Shelf Life

New books by Dartmouth alumni

Edward Muller ’65, a history professor and director of the urban studies program at the University of Pittsburgh, presents a comprehensive overview of the geology, geography and human history of the Great Allegheny Passage as editor of An Uncommon Passage: Traveling Through History on the Great Allegheny Passage Trail (University of Pittsburgh Press).

John A. McNeill ’83, an associate professor in the electrical and computer engineering department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, explains fundamental sources of uncertainty in applications such as microprocessor clocks and communication system time references for engineers as coauthor of The Designer’s Guide to Jitter in Ring Oscillators (Springer).

John Rich ’80, M.D., chair of the health management and policy department at Drexel University School of Public Health and director of its Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice, relates the stories of young black men whose lives were violently disrupted—and their efforts to recover and remain safe in Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men (Johns Hopkins University Press).

Anna Deeny, Adv’00, a doctoral candidate in Latin American literature at the University of California, Berkeley, translates the poetry of Raúl Zurita in Purgatory: The Bilingual Edition (University of California Press), a record of the physical, cultural and spiritual violence perpetrated against the Chilean people under Pinochet’s military dictatorship (1973-90).

Father-and-son authors John Sr. and John Paterson Jr. ’86 weave together lively illustrations and some Spanish words to tell the story of a boy’s cable car trip to the top of the mountain overlooking his village in the children’s book, Roberto’s Trip to the Top (Candlewick).

Former newspaper editor Herman Obermayer ’46 draws on his 19-year friendship with the nation’s 16th chief justice in a personal memoir, Rehnquist: A Personal Portrait of the Distinguished Chief Justice of the United States (Threshold Editions).

Environmental health journalist Alexandra Zissu ’96 walks readers through every kitchen decision with three criteria in mind: what’s good for personal health, what’s good for the planet and what tastes great in The Conscious Kitchen: The New Way to Buy and Cook Food—to Protect the Earth, Improve Your Health and Eat Deliciously (Clarkson Potter).

In Birthright: The True Story that Inspired Kidnapped (W.W. Norton), Virginia Tech history professor A. Roger Ekirch ’72 explores the story of a 12-year-old boy kidnapped from Dublin in 1728 and shipped to the colonies as an indentured servant, which inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped.

Film writer and director Norman Weissman ’46 recounts his experiences during 50 years of filming around the world in his memoir, My Exuberant Journey (Hammonasset House).

Caren Diefenderfer ’73, a professor of mathematics at Hollins University and the chief reader for the College Board’s AP Calculus program from 2004 to 2007, offers a useful resource for teachers as coauthor of The Calculus Collection: A Resource for AP and Beyond (Mathematical Association of America).

James Bildner ’75, a lifelong sailor and avid pilot, has shot the photos that run alongside chart segments in his new cruising guide, A Visual Cruising Guide to the Southern New England Coast: Portsmouth, NH, to New London, CT (International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press).

Joanne Herman ’75, who transitioned in 2002 to live as a female after almost half a century living as a male, shares a guide to transgender for families and friends in Transgender Explained for Those Who Are Not (AuthorHouse).

Portfolio

Norman Maclean ’24, the Undergraduate Years
An excerpt from “Norman Maclean: A Life of Letters and Rivers”
One of a Kind
Author Lynn Lobban ’69 confronts painful past.
Trail Blazer

Lis Smith ’05 busts through campaign norms and glass ceilings as she goes all in to get her candidate in the White House. 

John Merrow ’63
An education journalist on the state of our schools

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