Authors & Editors

At age 92, Ludima Gus Burton, B.A.'46 has just published her eighth novel. Drew Gets It Right, a sequel to Never a Cougar, was e-published in July by WriteWords Inc. and will be printed this month by Cambridge Books. The author is already working on her next “sweet romance,” His Son, Her Daughter. Though “not a prolific writer” – Burton, who lives in Fultonville, N.Y., usually writes “only one book a year” – she loves “writing at my leisure, and my family and friends do read my books.” Still, Burton adds, “it’s a good thing I don’t look on writing as a job, because I don’t make any money. My last royalty check, for Never a Cougar, was $11.66!”

Nancy Evans Bush, B.A.’55, has published Dancing Past the Dark: Distressing Near-Death Experiences, the product of more than 30 years’ involvement with the International Association for Near-Death Studies, of which she is president-emerita.

Margaret Dunaski Harde, B.A.’65, M.A.’66, has written Schooltime Reflections-Feelings 202, a book that describes true stories taken from her experiences in the classroom and in life.

Lawrence Epstein, B.A.’67, M.A.’68, Ph.D.’76, published his first novel, The Land of Eighteen Dreams. More information: www.lawrencejepstein.com.

Richard Morgan, B.S.’69, lives and writes poetry on New Jersey’s Long Beach Island. His second collection of poems, Sea Glass People: Portraits in Words and Watercolors, with watercolors by his wife, Pat, has been published.

Peter Pollak, M.A.’70, Ph.D.’78, published his second novel, Making the Grade. The story follows the first woman promoted to detective grade on the Albany, N.Y., Police Department as she faces resistance from men on the force. When two strange men from her past show up, will those ties mean a quick end to her career? Pollak began focusing on writing fiction after retiring from readMedia Inc., the company he founded (as Empire Information Services) in 1985. He also was a journalist and instructor for Empire State College and the UAlbany School of Education. More information: www.petergpollak.com.

Edward Downey, M.P.A., D.P.A.’71, published Public Service, Governance and Web 2.0 Technologies: Future Trends in Social Media, a book that investigates the effects of Web technologies and social media on interaction and the political process.

Alan Zaremba, Ph.D.’71, published Speaking Professionally: Influence, Power, and Responsibility. In his book, individuals will learn how to overcome speech anxiety in order to prepare, deliver and analyze business presentations.

Patricia (Carroll) Springstubb, M.L.S.’72, has written two children’s novels, What Happened on Fox Street and the sequel Mo Wren: Lost and Found. Both are published by Harper Collins.

Walter E. Sawyer, Ed.D.’74, published Growing Up With Literature. The overriding philosophy of the book is to help children experience the beauty and relevance of literature in their lives. By doing this, there is a celebration of the interaction between young children and quality literature that leads to the enhancement of language development and emergent literacy.

Patricia A. Dunn, B.A.’74, M.A.’76, D.A.’91, and Ken Lindblom, M.A.’92, have co-authored Grammar Rants: How a Backstage Tour of Writing Complaints Can Help Students Make Informed, Savvy Choices About Their Writing, published by Heinemann/Boynton Cook.

David Fiske, M.L.S.’78, has written Solomon Northup: His Life Before and After Slavery. This book is a follow-up to Northup’s 1853 book Twelve Years as a Slave, one of the most influential slave narratives published before the Civil War.

David Klein, B.A.’80, has published his second novel with Broadway Books. Clean Break tells the riveting, suspenseful story of four characters whose lives become intertwined and forever changed when passerby Jake Atwood steps in to diffuse a violent argument between a couple whose relationship has spun out of control.

Russell Marnell, B.S.’80, co-wrote an article, “Equitable Estoppel Applied by Court to Preclude Biological Father’s Parental Rights,” published in the December 2011 issue of The Nassau Lawyer. The New York Law Journal published “Enforcing Divorce Agreements: What is the Statute of Limitation?” in January 2012.

Joseph Heithaus, B.A.’85, has published Poison Sonnets. After encouraging a student to write a series of sonnets, Heithaus turned the assignment on himself and began to write sonnets inspired by illustrations of poison plants in an old Webster’s Dictionary. He began publishing some of these sonnets in magazines, such as Poetry and the American Poetry Journal, and then won the prestigious 2007 Discovery/The Nation Prize for a group of 10 “Poison Sonnets.” Those sonnets are now the central thread of the book, a weave of 54 sonnets exploring the nature of poison and celebrating the complexities of language.

 

Myrna Haskell, B.A.’86, has written Lions and Tigers and Teens: Expert advice and support for the conscientious parent just like you. Published by Unlimited Publishing LLC., the book is a compilation of Myrna’s favorite columns, which have run in self-syndication in parenting magazines in more than 15 states.

Noel Goldberg, B.A.’93, published The ABC’s of Mental Health: Ten Chapters to Healing. It is available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble (Kindle & Nook), as well as in paperback.

S. Evan Kreider, M.L.S. ’94, has published The Philosophy of Joss Whedon. Whedon is the famed creator of such media productions as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel” and “Firefly,” as well as the innovative online series “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” This book examines Whedon’s plots and characterizations to reveal their philosophical takes on the limits of
personal freedom, sexual morality, radical evil and Daoism.

Luke Donovan, B.A.’04, has written and published an autobiography titled Missing the Big Picture. The book deals with bullying and mental illness and is a powerful, inspirational coming-of-age journey. It is available on amazon.com.

Claudia Haupt, M.A.’04, is the author of a new book, Religion-State Relations in the United States and Germany, published by Cambridge University Press.

Kristen Henderson, M.S.W.’08, is the author of a book of poetry, Drum Machine, which earned the Jenkins International 2011 eLit Awards’ Gold Medal in poetry.