Some context: Deborah Anne "Debby" Boone (born September 22, 1956), is an American singer, author, and actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, "You Light Up My Life", which spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist the following year. Boone later focused her music career on country music resulting in the 1980 No. 1 country hit "Are You on the Road to Lovin' Me Again". In the 1980s, she recorded Christian music which garnered her four top 10 Contemporary Christian albums as well as two more Grammys.
With her older sisters married and younger sister Laury in college, Boone was actively encouraged by producer Mike Curb to launch a solo career. Boone released her first solo effort, "You Light Up My Life" (which had been featured in the film of the same name) in 1977. The song became the biggest hit of the 1970s spending ten consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 -- longer than any other song in Hot 100 history to that point. (In 2008, Billboard ranked the song No. 7 among all songs that charted in the 50-year history of the Hot 100.) The song earned Boone a Grammy Award for Best New Artist and an American Music Award for Favorite Pop Single of 1977. She also received Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female and Record of the Year won by, respectively, Barbra Streisand ("Love Theme From "A Star Is Born" (Evergreen)") and the Eagles ("Hotel California"). "You Light Up My Life" also succeeded on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (No. 1 for one week) and Country (No. 4) singles charts. The single and the album (No. 6 Pop, No. 6 Country) of the same name were both certified platinum.  The song, written and produced by Joe Brooks, was from the film of the same name. Brooks earned Song of the Year awards at both the 1978 Grammys and Oscars for writing the song. (Boone performed the song at both awards shows.) Boone's version was not used in the movie or featured on its soundtrack. The song was lip-synched in the film by its star, Didi Conn, performing to vocals recorded by Kacey Cisyk. It was written as a love song, but Boone interpreted the song as inspirational and stated that she recorded the song for God.  Boone's overnight success led to a tour with her father and frequent television appearances, but she was unable to maintain her success in pop music after "You Light Up My Life". Her follow-up single, "California" (also written and produced by Joe Brooks), peaked at No. 50 Pop and No. 20 AC. "California" was included on Boone's second album, Midstream, which faltered at No. 147 Pop. Her next single, the double-sided "God Knows"/"Baby I'm Yours", also struggled, peaking at No. 74 Pop, becoming her last entry on the Hot 100. However, the single charted AC (No. 14) and returned Boone to the country chart (No. 22). Boone then released another movie theme, "When You're Loved", from The Magic of Lassie. Like "You Light Up My Life", the song was nominated for an Academy Award for its composers, the Sherman Brothers, but it failed to replicate the success of her first single charting only No. 48 AC. Boone's wholesome persona contrasted with the image-conscious pop-music industry, leading her career in different musical directions.
Was there anything else interesting?
A: success led to a tour with her father and frequent television appearances, but she was unable to maintain her success in pop music after "You Light Up My Life".
Some context: Thomas Sowell (; born June 30, 1930) is an American economist, social theorist, political philosopher, and author. He is currently Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Sowell was born in North Carolina, but grew up in Harlem, New York.
Sowell has also written a trilogy of books on ideologies and political positions, including A Conflict of Visions, where he speaks about the origins of political strife; The Vision of the Anointed, where he compares the conservative/libertarian and liberal/progressive worldviews; and The Quest for Cosmic Justice, where, as in many of his other writings, he outlines his thesis of the need for intellectuals, politicians and leaders to fix and perfect the world in utopian, and ultimately he posits, disastrous fashions. Separate from the trilogy, but also in discussion of the subject, he wrote Intellectuals and Society, where, building on his earlier work, he discusses what he argues to be the blind hubris and follies of intellectuals in a variety of areas.  Sowell challenges the notion that black progress is due to progressive government programs or policies, in The Economics and Politics of Race, (1983), Ethnic America (1981), Affirmative Action Around the World (2004), and other books. He claims that many problems identified with blacks in modern society are not unique, either in terms of American ethnic groups, or in terms of a rural proletariat struggling with disruption as it became urbanized, as discussed in his book Black Rednecks and White Liberals (2005).  In Affirmative Action Around the World Sowell holds that affirmative action covers most of the American population, particularly women, and has long since ceased to favor blacks.  Sowell described his serious study of Karl Marx in his autobiography. He opposes Marxism, providing a critique in his book Marxism: Philosophy and Economics (2011).  Sowell also favors decriminalization of all drugs.
Any other books
A: Black Rednecks and White Liberals (2005).
Some context: Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Tennessee, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th Governor of Tennessee from 1979 to 1987 and the 5th United States Secretary of Education from 1991 to 1993. Born in Maryville, Tennessee, Alexander graduated from Vanderbilt University and the New York University School of Law. After establishing a legal career in Nashville, Tennessee, Alexander ran for Governor of Tennessee in 1974, but was defeated by Democrat Ray Blanton.
Alexander served as the United States Secretary of Education from 1991 to 1993. As Education Secretary, he sparked controversy after he approved Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) to accredit schools despite an advisory panel that repeatedly recommended against it in 1991 and 1987.  In 1993, Steve Levicoff published a book-length critical discussion of TRACS and Alexander's decision in When The TRACS Stop Short.  Former Department of Education employee and writer Lisa Schiffren has stated that, "His fortune is founded on sweetheart deals not available to the general public, and a series of cozy sinecures provided by local businessmen. Such deals are not illegal..." Schiffren further notes that, in 1987, Alexander helped found Corporate Child Care Management, Inc. (now known as Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.), a company that - via a merger - is now the nation's largest provider of worksite day care. While businessman Jack C. Massey spent $2 million on this enterprise, Alexander co-founded the company with only $5,000 of stock which increased in value to $800,000, a 15,900 percent return within four years. Also in 1987, he a wrote a never-cashed investment check for $10,000 to Christopher Whittle for shares in Whittle Communications that increased in value to $330,000. In 1991, Alexander's house just purchased for $570,000 was sold to Whittle for $977,500. Alexander's wife obtained an $133,000 profit from her $8,900 investment in a company created to privatize prisons. Alexander frequently shifted assets to his wife's name, yet such transfers are not legal under federal ethics and security laws. In his 2005 US Senate financial disclosure report, he listed personal ownership of BFAM (Bright Horizons Family Solutions) stock valued (at that time) between $1 million and $5 million. He taught about the American character as a faculty member at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Is Alexander still active in US politics?
A: