Beacon Broadside

Beacon Buzz: How “Snob Zones” keep out affordable housing

Notable Mentions

Snob Zones: Fear, Prejudice, and Real Estate by Lisa Prevost

Lisa Prevost discussed "How Zoning Affects the Wealth Gap" with David Brancaccio on NPR's Marketplace Morning Report. 

“For a housing market, it’s always healthy to have a range of housing so that people can move up the ladder,” she says. “I grew up in New Hampshire and I remember when the small towns did have the bank president living the same place where the farm laborers did. We have lost a lot of that through suburbanization and as we see the deepening inequities between incomes, I think that’s reinforced by some of this zoning.” [Listen]

 

Write up on Connecticut Magazine’s blog

In four of the six New England states (excluding Maine and New Hampshire), the recent national "housing bust" hasn't reduced home prices enough to make the median-priced home affordable for the average household. According to the National Association of Realtors, only 25 percent of Americans want a home on an oversized lot, yet that type of housing accounts for 43 percent of the supply in New England. [Read the rest]

 

The Point, on Cape Cod’s NPR station, did a segment on narrative non-fiction with their host, a local librarian, and the Cape Cod Times book editor. They mention both Snob Zones and Dirt Work starting around the 24 minute mark. [Listen] Which leads us to...

 

 

Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods by Christine Byl 

National Parks Traveler review:

In her book, Ms. Byl recalls long days of clearing brush, digging ditches, building bridges, cleaning up after forest fires, and blasting snow. She learned how to use such unfamiliar tools as crosscut saws, pulaskis, and chainsaws. She grew accustomed to dealing with the harsh living conditions and injuries that are part of the job.

And, frankly, she learned how to cope in the backcountry, miles from the nearest restroom. Yes, Ms. Byl is not afraid to talk about "dropping her pants in the woods."

 

Listen to Christine Byl on Alaska Public Radio’s Talk of Alaska talking about her tools, her life in the woods, wildlife, and more. Especially great to hear her reading her meditation on the lynx. 

 

Take a quick look at what Christine carries in her backpack in this YouTube video:

 

 

Light Without Fire: The Making of America's First Muslim College by Scott Korb

Reviewed on Caffeinated Muslim 

Excerpt on Religion & Politics

 

Opportunity, Montana: Big Copper, Bad Water, and the Burial of an American Landscape by Brad Tyer

Review from the Billings Gazette: “an engaging, almost breathtaking bit of nonfiction.” 

 

The Land Grabbers: The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth by Fred Pearce

Fred Pearce was interviewed about The Land Grabbers for New Hampshire Public Radio’s Word Of Mouth

 

The Most Expensive Game in Town: The Rising Cost of Youth Sports and the Toll on Today's Families by Mark Hyman

Dave Zirin heaps praise on Mark Hyman and The Most Expensive Game in Town on his blog for The Nation.

  

 

Notable Mentions

Hunting Season: A Story of Home, Immigration, and Murder by Mirta Ojito (November)

"An account that is as unflinching as it is important.  Both an incisive reconstruction of a heartbreaking murder and an unsparing diagnosis of a national malady  . . . with HUNTING SEASON Ojito has done truth an invaluable service. Extraordinary." —Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

 

Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family by Susan Katz Miller (October)

A moving, personal story that opens new dimensions of life in general and religious life in particular that rise out of an interfaith family. Susan Katz Miller writes with the passion of experience and with the integrity of being authentic. Its insights moved me deeply.”—John Shelby Spong, author of The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic

Related articles

Connecting With Nature on Earth Day and Every Day

Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods

Snob Zones: Fear, Prejudice, and Real Estate

John K. Ross on Zoning

Beacon Buzz: Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks

Nell Irvin Painter reviews The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis for the New York Times Book Review

Richly informative, calmly passionate and much needed, “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks” completes the portrait of a working-class activist who looked poverty and discrimination squarely in the face and never stopped rebelling against them, in the segregated South and in the segregated North.

Author Jeanne Theoharis appeared this morning on Democracy Now! with Claudette Colvin, a civil-rights pioneer who was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat in Montgomery in March 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks. Jeanne discusses Claudette’s story in the context of her research into the local civil-rights movement at the time, and suggests Colvin’s case help set the stage for Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott. It’s a really special 35-minute interview.

Watch Jeanne Theoharis on Democracy Now!

