“Publication” Class Notes

John W. Warner (Col ’86 L/M) is a writer and “gentleman farmer” whose passion for history, vintage cars and the unsung heroes of WWII has inspired two large-scale creative ventures: a DVD documentary series on the early bootlegging days of NASCAR, ​The Golden Era of NASCAR​ , and a historical novel titled Little Anton.

Warner is the son of retired Senator John W. Warner III (R-VA), former Secretary of the Navy and Chairman of the Armed Services Committee (KBE), ​and Catherine Mellon, daughter of philanthropist Paul Mellon (U.S. Army, OSS, CIA, KBE). Growing up in a whacky military family that had a seat at many of the most historically significant tables––military, corporate, and intelligence––led to his insatiable quest to find and reveal the hidden truths behind world events. 

A “gear head,” he has spent most of his adult life quenching his thirst for knowledge about race cars, first as a professional Grand Am, IMSA, and American LeMans Series racing driver (a plodding “middle of the pack man” behind the wheel of a Corvette GT1 and a Porsche GT3R, back in 1995-2001), and later researching the southern history of the sport for his NASCAR DVD series, “The Golden Era of Nascar,” and the “Wendell Scott Story,” (find them on Youtube).

He has now finished his first book, “Little Anton,” which is the first in a series.

An avid researcher of revisionist/alternative history, both ancient and recent, he began writing this book series during a two year-long recovery from a racing car accident. His extensive research for ​”Little Anton​” evolved into a gripping historical narrative that reveals hidden truths about technological advancements, top secret German non-linear physics, and the many prominent leaders active in the WWII era, including Adolf Hitler, Henrich Himmler, physicist Walter Gerlach, Ferdinand Porsche, and Winston Churchill. Part love story and part satire, the book centers on Hitler’s use of Porsche’s brilliant engineering mind to build the world’s fastest and most advanced machines, and the occultism of the SS to further new advanced weapons of the ​”Wunderwaffe​ .”

He and his wife, Teba,  split their time between our Washington D.C. area residence and their humble Virginia hay farm, where he is finishing the sequel to L​ittle Anton​, titled​ Lion,Tiger, Bear​. They also host a biannual deer hunt and picnic for wounded veterans with the Virginia Wildlife Foundation.

Tony Gentry (Educ ’06), associate professor in occupational therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University, has published his debut novel, The Coal Tower, a domestic drama set in Charlottesville on the first day of the UVA football season. The book is available in paperback or e-book. He will be reading from the novel at New Dominion Book Shop on the downtown mall on August 28, 2019.

Brian Sayre (Col ’75 L/M), Craig N. Thomas (Col ’82), and Cody Pennetti (Engr ’07, ’25) contributed to the publication of the fourth edition of The Land Development Handbook as reviewer, legal contributor, and co-editor and contributor, respectively. The handbook is a reference for design professionals, students, and private and public land developers. Authored by Dewberry and originally published in 1995, the first three editions have sold nearly 40,000 copies. The new edition and accompanying books are available through McGraw-Hill, Amazon and other retailers. 

Pete Hardesty (Col ’97 L/M) finally figured out how to be an adult (barely) and published a book, Adulting 101, in March 2018. It became an Amazon #1 bestseller within a week.  The book covers topics like the purpose of life, money, time management, how to interview and get a job, how to become a millionaire, relationships, sex and dating, professionalism, how to be wildly successful at work, and much, much more.

Vivian Lerner (Col ’74) published Stories of My Aunt Greta: A True Survivor. The book tells a series of stories about Greta, who grew up in pre-Nazi Austria before her family had to leave suddenly. Ending up in Lima, Peru, she found herself in a strange new world of new language and new customs. Her attempt at adapting is told with honesty and humor. The story then follows her move, at age 21, to New York. The book tells a survivor’s story of a life well-lived. It is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and local bookstores.

Richard Fowler (Col ’56, Educ ’60 L/M) recently completed the third volume of the previously unpublished history of Laurens County, South Carolina through 1900 as chief writer and editor. He served as president of the South Carolina Education Association in 1973 and served as editor of the Virginia Literary Magazine in 1958.

Deborah Sheetenhelm Hammond (Arch ’82) has released her nineteenth novel. Scotland for the Summer, it is a contemporary story about second chances set primarily in the Highlands of Scotland and in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Scotland for the Summer is available on Amazon.

JoAnne Mancini (Col ’90 L/M) published Art and War in the Pacific World: Making, Breaking, and Taking from Anson’s Voyage to the Philippine-American War. She lives in Dublin with her husband and two children.

Kate Hendricks Thomas (Col ’02) published an anthology, Bulletproofing the Psyche: Preventing Mental Health Problems in Our Military and Veterans. An assistant professor of public health at Charleston Southern University, Thomas’s anthology pulls together a team of leaders in the fields of security studies, social work, public health, and veterans’ health practice to outline the case for such skills-building. Mental fitness training methods include body-based protocols long used in the treatment sector to rewire brains after trauma. Weaving together personal stories from military veterans and the latest in holistic behavioral medicine research, this book offers a call to action and health for those interested in peak performance. Watch the book trailer at www.bulletproofingthepsyche.com. 

Peter Lovie (Engr ’64 L/M) published a book, ETA and Its Jackups: Pioneering, Engineering and Making it in America, which tells the story of his company, Engineering Technology Analysts, and its innovative designs for jackups, elevated rigs used in offshore oil drilling. Learn more here. 

Don Jenkins (Col ’71) published a book, The Lost Civil War Diary of John Rigdon King (Arcadia Publishing/The History Press) on Oct. 29, 2018. Jenkins wrote the book, a biography of a 17-year-old civilian from Hagerstown, Maryland, alongside the transcription of the civilian’s diary, after retiring from a lengthy career in public service.

David G. Rojohn (Engr ’74) contributed to a book by his sister, The Piggyback Flight Pilot’s Journey, which is about their father’s landing of two B17s simultaneously after a mid-air collision over the North Sea in World War II. The book, which chronicles Glenn Rojohn’s journey as a pilot, life as POW and the aftermath, was the result of several years of work and research and comes out a year before the event’s 75th anniversary.

Michael N. Widener (Col ’72 L/M) is adjunct professor of business law and ethics in the School of Business at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. His paper, “Populist Placemaking: Grounds for Open Government-Citizen Spatial Regulation Discourse,” will be published in Vol. 119 of the West Virginia Law Review in early 2019.

Mark Scharf (Grad ’84 L/M) had three of his new plays recently published: The Quickening, his adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine and his play Fortune’s Child. Visit his website for more information. 

Mike Ross (Col ’70, Law ’77 L/M) published two more collections of quotations. Ross’s Thoughtful Discoveries was published in Dec. 2017 and Ross’s Personal Discoveries in Nov. 2018, both by Rare Bird Press. The books are available on Amazon.

Betty Roberts (Nurs ’53) published Midnight Chronicles, which tells the story of a strong man’s journey as he deals with Alzheimer’s day after day. Told through the eyes of his nurse/caregiver/wife, it relates the effect on his life and on the lives of his family from the early, undiagnosed stage one to the disability of stage seven. A member of the Apollo Team who helped put the man on the moon, he now forgets how to live like a man on earth.