Recent Publications by Alumni Authors

1. Disneyland, The Mickey Mouse Club, Gidget, the Beach Boys — all broadcast an idealized image held by American youths of the carefree lifestyle enjoyed by post-World War II California teens. In Golden State, Golden Youth, The California Image in Popular Culture, 1955-1966, Kirse Granat May PhD'99 tells how this image simultaneously soothed the nation's post-war nerves while denying racial and urban realities. The author documents how the dreams of the California good life that dominated the imagination of many Americans in the 1950s and early '60s evaporated in the mid-'60s with the Free Speech Movement's campus revolt in Berkeley and race riots in Watts. The book traces the eventual rise of conservatism across the nation as indicated by the election of Ronald Reagan as California governor in 1966. May, a historian, lives in Boston, Mass. (2002; The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27515-2288; paper; $18.95).

2. In Grand Designs & Visions of Unity, Jeffrey Glen Giauque BA'93 examines the reshaping of Western Europe in the late 1950s as Soviet influence spread and European empires crumbled. Using newly opened international archives, Giauque details the mix of cooperation and collaboration that shaped attempts to unify postwar Europe. He elaborates on the "grand designs" that the Atlantic powers — Britain, France, Germany, and the United States — developed to advance their respective interests, as well as specific plans for collaboration, and the reactions of the other Atlantic powers to these proposals. The book provides insight into national attitudes and aspirations that continue to shape European and American policies today. Giaugue is a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State (2002; The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27515-2288; paper; $49.95).

3. Great Salt Lake: An Anthology, edited by Gary Topping PhD'77, is a compilation of some of the best historical and contemporary writing about the Great Salt Lake, Utah's most widely recognized but perhaps least appreciated and understood topographical feature. Writings by such historical figures as Jedediah Smith and John C. Fremont are combined with those of modern-day historians such as Brigham D. Madsen BA'38 and Terry Tempest Williams BS'79 MS'84. The essays range from fantastic stories told about the inland sea to attempts to exploit it for commercial gain, from exploration and emigration to recreation and resorts, and from the lake's ancient history to speculation about its future (2002; Utah State University Press, Logan, Utah 84322-7800; paper; $19.95).

4. In Being Chinese, Becoming Chinese American, Shehong Chen MA'87 PhD'97 "investigates how Chinese immigrants to the United States transformed themselves into Chinese Americans during the crucial period between 1911 and 1927." She describes the crystallization of four critical elements that made up the identity of a Chinese American in the years between 1916 and 1924: support for republicanism over the restoration of monarchy; a wish to preserve Confucianism and traditional Chinese culture; support for Christianity; and opposition to the Nationalist Party's alliance with the Soviet Union and cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party. Chen distinguishes the differences between being Chinese in the United States and being Chinese in the People's Republic of China, and documents how Chinese immigrants survived exclusion and discrimination, how they envisioned and maintained their Chinese identity, and how they succeeded in adapting to American society (2002; University of Illinois Press, Campaign, Ill. 61820; hard cover; $39.95).

5. Blessings on the Sheep Dog, a collection of stories by Gerda Saunders PhD'96, offers a look into the lives and emotions of a new generation of South African exiles and the moral dilemmas faced by the country. From the South African immigrant who confronts his apartheid past when he meets a Zulu dancer traveling with a circus in the United States to an American teenager who accidentally kills his best friend and is forced to help build the friend's coffin, Saunders creates images of lives bereft of simple joy. For Blessings..., she was awarded the Utah Arts Council 1998 Publication Prize. Saunders emigrated from South Africa to the United States in 1984 and became a U.S. citizen in 1992. She and her husband, Peter, live in Salt Lake City, and their two children have attended the U (2002; Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, Texas 75275-0415; hard cover; $19.95).

6. Dubbed "a fresh new voice in fiction circles," Peter Vance Orullian BA'91 has published his first book, At the Manger: The Stories of Those Who Were There. What began as a few short stories written for friends became a thoughtful and compelling Christmas tale and human-interest story. Inspirational stories are told through narrative, with Orullian creating answers to such questions as, what might have become of those who stood at the manger the night Jesus was born? Who were they and what were their stories? Through their individual trials, those who were present at the Nativity are woven into a fabric of mutual dependence and ultimate redemption. Orullian has had experience with book editing, writing for small publications, and presenting at writers' workshops. His second, third, and fourth novels are now ready for the press. He and his wife, Cathryn, live in the Pacific Northwest (2001; Descant Publishing, Mill Creek, Wash. 98208; hard cover; $16.95).

7. Using her background as a classically trained pianist and her experience in taking music to patients at Stanford Hospital, Maureen McCarthy Draper BA'63 has published The Nature of Music: Beauty, Sound, and Healing, which comes with a companion CD. Both explore the effect music has on the human emotions. Draper examines how music can lift a dark mood and soothe an anxious mind, how it can reveal healing powers at times of special need, and how it can counter the trauma of events such as surgery and radiation therapy. The book's "Listening Bibliography" provides specific titles that the author suggests will help with meditation and reflection, quickening of energy, studying and working, and creativity. She writes, "Without the presence of beauty and joy in our lives, we might not value life enough to preserve its quality. Truth clothed in music, words, and images has a greater capacity to move us." Draper presents music retreats for the Guild for Psychological Studies in San Francisco and in her home in the Santa Cruz mountains (2001; The Berkeley Publishing Group, New York, N.Y. 10014; paper; $14.00).

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