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Heat waves and other extreme weather events have attracted a great deal of attention due to their socioeconomic impacts and relation to climate change. A heat wave is defined through a general loss function that captures its amplitude, temporal persistence, and spatial extent. The proposed statistical framework is at the nexus of extreme value theory (EVT) and functional data analysis (FDA) and enables computation of probabilities of yet unobserved rare events that are not seen in historical records. Data from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program, which has produced computer model predictions of current and future temperatures across much of North America, are used. The approach allows for the computation of probabilities for heat waves of any pre-specified temporal duration, spatial extent, and overall magnitude. It can be applied to the computation of probabilities of other extreme weather events, including cold spells and droughts.

1Great Pirate Stories

By Joseph Lewis French

Piracy embodies the romance of the sea at its highest expression. It is a sad but inevitable commentary on our civilization, that, so far as the sea is concerned, it has developed from its infancy down to a century or so ago, under one phase or another of piracy. If men were savages on land they were doubly so at sea, and all the years of maritime adventure--years that added to the map of the world till there was little left to discover--could not wholly eradicate the piratical germ. It went out gradually with the settlement and ordering of the far-flung British colonies. Great Britain, foremost of sea powers, must be credited with doing more both directly and indirectly for the abolition of crime and disorder on the high seas than any other force. But the conquest was not complete till the advent of steam which chased the sea-rover into the farthest corners of his domain. It is said that he survives even today in certain spots in the Chinese waters,--but he is certainly an innocuous relic. A pirate of any sort would be as great a curiosity today if he could be caught and exhibited as a fabulous monster. (Summary from text)

2Story of Rolf and the Viking's Bow

By Allen French

Rolf, a youth in early Christian Iceland, loses first his father, then his property, and finally his freedom to the schemes of a greedy neighbor. Outlawed from Iceland, Rolf travels abroad, meeting with shipwreck, enslavement, Viking berserkers, and many other dangers and adventures. All the while, Rolf searches for a way to prove his father was killed unjustly and win back his own property and freedom. Even more difficult, Rolf must end the cycle of enmity, vengeance, and pride that hangs like a curse over his family. - Summary by Erin Schellhase

Nora May French was a Californian poet and a member of the bohemian literary circles of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club, which flourished after the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. She gained minor recognition, but no financial stability, through local magazines. Published posthumously by friends in 1910, four years after French's suicide, <i>Poems by Nora May French</i> was the first and only compilation of her works until 2009.<br> <br> Although many of her poems celebrate the serenity of coastal landscape, others are less sanguine. They offer glimpses into the mind of a young woman plagued by heartbreak and torn between pressure to submit to social roles and longing to live creatively. The most famous poem in the collection, <i>The Spanish Girl</i>, reflects on a failed engagement, the first of many. - Summary by Mary Kay

4Great Ghost Stories

By Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards, Joseph Lewis French, Théophile Gautier, Thomas Hardy, E. T. A. Hoffmann, M. R. James, Frederick Marryat, Fitz-James O'Brien, Margaret O. Oliphant, Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch and William Sharp

A great collection of 12 classic stories about ghosts and the supernatural. Included are stories by Thomas Hardy, Fitz-James O'Brien, and Margaret Oliphant. Recommended for fans of classic ghost stories of yesteryear. - Summary by Phyllis Vincelli

5Lance of Kanana: A Story of Arabia

By Harry W. French

A gripping, coming-of-age tale with youthful heroism, wisdom and fortitude on the Arabian Peninsula, somewhat in the style of One Thousand And One Nights (aka Arabian Nights). - Summary by Paul Welford

A selection of detective mysteries by a variety of well known authors. This collection is edited by Joseph Lewis French. - Summary by Michele Eaton