“Publication” Class Notes

Lewis “Sandy” Rock (Col ’66, Med ’70, Res ’72 CM) published a memoir, The ADHD MD — A 70’s Memoir. Written over a period of thirty or forty years, the book begins with the author’s honorable discharge from the Medical Corps of the U.S. Navy as a conscientious objector before covering his decade as a physician in a U.S. Navy hospital, a rural Virginia pediatric mobile clinic, the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, and ultimately the Appalachian portion of Southwest Virginia. Along the way, he built a house, raised two sons and twenty-two Great Danes, made house calls on horseback, got divorced, got married, got divorced again, and picked and grinned on guitar and banjo with a group of locals and “local outsiders.” Central to the book is the author’s experience with ADHD, as he gradually realizes how the disorder both benefitted and challenged him throughout his journey.

Charlene Wang (Law ’15) will publish her debut novel, I’ll Follow You, in October through Mindy’s Book Studio, actress Mindy Kaling’s book and development imprint with Amazon Publishing. Wang’s psychological thriller explores the complex and dangerous friendship of two young women looking to escape their dead-end town.

Stephen C. Mercado (Col ’84 CM) recently published his second book, Japanese Spy Gear and Special Weapons: How Noborito’s Scientists and Technicians Served in the Second World War and the Cold War (Pen & Sword Military, 2025). He is also the author of The Shadow Warriors of Nakano: A History of the Imperial Japanese Army’s Elite Intelligence School (Brassey’s, 2002), a dozen articles and several dozen book reviews on intelligence and other subjects.

Andrew Lee (Col ’85, Med ’89 CM) recently published his 14th textbook, Ophthalmology of Sports. Additionally, Lee’s daughter, Virginia Lee (Col ’26), an Echols Scholar, will be graduating next year.

Michael J. Hightower (Grad ’07) has written two biographies since 2021, both released to critical acclaim by the University of Oklahoma Press. At War with Corruption chronicles the career of former U.S. Attorney Bill Price, who spearheaded prosecutions of Oklahoma county commissioners in what became the most extensive case of public corruption in FBI history. Hightower’s subsequent book, Justice for All, tells the story of Dick T. Morgan, a frontier lawyer in Oklahoma Territory, six-term congressman (1909-20) and father of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who was ahead of his time in promoting fairness for all Americans. Hightower lives with his wife, Judy, in Charlottesville and Oklahoma City.

George M. Dougherty (Engr ’91, ’93 CM) wrote Beast in the Machine: How Robotics and AI Will Transform Warfare and the Future of Human Conflict, to be released by BenBella Books and distributed by Simon & Schuster in August. Booklist states that “Beast in the Machine is an incredible resource for raising public awareness and education around this revolution in warfare.” Dougherty is a senior military leader in U.S. Air Force science and technology and a consultant to companies facing disruptive change in their industries.

Justin Black (Col ’11), Will Gemma (Col ’11 CM) and Dietrich Teschner co-directed two documentary films about the James River in Virginia, Headwaters Down Part 1 and Part 2, which were recently picked up by Virginia Public Media and nationally by PBS. The two-part series follows their five-person crew as they paddle the entire 350 miles of the James River, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay. The films highlight environmental disasters, lesser-taught history, camaraderie and misadventures along the way. Headwaters Down Part 1 screened during the Virginia Film Festival in 2023 to over 500 people in the Culbreth Theatre on Grounds. The series is now available to stream online via the PBS app and on the Headwaters Down website.

Sarah Rovang (Arch ’10 CM) wrote her book, Through the Long Desert: Georgia O’Keeffe and Frank Lloyd Wright, to be released by Rizzoli Electa in September. Though the two heroes of 20th-century art and architecture never collaborated, they maintained a friendship and mutual admiration, exchanging roughly two dozen letters during their lifetimes. This unique meditation on American artistic expression explores the nature of intellectual kinship, as well as home, place and material. Rovang includes a look at O’Keeffe’s time at UVA in the early 1910s, exploring the resonance of her campus watercolors with Wright’s renderings of the same period.

John M. Bowers (Grad ’73, ’78 CM) published his second novel, Legion of the Daggerstone, which follows a 21st-century analogue of J. R. R. Tolkien. His protagonist, an Iraq War combat veteran and UVA English professor, publishes a bestselling trilogy of fantasy novels, only in Charlottesville instead of Oxford. Bowers also published his most recent scholarly book, Tolkien on Chaucer, 1913-1959, with Oxford University Press.

Latorial Faison (Col ’95 CM) will publish her poetry collection, Nursery Rhymes in Black, on July 15. Faison was awarded the 2023 Permafrost Poetry Book Prize, judged by renowned poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil, for the manuscript. Blending tradition, memory and resistance, Nursery Rhymes in Black reimagines familiar childhood rhymes through the lens of Black history and lived experience. The volume has received acclaim from some of the most esteemed voices in literature, including Joanne Gabbin, Judy Juanita, Glenis Redmond, Trudier Harris and Cedric Tillman, who praise Faison’s ability to transform the rhythmic echoes of youth into a resonant and necessary cultural reckoning.

Dan Reiter (Col ’00) published his debut collection of surf-themed non-fiction, On a Rising Swell, through the University Press of Florida in April. Kirkus Reviews awarded it a star, calling it “a surfing classic fit to sit beside John Long’s The Big Drop (1999) and William Finnegan’s Barbarian Days (2015).”

Christina Shawn (Educ ’08) published her children’s picture book: And Then Came You: When Families Grow Love Grows Too with Chronicle Books in April.

Families grow and change, but what if you like things just the way they are? What if you aren’t ready to welcome in a new parent, a messy pet, or a baby sister who cries a lot? Change can be scary, but even a full heart has room to grow.

Both hilarious and heartwarming, this endearing children’s book is a powerful tool for helping little ones understand that there are often silver linings to the changes life brings. Even when things are initially uncomfortable, an open heart paves the way and teaches us that a family can be full of love at any size.

Liz Garton Scanlon, author of Caldecott Honor winner All the World called Shawn’s book “A lyrical love letter, written to families of all shapes and sizes.”

Shawn received her master’s degree in reading education at UVA before becoming a reading specialist, literacy coach, and author. Originally from Long Island, New York, she now lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, three kids, and two fuzzy bunnies.

For information about Shawn’s book tour and local events visit her website or follow her on Instagram.

Jack Bailey (Col ’88 CM) published his first work of fiction, Harold the Hairy Herald and the Adventure of a Lifetime. This middle-grade novel tells the story of Harold, an inexplicably hirsute apprentice herald working in the castle of King Thymos. When Harold joins the search party tasked with locating the King’s missing son, he uncovers a conspiracy that threatens the very existence of the Kingdom of Dazain. To save the Kingdom, he must find his way to the Pandemonium for a fateful conversation with the mysterious goddess Aletheia.

Harold the Hairy Herald and the Adventure of a Lifetime is a classic hero’s journey in which a boy navigates a dangerous world and discovers what he’s capable of in the face of difficult challenges.

Jordan Gruber (Law ’88) co-wrote Microdosing for Health, Healing, and Enhanced Performance, with James Fadiman, “the father of modern microdosing.” The book was published through St. Martin’s Press. According to Rick Doblin, the founder of Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies, it is “the most comprehensive and data-based book on microdosing ever written.”

Jason Sisney (Col ’95 CM) published his article, “California’s Olympic Financial Failure: The 1960 Winter Games,” in the Journal of Olympic History in May. Seven years of research went into his analysis. Sisney is a member of the International Society of Olympic Historians and is a senior staffer for the California State Assembly. He advises elected assemblymembers on the state budget and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.