“Publication” Class Notes

Jordan Gruber (Law ’88) published Your Symphony of Selves: Discover and Understand More of Who We Are with his coauthor, psychologist James Fadiman. Learn more about the book here or on Amazon. 

Charles Edwards (Col ’69 CM) published a book on aging, Much Abides: A Survival Guide for Aging Lives. He was a cardiovascular surgeon in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, for 29 years. After both of his parents died from dementia, he sought training at Johns Hopkins in dementia and returned to Charlotte to open a nonprofit center dedicated to the care of patients and families struggling with memory loss. His late-life experience with these patients and families inspired this book, which focuses on living the last years of your life with passion and purpose. It’s available at www.mmclt.org and on Amazon. Sales will support Memory & Movement Charlotte.    

Ashley Bristow Bartley (Col ’06) published her first children’s book, Diamond Rattle Loves to Tattle, in July 2020. Bartley is a school counselor whose writing has been published in The Joyful Life Magazine and on the Kindred Mom blog. Her second children’s book is currently under contract with Boys Town Press. She lives with her husband and three young boys in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Kyle Elliott (Col ’07) announced his candidacy for the democratic nomination for the Virginia House of Delegates 68th District. He writes: “I am excited for this next step in my public service and I welcome conversations, support, and enthusiasm, from the UVA community. People can find out more about my campaign from my website or email kyleelliott@kyle4va.com. I am on Twitter @Kyle4va. 

Deborah E. Sheetenhelm Hammond (Arch ’82) published her 22nd novel, Wesbury. Quentin Killington returns from a prolonged stay in India, working for the East India Company in order to amass his fortune and marry childhood love, Rosemary Whitcomb. When he returns home, he is stunned to learn that his life will not be as he planned. He must now face the Regency England bon ton alone and on his own terms. This and all of Hammond’s novels are available on Amazon and at local book signings and events.

Paul E. Stroble (Grad ’91) has published a poetry chapbook, “Backyard Darwin,” and a full-length poetry book, Walking Lorton Bluff, both with Finishing Line Press. He is adjunct faculty at Webster University and Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. 

Nelson D. Neal (Educ ’85) published a biography about Hemsley Winfield, the first African American modern dancer. Winfield was a contemporary of the pioneers of modern dance, he founded, directed, choreographed, and danced with his company The New Negro Art Theatre Dance Group from 1931 through 1933. He was the first African American to be contracted by the Metropolitan Opera when he danced the role of the Congo Witch Doctor in The Emperor Jones in 1933. The book describes Winfield’s life and career as an actor, director, dancer, choreographer, and teacher until his untimely death at the age of 26 in 1934. Dr. Neal is the authority on Hemsley Winfield and this is book is the culmination of his 28 years of research. His previous publication, in 2018, was an annotated bibliography about Hemsley Winfield with 511 annotated sources.

Duncan Clarke (Grad ’70) published a novel, A Little Rebellion Is a Good Thing: Troubles at Traymore College. It is a fictionalized account of his year (1969-1970) as an associate professor of political science at Radford College, then a public women’s college. Among other things, that time saw successful lawsuits against the college and its repressive president which eventually led to the removal of the longest-serving college president in the Old Dominion, coeducation and the founding of Radford University, and restoration of long-denied academic freedoms and civil liberties for faculty and students.

Mark Andrew Bradley (Law ’83) will publish his second book, Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and the Battle for the United Mine Workers of America, in October 2020. Publishers Weekly calls it “a page-turning study of the 1969 triple murder of union leader Joseph Yablonski and his wife and daughter, and the crime’s impact on the United MIne Workers of America and organized labor in general… The result is both a juicy true crime story and a tribute to the power of effective labor movements.” 

Rachel Vanderhill (Grad ’09), chair of Wofford College’s Department of Government & International Affairs, has published the book Autocracy and Resistance in the Internet Age. The book examines how social media is both aiding and undermining autocratic regimes in the Middle East, North Africa, and the former Soviet republics. Her previous books include Promoting Authoritarianism Abroad and The International Dimensions of Authoritarian Persistence: Lessons from Post-Soviet States (co-edited with Michael Aleprete Jr.). 

Judith Baroody (Grad ’85 CM) published Casablanca Blue: Tales of Revenge, Romance and Riches on Amazon. The 10 short stories are set in locations around the world, including the University of Virginia, the Farmington Country Club, Paris, Casablanca, Santiago, and Hollywood. Baroody previously published a textbook, Media Access and the Military, now in its fifth edition, and contributed a chapter to Quills to Tweets: How America Communicates about War and Revolution. She retired from the Foreign Service after 33 years and lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, Dr. Richard Krueger.  

Laura Paskus (Col ’96) will publish her new book, At the Precipice: New Mexico’s Changing Climate in September 2020. A longtime journalist, Paskus works for NM PBS, hosting and producing a monthly program, “Our Land: New Mexico’s Environmental Past, Present and Future,” and working on a year-long investigation into the U.S. military’s contamination of groundwater in the state. 

Blake R. Silver (Grad ’16, ’17) published The Cost of Inclusion: How Student Conformity Leads to Inequality on College Campuses. Young people are told that college is a place where they will “find themselves” by engaging with diversity and making friendships that will last a lifetime. This vision of an inclusive, diverse social experience is a fundamental part of the image colleges sell potential students. But what really happens when students arrive on campus and enter this new social world? The Cost of Inclusion delves into this rich moment to explore the ways students seek out a sense of belonging and the sacrifices they make to fit in.

Victor Deupi (Arch ’86 CM), published a new book, Emilio Sanchez in New York and Latin America. The book focuses on the life and artistic activities of Emilio Sanchez (1921–1999) in New York, and Latin America in the 1940s and 1950s. More specifically, the book examines Sanchez within the wider context of mid-century Cuban artists, and cross-cultural exchange between New York, Cuba, and the Caribbean. The book reflects on why Sanchez chose to be a mobile observer of the American and Caribbean vernacular at a time when such an approach seemed at odds with the mainstream avant-garde. This book will be of interest to scholars in modern art, Caribbean studies, architectural history, and Latin American and Hispanic studies.

Christopher Russell (Engr ’15) published his first epic fantasy novel, Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth, with Morgan James Publishing. Steampunk meets sword and sorcery meets military thriller in this gripping tale with layered characters, deep world-building, and a lurking cosmic conflict that will upend everything the people of Lozaria know and cherish. Read on for the full teaser, then look for the novel online and in-stores everywhere on Sept. 22, 2020. 

Full Teaser:

A world consumed by war . . .

When two blades clash, the third will fall, and the fate of all will be jeopardized. To save Lozaria, the failures of the past must be atoned for by a new generation of heroes. The time has come for mortals to cast off sight and, in doing so, truly come to see . . .

Victory is never absolute.
 

            Seven centuries ago, the forces of order won the Illyriite War on the plains of Har’muth.  Darmatus and Rabban Aurelian slew their elder brother, Sarcon, the despotic architect of the conflict, then sacrificed themselves to banish the cataclysmic vortex opened with his dying breath. The first advent of the Oblivion Well was thwarted. Even without their vanished gods, the seven races of Lozaria proved themselves capable of safeguarding their world. 
            Or so the story goes. 
            The year is now 697 A.B.H (After the Battle of Har’muth). Though war itself remains much the same, the weapons with which it is waged have evolved. Airships bearing powerful cannons ply the skies, reducing the influence of mages and their spells. Long range communication has brought far flung regions of Lozaria closer than ever before. At the center of this technological revolution are the three Terran states of Darmatia, Rabban, and Sarconia, who have fought a near ceaseless campaign of 700 years in an attempt to best each other. The roots of their enmity lie buried beneath the wasteland of Har’muth, a place all three nations consider best forgotten. 
                However, an ancient power sealed within Har’muth has not forgotten them, and the descendants of those who fought on that field must now take a stand to rectify the mistakes of the past. 

“Rebirth is the beginning of a story that has all the potential to go far and fly very high.​” ~Author and Blogger Abel Montero

“Like Tolkien’s classic ‘Lord of the Rings’ series, Christopher Russell creates a complex, epic fantasy and world which is rich in detail, strong characterization, and a heroic quest that leads a myriad of players into uncharted waters .” ~D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

David Stanford Burr (Col ’77, Grad ’81 CM) recently published Ledger Domain, his debut full-length collection of poems, an autobiography with a license in legerdemain. Burr is the author of The Poet’s Notebook: Inspiration, Techniques, and Advice on Craft as well as editor of seven hardcover, poetry-themed anthologies. He is a managing editor at St. Martin’s/Macmillan, one of the “Big Five” trade book publishers, currently in his 35th year, and for 24 years, as adjunct associate professor, he taught courses in book publishing as well as poetry writing workshops at New York University’s School of Professional Studies, Center for Applied Liberal Arts. He is compiling a second collection of poems, and a third focuses on the British infantry mired in the trenches on the Western Front during the Great War. David and his wife, Joan, live in Maplewood, New Jersey, with their daughter, Lauren, a newly degreed engineer.

NB: author photo credit: ©Creighton: Courtesy of NYU Photo Bureau

John Attanasio’s (Col ’76 L/M) book, Politics and Capital: Auctioning the American Dream was the subject of an article published on Forbes.com on April 29, 2020.

The article by Lawrence Carrel, Rising Income Inequality is Direct Result of Campaign Finance Cases, concerned the relationship between the campaign-finance cases, the enormous rise in U.S. income inequality, and the coronavirus crisis. 

Oxford University Press also interviewed Attanasio about the themes of the book in a 25-minute Soundcloud podcast. It has over 3100 listens.

John M. Millar (Darden ’72 L/M), a Vietnam veteran, will publish his first novel on Sept. 30, 2020. Spanning 200 years of American military history, The Wars Among the Paines, is an epic historical fictions that tells the complex story of a family defined by war, accounting in vivid detail its toll in blood, treasure, and emotional turmoil. Nearly 50 years in the making, The Wars Among the Paines illustrates how the consequences of America’s foreign wars escape the boundaries of the front lines, and ripple through generations of families, friends, politics, and the lives of we the people.

Bill Venema (Law ’81 CM) recently published his second novel, Dawn in Dallas.

Set in the late 1980s, the book follows the journey of Robert E. Clark, the protagonist from Death in Panama, as he leaves the Army JAG Corps and embarks on a career in private law practice. He secures a position at Underwood & Crockett, a prestigious law firm in Dallas, Texas, even though his young daughter and ex-wife reside in Pemberton, Georgia, the small town where he grew up. 

Things get complicated when Robert receives disturbing news from home at the same time he is confronted with unethical behavior by one of the senior partners in the firm.  The challenges of his new career and his responsibilities as a father pull him in opposite directions, and he doesn’t always make the right decision. 

Dawn in Dallas has its share of plot twists and interesting characters and along the way reveals some of the darker secrets of life inside a large law firm and the serious deficiencies of the court system.

Currently, Bill is Of Counsel in the Austin office of Jackson Walker LLP. He and his wife live in Georgetown, Texas.

Jeff Drifmeyer (Grad ’74, ’80) published a thriller novel, When Pigs Flu, under the pen name Jake McKenzie. The thriller novel, Drifmeyer writes, “reads eerily like evening news” in its discussion of the possible role of research labs and wet markets in a real pandemic risk. His work of narrated non-fiction, Civil War Comes Home, explores historic origins of BLM.

Judy Dearlove (Grad ’75) published Play On!, her first novel, last November. The book has been named a finalist for the INDIES Book of the Year award; was featured in Shelf Unbound’s Summer issue recommended reading list; and was the focus of Dearlove’s interview in Allison Kirkland’s Creatives in Conversation series.

Play On!, a stand-up-and-cheer tale of epic rivalry and deep friendship, has been lauded as “the funniest book . . . in years” (Frank McNair), and “a brisk and joyful first novel by a wise woman” (Georgann Eubanks). It is available in paperback and as an e-book for Kindle and other devices. Check with your favorite bookstore, RCWMS Publications, Amazon, or Smashwords.

B. Michael Antler (Com ’06) will publish his first book, Josephus: A Novel, on Sept. 29, 2020. Available on Kindle, audiobook, hardcover, and paperback, Josephus brings the First Roman-Jewish War and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. back to life nearly 2,000 years later. Based on Josephus’ own writings and written for a 21st Century audience, this epic comes packed with thirty original illustrations, original songs, dances, prayers and psalms, and historically accurate quotations. 

Tim Lough (Engr ’72, ’84 L/M) published his first book, Misadventures of the Nockizeemi Kid. According to one review, reading this book is no misadventure. In fact, the reader will be enthralled with the adventures, exploits, and occasional snowballs landing badly of the Nockizeemi Kid. What a refreshing and entertaining view of life from the eyes of an inquisitive and active boy growing up during the ’50s and ’60s in Richmond, Virginia, and eventually surviving childhood and UVA. A delightful read!

Betty Phipps Roberts (Nurs ’53) has published her third book, In the Shadow of the Bridge. The historical novel answers the question, “Why were we so unprepared for Pearl Harbor?” Covering the year 1941, it is accurate right down to the price of eggs. and quotes Roosevelt, Churchill, Lindbergh and others. The book will be presented in the New York World Book Fair—if and when it is held.

Esther Yin-ling Spodek (Col ’84) published We Have Everything Before Us in April. It is a darkly comic novel of everyday suburban American life, an internet romance and the families of the couple involved, love and loneliness.

