The Pacific Alone

By Dave Shively ’03

In the summer of 1987 Ed Gillet achieved what no person has accomplished before or since, a solo crossing from California to Hawaii by kayak. Gillet, at the age of 36 an accomplished sailor and paddler, navigated by sextant. Still, Gillet underestimated the abuse his body would take from the relentless, pounding swells of the Pacific. Along the way he endured a broken rudder, among other calamities, but at last reached Maui on his 63rd day at sea, four days after his food had run out. Longtime managing editor of Canoe & Kayak and now content director of Adventure Sports Network, Shively brings Gillet’s story to life, based on exclusive access to Gillet’s logs and interviews with the legendary paddler. Published by Falcon Guides, 2018.

Naked for Tea

By Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer ’92

“Naked for Tea,” a finalist for the Able Muse Book Award, is a collection of poems that are at times humorously surreal, and at times touchingly real, as they explore the ways in which our brokenness can open us to new possibilities. The collection proves that poems that are disarmingly witty on the surface can have surprising depths of wisdom. Trommer has won the Fischer Prize, Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, the Dwell Press Solstice Prize, and the Writer’s Studio Literary Contest, and was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. As Colorado’s Western Slope Poet Laureate (2015-17), she created and curates Heard of Poets, an interactive poetry map. Published by Able Muse Press, 2018.

A House on Stilts: Mothering in the Age of Opioid Addiction

By Paula Becker ’85

Becker’s son Hunter was raised in a nurturing home by his writer/historian mom and his physician father. He was a bright, curious child. And yet, addiction found him. More than 2.5 million Americans are addicted to opioids, some half-million of these to heroin. For many of them — for Hunter — their drug addiction leads to lives of demoralization, homelessness, and constant peril. For parents — for Becker — a child’s addiction upends family life, catapulting them onto a path no longer prescribed by Dr. Spock, but by Dante’s “Inferno.” This intensely personal memoir of trauma and survival offers a timely exploration of a family forced to grapple with America’s opioid crisis. Published by University of Iowa Press, 2019.

Yao Bai and the Egg Pirates

By Tim J. Myers ’75

Inspired by the 1863 Egg War and the mad rush for murre eggs on the Farallon Islands near San Francisco, this children’s book is a high-seas adventure celebrating the courage and history of Chinese immigrants in America through a little-known event during the California Gold Rush era. “I think historical fiction like this can help young readers understand more about the great courage and adaptability of the Chinese in America, and the tremendous contributions they’ve made to American culture,” says Myers, author of more than 22 books. The official historian at the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project of Santa Clara, California, praised the book for its accuracy. Published by West Margin Press, 2019.

Horse Crazy: Girls and the Lives of Horses

By Jean Halley ’89

The author, a self-professed “horse girl,” explores the meaning behind the love between girls and horses. Halley, professor of sociology at the College of Staten Island and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, contends that this relationship and its cultural signifiers influence the manner in which young girls define their identity when it comes to gender. She examines how popular culture, including the “pony book” genre, uses horses to encourage conformity to gender norms but also insists that the loving relationship between a girl and a horse fundamentally challenges sexist and mainstream ideas of girlhood. Published by University of Georgia Press, 2019.

Music and Modernity Among First Peoples of North America

Co-edited by Victoria Levine, professor of music, and Dylan Robinson

When Levine suggested to a colleague that someone should compile and edit a collection on contemporary Native American music, she didn’t know that someone would be her. The resulting book is the first of its kind in scope and scholarship on Indigenous musical modernity. It features chapters from 14 scholars, half of whom are Indigenous. Through their case studies on topics ranging from Native hip-hop to Native classical and experimental music, the contributors seek to model an inclusive, intergenerational, and decolonized approach to the study of Native music. Published by Wesleyan University Press, 2019.

A Proud Heritage, A Bright Future

By Sasha Carney Woods ’86

Woods, a second-generation geologist, tells the story of the Carney family and their business, Superior Graphite, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. The book opens with the Carneys leaving their earthen-floor, stone house in County Mayo, Ireland, and follows them and their descendants as they build Superior Graphite through four generations. Along the way, readers learn about the various family members, as well as graphite mining and how geology and graphite are inextricably linked. In addition to the author, several other family members are alumni: Edward O. Carney ’83, president and CEO of Superior Graphite; Laura Foster Carney ’83; and their daughter, Sasha E. Carney ’19. The book was edited and published by George Brown ’84 of Timelines Books, 2019.

The Capitol Reef Reader

By Stephen Trimble ’72

For 12,000 years, people have left a record of their experiences in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park. Here award-winning author and photographer Trimble collects the best of this writing — 160 years’ worth of words that capture the spirit of the park and its surrounding landscape in personal narratives, philosophical riffs, and historic and scientific records. The volume features nearly 50 writers who have written about Utah’s least-known national park. Nearly 100 photographs, including historic photos, pictures from Trimble’s 45 years of hiking the area, as well as images from master visual artists who have worked in the park, add another layer to the reader’s understanding of Capitol Reef. Published by The University of Utah Press, 2019.

¡Sí, Ella Puede!

By Stacey K. Sowards ’95

Subtitled “The Rhetorical Legacy of Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers,” this book examines the life and legacy of activist Dolores Huerta. A cofounder of the United Farm Workers union with César Chávez, Huerta was a union vice president for nearly four decades before starting her own foundation in the early 2000s. She continues to act as a speaker and lobbyist for social and political change, but her contributions have often been overshadowed by those of Chávez and others. In this study, Sowards, professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Texas at El Paso, examines Huerta’s rhetorical skills and defines Huerta’s vital place within Chicana/o history. Published by University of Texas Press, 2019.

Picturing Commerce in and from the East Asian Maritime Circuits, 1550-1800

Edited by Tamara Bentley, professor of Asian studies

Combining new scholarship by art historians, historians, and ethnomusicologists, this interdisciplinary volume illuminates East Asian trade ties during 1550-1800. Visual goods are highlighted, including lacquerwares, paintings, prints, musical instruments, textiles, ivory sculptures, unfired ceramic portrait figurines, and Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian ceramic vessels. These essays underscore the significance of Asian trade goods, many of which take on new meanings in new locations. This richly illustrated book brings to light the Asian trade engine powering the early modern visual cultures of East and Southeast Asia, the American colonies, and Europe. Published by Amsterdam University Press, 2019.

Thinking Developmentally: Nurturing Wellness in Childhood to Promote Lifelong Health

By Robert Saul ’72 and Andrew Garner

Childhood experiences can affect a person’s lifelong health. This book presents a clinical framework for understanding the impact of toxic stress and both adverse and affiliative childhood experiences on development. It makes a compelling case that many diseases of adulthood are not adult-onset, but rather adult-manifest, based on environmental, genetic, and epigenetic consequences from early childhood experiences. The authors examine the needs of children and the role of parents, caregivers, community, and medical practitioners in ensuring that children have stable and nurturing relationships. They explore community empowerment and offer suggestions to help promote healthy children, nurturing families, and caring communities. Published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, 2018.

How to Make a Woman Happy

By Bret McClanahan ’87

In “How to Make a Woman Happy” McClanahan provides practical applications used during the “astute” process of arriving at a relationship with his confidante, Minami. McClanahan showered Minami with small and big favors. He displayed his interest with a variety of gifts and tokens. He made her laugh and proved he was worthy of her trust. He was as honest as possible and did his best to make her feel special. He never pressured her. Minami encouraged him to write this book to show others how to make women happy. Dorrance Publishing Co., 2019.