 

 

Rashid Khalidi discussed Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East on Up with Chris Hayes on MSNBC.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

More recent coverage for Brokers of Deceit:

Op/Ed by Rashid Khalidi in the New York Times

Review in the American Conservative

Review in The National

Interview on Democracy Now!

Interview on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC

Review in Foreign Affairs

Harpers Six Questions with Scott Horton

NPR's Weekend Edition

Huffington Post Live

 

 

 

Opportunity, Montana: Big Copper, Bad Water, and the Burial of an American Landscape by Brad Tyer made this week's PW Tip Sheet: Best Books for the Week of March 25

Interview with Brad Tyer with the Missoulian

MakeitMissoula.com review: "Several times while reading the book, I had to just stop, sit back and admire a chunk of imagery crafted by a man who can just flat-out write. "  

Mountain West News review: "Montana needs a book like this. We need to remember the past. We need to be mindful of the present. We need to say thanks to all those who strife to do the right thing. We need more journalists like Brad Tyer to keep us humble."  

Events:

Country Bookshelf, Bozeman, MT, 3/30/2013

Hearst Free Library, Anaconda, MT, signing 4/3/2013

Butte Library, 4/4/2013, at 6:30 PM

The Montana Book Company, Helena, MT, 4/5/2013

Elk River Books, Livingston, MT, 4/6/2013

Shakespeare & Co. Missoula, MT 4/7/2013 7pm

Brazos Bookstore, Houston, TX, 4/11/2013, 7pm

Watch the Book Trailer on YouTube

 

 

Michael Bronski (A Queer History of the United States) was on HuffPost Live talking about marriage equality, DOMA, and the Supreme Court. Bronski was also quoted in an article on Huffington Post in the Gay Voices section 

Michael Bronski, the author of A Queer History of the United States and a Harvard professor, notes that sentimental arguments have become increasingly prevalent, and successful, in social movements over the last century. "Uncle Tom's Cabin was far more effective than quoting biblical texts or making a constitutional argument and abolitionist writings are filled with the tragedy of children being torn away from their mothers," Bronski said in an interview. "Suffragists mostly only used legal arguments but later, second wave feminism did better portraying a talented 12-year-old girl who wanted to play field hockey (or become a doctor) than in arguing for equal wages for female factory workers."

 

Outlaw Marriages by Rodger Streitmatter serves up a history lesson for the Supreme Court via this excellent post at Biographile:

While the Court mulls, however, we'd like to clear up some misunderstanding. Take the "recent" institution of gay marriage, as Justice Samuel Alito seems bent on calling it. Alito is trying to dissuade any major ruling on the grounds that evidence on the effects of same-sex marriage is too little, too soon: "You want us to step in and render a decision based on an assessment of the effects of this institution which is newer than cell phones and the internet?" he asked. "We do not have the ability to see the future."

Fortunately, we don't have to. We mere humans may not wear the robes of soothsayers (or Justices, for that matter), Mr. Alito, but we do have access to local libraries and the benefit of hindsight. While, yes, the formal institution of gay marriage is recent, author Rodger Streitmatter reminds us that gay folks have been resourcefully affirming their own versions of marriage for centuries. In fact, they've found ways of making it work with or without our questionably-gay-Uncle Sam's nodding approval.

 

My Mother's Wars by Lillian Faderman featured as part of a round-up of titles on the post-War Jewish American experience on Biographile.

My Mother's Wars is the memoir that Mary, a Latvian Jew and New York immigrant, “was never able to write.” Faderman shares her spirited mother’s story from life-altering experiences (the Nazi's brutal annihilation of Preil, the shetl where Mary was born) to mundane city moments.  Each are rendered with poetry and frankness. Beginning in 1914, Faderman chronicles Mary’s futile love affair with commitment-phobic Moishe, the wrenching isolation of immigration and the insidious backdrop of antisemitism. Mary may not have been able to tell her story, but it’s testament to her incredible life that her daughter did it for her.

 

What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine by Danielle Ofri

Kirkus Reviews: “An invaluable guide for doctors and patients on how to ‘recognize and navigate the emotional subtexts’ of the doctor-patient relationship.” 

 

Upcoming Author Appearances:

• David D. Burstein at NYU bookstore
  When: Tue Apr 2, 2013 6pm to Tue Apr 2, 2013 9pm  EDT Where: New York University
• Rashid Khalidi at the Politics & Prose Bookstore
  When: Fri Apr 5, 2013 7pm to Fri Apr 5, 2013 10pm  EDT Where: Politics & Prose Bookstore 
• Rashid Khalid, Keynote Speaker for Historians Against War National Conference
  When: Sat Apr 6, 2013 1pm to 4pm  EDT Where: Towson University
• Rashid Khalidi at Temple University
  When: Mon Apr 8, 2013 4pm to 7pm  EDT Where: Public History at Temple University 
• Lillian Faderman at the Sandwich Newcomers Club
  When: Tue Apr 9, 2013 7pm to Tue Apr 9, 2013 10pm  EDT Where: Newcomers Club, Sandwich 

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Historical Beacon Buzz: Langston Hughes reviews James Baldwin

Historical Beacon Buzz: Langston Hughes reviews James Baldwin

Fifty-Five Years Ago Today...

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

Yes, this publicity hit is from February 26, 1958, but we didn't have a blog (much less the not-to-be-missed Beacon Buzz report) back then ... The New York Times published this review of James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son, written by Langston Hughes.

James Baldwin writes down to nobody, and he is trying very hard to write up to himself. As an essayist he is thought-provoking, tantalizing, irritating, abusing and amusing. And he uses words as the sea uses waves, to flow and beat, advance and retreat, rise and take a bow in disappearing. 

Read Edward P. Jones' introduction to our new edition of Notes of a Native Son on Scribd.

You can get a copy of our new edition of Notes of a Native Son (or any other African American Studies title) for 20% off and free shipping if you order with code FEB2013. Check out the details of our Black History Month Sale at Beacon.org.

Recent Notable Mentions

Into Great Silence: A Memoir of Discovery and Loss among Vanishing Orcas by Eva Saulitis

OnEarth magazine’s profile of Eva Saulitis, titled, “The Woman Who Loves Orcas” made the cover of their Spring 13 issue.

She had heard killer whales before, but this was "something other." Communicating across great distances, they would caterwaul in long, siren-like cries, turned up at the end as if they were questions. "This was a voice at once strident and mournful," she writes in her memoir, "a strange hybrid instrument, part trumpet, part oboe, part elephant, part foghorn. And loud." But when the lone scouts were joined by more members of their group, the calls changed to "upswept squawks punctuated by silence; bangs and cracks, like axe blows against one-by planks, some we could attribute to fluke slaps, and some not. Now and then a syncopated blast of echolocation, like automatic gunfire." [Read More]

 

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman

Q&A with Chris Stedman on BuzzFeed.

 

Divided we Fail: The Story of an African American Community that Ended the Era of School Desegregation by Sarah Garland

C-SPAN/Book TV aired their “After Words” episode with Sarah Garland interviewed by Marc Lamont.

 

Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaping Our World by David D. Burstein

Write-up of Burstein’s Politics and Prose event.

“Sick of getting a bum rap? Millenials fight back.” David Burstein on MSNBC’s The Cycle.

Interview on The Diane Rehm Show in a panel discussion titled “What It Means to be a Millennial.”

Excerpt, “Millenials Will Save Us,” on Salon.com. 

“A Very Fast Future,” online at Forbes:

“FAST FUTURE is a fantastic read for anyone who is curious about the mindset and perspective that the Millennial generation is bringing to their businesses, their politics, and their personal lives. Millennials will continue to shape that world as their ranks elevate to higher levels in corporations and governments and, if FAST FUTURE is any indication, they’ll not be shy about letting you know that they’ve arrived.” [Read More]

 

Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe by Gayle Wald

Watch author Gayle Wald and be amazed by the extraordinary guitar playing of “Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock & Roll” on the PBS American Masters website.

Excerpt from Shout, Sister, Shout! featured on Scribd’s homepage in their “Best of the Day” section.

Enter to win a copy of Shout, Sister, Shout! on Beacon.org

 

“In a Single Garment of Destiny”: A Global Vision of Justice by Martin Luther King, Jr.

An excerpt, “Racism and the World House” is now online at Yes! Magazine.  

 

Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury after War by Rita Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini

Featured in a Chicago Tribune column by Robert Koehler:

This remarkable book, published in 2012, takes a long, hard look at the dehumanizing effects of war, through the experiences of a number of vets from various wars (Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan) who share their suffering -- and bare their souls -- to the authors.

"Soul Repair" is an assault on the mythology and public relations of war, on the default setting of nationhood, that: "We sleep comfortably in our beds at night because violent men do violence on our behalf." No matter how many lies are at the foundation of a given war, no matter how disastrously unnecessary and destructive it turns out to be in retrospect -- oops -- the myth of war is ever-unsullied: This time the danger is really there. This time it's crucial that we carpet bomb civilians, then send in our boys and girls to clean out the enemy insurgents. This time it's really for democracy and the American Dream and a good night's sleep.

 

Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence by Geoffrey Canada

On the Freakonomics podcast, Steve Levitt calls Fist Stick Knife Gun: “one of the best books I’ve ever read in my life. I urge people to go and find it. It’s fantastically insightful.”

 

Coming Soon

Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods by Christine Byl

Library Journal review: “This is no Walden: each chapter begins with a meditation on a tool, including an axe, rock bar, chainsaw, and skid steer... Byl’s writing is superb and doesn’t romanticize her dirty work.”

 

What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine by Danielle Ofri

“Here is a book that is at once sad and joyful, frightening and thought-provoking.  In her lucid and passionate explanations of the important role that emotions play in the practice of medicine and in healing and health, Danielle Ofri tells stories of great importance to both doctors and patients.” Perri Klass, author of Treatment Kind and Fair: Letters to a Young Doctor

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Beacon Buzz: Prairie Silence, women in the military, and more!

Beacon Buzz: Our Books Feel the Love

Notable Mentions

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis

This Valentine's Day, people are expressing their love for Rosa Parks and this long-overdue biography of her surprisingly radical life.

“Historian Theoharis offers a complex portrait of a forceful, determined woman who had long been active before the boycott she inspired and who had an even longer career in civil rights afterward.” Booklist

"Even though her refusal to give up her bus seat sparked a revolution, Rosa Parks was no accidental heroine. She was born to it, and Theoharis ably shows us how and why." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"Theoharis succeeds here in doing what the best history books always do: challenging what we thought we knew, replacing fables with flesh and blood." Kate Tuttle, The Boston Globe

One of O Magazine's Must-Read books for February.

The Detroit Free Press ran a substantial profile of Parks on her 100th birthday. Check out the piece for some amazing images of Parks and insights about her life, particularly the time she spent in Detroit.

"The myth of the simple seamstress took on a life of its own," Theoharis said. It became part of a kind of romanticizing of the civil rights movement, that has stifled it, she said. "If she is going to be used to tell the story of American history, we need to tell the whole story."

People need to know, Theoharis said, "how undaunted she was, and how fearless she was, and how she kept on keeping on." [Read More]

Interview with Gwen Ifill on PBS Newshour. Ifill's blog post about the interview said of Theoharis: 

But it is Jeanne Theoharis who has made the greatest contribution to our annual, ritual observance of Black History Month. She has revealed a story clouded by myth, conflict and fictional retellings. In the process, she has given us a valuable framework for understanding the present and the future.

 

Fast Future: Millennial Generation Is Shaping Our World by David D. Burstein

Burstein and Fast Future are featured in an article for the March issue of Glamour Magazine about young “deservers” in the workplace.

Interview with The Fiscal Times: "Why Millennials Are Generational Game Changers."

Their values are shifting. It's less about how we maximize profit and more about how we maximize happiness. Fewer millenials are homeowners, married and have children compared to our elders. People have an appreciation not for the institution of marriage, but for being with people they love. They're finding a sense of belonging and adulthood not in home ownership but in community.

Burstein spoke on HuffPost Live about the new study that says millenials are the most stressed out generation.

"An inspiring look at what the millennial generation is doing in America." Kirkus Reviews

 

Dispatches from the Abortion Wars: The Costs of Fanaticism to Doctors, Patients, and the Rest of Us by Carole Joffe

Carole Joffe has appeared on these pages many times. Read her in longer form in the newest issue of Dissent, which is devoted to the New Feminism. Her piece is titled, "Roe v. Wade and Beyond: Forty Years of Legal Abortion in the United States," and in it she looks at the challenges and triumphs of the age of legal abortion.

In the face of such hostility, one can ask, why does anyone keep doing this work? In simplest terms, the social movement opposing abortion has helped create a counter-movement of physicians (today, mainly women) who view their work as a “mission” and not just a medical subspecialty. Interviews I have conducted over many years with this community reveal how deeply meaningful many clinicians (and their office staff) find this work, the obvious drawbacks notwithstanding. Many have spoken of the satisfaction of being able to help a woman solve a crisis at a particularly vulnerable time in her life. As one physician said to me, “You ask how I can do this work? For me, the question is, how could I not?” [Read more]

 

Coming Soon

Wrapped in the Flag: A Personal History of America's Radical Right by Claire Connor: Publishers Weekly selected Wrapped in the Flag one of its “Top 10: Politics” books in their spring announcements issue.

