Most Popular Books by STEVE LOPEZ

"Steve Lopez is insightful, ingenious, and often hilarious as he navigates one of life''s biggest questions." --Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Hours Four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and longtime Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez explores the meaning of work and how it defines us in this captivating book that combines memoir, investigatory interviews, and practical application. Grappling with his own decision of whether to retire, Lopez uses his reporter skills not only to look inward but also to interview experts and peers to collect a variety of perspectives as he examines the true nature of a person’s time, identity, and ultimate life satisfaction. In Independence Day, Lopez talks to those who have chosen to extend their working life to its (il)logical extreme--people like Mel Brooks, still working at 94--those who have happily retired and reinvented themselves outside of the constraints of work, and those who would like to retire but can''t because of financial constraints. He also turns to professionals on the matter, like two aging scientists, a geriatric specialist, and a psychiatrist, to understand the research-based reasons to retire. With his trademark poignancy, wisdom, and humor, Lopez establishes a useful polemic for himself and others in planning ahead, as he also evaluates questions of identity, financial limitations, and ultimately what to do with your life when the obituary pages are no longer filled with strangers.

The New York Times bestselling true story that inspired the major motion picture—an “unforgettable tale of hope, heart and humanity”(People). Journalist Steve Lopez discovered of Nathaniel Ayers, a former classical bass student at Julliard, playing his heart out on a two-string violin on Los Angeles’s Skid Row. Deeply affected by the beauty of Ayers’s music, Lopez took it upon himself to change the prodigy''s life—only to find that their relationship would have a profound change on his own. “An intimate portrait of mental illness, of atrocious social neglect, and the struggle to resurrect a fallen prodigy.”—Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down

In Philadelphia, lady district attorney Lisa Savitch is ordered to bring to justice a cabal of crooked politicians living on gambling money. This is the first assignment for Savitch since she moved in disgrace from Boston following a sex scandal involving a prosecutor.

In the Philadelphia neighborhood known as the Badlands, drug gangs rule absolutely. Each time a life is lost in the carnage of the local drug wars, a boldly drawn chalk outline of a body appears on the street leading up to City hall: a teenaged dealer, a priest, a little girl with a jump rope. Ofelia Santoro rides her bicycle through the dark, decaying streets, looking for her fourteen-year-old-son, Gabriel. She’s afraid of what she might find. Gabriel has fallen in with the most savage of the drug dealers, but now wants to get out—if he can. In this gritty, fast-moving novel, acclaimed Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Steve Lopez brings home the violence that is scarring America’s vast urban wastelands, and the humanity that might save them. “An unfancy prose is streaked by strong, cinematic images . . . Lopez aims to prick consciences, in the tradition of the documentary novelist, and he does so with considerable style.”—The Daily Telegraph “Lopez has done what Balzac, Dickens . . . and Dostoevsky did so masterfully: he has taken a torch to the back of the cave and returned to tell us what he has seen.” –Pete Hamill, The Philadelphia Inquirer

This gripping insider''s look at the contemporary American trade union movement shows that reports of organized labor''s death are premature. In this eloquent and erudite narrative, Steven Henry Lopez demonstrates how, despite a hostile legal environment and the punitive anti-unionism of U.S. employers, a few unions have organized hundreds of thousands of low-wage service workers in the past few years. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been at the forefront of this effort, in the process pioneering innovative strategies of grassroots mobilization and protest. In a powerful ethnography that captures the voices of those involved in SEIU nursing-home organizing in western Pennsylvania, Lopez illustrates how post-industrial, low-wage workers are providing the backbone for a reinvigorated labor movement across the country. Reorganizing the Rust Belt argues that the key to the success of social movement unionism lies in its ability to confront a series of dilemmas rooted in the history of American labor relations. Lopez shows how the union''s ability to devise creative solutions—rather than the adoption of specific tactics—makes the difference between success and failure.

