King Of Clubs

Born to a poor family in Arkansas, Robert Dedman formed his life goal at the age of eighteen -- he would make $50 million by the age of 50 and give $1 million a year to charity. Now 72, Dedman has achieved his goal...and much, much more. Today, Robert Dedman is one of the most successful developers in the private dub industry. Billionaire philanthropist and chairman of Club Corporation International, he has given more than $26 million to Texas and Florida universities. His "three-in-one" golf club concept has earned ClubCorp assets worth more than $3 billion, averaging revenues of $1.2 billion a year. But Dedman is about more than money and golf courses. His personal ideals and philosophies are molded by his studies of classical poetry, Browning, Shakespeare and Kipling. And his philanthropic nature and healthy lifestyle have been influenced by his desire to be a well-balanced person. While Dedman may seek material success, his primary goal is richness in life. King of Clubs is a candid and revealing account of how life is worth more than a bank balance, how true wealth is a matter of Spirit.

Birmingham would definitely not be the place that it is today, without Eddie Fewtrell. Born one of ten children in the 1930s, in the backstreets of Aston, much of Eddie's childhood was spent keeping house and caring for his younger brothers. By the 1970s he became the most powerful man in Birmingham's Clubland.

It began as a Depression-era, winner-take-all challenge between two Chicago stockbrokers, one of them a flamboyant daredevil with more guts than money and the other with more money than sense. It erupted into a national news story, one never told in its entirety—until King of Clubs: The Great Golf Marathon of 1938. In September 1938, thirty-two-year-old J. Smith Ferebee agreed to play 600 holes of golf in eight cities, from Los Angeles to New York, over four consecutive days. The ordeal meant playing more than thirty-three rounds in just ninety-six hours. The stakes: Ferebee’s friend and former business partner Fred Tuerk agreed that if Ferebee succeeded, he would pay on Ferebee’s behalf a $20,000 mortgage on 296 acres of waterfront Virginia land. If Ferebee lost, he would surrender to Tuerk his ownership stake in the property. Brokers on LaSalle Street in Chicago piled up bets. Before long, the marathon was estimated to be worth $100,000, or well more than $1 million today. Playing despite a severe leg injury, Ferebee faced one obstacle after another, including a gambler’s brazen sabotage attempt in Philadelphia. He started the morning rounds before dawn and ended the afternoon rounds in darkness, with lighting provided by spectators’ cars, local fire departments, or flares. Remarkably, Ferebee never lost a ball. Combining the appeal of Seabiscuit and The Greatest Game Ever Played, King of Clubs will amaze and entertain readers from opening drive to final putt.

Can the Ladies’ Wagering Whist Society ensure that two business rivals close the deal? Joshua Powell, Lord Wickford, enjoys being the dashing, popular and successful owner of Powell’s Club for Gentlemen. But when he is nearly killed while riding through the streets of London, he realizes that he needs to find a wife and beget an heir. Joshua knows that his intended wife needs to be a lady from a well-esteemed family. So why is he constantly distracted by his business adversary’s sparkling beauty, sharp tongue, and dazzling mind? Gwendolyn Sherman is fascinated with numbers and with figuring out the most efficient way to run her father’s business. So her father makes her a deal: he would allow her to anonymously start her own business – a club for ladies – only if she would stay in London and find a titled husband. But those Regency lords all seem to want her only for her dowry. All, of course, except for her biggest competitor, the annoyingly attractive Viscount Wickford. It will be up to the Ladies’ Wagering Whist Society to win their last trick, by setting Joshua straight on his priorities. After all, the ace of hearts trumps the king of clubs.

Chip and Lila have immediate chemistry, but will that be enough to see them through the dangerous times ahead? Chip didn’t expect to find the bar open for business when he arrived at The Rabbit Hole on Madhatter Station. Not only is it open, but a beautiful woman is running the joint. He’s instantly attracted to her, but tragedy in his past has kept him from getting involved in any but the most superficial of relationships. This woman, though, she tempts him like no other. Lila foresaw the coming of her own personal Charlemagne, the King of Clubs, though she’d had no idea he would be so handsome. A widow, Lila hadn’t expected to be attracted to the ex-soldier. Her female senses stir to life for the first time in years and she wants to get to know him better. A lot better. When pirates plot to take control of Madhatter Station, it’s up to Chip and Lila to organize the resistance. With a handful of well-placed vets and a handful of pilots, they mount a defense, but will it be enough? Or will it be too little, too late? And what of the lovers? Will their love and belief in each other be enough to see them through one of the greatest tests of the human mind?

Terry Turbo gave ten million clubbers a good time, every time. From humble beginnings working in a McDonalds fast food restaurant to handing out flyers and selling rave tickets within the UK rave scene, he built up the country's biggest dance music empire, starting and running One Nation, Dreamscape, Rave Nation and Garage Nation - for a decade, he played host to more than 25,000 clubbers every week, all over the World. "e;King of Clubs...Sex, Drugs and Thugs"e; is Terry's no-holds barred tale of the sex, drugs and violence that became part of his everyday life. He has mixed with dozens of celebrities and gangsters - the book is littered with names as diverse as Tom Jones, Alesha Dixon, Kano, Robert Lindsay, Howard Marks, Julian Clary, Tamara Beckwith, Puff Daddy, The So Solid Crew, Dizzy Rascal, Shane Ritchie, Estelle, Miss Dynamite and various legendary faces from the Underworld and the Italian Mafia - he has been involved in life threatening situations fought off gunmen and lived a life of champagne hedonism that few can dream of. After selling his club interests in 2003 he is now concentrating on a new career in Hollywood under his real name Terry Stone as an Actor and Producer. Terry's inside story will be a must-read for millions clubbers who he so royally entertained and for anyone who is still clubbing today and wants to know how the club scene started and what really goes on behind the dancing, flashing lights and loud music.

“A brilliant travel guide to the coming world of AI.” —Jeanette Winterson What does it mean to be creative? Can creativity be trained? Is it uniquely human, or could AI be considered creative? Mathematical genius and exuberant polymath Marcus du Sautoy plunges us into the world of artificial intelligence and algorithmic learning in this essential guide to the future of creativity. He considers the role of pattern and imitation in the creative process and sets out to investigate the programs and programmers—from Deep Mind and the Flow Machine to Botnik and WHIM—who are seeking to rival or surpass human innovation in gaming, music, art, and language. A thrilling tour of the landscape of invention, The Creativity Code explores the new face of creativity and the mysteries of the human code. “As machines outsmart us in ever more domains, we can at least comfort ourselves that one area will remain sacrosanct and uncomputable: human creativity. Or can we?...In his fascinating exploration of the nature of creativity, Marcus du Sautoy questions many of those assumptions.” —Financial Times “Fascinating...If all the experiences, hopes, dreams, visions, lusts, loves, and hatreds that shape the human imagination amount to nothing more than a ‘code,’ then sooner or later a machine will crack it. Indeed, du Sautoy assembles an eclectic array of evidence to show how that’s happening even now.” —The Times