Matthew J. Jones (Grad ’14) will publish his first book, Love Don’t Need a Reason: the Life and Music of Michael Callen, in the fall of 2020. The book chronicles the life and music of singer, songwriter, and AIDS activist Michael Callen (1955-1993). Callen was instrumental in the fight against AIDS in the first years of the US epidemic. He coauthored “How to Have Sex in an Epidemic: One Approach,” a publication widely regarded as one of the first safe-sex guides, and he recorded two solo albums and two albums with queer acappella group The Flirtations. This book is based on research that began as Jones’ doctoral dissertation in the McIntire Dept. of Music at UVA and includes extensive archival research as well as oral history interviews with Callen’s friends, family, and fellow musicians. Jones says Callen is a forgotten hero of the AIDS activist movement, and Jones is thrilled to have an opportunity to share his story with readers around the country and around the world.

Jennifer Krause (Educ ’10) coauthored Technology for Physical Educators, Health Educators, and Coaches, a book aimed at helping professionals enhance instruction, assessment, management, communication, professional development, and advocacy by leveraging modern technology. It has been praised as “the book to empower all teachers” and “a text that embraces current professional expectations within a twenty-first-century classroom.”

Krause is an associate professor of physical education and physical activity leadership, program coordinator of the Physical Education K-12 Teaching Program, and research faculty in the Active Schools Institute within the School of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Northern Colorado. 

Robin Ward (Educ ’97) published Count on Texas: Fun Facts from 1 to 12, a book that entices young readers to enjoy the beauty and history of University of Texas-Austin’s campus, while counting from 1 to 12. The rhyming narrative and colorful illustrations capture the 12 months and four seasons, and help the reader learn even and odd numbers. Two coloring pages included. Available at Amazon and at MascotBooks.com

Kaethe Walther (Col ’18) will publish her debut novel, If We Were Us, in June. The book is a young adult story of friendship, love and identity set at a fictional east coast boarding school. She says she is indebted to Elizabeth Denton and the late Sydney Blair for their thoughtful comments and wise advice. 

If We Were Us: 

Everyone at the prestigious Bexley School believes that Sage Morgan and Charlie Carmichael are meant to be….that it’s just a matter of time until they realize that they are actually in love.

When Luke Morrissey shows up on the Bexley campus his presence immediately shakes things up. Charlie and Luke are drawn to each other the moment they meet, giving Sage the opportunity to steal away to spend time with Charlie’s twin brother, Nick.

But Charlie is afraid of what others will think if he accepts that he has much more than a friendship with Luke. And Sage fears that things with Nick are getting too serious too quickly. The duo will need to rely on each other and their lifelong friendship to figure things out with the boys they love.

Jeannine Johnson Maia (Col ’86) published Rossio Square N.°59, a novel that takes place in a turbulent Lisbon during World War II. In a city filled with intrigue and betrayal, it’s the story of lost dreams, infinite hope, and two young people caught up in change they never sought or wanted. The novel was first published in Portugal, where she lives and writes, as Praça do Rossio, N°59.

April Pride (Arch ’98) is the host of How to Do the Pot, a new seasonal narrative podcast that answers some of the most common questions women secretly Google about cannabis. How to Do the Pot’s first season will focus on topics relevant to the health and happiness of women such as CBD, endometriosis, migraines, and sleep. 

April is an original innovator in the cannabis industry having founded one of North America’s most recognized cannabis lifestyle companies, Van der Pop, acquired by Canopy Growth in 2018. How to Do the Pot is the first product from Of Like Minds, which April co-founded with Ellen Scanlon (Col ’99, Darden ’07) in 2019. 

Deborah E. Hammond (Arch ’82 L/M) has published her 21st novel, The Rogue’s Son. Second in the Smuggled Heart series, the novel follows the McEwan family, 20 years on. Alexander McEwan II travels with his family to his mother’s home in England. It is the Regency period, and the family has come to the deathbed of Amelia McEwan’s father, The Earl of Havenstock. If he dies, Alexander will become his sole heir. As a young Scot in Regency England, the prejudice of neighbors and associates is a very real thing. To compound that problem, his father, The Duke of Arleigh, has his own secrets. If they were to become known, they would ruin his son’s fortunes in the socially concious world of the ton of Regency England. Alexander’s life is about to change forever. The Rogue’s Son is available in kindle and paperback versions on Amazon.

Mercy Hansen Mize (Educ ’10) published her first children’s picture book, Samson’s Tail, a book about her dog’s experience in the DAWGS Prison Program. The non-profit organization rescues dogs from shelters and places them with prison inmates who train them for adoption. She enjoys sharing Samson’s story and bringing awareness to the DAWGS Prison Program at book signings and readings at Barnes & Noble and independent book stores.