An inspiring sports memoir from the family who captured America?s heart at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Lopez family set new records at the Beijing Olympics with three siblings on the same U.S. taekwondo team?and a fourth sibling as their coach. Mark took the silver medal, and Steven and Diana both brought home the bronze, with big brother Jean coaching them to victory. Here, for the first time, is the inspiring story of a family united behind a dream. In 1972 Julio Lopez and his wife Ondina emigrated from Nicaragua, hoping for a better life for their family in America. In an atmosphere of love, support, mutual respect, and healthy competition, their children trained hard in taekwondo, daring to dream they might reach the pinnacle of their athletic field in the Olympics. Told in turn by Steven, Mark, Diana, and Jean, this is the incredible story of how one close-knit family?s boundless determination and rock-solid support system took them from their home in Texas to Olympic glory in Beijing.

With his trademark passion, compassion, and biting humor, Steve Lopez takes readers into a town, a love affair, and a man about to be destroyed--or redeemed.

Author''s columns originally published in the Los Angeles times.

See for yourself why Steve''s readers love him and his targets wish he were almost anywhere else.

Chinese edition of The Soloist - A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music. The book was adapted to the movie The Soloist, starring Jamie Foxx. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.

The true story of Nathaniel Ayers, a musician who becomes schizophrenic and homeless, and his friendship with Steve Lopez, the Los Angeles columnist who discovers and writes about him in the newspaper.

Au club des macaronis, tout le monde brigue une fonction officielle et personne n''a l''intention de s''y prendre honnêtement, il ne faut pas exagérer. Roi de la corruption à Philadelphie, le sénateur Augie Sangiamino a bien l''intention de remporter les prochaines élections, de même que Ham Flaherty et le juge Izzy Weiner. Mais c''est sans compter avec une district attorney particulièrement teigneuse qui va mettre à leurs basques Lisa Savitch, une jeune adjointe décidée à faire le ménage, et Mike Muldoon, agent vedette du FBI. Bienvenue à Philadelphie : ses politiciens véreux, ses combines, ses usines polluantes, ses meurtres, ses traditions ! Portrait au vitriol des mœurs politiques américaines, le club des macaronis est le deuxième roman de Steve Lopez, qui est journaliste à Philadelphie.

Este livro traz a história real de Steve Lopez, um jornalista que, a caminho de casa, é atraído por uma bela canção de Beethoven; quem está tocando é Nathaniel Ayers, um morador de rua e ex-aluno da Juilliard, uma das escolas de música mais conceituadas do mundo. A forte pressão da escola, os problemas familiares e os surtos cada vez mais frequentes o levaram a abandonar o curso. Diagnóstico - esquizofrenia.

Eine bewegende wahre Geschichte von Menschlichkeit, Hilfsbereitschaft und der Magie der Musik Auf dem Weg in sein Büro bei der Los Angeles Times hastet Steve Lopez durch das Armenviertel der Stadt, als er Nathaniel Ayers hört, der sich auf einer Violine, die nur noch zwei Saiten hat, das Herz aus seiner Seele geigt. Lopez bleibt stehen, spricht mit ihm und schreibt eine Kolumne über den verstörten, aber brillanten Musiker, der ein hochbegabter Student des Elitekonservatoriums Juilliard School war, bevor er an Schizophrenie erkrankte. Damit beginnt eine ungewöhnliche Freundschaft, die das Leben beider Männer grundlegend verändert. Intelligent, berührend, humorvoll und poetisch. Mit Oscar-Preisträger Jamie Foxx und Robert Downey jr. verfilmt!

Asfalten i Philadelphias hovedgate dekkes av tegninger av lik. Hvert døds- fall forårsaket av volden i narkotikamiljøet markeres med en ny tegning. Kunstneren arbeider i skjul av mørket, ingen vet hvem det er. Byens inn- byggere tvinges til å kjøre over disse omrissene av personer: her er en seksten år gammel gutt, en prest, en ni år gammel jente... I løpet av noen måneder fylles gaten opp, og snart når tegningene til rådhustrappa...

Een 14-jarige jongen in een verloederde wijk van Philadelphia probeert aan het geweld van de drugshandel te ontsnappen.