Books, music & film

Information is provided by publishers, authors, and artists.

From Du Bois to Obama: African American Intellectuals in the Public Forum
Charles Pete Banner-Haley
(Southern Illinois University Press)

In From Du Bois to Obama, Charles Pete Banner-Haley, associate professor of history and Africana and Latin American studies, explores the history of African American intellectualism and the efforts of black intellectuals in the ongoing struggle against racism. Showing how they have responded to Jim Crow segregation, violence against black Americans, and the more subtle racism of the postintegration age, he asserts that African American intellectuals — including academicians, social critics, activists, and writers — serve to generate debate, policy, and change, acting as a moral force to persuade Americans to acknowledge their history of slavery and racism, become more inclusive and accepting of humanity, and take responsibility for social justice.

House in the Landscape
Jeremiah Eck ’67
(Princeton Architectural Press)

House in the Landscape is for landowners who want to build their homes in a thoughtful manner, considering the integration of house and site. Twenty-two houses by residential architects illustrate nine site types from all over the United States. Jeremiah Eck, senior partner of Boston-based Eck MacNeely Architects, discusses in detail each site, the issues it posed, the solutions found by the architects, and the resulting house design.
 
The Lake of Dreams
Kim Edwards ’81
(Viking Adult)

In Kim Edwards’s latest novel, Lucy Jarrett is at a crossroads in her life when she finds herself haunted by her father’s unresolved death a decade ago. Late one night, as she paces the hallways of her family’s rambling lakeside house, she discovers, locked in a window seat, a collection of objects that at first appear to be useless curiosities, but soon reveal a deeper and more complex family past. As Lucy discovers and explores the traces of her lineage — from an heirloom tapestry and dusty political tracts to a web of allusions depicted in stained-glass windows throughout upstate New York — the family story she has always known is shattered. Lucy’s quest for the truth reconfigures her family’s history, links her to a unique slice of the suffragette movement, and yields dramatic insights that embolden her to live freely.

Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal
James D. Hornfischer ’87
(Bantam)

Last April, the Wall Street Journal named James Hornfischer’s The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors one of the five best books on “war as soldiers know it.” Now he continues the story of the U.S. World War II fighting fleet, exploring its epic struggle in the South Pacific. Guadalcanal, the first U.S. offensive of the war, became the Navy’s bloodiest campaign. This book completely details the naval side of the story. Writing largely from primary sources, including newly available documents and interviews with eyewitnesses whose accounts have never appeared before, Hornfischer paints portraits of commanders and the sailors who fought seven major battles.

Crescent and Dove: Peace and Conflict Resolution in Islam
Edited by Qamar-Ul Huda ’90
(United States Institute of Peace)

Crescent and Dove delves into the intellectual heritage of Islam to discuss historical examples of addressing conflict in Islam and exploring the practical challenges of contemporary peacemaking in Arab countries. These essays address both theory and practice, presenting possibilities for nonviolent interventions, peacemaking, the implementation of human rights, the reinterpretation of texts, peace education instruction, and employing successful mediation, negotiation, and conflict-resolution skills in an Islamic context. As Muslim scholars and peace-building practition- ers, the contributors offer perspectives on what works, what opportunities exist, and which areas are fertile for effective peace-building efforts. Their analysis demonstrates that fostering a culture of peace in Muslim communities and building effective conflict-resolution practices must occur within an Islamic framework and must engage Muslim leaders. Qamar-Ul Huda is a senior program officer in the Religion and Peacemaking Program and a scholar of Islam at the United States Institute of Peace.

Arrested Histories: Tibet, the CIA, and Memories of a Forgotten War
Carole McGranahan ’91
(Duke University Press)

In the 1950s, thousands of Tibetans rose up to defend their country and religion against Chinese troops. Their citizen army fought through 1974 with covert support from the Tibetan exile government and the governments of India, Nepal, and the United States. Decades later, the story of this resistance is only beginning to be told and has not yet entered the annals of Tibetan national history. In Arrested Histories, Carole McGranahan, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, shows how and why histories of this resistance army are “arrested” and explains the ensuing repercussions for the Tibetan refugee community.

Revenge of the Electric Car
Chris Paine ’83, writer and director
(Papercut Films)

In 2006, as many as 5,000 modern electric cars were destroyed by the major car companies that built them. Today, less than 5 years later, the electric car is back, “with a vengeance.” In the documentary Revenge of the Electric Car, director Chris Paine takes his film crew behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM, and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to find the story of the global resurgence of electric cars. With almost every major car maker now jumping to produce new electric models, Revenge follows the race to be the first, the best, and to win the hearts and minds of the public around the world. It’s not just the next generation of green cars that’s on the line — it’s the future of the automobile itself.

