Books, Music & Film

Winter 2018

Information is provided by publishers, authors, and artists.

Twilight Meditations book coverTwilight Meditations

Jeff Bjorck ’83
(Jeffrey P. Bjorck)

In Twilight Meditations, clinical psychologist Jeff Bjorck shares his mother’s journey of faith through her battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Complete with a photo essay chronicling her life and quotes about her faith, the book is meant to provide hope to those with loved ones suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Defeat It! book coverDefeat It: A Woman’s Guide to Crushing Life’s Challenges and Finally Living the Fit Life

Dali Burgado ’01
(Think Big International)

After a near-death car accident and her experience losing 40 pounds following a high-risk pregnancy, became a certified weight management specialist, personal trainer, and group fitness instructor. She wrote Defeat It to inspire women to live their fittest lives and find purpose. Described as a “woman’s transformation road map,” the book is a program for those who struggle with food, mind-set, exercise, or unhealthy habits. Read more about Burgado in her “Road Taken.”

The Brave Maiden book coverThe Brave Maiden

Geoffrey Craig ’65
(Prolific Press)

Set in Medieval England, this novel tells the fictional story of a young woman, trained as a knight, who returns to her father’s castle from a morning ride to discover her entire family murdered by an evil count. She flees to a forest, finds supporters, and builds an army to pursue revenge, ultimately hoping to bring justice to a suffering land. Geoffrey Craig originally wrote The Brave Maiden as a Christmas present for his then 11-year-old daughter.

Puerto Rico Decolonial Theology book coverA Puerto Rican Decolonial Theology: Prophesy Freedom

Teresa Delgado ’88
(Palgrave Macmillan)

This book explores the themes of identity, suffering, and hope in the stories of Puerto Rican people, which challenge us to ask: How can we affirm a Christian understanding of freedom while resigning ourselves to a colonial context? Using an interdisciplinary methodology of dialogue between literature and theology, this study reveals the oppression, resistance, and theological vision of the Puerto Rican community. It demonstrates how Puerto Rican literature and Puerto Rican theology are prophetic voices calling out for the liberation of a suffering people, on the island and in the Puerto Rican diaspora, while employing personal Puerto Rican family/community stories as an authoritative contextual reference point. Read more about Delagado in “Back on campus.”

Over The Horizon: Time, Uncertainty, and the Rise of Great PowersOver the Horizon book cover

David M. Edelstein ’94
(Cornell University Press)

How do established powers react to growing competitors? The United States currently faces a dilemma with regard to China and others over whether to embrace competition and thus substantial present-day costs or collaborate with its rivals to garner short-term gains while letting them become more powerful. David Edelstein analyzes past rising powers in his search for answers that point the way forward for the United States as it strives to maintain control over its competitors.

Snowbound book coverSnowbound

Olivier Lafont ’01
(Olivier Lafont)

Christmas is dying. The last Santa Claus had triplets who each inherited a portion of his power, and that split is tearing apart the soul of Christmas. The eldest son, Niccolo Vecchio, has fortified the North Pole into a citadel of ice and metal. Santini, the middle brother, is in hiding somewhere in the Mediterranean. The youngest, Niccolo Piccolo, is raising legions to reclaim his inheritance. Two of the triplets will have to renounce their claim in the next 48 hours, or this Christmas will be the last one ever. It’s up to an underachieving teenager named Adam and his bully, Zach, to make that happen.

Fundraising for Nonprofits book coverThe Field Guide to Fundraising for Nonprofits

Sarah B. Lange ’87
(Praeger)

In her new book, Sarah Lange seeks to change how nonprofits think of the all-important task of fundraising. Lange offers best practices and creative solutions to help nonprofit organizations increase their fundraising potential and overall impact. Lange includes case studies, worksheets, and tools to push readers from the research stage to the doing stage of their fundraising efforts. In the book, she also explores the limiting beliefs and outdated methods that can hurt an organization’s efforts to raise money.

Richie Havens and Pals book coverRichie Havens and Pals: Mixed Bag for Kids of All Ages

Kyle Morris ’72
(Sharing World)

Music is a powerful tool parents and teachers can use to help children learn to read. Kyle Morris combines the music of legendary folk singer Richie Havens with an educational picture book that allows kids to practice literacy while having fun singing along. Find out how Morris and Havens brought the book to life.

Middlescence Manifesto book coverThe Middlescence Manifesto: Igniting the Passion of Midlife

Barbara Waxman ’84
(The Middlescence Factor)

For as long as anyone can remember, we’ve associated midlife with unwelcome life changes and stagnation. Boomers, millennials, and even Generation X get all the press, but it’s people from 45 to 65 who are at the peak of their earning power and the height of their careers. The Middlescence Manifesto is a call to action and a declaration of a new understanding of what it means to be in midlife today. Rather than perpetuating ageist attitudes or expectations about turning 40, 50, or 60, Barbara Waxman’s new book describes a path to understanding midlife as “Middlescence,” a new life stage filled with potential, vitality, and purpose.

Also of note:

In Tell Me About the River and The Floating House (Old Crow Press), Maine resident Ted Clapp ’41 shares his knowledge about the Pine Tree State.

With Roasting Humans (David Dufty), D. Edward Dufty ’75 provides a guide to giving speeches for any occasion, including weddings, memorials, and retirements.

Devin C. Hughes ’91 offers up two new books, one for adults and one for children. With Mindful Moment Journal: A Mindfulness Guide & Journal (Create Space), he suggests calming practices. In the picture book Tangie and the Bitter King: A Moon Patrol Story, Hughes teaches about inclusion and diversity.

In Mrs. Parsley: The Cat on the Mantle and Other Stories (CreateSpace), Julian Padowicz ’54 tells the good witch’s humorous adventures, which are stories for adults as well as children.

In the media

“Other ethnic groups rebelled but accepted the classifications. The Rohingya challenged the system wholesale.”
Navine Murshid, political science professor, in her Washington Post article, “Why is Burma driving out the Rohingya — and not other despised minorities?

“We keep ending up in this situation where we either idolize or demonize foreign leaders.”
— Political science professor Danielle Lupton in a New York Times article about Aung San Suu Kyi, de facto leader of Myanmar

“At what point is it in the interest of all governments on the planet to limit certain kinds of dangerous development when each one of those governments probably feels that it would be more secure if they had artificial intelligence for themselves?”
Daniel Monk, peace and conflict studies and geography professor, ​in TheRealNews.com about the perceived threat of artificial intelligence weapons

“Nixon was in various ways the candidate of grown-up, staid, majority-culture rule, standing athwart the forces of disorder and weirdness.”
— Political science professor Sam Rosenfeld in a Politico piece on differences between President Donald Trump and Richard Nixon

“There is frequently overlap in the smuggling and sale of weapons and antiquities.”
— Classics professor Michael Danti on Syria’s arms market, in the TFI Daily News

“Younger Evangelicals, especially, they just don’t want to be a part of that — that’s not what they want to be associated with.”
— University chaplain and Protestant campus minister Corey MacPherson talks to the Christian Science Monitor about the Nashville Statement, a list of conservative Evangelical beliefs on sexuality and gender