Alumni Bookshelf

James R. Adams, BA ’55, founder of the Center for Progressive Christianity, is the author of From Literal to Literary: The Essential Reference Book for Biblical Metaphors (Rising Star Press, 2005). A guide to the complexities of interpreting biblical language, the book provides analysis of the original connotations of more than 150 biblical metaphors in Hebrew and Greek, providing insight into the cultural nuances they have since accrued.

In The Long Tail (Hyperion, 2006), Chris Anderson, BS ’81, demonstrates how the Internet is changing the way business is conducted in modern society and reveals truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it. Anderson coined the title phrase to explain how American culture and economy are shifting focus away from “hits”—mainstream products and markets—toward an evolving, expanding universe of niche products and businesses.

An authority on animal cruelty, Arnold Arluke, BA ’69, MA ’71, asserts that society cannot effectively combat abusive behavior without understanding the cultural roots from which it springs. In Just a Dog: Understanding Animal Cruelty and Ourselves (Temple University Press, 2006), he explores the motivations and self-perceptions of those who engage in animal abuse.

Linda Barnes-Robinson, MA ’68, a former educator and an advocate for the rights of students with learning disabilities, is the co-author of Smart Kids with Learning Difficulties: Overcoming Obstacles and Realizing Potential (Prufrock Press, 2006). This guide for parents, educators, and counselors covers topics including identifying and recognizing gifted and learning disabled students, tools and checklists to build supportive learning environments, and information on the roles and responsibilities of parents.

And The Word Was (Other Press, 2006) is the debut novel by Bruce Bauman, BA ’75, in which global politics affect and mirror intense personal drama. An American doctor, Neil Downs, searches for a renewal of faith after losing his son in a school shooting. When Downs’ medical expertise cannot save his son and his spirituality cannot save his faith in his marriage, he travels to India in the hope of redemption.He meets Levi Furstenblum, an author and Holocaust survivor whose writings contend that the universe is without meaning. Downs also engages in an affair with Holika, a beautiful, well-connected woman whose politics challenge Indian social mores.

Lee J. Colan, MPhil ’87, PhD ’93, is founder of The L Group, a team of business advisers. He is the author of numerous motivational books, including 7 Moments that Define Excellent Leaders (CornerStone Leadership Institute, 2006), which explores the decisive instants during which leadership abilities are tested. More information is available at www.theLgroup.com.

Former Immigration and Naturalization Service special agent Neville Cramer, MA ’79, is the author of Fixing the INSanity: America’s Immigration Crisis (Immigration Enforcement Solutions, 2005), an insider’s account of the numerous problems facing INS officers and other immigration officials.

Steven Dresner, BA ’92, is a contributor to Reverse Mergers: Taking a Company Public Without an IPO (Bloomberg Press, 2006), a guide to the process of reverse mergers for executives and the investment bankers, lawyers, and auditors who advise them. Topics covered include the pros and cons of going public, deal structures, financing, the regulatory environment, working with companies from other countries, and spotting unethical deals and dealmakers.

How Would a Patriot Act: Defending American Values from a President Run Amok (Working Assets, 2006), by Glenn Greenwald, BA ’90, outlines the necessity of assuming political agency in the post-9/11world. Greenwald is a constitutional law attorney and author of the political Web log Unclaimed Territory, http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com. Greenwald has written for American Conservative magazine and appeared on a variety of television and radio programs, including C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, Air America’s Majority Report, and Public Radio International’s To the Point. His reporting and analyses have been credited in The Washington Post and a variety of other print and online publications.

Bob Hoffman, EdD ’97, is the co-author of Meeting Excellence: 33 Tools to Lead Meetings That Get Results (Jossey-Bass, 2006). The book is a comprehensive resource that provides a wide range of tools. It offers the information and tools needed to prepare, facilitate, and evaluate meetings.

Beyond Initial Response (Authorhouse, 2006), co-written by Vickie Huyck, MPA ’02, and Gary Merrick, MHRD ’01, details the process and principles of the National Incident Management System’s Incident Command System. The book is intended to shed light on unfamiliar processes, allowing responders to act more confidently and efficiently.

From the Washington Monument to the 1913 Armory show to 9/11 memorials, controversies about art exhibitions, memorials, and public art have abounded in the United States. In Visual Shock: A History of Art Controversies in American Culture (Knopf, 2006), historian and Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Kammen, Hon. MA ’91, discusses the cultural value of such art-related uproar, arguing that it is both destabilizing and educational, indicative of healthy social change and increasing democratization.

Roger Kaufman, BA ’54, is the author of a guide to the process of making leadership choices, 30 Seconds That Could Change Your Life: A Decision-Making Guide for Those Who Refuse to be Mediocre (HRD Press, 2006). He also is the author of Change, Choices, and Consequences: A Guide to Strategic Thinking and Planning (HRD Press, 2006), a book on organizational success.

Signposts to Elsewhere (Sun Rising, 2006), by Yahia Lababidi, BA ’96, is a book of short poetic meditations called aphorisms. It is illustrated by Kuwaiti artist Ghadah Al Kandari. Lababidi is an internationally published author and for nine years was editor for UNESCO’s Cairo office in Egypt. In 2007, a collection of Lababidi’s writings will be featured in the Encyclopedia of the World’s Best Aphorists by TIME editor James Geary.

Allan Lohaus, MD ’68, recounts his experience on both sides of the doctor-patient relationship in Mayday!: A Physician as Patient (Synergy Books, 2006). During a debilitating illness, Lohaus, a gynecologist, is forced to confront questions of faith, meaning, and mortality. More information
can be found at www.maydaybook.com.

Containing a poem and scripture verse for each day of the year, Manna Calendar (Pleasant Word, 2006) is the latest work from George Meek, MA ’73.

A former editor for Business Week Asia, Sheridan Prasso, BA ’88, explores the Western fascination with and perception of Asian sexuality in The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, And Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient (PublicAffairs, 2005). Prasso, who has lived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Hong Kong, takes the reader through the girlie bars of Bangkok and Manila, the personals of the Village Voice, the cinemas and TV screens of West and East, and the home of Mineko Iwasaki, who inspired Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha, in her exploration of the symbiosis of Western fantasy and Asian fulfillment.

On June 8, 1917, a fire broke out in the main shaft of a huge complex of copper mines 2,000 feet beneath Granite Mountain in Butte, Mont. The fire raged for three days, killing 164 of the about 400 men at work that day. The fire, which was the worst hard-rock mining catastrophe in American history, is the subject of Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917 (Hyperion, 2006), by Michael Punke, BA ’86. Punke is a lawyer and novelist in Washington.

Walker Elliot Rowe, MBA ’93, has published two books and is a vineyard owner and winery investor. His new book (with Joanna Walsh), Wine, Communism & Volcanoes: A Story of Chilean Wine (Apprentice House, 2006), is a travelogue of Rowe’s three months working the harvest at VIA Wines in San Rafael, Chile.

Biblical lessons inspire environmentally responsible living in Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action (Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2006), a memoir of one family’s journey toward a less materialistic lifestyle by J. Matthew Sleeth, MD ’88. Sleeth, a former emergency room director and chief of medical staff, now writes, preaches, and teaches full-time about faith and the environment.

Training Games: Simple and Effective Techniques to Engage and Motivate Learners (ASTD Press, 2006) is a collection of prompts and activities for corporate coaches co-written by Steve Sugar, MBA ’72.