“Publication” Class Notes

Wade Morris (Col ’04) is publishing Report Cards: A Cultural History with Johns Hopkins University Press. The book traces the nearly two hundred year history of American education by examining how grades have reflected the shifting power dynamics between teachers, parents, and students.

Morris argues that report cards reflected broader shifts in the evolution of U.S. schools: the republican zealotry and religious fervor of the antebellum period, the failed promises of postwar Reconstruction for the formerly enslaved, the changing gender roles in newly urbanized cities, the overreach of the Progressive child-saving movement in the early twentieth century, and―by the 1930s―the increasing faith in an academic meritocracy. The use of report cards expanded with the growth of school bureaucracies, becoming a tool through which administrators could surveil both student activity and teachers. And by the late 20th century, even the most radical critics of numerical reporting of children have had to compromise their ideals.

Steven I. Platt (Col ’69 CM) has published his memoir, Lessons Lived and Learned: My Life On and Off the Bench.  A retired senior judge and renowned legal luminary who has been an integral part of the Maryland justice system, Platt shares insights into the inner workings of the justice system as well as highlights of a career so intricately woven within the fabric of history that he’s been dubbed “The Forrest Gump of politics.” He provides both a riveting analysis of the strengths and failings of our justice system and humorous sidebars recounting his life both in and outside the courtroom. Focusing on issues such as judicial decision-making, legal ethics, and the role of judges in our society, Platt offers a comprehensive and cogent examination of the legal system and its impact on individuals and society. Interspersed with this serious review are important and entertaining depictions of his interactions with some of the most influential news makers of our day. Lessons Lived and Learned: My Life On and Off the Bench is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble online. Visit both to find this and other books in Judge Platt’s Pursuit of Justice series.

Casey Chalk (Col ’07, Educ ’07) published his second book, The Obscurity of Scripture: Disputing Sola Scriptura and the Protestant Notion of Biblical Perspicuity (Emmaus Road Publishing). The Obscurity of Scripture is the first book-length summation and critique of the Protestant doctrine of perspicuity, analyzing its historical, theological, and philosophical dimensions. Chalk, a former Presbyterian seminary student, provocatively argues that perspicuity, rather than sola fide or sola scriptura, is the most foundational of Protestant doctrines. Best-selling author and biblical scholar Scott W. Hahn, who wrote the foreword for the book, declared that it is “sure to be considered a masterpiece.” Chalk serves as an editor or regular contributor for many publications, including The New Oxford Review, The Federalist, Crisis Magazine, The American Conservative, and The Spectator. 

Lloyd F. Stamy. Jr. (Col ’73 CM) has published his newest book, Perfect Strangers (Bad Bear Down), the third volume in The Hap Franklin Series. Ripped from current headlines, this timely and gripping thriller is a serious and riveting story, but also told with an abundance of playful humor. Underpinning the primary storyline of bringing down the Russian president is Franklin’s emotional struggle with his faith for guidance and forgiveness in order to get life right while there is still time. Early readers have found it “engaging, captivating, suspenseful, and provocative.” To learn more about the entire three-book series, follow the below link to his author page:

www.amazon.com/author/lloyd.stamy

Susanne Croasdaile (Educ ’05) has published her first book, Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades: A Universal Design for Learning Approach. Using real-life examples, Croasdaile shows educators how to integrate Universal Design for Learning to transform the learning experience for their students. She provides a roadmap for anyone who seeks practical, research-based strategies to help their students survive and thrive to become expert learners in the middle grades. In an easy-to-follow, 8-step process, Croasdaile offers numerous strategies that will enhance instruction and support student social and emotional competency. By highlighting practices related to students’ executive function and sustained effort, this book is a useful addition to the toolkit of every classroom teacher, coach, and administrator. 

Robert Graboyes (Col ’76 CM) has published “Shockley versus Shockley: Don’t Cut the Tail off the Rattlesnake,” an analysis of physicist-turned-eugenicist William Shockley’s controversial appearance at UVA in 1975; and “Do Not Go Gentle: J. Sargeant Reynolds Against the Dying of the Light,” a remembrance of an historic 1971 anti-segregation speech by Virginia’s then-dying lieutenant governor. Graboyes, who writes on economics, science, and culture at Bastiat’s Window, was recently named senior research affiliate at the Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation at West Virginia University.

Ilana Berry (Law ’03) published her debut spy novel, The Peacock and the Sparrow (Simon & Schuster), in May 2023. Her pen name is I.S. Berry. After spying for the CIA for six years, including one year in wartime Baghdad, Berry decided she preferred writing about espionage to doing it. The Peacock and the Sparrow is about an American spy caught in the crosswinds of the Arab Spring who becomes involved in murder, consuming love, and an unpredictable revolution. Joseph Kanon, bestselling author of The Berlin Exchange, calls it “remarkable” and Joseph Weisberg, creator of the TV series The Americans, calls it “the most realistic espionage story I’ve read.”

Simon & Schuster

isberry.net

Carl Markowitz (Com ’67 CM) has published two novels. Churching Carla Carson is a story about religious zealotry and small-town corruption.  Let Them Die at West Point is the story of an assassination attempt on the U.S. President and a group of NATO officials who are attending a summer seminar at the United States Military Academy. His third novel, Here Lies Greasy D ,will be published in late June. It is the story of four generations of a family-owned farm in North Carolina, struggling to prevent an organized crime family’s efforts to take their property.

Before retiring in 2015, Markowitz practiced law in Virginia Beach, Virginia for forty-five years.

Abby Armistead (Col ’14, Law ’18 CM) recently covered two equestrian stories that beautifully document the horse life in Virginia hunt country: the Upperville Colt & Horse Show, the oldest event of its kind in the United States; and the national champion UVA Polo Teams. An equestrian and artist, Armistead regularly contributes to the magazines Virginia Wine & Country Life and Virginia Wine & Country Weddings. She has also founded an inspirational bespoke stationery company.

Winkfield F. “Wink” Twyman, Jr. (Col ’83 CM) has published Letters in Black and White: A New Correspondence on Race in America. The book, co-authored with Jennifer Richmond, chronicles Twyman’s experiences as a child of the New South in the 1970s suburbs, a place and time all but forgotten in modern discourse.

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Twyman lived on Twyman Road in then-Chesterfield County until the age of eight. Everyone living on Twyman Road was a Twyman. He writes of a time in a southern suburb when the things people shared in common mattered more than racial differences.

An Echols Scholar driven by the goal of attending Harvard Law School, Twyman also writes about what happened to his American dream 40 years later. 

A former law professor, Twyman lives in San Diego with his wife. They have three children – a first-year student at Stanford Business School, an entering graduate student at San Diego State University, and a sophomore at Yale. 

Coleman Bigelow (Col ’97, Darden ’05 CM) has published In Rare Cases and Other Unfortunate Circumstances, his first collection of flash fiction, with Alien Buddha Press.

Divided into four parts: (Siblings, Lovers, Parents and Mourners) these stories take us on a journey through the formative stages of life’s relationships. With a keen eye for detail and a sharp sense of humor, Bigelow captures the nuances of human experience in all its messy, complicated glory.