HILLEL ITALIE National Writer, Author at The Rapid City Post

Stephen King to narrate ‘Hansel and Gretel’ audiobook with Maurice Sendak’s illustrations

July 10, 2025

Stephen King narrates a new audiobook version of “Hansel and Gretel,” blending his storytelling with Maurice Sendak’s illustrations. The Maurice Sendak Foundation announced Thursday that King’s reading adds captivating depth to the classic fairy tale. The audiobook releases on Sept. 2, alongside the new picture book. This reimagining is based on Sendak’s sketches for a 1997 opera about two children lost in a forest. Sendak, who died in 2012, was known for such classic books as “Where the Wild Things Are.” King’s many novels include “Carrie” and “The Stand.”

FILE - George Harrison performs at a concert in London on April 6, 1992. (AP Photo/Max Nash, File)

George Harrison’s Beatles-era photos to be released in new book

July 10, 2025

A new book of Beatles-era photographs by George Harrison will be released in Fall 2026. Random House announced Thursday that “The Third Eye” features over 250 images, many unpublished, taken between 1963 and 1969. The book was compiled by Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison. It captures moments from Liverpool to India and Shea Stadium. Olivia says the photos reflect George’s unique perspective during the Beatles’ early years. The book includes essays by Olivia, Irish novelist Colm Tóibín, and American author George Saunders, along with George’s own words. Fellow Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have also published photo books.

‘Hostage,’ Eli Sharabi’s memoir about life in Hamas captivity, is coming to the US

July 8, 2025

An Israeli man’s memoir about being held captive by Hamas is set for U.S. release. Eli Sharabi’s *Hostage,” originally written in Hebrew, has already become a bestseller in Israel. Harper Influence announced Tuesday that the English edition will be published on Oct. 7, marking the two-year anniversary of the 2023 attack. Sharabi, released in February, shares his harrowing experience of abduction and captivity in Gaza. The memoir details his bond with fellow hostages and how his faith helped him endure. Sharabi hopes his story sheds light on life in captivity and inspires humanity.

FILE - Portraits of a red-headed Thomas Jefferson, left, and John Dickinson, right, by by Charles Willson Peale are seen at the refurbished Second Bank of the United States in Philadelphia on Nov. 26, 2004. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma, File)

A year before declaring independence, colonists offered ‘Olive Branch’ petition to King George III

July 3, 2025

Millions of protesters have denounced President Donald Trump as a would-be autocrat and marched under the banner “No Kings.” But at the same point 250 years ago, in the summer of 1775, the mood was more cautious. Even after the bloodied conflicts of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill, many Americans were not ready to break from King George III and call for independence from Britain. Almost exactly a year to the day before the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress ratified the “Olive Branch Petition,” a plea for peace with “the Mother country”

Colonial soldiers prepare to face the British during a reenactment in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Saturday, June 21, 2025, in Gloucester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The US commemorates 250th anniversary of the ‘great American battle,’ the Battle of Bunker Hill

June 21, 2025

As the U.S. marks the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, it might take a moment — or more — to remember why. Start with the very name. “There’s something percussive about it: Battle of Bunker Hill,” says prize-winning historian Nathaniel Philbrick. Much of the world looks to the Battle of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, as the start of the American Revolution. But many scholars cite Bunker Hill and June 17 as the real beginning, the first time British and rebel forces faced off in sustained conflict over a specific piece of territory.

FILE - Author Edmund White appears in his New York apartment on April 24, 2006. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

How groundbreaking gay author Edmund White paved the way for other writers

June 6, 2025

Edmund White, a pioneer of contemporary gay literature, died this week at age 85. He left behind such widely read works as “A Boy’s Own Story” and “The Beautiful Room Is Empty” and a priceless gift to countless younger writers. Validation of their lives, the discovery of themselves through the stories of others. Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer says “Ed invented so many of us.” A National Book Award finalist and other authors speak of White’s work as more than just an influence, but as a rite of passage to read.

FILE - White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Ex-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre left Democratic Party, publisher of her book says

June 4, 2025

Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has a book out this fall that promises a close look at President Joe Biden’s decision not to run for reelection and calls for thinking beyond the two-party system. Legacy Lit says Jean-Pierre has switched her affiliation to independent after working in two Democratic administrations. The Hachette Book Group imprint will publish “Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines” on Oct. 21. Jean-Pierre was the first Black woman and openly gay person to hold the position of White House press secretary.

FILE - Former CIA director William Burns speaks during a hearing, March 11, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Former CIA Director William Burns has a book deal for the memoir ‘Diplomat Spy’

June 3, 2025

Former CIA director and Biden cabinet official William J. Burns is working on a book about his years leading the intelligence agency. Random House announced Tuesday that it would publish Burns’ “Diplomat Spy: A Memoir of Espionage in Revolutionary Times.” The release date is still to be determined. Burns headed the CIA from 2021-25 and was elevated by President Joe Biden to a cabinet position. A veteran diplomat, he was a key adviser to Biden on Ukraine and other parts of the world. Random House is calling his book a “riveting firsthand account” about working in intelligence.

Former Creedence Clearwater front man John Fogerty celebrates 80th with show in Manhattan

May 29, 2025

As he turned 80 this week, John Fogerty was in a mood to honor his past and to revise it. Fogerty played a rowdy 100-minute set Thursday night to an adoring, near-capacity audience at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre. Crowd members spanned from those likely to remember “Proud Mary,” “Fortunate Son” and other Creedence Clearwater Revival hits when first released a half-century ago to those looking young enough to have heard about them through their grandparents. At least from a distance, Fogerty didn’t look or sound much different from his prime with Creedence.

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Kenyan author and dissident who became a giant of modern literature, dies at 87

May 28, 2025

One of the world’s most acclaimed writers, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, has died at 87. A publicist for his U.S. publisher confirmed the death Wednesday. The Kenyan man of letters wrote dozens of fiction and nonfiction books that traced his country’s history from British imperialism to home-ruled tyranny and challenged not only the stories told but the language used to tell them. Whether through novels such as “The Wizard of the Crow” or “Petals of Blood,” or his landmark critique “Decolonizing the Mind,” Ngũgĩ embodied the very heights of the artist’s calling. He was a truth teller, rule breaker and explorer of myth.

FILE - Susan Brownmiller poses on the streets of lower Manhattan in New York, Oct. 18, 1975. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis, File)

Susan Brownmiller, author of the landmark book on sexual assault, ‘Against Our Will,’ dies at 90

May 25, 2025

Susan Brownmiller, a prominent feminist and author of the 1960s and ’70s whose “Against Our Will” was a landmark and debated bestseller about rape, has died. She was 90. A journalist, anti-war protester and civil rights activist before joining the feminist movement in its formative years, Brownmiller was among countless women radicalized in the ‘60s and ’70s and part of the much smaller circle that included Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan and Kate Millett who helped radicalize others. “Against Our Will,” published in 1975 and widely read and taught for decades after, documented the roots, prevalence and politics of rape.

HILLEL ITALIE National Writer.