Rick Hodges (Col ’87) published his first novel, To Follow Elephants, in 2019. He will appear at the Virginia Festival of the Book on March 20, 2020, at New Dominion Bookshop in Charlottesville. To Follow Elephants tells the story of an African woman and elephant researcher who helps a young American learn why his father is imprisoned in a dusty cell in Kenya. The book, praised as “a stunning debut novel that weaves the lives of wild elephants and people in a truly breathtaking journey,” brings readers into the elephants’ world—their thoughts, beliefs and religion. Equal parts thriller, adventure and moving portrayal of elephant civilization from the creatures’ point of view, To Follow Elephants occupies the intersection between the worlds of people and animals, enriching our understanding of what it means to be human.

Christina Villafaña Dalcher (Col ’89) will publish her second novel, Master Class, in April 2020. The dystopian thriller resurrects the American eugenics movement of the early 20th century, asking how far a mother will go to save her child. Her first novel, VOX, has been translated into more than 25 languages and was a Sunday Times bestseller in the United Kingdom.

Vicki Lemp Weavil (Col ’78) has published the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series under the pen name Victoria Gilbert. Titles include A Murder for the Books, Shelved Under Murder, Past Due for Murder, and Bound for Murder. A fifth book in the series, A Deadly Edition, will be published in December 2020. Vicki is also writing another series, the Booklover’s B&B series, with the first book, Booked for Death, coming out in June 2020. 

Corinne Adams Heyning Laverty (Com ’80) published North America’s Galapagos: The Historic Channel Islands Biological Survey. The narrative nonfiction book recounts the story of a group of researchers, naturalists, adventurers, cooks, immigrants, and scientifically curious teenagers who came together in the late 1930s to embark upon a series of ambitious expeditions never before, or since, attempted. Their mission: to piece together the broken shards of the Channel Islands’ history and evolution.

Sometimes called “North America’s Galapagos,” each island supports unique ecosystems with varied flora and fauna and differing human histories. Readers follow the scientists behind closed museum doors and to all eight islands, spending time in the hot and dusty, or wet and foggy, field with them, rejoicing in their successes, cringing at their failures and shortcomings.

A lack of funds and dearth of qualified personnel dogged the pre-WWII expeditions, but only after America enters the war and the researchers are stranded on one of the islands is the survey aborted, their work left for future scientists to complete. This saga of ambition, adventure and discovery is juxtaposed against the fresh successes of a new generation of Channel Island scholars, thereby illuminating the scientific process and revealing remarkable modern discoveries that are changing our ideas of how the Americas were populated. Upon completing this book, the lasting impression the reader may have might not be the raw beauty and uniqueness of these islands, though they will certainly gain that, nor even a greater appreciation for the grandiose and challenging undertaking the scientists attempted, rather, the reader may come to recognize that the larger story of the scientific process continues long after individual efforts cease.

Laverty’s lecture schedule can be found under the “Events” tab of my website: https://www.channelislandscalifornia.com/

Thomas L. Rouse (Engr ’75 L/M) was awarded the Community Service Awards by the Northern Kentucky Bar Association and the University of Kentucky Law Alumni Association. He is a past president of the Kentucky Bar Association and has been a practicing attorney since 1978. He is an adjunct professor of Law at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. He recently wrote Applied Ethics: Because Your Law License is Too Valuable to Lose and loves gathering with the Virginia Football Alumni Club before games at Scott Stadium. His daughter and son-in-law are Hillary Rouse Billingsley (Col ’05) and Jamie Billingsley (Com ’05).

Karen Roarty-Dansfield (Engr ’79 L/M), who retired after 33 years in materials development for the U.S. Navy, published The God of Choice under the pen name Kaye Byrd. The story centers around two families, the descendants of poor Irish immigrants and the descendants of privileged English ones whose sons cross paths during World War II. This is the first of three planned volumes that will follow the characters through the 1950’s and 1960’s.

D. Darell Dones (Educ ’04) is retired supervisory special agent and FBI Academy instructor with the FBI Behavioral Science Unit and current owner and senior consultant for Dones Global Solutions. Dones recently published Terrorist Recruitment of U.S. Gangs: Global Alliances and Biological Weapons.

Katherine Gekker (Col ’72, Grad ’73 L/M) published a poetry collection, In Search of Warm Breathing Things. Her poems have appeared in Little Patuxent Review, Delmarva Review, Broadkill Review, Apple Valley Review, and elsewhere. Her poetry has been nominated for Pushcart Prizes and Best of the Net. Gekker’s poems, collectively called “…to Cast a Shadow Again,” have been set to music by composer Eric Ewazen. Composer Carson Cooman has set a seasonal cycle of her poems, “Chasing the Moon Down,” to music.