Alumni Bookshelf
Jerome T. Barrett, EdD ’84, published
A History of Alternative
Dispute Resolution (Jossey-Bass, 2005), with his co-author and
son, Joseph P. Barrett, a writer for the Wall
Street Journal. The book explores various
forms of conflict resolution from the ancient
Greeks to today. The authors also discuss the
impact of ADR in American history, from the
Civil War to disputes between railroad workers
and coal miners that led to the passage of
the Railroad Labor Act and the National Labor
Relations Act. Barrett—an historian, writer, and
arbitrator—has more than 40 years of
experience in mediation and currently writes
a history column for ACResolution, a quarterly
magazine. He and his wife, Rose, reside in
Falls Church, Va. They have five sons and five
grandchildren.
A pediatrician with 25 years of clinical
experience, Howard J.
Bennett, MD ’77, is the author
of Waking Up Dry: A Guide
to Help Children Overcome Bedwetting (American Academy of Pediatrics,
2005). The book offers advice and strategies
for parents as well as a superhero named Bladderman
that appeals to children to help them overcome
bedwetting. Bennett says between five to seven
million children in the United States suffer
from the problem, which affects self-esteem.
The author of several other books about WWII
themes, Melvin R. Bielawski,
MS ’70,
wrote A WWII Era, German/American
Love Story (AuthorHouse, 2005). The book follows the complications
and misfortunes of American military personnel
and their desires to marry women from other
nations including Germany, Hungary, and Bulgaria
following the end of WWII before nonfraternization
and wedding bans were lifted in January 1947.
Bielawski resides in Alexandria, Va.
Ira Brenner, BA ’72, published his third
book, Psychic Trauma:
Dynamics, Symptoms, and Treatment (Jason Aronson Publishers, 2004),
a clinical study of psychic trauma. The book
outlines Brenner’s research on two populations,
those affected by early physical and sexual
abuse, as well as those affected by genocidal
persecution during the Holocaust. Brenner is
clinical professor of psychiatry at Jefferson
Medical College and training and supervising
analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia.
Set in Peru during recent years of crisis,
Gender and the Boundaries
of Dress in Contemporary Peru, (University of Texas Press, 2004) by
Blenda Femenías, BA ’75, is an
ethnography revealing how dress creates gendered
bodies. The author discusses the role of women’s
clothing as a symbol of gender identity and
resistance to racism by mapping contemporary
politics, rituals, and traditions, in addition
to the historical importance of cloth since
Inca times. She is a research associate at
the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at
Brown University.
Now retired from a medical career, William
R. Halliday, MD ’48, has a renewed interest
in speleology, which he says began in 1946
while at GW. Conducting research in Hawaii
paid off, he says, “when UH Press accepted
my proposal for reprinting a book by Clarence
Dutton of the US Geological Survey, with my
doing a new forward and a biological sketch.” The
book is Hawaiian Volcanoes (UH Press 2005).
He plans to retire from active speleology this
year.
Shiela Bishop Irwin,
BA ’67, is the coauthor
of Escape from Hell: An
AVG Flying Tiger’s
Journey (Tiger Eye Press, 2004). The daughter
of an American Volunteer Group member and World
War II POW, Irwin recounts her father’s
experience of combat missions and suffering
as a political prisoner. It also discusses
his lifelong struggle with post-traumatic stress
disorder. She resides in Bloomington, Ill.
A collection of bizarre medical treatments,
malapropos, and malfunctions, The
Humor of Healing: An Amusing History of American
Medicine (Badger Books, 2005) by Donald
Johnson, MD ’45,
includes stories involving the use of a toilet
plunger for CPR and medical treatments such
as pulverized toads. A native of Spooner, Wisc.,
Johnson practiced neurosurgery at the Mayo
Clinic and for 30 years in Washington.
Power is Not a 4-Letter
Word: How Women Can Claim Personal Power
to Get More of What They Want in Their Lives (Power Edge Media, 2005)
by Isabel Kersen, EdD ’01, is a guide
to how to find and use personal power. It includes
exercises, techniques, and examples on how
to manage personal power to achieve goals and
life changes. Kersen is president of The Power
Edge and is a public speaker and trainer. More
information is available at www.isabelkersen.com.
Flag: An American Biography (Thomas Dunne
Books, 2005) by Marc Leepson
BA ’67, MA ’71,
recounts the fascinating history of the American
flag. “Americans have a unique and special
feeling for our flag,” Leepson says. “Nowhere
on earth do citizens fly their national flags
everywhere they live, everywhere they go, from
our front porches to our pickup trucks.” The
book brings depth to the origins and meaning
of the flag and the patriotism and liberty
that it represents. Leepson resides in Middleburg,
Va.
Carl LeVan, BA ’92, co-author of In
Democracy’s
Shadow: The Secret World of National Security (Nation Books, 2005), formerly was technical
adviser to the National Assembly of Nigeria
and is currently completing a PhD in political
science at the University of California, San
Diego. Co-author Marcus G. Raskin is a professor
of public policy at GW. The book traces the
evolution and expansion of the “National
Security State” step-by-step from the
Cold War to the present. It discuss how, since
1947, decision making has become increasingly
centralized and government less transparent.
The book raises questions about how national
security measures affect daily life.
Rome Made Easy (Open Road Publishing, 2005)
by Douglas E. Morris,
BBA ’83, MBA ’85,
provides an insider’s perspective to
the best sights, hotels, and rooftop cafes
in the city. Whether a budget or luxury traveler,
Morris offers a compilation of exceptional,
and also unfamiliar, tours, hotels, and restaurants
to help create a memorable vacation. Morris
lived in the Rome for eight years; he now resides
in Washington.
Current Director and CEO of The Dayton Art
Institute in Ohio, Alexander
Nyerges, BA ’79,
MA ’82, published Edward
Weston: A Photographer’s
Love of Life (Dayton Art Institute, 2004) and
is curator of an exhibition of the same name.
The book outlines Weston's work and his relationship
with his family. “My research confirmed
my belief that Edward Weston, this lover of
life, found the greatest inspiration in the
people in the world that surrounded him, for
which he had tremendous appreciation,” Nyerges
says.
Games That Boost Performance (Pfeiffer, 2005),
co-written by Steve Sugar,
MBA ’72, offers
30 group activities and exercises to overcome
corporate training obstacles. The book provides
exercises designed to enhance the abilities
to communicate, collaborate, problem solve,
and make efficient solutions as a group. Sugar,
who has written four other books on the subject,
resides in Baltimore.
“Hilarious” and “Laughing
Out Loud” is how readers posting on Amazon.com
have described The Sex
Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial
Pacific (Broadway
Books, 2004) by J. Maarten
Troost, MA ’95.
The travelogue recounts Troost’s experiences
in Tarawa, an island in the South Pacific in
the Republic of Kiribati. Far from being the
escapist paradise he had hoped to find, Troost
discovers that Tarawa is overwhelmingly hot,
dangerous, toxic, and uncomfortable. Even worse—the
only music to be heard for miles around is
the “Macarena.” And don’t
get him started about the “Great Beer
Crisis.” Armed with his sense of humor
and his girlfriend, Sylvia, Troost spends two
years coming to terms with the hardships of
his new life and homesickness—particularly
his longings for coffee, hot showers, and tabloid
news. The author’s essays have appeared
in The Atlantic Monthly, The
Washington Post,
and the Prague Post. Troost resides
in California.