“Publication” Class Notes

Nora Stone (Col ’07) has published her first book, How Documentaries Went Mainstream: A History, 1960-2022. 

Since the 1960s, documentary films have moved closer to the mainstream, thanks to the popularity of “rockumentaries”, the independent film movement, support from public and cable television, and the rise of streaming video services. Documentary films have become reliable earners at the U.S. box office and ubiquitous on streaming platforms, while historically they existed on the margins of mainstream media. How do we explain the growing commercialization of documentary films and the conditions that fueled their transformation?

Streaming and the growing interest in reality TV are usually offered as initial explanations whenever a documentary enters the cultural conversation or breaks a box-office record, but neither of those causes grapple with the overlapping causal mechanisms that commercialized documentary film. How Documentaries Went Mainstream provides a more comprehensive and meaningful periodization of the commercialization of documentary film. Although the commercial ascension of documentary films might seem meteoric, it is the culmination of decades-long efforts that have developed and fortified the audience for documentary features. Author Nora Stone refines rough explanations of these efforts through a robust synoptic history of the market for documentary films, using knowledge of film economics and the norms of industry discourse to tell a richer story. This periodization will allow scholars to compare the commercialization of documentary film with other genres. Drawing on archival documents, industry trade journals and popular press, and interviews with filmmakers and film distributors, Stone illuminates how documentary features have become more plentiful, popular, and profitable than ever before.

Kristin Kisska Mehigan (Com ’90 CM) published her debut novel, The Hint of Light, under her pen name Kristin Kisska. The book follows a grieving mother who, after learning that her late son may have fathered a child, desperately searches for the granddaughter she never knew existed. The novel is in the UVA Authors Collection in the Rotunda Dome Room.

Mehigan, who lives in Richmond with her family, including her daughter Elyse Mehigan (Col ’23 CM), has also published mystery and suspense short stories under her pen name.

James R. Talbot Jr., Capt. USN (Ret) (Col ’53 CM) privately published the Talbot family history, covering the period from Jared Talbot, who landed in Taunton, Massachusetts, in about 1660 to C. Scott Talbot (Eng ’81, Law ’87) and Zachary B. Talbot (Col ’16 CM).

Natasha Saje (Col ’76) has published her fourth book of poems, The Future Will Call You Something Else (Tupelo, 2023). She has also published a postmodern poetry handbook, Windows and Doors: A Poet Reads Literary Theory (Michigan, 2014) and a memoir, Terroir: Love, Out of Place (Trinity UP, 2020). She teaches in the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing Program and lives in Washington, DC.

Judith Baroody (Grad ’85 CM) published her third work of fiction, Return of the Silent Sovereign, a sci-fi fantasy mix of Star Trek and Wonder Woman with a twist of Romeo and Juliet. Baroody retired from the foreign service at the rank of minister-counselor and continues to work part-time for the Department of State.  

Jeannine Johnson Maia (Col ’86) published The Filigree Master’s Apprentice, her second historical novel about Portugal. It’s the story of a young man who, in 1877, escapes the harsh Douro Valley vineyards for a new — and precarious — life in the big city. (https://mybook.to/FiligreeMaster)

It was published earlier this year by Portuguese publisher Marcador under the title O Rapaz do Douro.

Rossio Square N.° 59, which takes place in Lisbon during WWII, is her first novel.

Rev. Jack Peterson (Col ’85) has written his first book, Jesus Himself Drew Near: A Spirituality for Shaping the Lives of Young People. He serves as the director of mission and development for Youth Apostles, a community of Catholic men based in McLean, Virginia who strive to bring young people closer to Christ. His book is based upon the premise that mentors must first know and love Jesus before they can authentically invite others to encounter Him.

Mark Scharf (Grad ’84 CM) has published the play Final Respects (Brooklyn Publishing). His play Clean Up was published in the journal Literature Today in July 2023.

Dr. Thomas F. Smith (Col ’71, Med ’74 CM) has published his first book, The Search For King: A Fable, written in verse, and is completing his second book, Strange Creatures & Odd Bedfellows: Selected Poems. He also has published haiku and limericks in literary journals. He retired from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis as professor of pediatrics in 1998 to enter private practice. His current academic affiliation is adjunct professor of internal medicine and pediatrics in the College of Medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center. He and his wife, their three children and four grandchildren live in Austin, Texas. He can be reached through his web site authorthomasmith.com.

Patti Hartigan (Col ’82 CM) has published August Wilson: A Life, the first authoritative and definitive biography of August Wilson, the most important and successful American playwright of the late 20th century. The biography, published by Simon and Schuster, debuts August 15.

The acclaimed Wilson wrote a series of plays celebrating African American life in the 20th century, one play for each decade. Through his brilliant use of vernacular speech, Wilson developed unforgettable characters who epitomized the trials and triumphs of the African American experience. He said that he didn’t research his plays but wrote from “the blood’s memory,” a sense of racial history that he believed African Americans shared. A former theater critic and arts reporter for the Boston Globe, Hartigan traced his ancestry back to slavery, illustrating how his plays echo with uncanny similarities to the history of his ancestors. She interviewed Wilson many times before his death and chronicles his life from his childhood in Pittsburgh (where nine of the plays take place) to Broadway. She also interviewed scores of friends, theater colleagues and family members, and conducted extensive research to tell the story of a writer who left an indelible imprint on American theater and opened the door for future playwrights of color.

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.