George Epstein ’48 writes, “My UMass education was fantastic. I learned more than math, science, and history: I learned to live with and be part of a community of people and that to contribute to society is the greatest goal. And it prepared me for graduate school at MIT and for the rest of my life.” George writes that he’s used the experience and knowledge gained at UMass Amherst even now in retirement in his second career—poker. “I’m having a ball at it. I’ve written two books so far, The Greatest Book of Poker for Winners! (T C Pr, 2001) and Hold ’em or Fold ’em: An Algorithm for Making the Key Decision (T C Pr, 2005). We played poker in the dorms and I learned to write well as sports editor of the Daily Collegian.”
Arthur Clark ’55 of Osterville has published Until He Died (Infinity Publishing, 2005), a historical novel based on the American coastal packet schooners of the 1870s.
Joseph Larson ’56, ’58G, professor emeritus in the Department of Natural Resources Conservation at UMass Amherst, has co-authored and privately printed Handbook on Fence Viewers and Laws on Fences in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2004). The booklet is now used in over 50 cities and towns in the state. He has also helped create “Preserve UMass,” an organization of alumni, active and retired faculty, staff members, and friends of the UMass Amherst campus. He writes, “With help from the town of Amherst Historical Commission, the Mass Historical Commission, and nongovernmental historic preservation organizations, we are working to identify and preserve the historic buildings on campus.”
Mel Yoken ’60 is chancellor professor of French at UMass Dartmouth, where he has taught since 1966. After graduating UMass Amherst, he earned his M.A.T. from Brown and his PhD under the Five College Cooperation Program. He specialized in the study of French and Quebec literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. He has published eight books, his most recent being Breakthrough: Essays and Vignettes in Honor of John A. Rassias, (Peter Lang Publishing, 2007) as well as articles, reviews, and poetic translations in journals and scholarly periodicals. He is the recipient of several prestigious awards from the French Academy, the French government, the New York State Foreign Language Association, and the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association. He is the director of the Boivin Center for French Language and Culture at UMass Dartmouth and an honorary life member of the American Association of Teachers of French.
Lewis Cowardin ’61G is co-author of Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States (Office of Biological Services Fish and Wildlife Service, 1979). This work has been granted the status of a National Standard by the National Institute of Standards (NIST). Wetland classification systems now certified by NIST has greatly influenced mapping and data collection on wetlands in the United States since 1977. The roots of this wetlands classification are in the work of the late UMass Amherst forestry professor William MacConnell ’43, who produced maps of major vegetation and land use for the state’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife beginning in the 1950s.
Pat DePaolo ’63 of Cheshire, Connecticut, published his first novel, The Beijing Games (AuthorHouse, 2007). Visit beijinggamesbook.com for more info.
David Adams ’67, a chemistry lecturer at UMass Amherst, and his wife, Lynne Adams ’67, a retired college professor, have co-authored Massachusetts Memories— UMass Amherst History (Collective Copies, 2008). David writes, “This collection of 21 stories is about noteworthy people, places, and events on campus. It includes chapters on the campus pond, spring fling, hockey at the Mullins Center, and historically significant campus buildings.” Now at work on a second volume, they would love to hear from anyone with story ideas. E-mail at adams@chem.umass.edu.
Wayne Thomas ’69, a consultant, speaker, and sales trainer in Sudbury, has published The Sales Manager’s Success Manual (AMACOM, 2007).
Marianna Heusler ’70 of New York City has published her fifth book, Murder at St. Polycarp (Hilliard & Harris Publishers, 2007).
Sandra Macfarlane ’71 published her second book, Tiggie: The Lure and Lore of Commercial Fishing in New England (Rooftop Publishing, 2007). She writes, “The book was co-authored with Charles ‘Tiggie’ Peluso, an 84-year-old commercial fisherman.” The biography is told through stories in his own words of his time at sea. It’s interspersed with conversations with Sandra over the many breakfasts they shared. Her first book, Rowing Forward, Looking Back (Friends of Pleasant Bay, 2002), chronicles life in a coastal community bombarded by development and its effect on shellfish and the estuaries. She is founder and president of Coastal Resource Specialists and lives in Orleans.
George Spiro ’71G, a former professor of management and associate dean for Undergraduate Matters in the Isenberg School of Management until 1997, writes, “My book, The Dynamics of Law (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988), is a concise introduction to the American legal system for the non-lawyer. It provides a short, lucid discussion of ways in which the law interacts with social values, standards, and mores, examining structural and cultural sources of stability and change in the American legal system.”
