Powell's Books

Powell's Books is a chain of bookstores in Portland, Oregon, and its surrounding metropolitan area. Powell's headquarters, dubbed Powell's City of Books, claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. Powell's City of Books is located in the Pearl District on the edge of downtown and occupies a full city block between NW 10th and 11th Avenues and between W. Burnside and NW Couch Streets. It contains over 68,000 square feet (6,300 m²), about 1.6 acres of retail floor space. CNN rates it one of the ten "coolest" bookstores in the world.

The inventory for its retail and online sales is over four million new, used, rare, and out-of-print books. Powell's buys around 3,000 used books a day.

History

20th century

Powell's was founded by Walter Powell in 1971. His son, Michael Powell, had started a bookstore in Chicago, Illinois, in 1970 which specialized in used, rare, and discounted books, primarily of an academic and scholarly nature. In 1979, Michael Powell joined his father in Portland, right after his father's store had lost its lease; within a year, they found the location that became its current headquarters. Michael bought the bookstore from his father in 1982.

Donald Trump

Donald John Trump, Sr. (born June 14, 1946) is an American businessperson and media personality. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's career, branding efforts, personal life, wealth, and outspoken manner have made him famous throughout the country. Since 2015, he is also a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election.

Trump is a native of New York City and a son of Fred Trump, who inspired him to enter real estate development. After two years at Fordham University and while studying at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Trump worked for his father's firm, Elizabeth Trump & Son. Upon graduating in 1968 he joined the company, and in 1971 was given control, renaming the company "The Trump Organization". Since then he has built hotels, golf courses, and other properties, many of which bear his name. He is a major figure in the American business scene and has received prominent media exposure. The NBC reality show The Apprentice bolstered his fame, and his three marriages were extensively reported in tabloids.

Mel Gibson

Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson AO (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker (screenwriter, producer and director). He is most well known as an action hero, for roles such as Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon buddy cop film series and Max Rockatansky in the first three films in the Mad Max post-apocalyptic action series.

He was born in Peekskill, New York, and moved with his parents to Sydney when he was 12 years old. He studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art. During the 1980s, Gibson founded Icon Entertainment, a production company which independent film director Atom Egoyan has called, "an alternative to the studio system." Director Peter Weir cast Gibson as one of the leads in the critically acclaimed World War I drama Gallipoli (1981), which earned Gibson a Best Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute. The film also helped to earn Gibson the reputation of a serious, versatile actor.

In 1995, Gibson produced, directed, and starred in the epic historical drama film Braveheart, for which he won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Director, along with the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2004, he directed and produced the financially successful, but controversial, biblical drama film The Passion of the Christ. Gibson received further critical notice for his directorial work of the 2006 action-adventure film Apocalypto, which is set in Mesoamerica during the early 16th century.

Josh Powell

Josh Powell (born January 25, 1983) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for San Lorenzo of the Argentinian Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB). He played college basketball with North Carolina State.

College career

Powell played college basketball at North Carolina State University, with the N.C. State Wolfpack. He averaged 12.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in his sophomore year (2002–2003).

College statistics

Professional career

Powell went undrafted in the 2003 NBA Draft and played in Europe. He played in two games in the 2003–04 season with Lokomotiv-Rostov in the Russian Superleague, before finishing the season with Scafati Basket of the Italian Second Division. In the 2004–05 season, Powell averaged 15.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game with JuveCaserta Basket in the Italian Second Division. Powell then worked out for numerous NBA teams, and was eventually signed by the Dallas Mavericks, who were looking for a power forward to develop behind star Dirk Nowitzki.