Dog Hikes in the Adirondacks
Co-edited by Annie Stoltie ’96 and Elizabeth Ward
(Shaggy Dog Press)

North Country writers, photographers, and their doggie hiking buddies share their favorite Adirondack trails in this book co-edited by Annie Stoltie, Adirondack Life editor. Find new treks or review familiar spots, from difficult to puppy or old-dog easy. Also included are vet tips, first trips for a young dog, why a basset hound should not hike, and where to buy specialty dog biscuits. Proceeds from the sale of this guide benefit shelters and humane organizations in the Adirondack Park.

Walter Blakelock Wilson: An American Artist, 66 Years of Painting
Walter Blakelock Wilson ’51
(Draw Me A Sheep Productions)

This art book features 224 pages with 316 illustrations, a foreword, and three insightful essays by other writers. There are 254 color plates and 62 black-and-white photos of portraits and landscapes. Included is a photo of Walter Blakelock Wilson by his portrait of James Colby Colgate, painted in 1950. Wilson was a Korean War pilot and a post-war artist who painted murals for the U.S. Air Force and portraits of high-ranking officers. The book follows the various themes that Wilson pursued in his painting, including chapters on Japanese subjects in the 1950s, portraits, aerial views (lyrical landscapes from the wings of his private airplane), winter mountain landscapes, historical and architectural subjects, and southwestern landscapes.

Also of note:
In Why Not Blame Drew: How All Your Problems Originate from Him (Yellow Kayak), Drew Bixby ’92 argues that he is personally responsible for all the ills of society, and he walks through nine premises supporting his belief. Unlike typical “self-help” books, this argument places all the blame on the author rather than the reader. Bixby hopes it will help readers shift their energy from blaming to making a positive difference.

The novel Shine in Kashmir (Amerincan Publishing) by D. Chris Castagna ’93 follows young Justin Conrad on his travels through India. A 24-year-old American fresh off a Fulbright Scholarship in Sri Lanka, he delves into the travel life, searching for companions, romance, and greater spiritual truth.

Corporate criminal investigators Joelle Scott ’92 and co-author Kenneth Springer offer advice on how to protect your company in Digging for Disclosure: Tactics for Protecting Your Firm’s Assets from Swindlers, Scammers, and Imposters (FT Press). Through dozens of real-world stories, they teach techniques for recognizing and exposing fraud and corporate crime.


In the media

“I grew up a stone’s throw from where the suffragette movement had its initial impulse — Seneca Falls in 1848. … Knowing the geography of the area so well helped me make the leaps in time in the book.”
        — Kim Edwards ’81 in a Q&A with the Kansas City Star on doing research for her newest book, The Lake of Dreams

“This little girl was an athlete, and the bond between female athletes is a quiet, connective thread of respect that ties all its participants together. … Though she can no longer chase her dream, she’s given me a newfound strength and inspiration to chase mine.”
        — Kate Bertine ’97, in an article she wrote for ESPN on Christina Taylor Green, the youngest victim killed in the January 8 shooting in Tucson, Ariz.

“This is a tale of David versus Goliath, and how walk-on players, transfers, a group of unknown freshmen, and their fiery coach reached incredible success one magical season.”
        — Grant Slater ’91 tells the Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) about the documentary he and his brother are making about the 1990 Colgate hockey team that their late father, Terry Slater, coached to the NCAA championships

“I enjoy teaching them to think of a different way to approach a problem.”
        — Jim Mosakowski ’66, speaking about his work mentoring children at the Boys & Girls Club in the Times-News (Hendersonville, N.C.)

“Our students aren’t fazed by uncertain job prospects, and Colgate’s alumni network remains committed to welcoming new graduates to the city.”
        — Career services director Ursula Olender in a Crain’s New York Business article about New York City’s soaring unemployment


Colgate bestsellers
at the Colgate Bookstore

•   The End of Time — Anthony Aveni (astronomy and anthropology and Native  American studies)
•   Black Dog of Fate — Peter Balakian (English)
•   Ziggurat — Peter Balakian (English)
•   As Good as Gold — Kathryn Bertine ’97
•   The Lake of Dreams — Kim Edwards ’81
•   The Thirteen American Arguments — Howard Fineman ’70
•   Reading Space: The Art of Xu Bing — Carolyn Guile (art and art history)
•   Woodcuts in Modern China — Exhibition catalog, Picker Art Gallery
•   You Are Here — Jennifer Smith ’03
•   The Nature of New York — David Stradling ’88