Edwin Meek ’73 won the Blue Light Press Award, which included the publication of his book of poems, What We Love (1st World Publishing, 2007). Ed lives in Somerville with his wife.
Roderick Stackelberg ’74G published The Routledge Companion to Nazi Germany (Routledge, 2007). The second expanded edition of his book, Hitler’s Germany: Origins, Interpretations, Legacies, is due out in September 2008. He is a professor emeritus of history at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.
Kathleen Stewart ’76, associate professor of anthropology and director of the Américo Paredes Center for Cultural Studies at the University of Texas, Austin, has written Ordinary Affects (Duke University Press, 2007).
Jeffrey Cramer ’77, curator of collections at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods in Lincoln, has edited a third Thoreau book, I to Myself: An Annotated Selection from the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau (Yale University Press, 2007).
James Ewers ’81G is the author of Perspectives From Where I Sit: Essays on Education, Parenting and Teen Issues. He also wrote an article for the February issue of Diverse Issues in Higher Education. He is a recipient of the 2008 Drum Major Award from Middletown Ministerial Association; the 2007 Robert “Sonny” Hill Humanitarian Award presented by the city of Middletown; the Image Award Winner for the Middletown, Ohio, NAACP; and is president of the Teen Mentoring Committee there as well, assisting young African-American males in grades seven through 12 in being successful.
Marie Sally Cleary ’82G is the author of Myths For the Millions: Thomas Bulfinch, His America, and His Mythology Book (Peter Lang Publishing, 2007). She writes, “This is the first study of the author whose name is familiar in the alternate title, Bulfinch’s Mythology, and who wrote the famous book The Age of Fable, first published in 1855 and still being reissued. It has been the source of knowledge of the classical myths for many, if not most, Americans.” Marie is married to professor emeritus of classics, Vince Cleary. They live in Amherst.
Peter Panagore ’82, an ordained minister for 20 years, has written Two Minutes For God (Touchstone Faith, 2007). He appears every morning on two NBC-TV affiliates in Maine for his two-minute Daily Devotions segments and his stories are broadcast on radio stations around the world. He has been the minister for the First Radio Parish Church of America since 2003.
Andrew Hoffman ’83, has written Climate Change: What’s Your Business Strategy (Harvard Business School Press, 2008). He is an associate professor of management and organizations; associate professor of natural resources; associate director of the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Steven Beeber ’85, ’95G, author of The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB’s, has edited Awake! A Reader for the Sleepless (Soft Skull Press, 2007). Contributors include Steve Almond, Jonathan Ames, Margaret Atwood, Dara Wier, James Tate, and a slew of others too numerous to mention. Beeber has written for the Paris Review, Fiction, Conduit, The New York Times, Mojo, Spin and elsewhere. Find out more about this selfdescribed insomniac at jewpunk.com.
Peter Delani ’87, vice principal of Masconomet Regional High School in Topsfield, is the author of A Walk With Daimon (Cold Tree Press, 2008), a memoir about his journey of self-discovery from childhood to manhood.
Melissa Sheridan Embser-Herbert ’90G, professor and chair of the sociology department at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, has published The U.S. Military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy: A Reference Handbook (Praeger Security International, 2007).
Pamela Thompson ’96G, editorial director at Interlink Books/Olive Branch Press in Northampton, has written Every Past Thing (Unbridled Books, 2007).
Courtney Walsh ’96 of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, is the author of Lipstick and Thongs in the Loony Bin (Courtney A. Walsh, 2007).
Darcie Dennigan ’98 has published a book of poems, Corinna A-Maying the Apocalypse (Fordham University Press, 2008). She lives in West Hollywood, California, and received the “Discovery”/ The Nation poetry prize in 2007 and the Poets Out Loud Prize for 2006-2007.
Robert Hayashi ’00G, ’02G has written his first book, Haunted by Waters: A Journey Through Race and Place in the American West (University of Iowa Press, 2007). He is an assistant professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.
Lori Bindig ’08G published her master’s thesis as a book, Dawson’s Creek: A Critical Understanding (Lexington Books, 2007), while she was a doctoral student in communications at UMass Amherst. She lives in Bloomfield, Connecticut
