To Afflict the Comfortable

In his prime, Warren Goldstein writes, the Rev. William Sloane Coffin Jr. was "physically imposing, athletic, and trim... a tough guy who could drink hard and face anyone down." He was fiercely competitive, used profanity, had extramarital affairs, engaged in political action, courted celebrity. Superficially, then, a bit like Sinclair Lewis's fictional evangelist Elmer Gantry. But Elmer Gantry was corrupt, a rank hypocrite, and William Sloane Coffin was and is far from that.

Women Who Walk With the Sky

In her children's book, Women Who Walk With the Sky, Dawn Renee Levesque (HAS '82) tells eight tales inspired by Native American myths from numerous tribes. The mother of a young son, Levesque began researching myths and writing legends to help explain to her child the connections between all living things. Her stories feature a strong female central character, an emphasis on the beauty of nature, and elements of the celestial world. In these tales, the forces of the heavens are often out of balance because people have overreached or angered the spirits.

Dearest of Geniuses: A Life of Theodate Pope Riddle

Sandra L. Katz, professor emerita of English and former chair of the Hillyer College English department, has written a definitive biography of Theodate Pope Riddle. Born in 1867, Riddle was one of the first women in the United States to distinguish herself in architecture, a traditionally all-male preserve.

I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It's Not This

Julie Jansen '81 has written a career-change book that provides exactly what the title promises. I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It's Not This is a concise "guide to finding gratifying work." In contrast to a number of other exhaustive guides of the same genre, Jansen's book provides essential information and exercises in self-knowledge without overwhelming the reader with too much information or too many time-consuming assignments to prepare in the course of career searching.

Smack Dab in the Middle

The story and illustrations for Smack Dab in the Middle, Anita Riggio's newest children's book, recall an era when today's grandparents were themselves children. The heroine of the story, however, belongs to all generations, sharing a timeless problem with her young readers. Rosie Roselli, a middle child, feels neglected.

About My Hair - A Journey to Recovery

Marcia Reid Marsted '77, '81, initially intended the photographs of her hair loss during intense chemotherapy only for herself and perhaps family members. But the women who attended "A Gathering of Women Photographers," a photography workshop in Santa Fe, N. M., that she went to after her treatment had ended, persuaded Marsted that any person with cancer would be helped by her words and images.

Migrating Birds Lead Author on Spiritual Journey

A new adventure, a different challenge, a phenomenon to study-all these have called Anne Batterson '76 to new experiences in the past. This time, observing the annual migration of birds, an event long found provocative by the author, leads to The Black Swan: Memory, Midlife, and Migration, a memoir of both a physically demanding journey and a personal search.

Communication as a Transformative Force

Communication, language, and discourse have been central to Ellis's scholarly research, and his fifth book, Crafting Society: Ethnicity, Class, and Communication Theory, brings together a number of ideas that have been "bubbling around in my head for the past few years," he writes in the preface.

Chronicle of a Transformation

For years, Steven T. Rosenthal, associate professor of history at the University of Hartford, had been struck by American Jews' lack of critical examination of their support for Israel. After all, he thought, Jews are generally regarded as fairly liberal and argumentative, and they love to discuss things.

Creating a Corporate Culture That Fosters Quality

Efforts to improve the quality of an organization can only succeed when the drive for continuous quality improvement becomes an integral part of an organization's culture. James Fairfield-Sonn, associate professor of management at the University's Barney School of Business, not only discusses why this is so in his new book, but also provides real-world examples of how large and small businesses, as well as a nonprofit organization, have successfully integrated quality improvement at all levels of management.

The Soros Family's Dance around Death

Noted financier and philanthropist George Soros was a 13-year-old living in Budapest, Hungary, when the Nazis occupied the city in March 1944. Soros, a Jew, escaped death by assuming a new identity and disappearing from sight for the remainder of World War II. The story of the survival of the Soros family is told in Masquerade: Dancing around Death in Nazi-Occupied Hungary.

Raymond Carver Calls, UH Answers

More than a decade after the death of the writer Raymond Carver (Hon. '88), UH Professor of English William L. Stull has published Call If You Need Me: The Uncollected Fiction and Prose, a book that presents five newly discovered stories by the American short-story master.

Top5


Published in February, June,and September for faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the University of Hartford.

Published by the Office of Communications - University of Hartford
200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, Connecticut, 06117-1599.

All contents, unless otherwise specified, copyright 2004 by the University of Hartford.