VOL. 9 NO. 4 THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SPRING 2000
ALUMNI BOOKSHELF
The topics range from the environment to drama to world politics, but the source is the same. Alumni and faculty from the U contribute thousands of pages each year to the literary world. What follows is a brief sampling of books coming to you from the U.
Regarding the Land
Representing such diverse disciplines as literature, history, science,
economics, law, and public policy, the 18 essays included in Reclaiming
the Native Home of Hope, edited by Robert B. Keiter (1998; University
of Utah Press; paper, $17.95), capture the struggle confronting Westerners
today with regard to community, place, geography, and wildness. Another
collection of essays, Visions of the Grand Staircase-Escalante: Examining
Utah's Newest National Monument, edited by the prolific Robert B.
Keiter, Sarah B. George, and Joro Walker (1998; University of Utah Press;
paper, $19.95), explores the challenges faced in managing an area that
holds meaning for often divergent purposes and people who inhabit the
land. The essays range from surveys of the area's paleontology to studies
on the Monument's economic impact on specific counties to a Hopi perspective
on this land. For a more specific reference, Glen Canyon: An Archaeological
Summary, by the late Jesse D. Jennings (1998; University of Utah Press;
paper, $14.95), explains the achievements of the salvage team that spent
five years studying Glen Canyon before it was covered by Lake Powell.
Detailed maps and photographs complement this interpretive summary, documenting
the extensive archaeological resources as well as the stunning landscape
of what was then remote wilderness.
Looking Back
Featuring anecdotes from early ski pioneers and more than 150 vintage
photographs, Alan K. Engen's BS'63 BFA'63 For the Love of Skiing: A
Visual History (1998; Gibbs Smith Publisher; cloth, $29.95) chronicles
the history of competitive and recreational skiing in the United States
from 1880 to the coming of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Utah's Black Hawk
War, by John Alton Peterson (1998; University of Utah Press; cloth,
$59.95; paper, $19.95), explores the political intricacies and broader
implications of a significant and long-neglected domain of Utah history.
In a comprehensive review of both government and law, The Utah State
Constitution, by Jean Bickmore White BA'47 PhD'68 (1998; Greenwood
Press; cloth, $75.00), represents the unique historical background and
the 100-year development of the Utah State Constitution.
Understanding The Way They Live
The Silver Queen: Her Royal Highness Suzanne Egera Bransford Emery
Holmes Delitch Engalitcheff, 1859-1942, by Judy Dykman and Colleen
Whitley BA'62 (1998; Utah State University Press; paper, $19.95), chronicles
the life of Utah's most famous turn-of-the-century socialite. Through
illustrations and text, this biography provides a window into the social
ambitions, resplendent lifestyle, foibles, and excesses of a nouveau riche
beauty in the twilight of the Gilded Age. In stark contrast, polygynous
society is depicted in a study by Janet Bennion PhD'96, Women of Principle:
Female Networking in Contemporary Mormon Polygyny (1998; Oxford University
Press; cloth, $29.95). The book sheds light on the motives and lifestyle
of women who convert to the Apostolic United Brethren (the "Allreds"),
a highly rigid, patriarchal Mormon polygynous community in the Intermountain
West.
Parsing the Academic
For those who love to read novels about theater, A Novel Approach
to Theatre, by Linda Sarver and Tom Markus (1997; The Scarecrow Press,
Inc.), contains more than 600 entries describing novels with theatrical
settings or in which characters work in the theater. Whether utilized
as a desk reference, legal research tool, college textbook, or companion
book, Education Law and the Public Schools: A Compendium, by David
J. Sperry BA'67 MS'70 PhD'70, Philip T.K. Daniel, Dixie Snow Huefner MS'77
JD'86, and E. Gordon Gee BA'68 (1998; Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.;
cloth, $74.50), is a comprehensive look at the legal dimensions of school
operations today. Effective Management of Occupational and Environmental
Health and Safety Programs: A Practical Guide, by Royce Moser, Jr.
(1999; OEM Press), focuses on how to get an OEHS program designed, implemented,
evaluated, and supported, examining management techniques and applications
that have been particularly helpful in these efforts. With the complexity
and interrelationships of today's interconnected society, Global Studies:
Japan and the Pacific Rim, Fifth Edition, by Dean W. Collinwood (1999;
Dushkin/McGraw-Hill Companies), provides a guide to the social, political,
and economic significance of Japan and each of the countries that make
up the Pacific Rim. And in his two field guides, W. Dan Hausel BS'72 MS'74
discusses the untapped natural resources of Wyoming: Copper, Lead,
Zinc, Molybdenum, and Associated Metal Deposits of Wyoming
(1997; Wyoming Geological Survey; paper, $15.00) and Diamonds and Mantle
Source Rocks in the Wyoming Craton with a Discussion of Other U.S. Occurrences
(1998; Wyoming Geological Survey; paper, $10.00).
Also New
The New New Thing, by Michael Lewis (1999; W.W. Norton &
Company; cloth, $25.95), is "a Silicon Valley story" about Silicon
Graphics founder Jim Clark PhD'74, one of many notable graduates of the
U's computer science department. The book was a New York Times Book
Review cover review.
ON THE NIGHTSTAND
What book(s) provoked you to action, and why?
Congressman John Lewis' moving memoir, Walking with the Wind, describes his participation in the civil rights movement of the 1960s and his commitment to nonviolent protest as a means of social change. Reading the book caused me to reflect again on the value of people who have made sacrifices for a moral cause greater than self while remaining optimistic, loving, and forgiving. It provoked a recommitment to efforts to support leaders in public life who seek to unite rather than divide us as a people.
-Dixie Snow Huefner MS'77 JD'86, Professor of Special Education
Two books have made major changes in my life: De rerum natura by Lucretius was the first book of philosophy I ever read, and although I read it in Latin, it convinced me to major in philosophy. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf emphasized the importance of intellectual and economic independence for women.
-Leslie Pickering Francis, Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Law
Copyright 2000 by The University of Utah Alumni Association