“Publication” Class Notes

Caitlin L. Ryan (Col ’01) has published Reading the Rainbow: LGBTQ-Inclusive Literacy Instruction in the Elementary Classroom. Drawing on several years of research by Ryan and her co-author, Jill Hermann-Wilmarth, the book uses examples of teaching from a wide range of elementary classrooms to explain why and how LGBTQ-inclusive literacy instruction is possible, relevant and necessary in grades K–5. Ryan is currently an associate professor of reading education in the College of Education at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

Ashley Ellington Brown (Col ’90) published her first book, A Beautiful Morning: How a Morning Ritual Can Feed Your Soul and Transform Your Life (Leo Press), on Feb. 22, 2018. Brown interviewed more than 20 successful women, including New York Times best-selling author and life coach Martha Beck. The women discuss how their morning routines enable them to steer their lives with purpose and experience more joy, and provide suggestions for the reader on how to create a personally meaningful morning ritual.

Christina Dalcher (Col ’89) will publish her first novel, published by Berkley Books (Penguin Random House), on Aug. 21, 2018. While VOX imagines a world where women are only allowed to speak 100 words a day, it also examines language as the basis of our humanity, and freedom of speech as a right to be treasured.

Frank B. Connolly (Arch ’72) has published a second book, Hidden Agendas Inside Town Hall. The novel follows the fighting and political shenanigans that take place in an imaginary Connecticut community as it struggles with a proposed land development. Mr. Connolly’s first book, Local Government in Connecticut, 3rd Edition, was published in 2013 by Wesleyan University Press and won the press’s 2013 Driftless Award for an outstanding book on a Connecticut topic or written by a Connecticut author.

Susan Perng Pan (Engr ’91 L/M) and Michael Tobin (Col ’11), authored a case law reference, The Essential Case Law Guide to PTAB Trials. Ms. Pan is a partner with Sughrue Mion, where Mr. Tobin is an associate. The book, co-authored with their Sughrue colleagues, is the first comprehensive text on decisions of the U.S. Patent Office regarding the newest form of administrative law practice before that agency. Through analysis and summary of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s decisions, the text identifies boundaries of the organization’s rules, providing guidance for handling these highly specialized matters before the U.S. Patent Office. The book, available here, will be published by the American Bar Association’s section on intellectual property law.

Tony Covington (Col ’90) self-published a memoir, I Am Underdog: A Journey of Adversity & Blessings on May 18, 2017.

Paula HIll Jasinski (Col ’89 L/M) and her husband published the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Atlas, a digital environmental text focused on the Chesapeake Bay region. Produced with funding from and in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the text uses the organization’s science and research from around the Chesapeake Bay to explain how the ecosystem works, including chapters on the bay’s formation, connections between water quality and precipitation, food web interactions, climate change, and more. The atlas is being used by schools throughout the Chesapeake Bay region and is available to download for free on iTunes.

Jodie Rundle Berndt (Col ’84 L/M) published Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children in December 2017 (HarperCollins/Zondervan). A follow-up to the bestselling Praying the Scriptures for Your Children and Praying the Scriptures for Your Teens, the new book became an Amazon Bestseller in its first week—probably because of Chapter 17 (which talks about UVA) and Chapter 10 (which is where parents can pray that their kids will get a job)! Ms. Berndt and her husband, Robert (Col ’85 L/M), have four adult children—all Wahoos!—and two sons-in-law who (sigh) graduated from Virginia Tech.

Linsey Davis (Col ’99), an Emmy award-winning journalist and ABC News correspondent, has published The World is Awake: A Celebration of Everyday Blessings (Zonderkidz), an inspirational picture book that encourages children to celebrate and be thankful for the everyday blessings of life.The lyrical, rhyming story, intended to make young children feel joyful and safe, is paired with bright and engaging illustrations to inspire children to see the extraordinary in an ordinary day. The book is available for preorder now and will be in bookstores February 6th. For more information visit the Ms. Davis’ website.

Charlie Szoradi (Arch ’89) published a book, Learn from Looking: How Observation Inspires Innovation, in February 2017 that is now available in large format and eBook as well as the standard 6″ x 9″ size. The book includes Mr. Szoradi’s travel drawings and insights on sustainability from over two decades of his travels around the world. Charlie is a LEED AP Architect and the the CEO of Independence LED Lighting, one of the first American manufacturers of energy-saving commercial LED lighting.

David Black (Educ ’64, ’67 L/M) has published his fourth collection of poetry, Aspects of a Crosscut Saw & Other Poems (Persimmon Tree Press).

Leo Hirrel (Grad ’81, ’89) published a book, Supporting the Doughboys: U.S. Army Logistics and Personnel During World War I (Ft. Leavenworth: Combat Studies Institute, 2017). The book is available online for free from the Army University Press. Mr. Hirrel also retired as the U.S. Army Quartermaster School historian in February 2017.

Brendan Mathews (Grad ’05) published a book, The World of Tomorrow (Little, Brown & Co.), on Sept. 5, 2017. The book has received starred reviews from several outlets, including Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, and was included on “best of fall books” lists in publications including The New York Post, Wall Street Journal and O, The Oprah Magazine. It also received a full-page review in The New York Times Book Review, which also named the book to an editors’ choice list. More information is available at www.brendanmathews.com. More information is available at www.brendanmathews.com.

Rafael X. Zahralddin-Aravena (Arch ’89 L/M), director, shareholder and chair of the commercial bankruptcy and restructuring practice with Elliott Greenleaf, is the co-editor for the newly released American Bar Association’s third revised edition of Reorganizing Failing Businesses. This two volume treatise analyzes key situations from the perspective of the varied constituencies within a restructuring process. Mr. Zahralddin-Aravena is also an author for several chapters in the book. More information is available here.

Michael Blanchard (Col ’73 L/M) has published Naming the Silence: New & Selected Poems. The new collection is a sampling of poetry written and published by Mr. Blanchard over five decades. While a student at the University, he was an Echols Scholar, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and twice won the University Union Fine Arts Award for Poetry. He also earned a master’s degree from Indiana University and completed additional graduate study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He taught literature and creative writing at Troy University, where he served as editor of the university’s literary magazine and was presented the Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and the University of Louisiana. For over 20 years, he has also been an advocate for compassionate care of the dying through his work with hospice organizations in Louisiana and North Carolina. Now retired, he lives and writes in Lafayette, Louisiana.