Snob Zones: Fear, Prejudice, and Real Estate by Lisa Prevost: Kirkus Reviews on Mar 1: “Moves the argument well past simple “not in my backyard” sentiments… Makes the issue interesting on a number of levels, taking the argument beyond property values into the essential notion of what a community is and what might benefit it.”

My Mother’s Wars by Lillian Faderman: Booklist review Mar 1 issue: “As Faderman vividly chronicles her mother’s intense personality and complex experiences, she also freshly illuminates the Jewish immigrant experience.”

 

Watch This

Jeanne Theoharis (The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks) on PBS NewsHour

David D. Burstein (Fast Future) on HuffPo Live

 

Related articles

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Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation is Shaping Our World

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks

Happy 100th Birthday to Rosa Parks

Gwen's Take: Happy 100th Birthday, Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was about more than a bus, and a seat

Beacon Buzz: Prairie Silence, women in the military, and more!

Notable Mentions

Prairie Silence: A Memoir by Melanie Hoffert

An essay by Melanie Hoffert in Huffington Post Religion: "The Reason Nice Wyoming Knights of Columbus Members Terrify Me"

"Grandpa wants you honey." This is my mom now, coming up the stairs and repeating his wish. I take a deep breath, grab a coffee pot and descend slowly. When I hit the bottom stair, Grandpa motions me near and uses all of his energy to force, in a barely audible voice, these words: "This is my granddaughter, the one who wrote a book."

The book. My book. My soon-to-be published memoir. I become light headed as I feel the eyes of the praying, faithful, God-centered men on me. And while I should beam from Grandpa's pride, I don't. Instead, I pretend I don't hear him. I move into the circle of men, pour coffee and speak loudly about nothing before they can ask me questions. I do this because my book is about the thing I have learned does not go with religion: me. And to talk about my book would reveal what I believe they will reject: gay. In his weakened state Grandpa can't compete with my flurry of distraction, so he closes his eyes and fades away. 

A feature in the Grand Forks Herald explores Hoffert's life in North Dakota, her writing process, and coming out in a small town. 

Listen to the author on Hear It Now/Prairie Public Radio.

 

The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq by Helen Benedict

Helen Benedict wrote this op-ed about the end of the ban on women in ground combat:

The Pentagon's announcement this week that it will lift the ban on women in ground combat positions is welcome news to many of those who value equal rights. But it is also an urgent reminder that sexual assault remains a blight on our armed forces that only constant, sincere efforts will erase.

As a writer who has been interviewing female veterans for many years, I have long argued that lifting the ground combat ban would help military women win the respect they deserve. As long as women were officially prohibited from engaging in that essential act of a soldier - fighting - they were seen as second-class. And that has contributed to the violence, predation, and harassment so many military women endure.

The ground combat barrier is gone now, but the attitudes that sprung from it will not disappear so easily. Plenty of military men will decry this decision and resent the women who wish to fight by their sides. Some will be angered, insisting that their female comrades endanger them - an assertion often made but never demonstrated. And some will express their anger with violence. [Read the rest here]

Helen Benedict was also quoted in these articles about the lifting of the combat ban and ROTC on campus at Columbia, and she was the recipient of the Ida B. Wells award for Bravery in Journalism. 

Benedict appears in the Oscar-nominated documentary The Invisible War. 

 

Divided we Fail: The Story of an African American Community that Ended the Era of School Desegregation by Sarah Garland

Seattle Times review:

Journalist Sarah Garland grew up in Louisville. Day after day, she left her mostly Caucasian suburban neighborhood on a school bus taking her to a mostly African-American neighborhood, where she became a student in a racial minority. Her experience long ago played a role in her decision to write “Divided We Fail,” which covers the case that found its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. So did the experience of Garland’s grandmother, an Oklahoma teacher who volunteered to join the initial group of Caucasian educators transferred to an all African-American school, where she remained until retirement. Garland relates how her own mother became a social worker splitting time between a mostly African-American school and a mostly Caucasian school in Louisville. Garland’s mother “witnessed firsthand the upheaval and violence that busing wrought in its early years.”

