Bookshelf

What's Been Happening

Wiley Pathways Introduction to Homeland Security: Understanding Terrorism With an Emergency Management Perspective by David A. McEntire, associate professor of emergency administration and planning (Wiley Pathways). The book provides up-to-date information about terrorism, homeland security policies and dealing effectively with threats and attacks. Topics useful for scholars, students and practitioners include the relationship between homeland security and emergency management, causes of terrorism, trade-offs between security and rights, and preparation for, response to and recovery from attack.

Blind Rain, by Bruce Bond, professor of English (LSU Press). Bond's latest poetry collection includes several elegies concerning the last days and death of his father. "I am writing at the edge of the other half of life, the part without my father in it," he says in "Wake." Also featured are poems focusing on madness and music, and a long meditation, "The Return," that hinges on a double sense of the word "true" as "the real" and "the loyal." Bond's previous poetry collections are Cinder, The Throats of Narcissus, Radiography, The Anteroom of Paradise and Independence Days.

Movable Tonic: A Sequence Sight-Singing Method by Alan C. McClung, associate professor of music and conductor of the UNT Concert Choir (GIA Publications Inc.). Designed to help teachers and students at all stages of sight-singing development, the book features lessons on how to establish tonal relationships, combine duration and pitch, and develop musical independence. Included are practice drills, music examples and step-by-step teaching strategies.

Texas Country Singers by Phil Fry ('62, '64 M.A.) of Austin and Jim Lee, Professor Emeritus of English (Texas Christian University Press). The 27 Texas-born country singers profiled include traditional artists such as Ernest Tubb, Willie Nelson and Ray Price, and less well-known names like Vernon Dalhart and Moon Mullican. Also featured are Waylon Jennings, Tanya Tucker, George Strait and Gene Autry. Each biography includes the singer's best-known songs and awards and honors earned.

Hell Under the Rising Sun: Texan POWs and the Building of the Burma-Thailand Death Railway by Kelly E. Crager ('05 Ph.D.) of Austin (Texas A&M University Press). This narrative follows the members of the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment of the Texas National Guard who were captured by Japanese forces in Java in 1942 and shipped to Burma. Using information from the National Archives, memoirs and oral history interviews with members of the "Lost Battalion," Crager focuses on their treatment during captivity and theorizes that the brotherhood among the Texans was a main factor in the battalion's high survival rate (84 percent).

Roll the Rock by Henry Tony Hodges ('74) of Katy (PublishAmerica). The poems in this first collection reflect life lessons, regrets and personal comments on current events. Hodges says he speaks in common words to the common person and hopes he leaves readers with "something to ponder." He worked for 30 years in human resources administration and has been writing and painting for two years.

Now Face to Face by Karleen Barlow Koen ('70) of Houston (Three Rivers Press). First published in 1996 by Random House, Koen's second novel was a Book of the Month Club main selection now being re-released. Set in Virginia and England in the 1720s, the novel tells the story of a young widow who embarks for colonial Virginia and is pulled into a Jacobite plot that threatens the throne, her family and a new love. The new release includes an afterword featuring a scene dropped from the original manuscript.

Books: A Memoir by Larry McMurtry ('58) of Archer City (Simon and Schuster). The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove writes about his passion for books as a reader, a writer and a bookseller — he eventually opened bookstores in Georgetown, Houston and Archer City. He describes how the books he has read helped form his literary tastes and includes anecdotes and observations about authors, book people, literature and himself.

Journey from Head to Heart: Living and Working Authentically by Nancy Oelklaus ('74 M.A.) of Austin (Loving Healing Press). This book on how to live a meaningful life combines logic, emotion, spirituality, science and ancient wisdom to create "a recipe for wholeness." Oelklaus, who holds a doctorate in educational administration, worked in education before building a practice as an executive coach. She has produced coaching CDs on topics such as reconciliation, making difficult conversations easier and creating the life you want.

Chronic Pain Management: Guidelines for Multidisciplinary Program Development, edited by Michael E. Schatman ('85 M.S., '89 Ph.D.) of Bellevue, Wash., and Alexandra Campbell (Informa Healthcare). This reference for developing a multidisciplinary chronic pain management program includes best practices for maintaining a high-quality, cost-effective chronic pain management center, achieving accreditation and developing policies and procedures. Schatman is an assistant professor of family medicine at the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine in Yakima, Wash., and a consulting clinical psychologist.

The Passing of the Gibbous Moon by Larry Turner ('64) of Wills Point (Tate Publishing). A high school football hero finds a new meaning to life when his skills help save a cheerleader. The story follows the two students from different backgrounds as a senior year that starts on the football field ends up changing lives. Turner is a retired educator who spent 41 years in public education, including coaching and working with young athletes.

Other Media

Movin' On by the Dave Rawlinson Band of Ellensburg, Wash. The band led by Dave Rawlinson ('88) is known for its all-original music shows of "boomer rock," capturing the tastes of baby boomers. This second CD includes sounds of classic rock, jazz rock and country rock. Rawlinson is an associate professor of information technology at Central Washington University as well as a guitarist and vocalist.