fall2017

58 / 60

54 / ’southern
ALUMNI
BOOKSHELF
BSC’s alumni authors write about
everything from history to science
ction to mixing cocktails. The
recently-published books listed here
are available at chain and independent
book stores and online retailers.
’66
Kendal Weaver
of Montgomery
published his
rst book,
Ten Stars: The
African American
Journey of Gary
Cooper—Marine General, Diplomat,
Businessman, and Politician. Published
by NewSouth Books, it is about the
life of a man born in the depths of
Jim Crow to an Alabama family that
challenged the rules of segregation.
This year, he gave a talk on the book
at the Jimmy Carter Presidential
Library in Atlanta. Last year, Weaver
received the Lifetime Achievement
Award from the Alabama Press
Association recognizing his work for
the Associated Press over a 40-year
career. He is the son of the late Dr.
O.C. Weaver Jr. ’35, former dean and
professor of philosophy and religion
at BSC.
’73
Academic Press
re-released Dr.
James Pagel’s rst
book The Limits
of Dream—A
Scienti c
Exploration of the
Mind/Brain Interface as a paperback
in 2016, and Springer published
the second edition of Primary Care
Sleep Medicine, of which Pagel
is the co-editor. His latest book,
Machine Dreaming and Consciousness,
co-authored with Philip Kirshtein,
came out this April. Published by
Academic Press, the book addresses
questions raised by the advent of
dreaming by arti cial intelligence
systems. Pagel is associate clinical
professor in the University of
Colorado Medical School System and
director of the Rocky Mountain Sleep
Study Center in Pueblo, Co.
’84
The Rev. Dr.
Russell J.
Levenson Jr. is the
author of several
articles in various
magazines and
religious journals
and four seasonal
devotional books: Autumn Leaves:
An Autumn Companion; Provoking
Thoughts: A Lenten Companion;
Summer Times: A Summer Companion;
and Preparing Room: An Advent
Companion. He also penned An
Advent Wreath Devotional for adults
and families, as well as a version just
for children. All of his books were
published by Insight Press. For 10
years, Levenson has served as rector
of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
in Houston, the largest Episcopal
Church in North America with
nearly 9,300 members. He received
his master of divinity from Virginia
Theological Seminary and doctor of
ministry from the Beeson Divinity
School at Samford University. He will
speak on campus Oct. 2 at 5 p.m. in
the Norton Theatre.
’86
Keith Parker’s
rst novel,
Madness Rising, is
a science ction
novel for young
adults. Published
independently
and exclusively to Kindle in 2016, the
story revolves around a girl whose life
is being ruined by a monster she hates
and the people she loves. Parker, who
resides in Huntsville, is on the senior
staff of the Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Lab; he works from
the lab’s eld of ce.
’89
Dr. Tondra
Loder-Jackson,
associate
professor of
the educational
foundations
program at
UAB, has published her rst book,
Schoolhouse Activists: African American
Educators and the Long Birmingham
Civil Rights Movement. Drawing on
multiple perspectives from education,
history, and sociology, she revisits
longstanding debates about whether
certain educators were friends or
foes of the civil rights movement.
The paperback was released by State
University of New York Press in 2016.
’92
Mobile author
Watt Key’s latest
book, Hideout,
is a young adult
novel of mystery
and adventure
set on the
Mississippi Coast. It was published
this year by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
’95
In 2016, Trio
House Books
published
Carolyn
Hembree’s
second poetry
collection,
Rigging a Chevy into a Time Machine
and Other Ways to Escape a Plague,
selected by Neil Shepard for the
2015 Trio Award and by Stephanie
Strickland for the 2015 Rochelle
Ratner Memorial Award. John Lavin
II ’96 directed and produced a video
trailer for the book. Hembree is an
assistant professor at the University
of New Orleans and serves as poetry
editor of Bayou, a literary magazine.
’97
Gin Phillips Ashe’s fth novel,
Fierce Kingdom—published this
summer by
Viking—is the
story of a mother
trying desperately
to protect her
young son when
their trip to the
zoo turns into a nightmare. The book
was reviewed favorably in the New
York Times and received a starred
review from Publisher’s Weekly. Ashe,
a resident of Birmingham, won the
Barnes & Noble Discover Award for
her rst novel, The Well and the Mine.
She worked as a magazine writer for
more than a decade, living in Ireland,
New York, and Washington D.C.
’00
Ursula Mastin
Bradley had two
books published
this year by the
Professional
Women Network:
Madam President:
How to Think and Act Like a Leader,
which she co-authored with 13
powerful women, and Forgiving
Father, which talks about the
importance of forgiveness. Bradley
is the founder of the Mastin Cancer
Foundation in Birmingham, formed
in memory of her father who died
of leukemia, and in honor of her
mother, a four-year breast cancer
survivor.
’13
Clair McLafferty’s
rst book, The
Classic & Craft
Cocktail Recipe
Book, was released
by Rockridge
Press this year. “I hope it will
help make cocktails accessible to
professional and home bartenders
alike,” said McLafferty, who resides
in Homewood. A columnist for
the digital publication The Bitter
Southerner, she is working on a video
series to complement the book—and
also digging into her second book
project.
CLASS NOTES
Want to share more books by BSC alumni? Find the Birmingham-Southern College group on the virtual bookshelf Goodreads and add your own published works.