly modeled and colorfully decorated Royal Copley figurines, banks, planters, and other items have become one of today's hottest ceramic collectibles. In this first new book on the subject in 10 years, Mike Schneider uses more than 500 color photos to present 875 pieces of Royal Copley, including many previously unknown examples that have never appeared in a book before. Estimated values, based on the current market, are included in the captions, along with measurements and information about marks. Also included is a brief history of the Spaulding China Company, the Sebring, Ohio, pottery that manufactured Royal Copley. Whether you are a collector, historian, or simply someone who would like to take a nostalgic stroll through the decorative accessories of your parents' or grandparents' homes, you will find this latest volume in Schneider's repertoire of books on mid-twentieth century pottery a pleasing and important addition to your library.

From the 1930s to the 1960s, numerous potteries in California turned out some of the finest figural pottery ever made in America. Here they are illustrated in over 800 color photographs covering more than 75 companies such as Brayton Laguna, Kay Finch, Hedi Scoop, DeLee Art, Robert Simmons, Walker-Renaker, and others. Provides information about the potteries, tips for collectors, and Price Guide.

This comprehensive and colorful guide to salt and pepper shakers shows more than 1600 sets of figural shakers, some never having appeared in a book before. Company histories, measurements of shakers, and pictures of marks and paper labels are among the book's innovative features.

While collecting small animal figures has been a popular hobby for some years, information about them has been scanty. Mike Schneider explores this popular collectibles field in depth. Included are figures produced by such well know firms as Frankoma and Royal Doulton, plus the works of lesser know but important artisans such as Chester Nicodemus and Howard Pierce. There are also generic chapters that cover animals by species: bears, cats, dogs, donkeys, deer, elephants, and many more. Included, too, is carnival chalkware, characters such as Mickey Mouse, and useful animal figures such as bottle openers and banks. Animals appear in all mediums from porcelain to peach pits, from brass to glass. Animal Figures is amply illustrated with more than 800 color photographs. A price guide is included.