New Releases by Jeff Kurtti

Fifty years ago, Walt Disney utterly transformed the concept of outdoor entertainment venues from tawdry carnivals and seedy amusement piers called “amusement parks,” to an entirely new destination that would come into common vernacular as the “theme park.”

Although Disneyland was the inspiration of one man, Walt did not achieve this history-altering concept on his own. Using his innate talent for combining disparate skills and personalities, he assembled a creative team that blended imagination with engineering. Walt called this group his “Imagineers.”

Walt Disney's Legends of Imagineering and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park introduces a core group of the originators of Disneyland and the other Disney parks. It explores their individual relationships with Walt and each other, their creative breakthroughs and failures, and their rivalries and professional politics. This candid narrative of their lives and contributions to a very special form of entertainment illustrates why, half a century later, their work continues to be vital and important to millions of people every day, and all over the world.

Lavishly illustrated throughout with rare and never-before-seen artwork and photographs, Walt Disney's Legends of Imagineering and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park will further enrich the reader's appreciation of the exceptional talent behind Disneyland's creation and ongoing evolution.

Gathered together for the first time anywhere is anillustrated chronicle of the artistic development of the landmarks,attractions, and shows that constitute Disneyland.

Conceptual materials, sketches, layout drawings, andpaintings are meticulously reproduced with lavish production values in abeautiful large-format book that is destined to become a spectacular keepsakefor the Park's fans and art collectors everywhere.

“There are many lessons in sailing,” Roy E. Disney believes. “Not just about competition, but the importance of teamwork, good communication, reliance in self, trust in others, and what the sea teaches us all about patience, perseverance, and just plain luck.” This idea is brought to vivid life in What the Sea Teaches Us: The Crew of the Morning Light, a beautiful companion book to Roy E. Disney's remarkable sailing documentary, Morning Light.

Every other year, ambitious and adventure-hungry sailors embark on an ocean race that starts in Los Angeles, California and finishes in Hawaii—the Transpacific Yacht Race. The race is one of the most challenging and competitive sporting events in the world, and has been drawing in generations of sailors for over a hundred years with its beguiling siren's song.

This book chronicles the recruitment, training, and performance of one of the youngest crews ever to compete in the race. With an average age of 21.2 years, these fifteen fearless young sailors battled the elements and the odds as, on their own, they sailed a Transpac 52 called Morning Light across the Pacific Ocean. None were actors. There was no script, and no preconceived outcome.

More than an account of the competition, What the Sea Teaches Us gives readers unique insight into the individual personalities and defining characteristics that brought these young people to the Morning Light project, and accompanies them on their emotional, educational, and spiritual journeys, from the selection process and a strenuous, improvisational training program, through sea trials and on to the completion of the 2007 Transpac race.

Lavishly illustrated throughout in color and black and white—and featuring spectacular photography by award-winning photographer Sharon Green—What the Sea Teaches Us is a moving and compelling record not only of a journey on the sea but in the hearts and minds of a one-of-a-kind group of dedicated young sailors.

What do Plato's "concentric circles," Ignatius Donnelly's "mother culture," and Edgar Cayce's "firestones" all have in common? Does the center of gravity really lie at the earth's core? What connection do the "warriors of the clouds" have to current civilization? These and many other questions are answered in The Mythical World of Atlantis - a comprehensive study of the famed lost empire. Elements of theories about Atlantis put forth by philosophers and historians take their place alongside the "theory" revealed in Disney's newest animated feature. An extension of the film's fantasy, the book assumes that the fascinating lost civilization was real and flourished. Though the film's mythology is wholly fabricated, the details conspire to provide the reader with a feeling of authenticity.