In the News: Anne Emanuel and her new book, Elbert Parr Tuttle

On November 2nd, the Carter Center hosted an event with author Anne Emanuel for her new book, ELBERT PARR TUTTLE. The event featured a panel on the 5th Circuit Judge, a reception with remarks by Emanuel and other speakers, and a book signing. More than 200 visitors attended the talk and signing.

Here are some photos from that event.

A few days later, Anne Emanuel was interviewed on WMLB's Backroads and Banjos. You can listen to the segment here.

University of Nebraska Press Joins the Early American Places Series

Early American Places, a collaborative series supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is pleased to welcome the University of Nebraska Press to the initiative.

Early American Places focuses on the history of North America from contact to the Mexican War, locating historical developments in the specific places where they occurred and were contested. The collaborating presses' responsibilities are divided geographically, with the University of Georgia Press focused on the Southeast and the Caribbean, NYU Press covering the Northeast and eastern Canada, and Northern Illinois University Press covering the Old Northwest. The University of Nebraska Press joins the series to publish books about the American Far West.

For more information about Early American Places, please visit our new website.

Technorati Tags: Early American Places Andrew W. Mellon Foundation University of Nebraska Press

Short Takes

The December 1 issue of Booklist features a positive review of David Holmes’ forthcoming book, THE FAITHS OF THE POSTWAR PRESIDENTS. Ray Olson says, “[Holmes] is politically and confessionally nonpartisan, which allows him to write impressively balanced accounts of such matters as Nixon's betrayal of Billy Graham's trust and Obama's connection to Jeremiah Wright, who, on the evidence, was an excellent pastor who'd never been 'controversial' before the media started sound-biting his sermons.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution praises Anne Emanuel’s ELBERT PARR TUTTLE and claims she is “at her best recounting, in riveting passages, the landmark civil rights cases Tuttle presided over as chief judge of the 5th Circuit during the 1960s."

"You will want to read THE ACCIDENTAL SLAVEOWNER for the rest of the story!" says Bishop Woodie W. White in the United Methodist Reporter.

According to the New York Journal of Books, Vincent Carretta “certainly does justice to PHILLIS WHEATLEY's story.”

In the Aiken Standard, Whit Gibbons clarifies that the title of INVASIVE PYTHONS IN THE UNITED STATES is not “the title of a great new horror film” but a “well-researched, professional yet entertaining book.”

ForeWord's upcoming University Press issue describes Janisse Ray’s DRIFITING INTO DARIEN as “nature writing that rivals Annie Dillard’s fiction. . . [and] offers[s] hope in the face of overwhelming issues like climate change.”

Congratulations to Nikky Finney for winning the 2011 National Book Award for Poetry. She edited the 2007 anthology, THE RINGING EAR, which the American Book Review praised for the "degree of intimacy in each poem."

In the News: David Vann and his new book, Last Day on Earth

David Vann's recently released book, LAST DAY ON EARTH, has been gaining attention in the news. Here are some highlights:

According to the Boston Globe, “Vann’s look at Kazmierczak is unflinching and careful.”

The Chicago Tribune comments that certain portions which “reflect Vann's sensitive reporting and deliberately understated storytelling style are superb.”

In an interview with Bullet Counter Points, David Vann answers questions about why he chose to turn his original Esquire article into a book on the NIU shooter.

BCS: Going back to your original article in Esquire, why did you decide to learn more about Steven Kazmierczak and the horrific mass shooting at NIU?

DV: I wanted to write an article about how armed suburban youth are. I inherited my father’s guns after he killed himself with a gun, when I was 13, and I led a double life in which I was a straight-A student by day, then wandering our neighborhood at night with his .300 magnum rifle (a rifle for hunting bears), shooting out streetlights and sighting in on the neighbors through their windows. I think it’s frightening how many kids and teens have access to guns in America, so I wanted to write about that. But my editor at Esquire suggested I look at Steve’s story, since he was an A student and everyone seemed very surprised by his shooting.

Diana Matar

Today, David Vann will be speaking at the Barnes and Noble in DeKalb, IL. In his interview with the Northern Star, Vann shares what kind of an event the audience should expect.

NS: You're coming to speak Nov. 8 at the Barnes and Noble in DeKalb. Can you tell me a little about what that event will entail?

DV: I tried to come speak at NIU and NIU didn't want me. So I'm going to the Barnes and Noble instead. I'm not looking forward to it, and I don't really want to do it. But I feel that I owe it to the community because for three years [NIU Police] Chief Donald Grady wouldn't release the report and the info and when he did releases the report it had lots of omissions and errors. It's not a good report; it doesn't tell you anything about the shooting. In fact, the federal report about the shooting just used my account, so my account is the only account of what happened. I feel that I owe it to the community to be there to answer questions...because I've seen everything; I've seen the whole file. And no one else has. So this is the one chance people have to ask questions.

Some other upcoming events for LAST DAY ON EARTH include:

Wed Nov 9, 2011

6:00pm-7:30pm

Chicago, IL: 57^th Street Books

Thu Nov 10, 2011

7:30pm-8:30pm

Denver, CO: Tattered Cover Book Store

Sun Nov 13, 2011

3:00pm-4:00pm

Belmont, CA: Belmont Public Library

Mon Nov 14, 2011

7:00pm-8:00pm

Santa Rosa, CA: Santa Rosa High School

Tue Nov 15, 2011

5:00pm-6:00pm

San Francisco, CA: University of San Francisco Library

Wed Nov 16, 2011

8:00pm-9:00pm

Stanford, CA: Stanford University

Thu Nov 17, 2011

6:00pm-7:00pm

Santa Cruz, CA: UC-Santa Cruz

Filmmaker and author provide different accounts of a paddle to the ocean

Inspired after reading John Lane’s 2007 book Circling Home, filmmaker and UGA's Lamar Dodd School of Art faculty member Chris Cogan decided he wanted to make a film about this author, who writes about a sense of place with keen attention to both history and natural landscapes.

After Cogan went to Spartanburg to meet Lane and discuss his idea, he learned about Lane’s plans for his next book, to be called MY PADDLE TO THE SEA. Lane wanted to put in his boat in the creek near his back yard just outside Spartanburg and follow the path of the water to the Atlantic Ocean, a 300 mile trip.

Over the course of his long career as a writer, Lane has explored many rivers and recounted his adventures in the outdoors. At the same time, he has also explored questions about his own stake in South Carolina and the south. My Paddle to the Sea, which just released from the University of Georgia Press, combines both aspects of Lane’s work as he uses his trip from creek to lake to river to coast to meditate on the history and personalities that also share his connection to this waterway.

Cogan and fellow filmmaker Tom Byars were able to capture much of this journey on film, and their completed work, River Time, provides a surprisingly different counterpart to the story of the trip as told by Lane, full of stunning visual depictions of the river and an outside perspective of Lane and his thinking about the relationship of humans to the environment.

On Wednesday, November 16, both filmmaker and author will participate in the Athens premiere of “River Time,” to be held at Cine at 7 pm. Lane will read from his newly released book, Cogan will screen the thirty minute film, and the two together will discuss the outcomes of their parallel projects. The event is free and open to the public, and copies of Lane’s book will be available for purchase and signing.


Event details
Wednesday, November 16, 7 pm
Cine, 234 West Hancock Ave., Athens


Additional screenings with author and filmmakers:
Monday, November 28, 7 pm – Spartanburg, SC
The Showroom, 149 S. Daniel Morgan Ave.

Tuesday, December 6, 7 pm—Columbia, SC
Nickelodeon Theater, 937 Main Street