 

Family Pride: What LGBT Families Should Know about Navigating Home, School, and Safety in Their Neighborhoods by Michael Shelton

Philadelphia Weekly blog PhillyNow Q&A with author Michael Shelton

 

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman

“Commentary” by Chris posted on Advocate.com

Interview with NPR's Interfaith Voices

Montana State University's newspaper, Exponent, produced a video about Stedman’s recent visit to the school

 

 

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Notable Mentions

Prairie Silence: A Memoir by Melanie Hoffert

Minneapolis Star Tribune review: "Hoffert's bittersweet and compelling memoir recalls her struggles at ending her silence and creating a fuller life for herself.”

St. Paul Pioneer Press review: “ ‘Over the last ten years I have been trying to resolve a seemingly simple dilemma: how to tell the state of North Dakota that I am gay.’ That's the heart of this involving memoir by a woman who grew up on a farm near Wyndmere, N.D.”

Kirkus Reviews: “The author's mostly quiet narrative includes a wealth of haunting images and ideas that will linger long after the last sentence.”

MinnPost: “Melanie Hoffert Writes Her Way Back to North Dakota”

Interview on WUWM’s Lake Effect (Milwaukee)

Writers Cast interview

Shelf Awareness trailer of the day

 

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman

CNN’s Belief blog: “’Atheist’ Isn’t a Dirty Word”

 

Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal by Jack Halberstam

Popmatters review: “Welcome to the Gagapocalypse”

 

Fanpire: The Twilight Saga and the Women Who Love It by Tanya Erzen

Religion Dispatches review: "With the release of its final film, Twilight is already being emptied of its religious significance. But it will always have boys without shirts."  

 

The Lonely Solider: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq by Helen Benedict

OSCAR NOMINATION FOR THE INVISIBLE WAR, a documentary film inspired in part by Benedict's journalism. 

Benedict received the Ida B. Wells Award for Bravery in Journalism from Women’s eNews

Benedict nominated for Womens eNews 21 Leaders for the 21^st Century

 

 

 

Coming Soon

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis

Library Journal review Jan 2013: “Verdict: This meticulously researched book is for everyone; advanced middle school and beyond.”

 

Snob Zones: Fear, Prejudice, and Real Estate by Lisa Prevost

“In Snob Zones, Lisa Prevost elegantly reveals the senselessness of NIMBYism, and the myriad ways in which affluent communities, in the name of self interest, harm themselves and American society. A must-read for people who give a damn and want to gain insights on how we can do better, for ourselves and our children.” -- Sheryll Cashin, author of The Failures of Integration

 

Divided we Fail: The Story of an African American Community that Ended the Era of School Desegregation by Sarah Garland       

Booklist review: “a compelling look at the complexities of race and class in the continued struggle for racial parity and high-quality education.”

  

Light Without Fire: The Making of America's First Muslim College by Scott Korb

“With the warm generosity of an attentive host, and the critical yet respectful eye of a keen journalist, Scott Korb has given us an entertaining and illuminating look into the nation’s first Muslim college.”
—Wajahat Ali, author of The Domestic Crusaders and lead author of the investigative report “Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America”

“A moving portrait of a little known but hugely significant coordinate in America’s spiritual geography. For this journey into the heart of 21st-century Islam, Scott Korb is the perfect companion—not just a tour guide with ready answers to any question, but a fellow pilgrim leading the way to deeper understanding. Light Without Fire is at once a fascinating account of Muslims living their faith in the US, and a universal story of the call to make tradition new.”
—Peter Manseau, author of Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter

 

 

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On Tour

Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade by Thomas Norman DeWolf and Sharon Leslie Morgan

An interview with authors DeWolf and Morgan on NPR’s Tell Me More aired Christmas Day.

The authors begin the West Coast leg of their tour this weekend. The entire month of January, they’ll be making appearances in Washington, Oregon, California, and Colorado. Check out their website for more info.

SEATTLE, WA: January 6, 2013, 2:00pm: Northwest African American Museum.
2300 South Massachusetts St., Seattle, WA; sponsored by New Legacy Puget Sound. Book sales by Elliott Bay Book Company. 

ELLENSBERG, WA: January 8, 2013, 7:00pm: Central Washington University. 

PULLMAN, WA: January 10, 2013, 7:00pm: Washington State University.

REDMOND, OR: January 11, 2013, 6:30pm: Paulina Springs Books.

SISTERS, OR: January 12, 2013, 6:30pm: Paulina Springs Books.

PORTLAND, OR: January 13, 2013, 7:30pm: Powell’s Books.

PORTLAND, OR: January 14, 2013, 12:00 noon: The Portland Building. Sponsored by DEEP (Diverse and Empowered Employees of Portland)

BEND, OR: January 15, 2013, 6:30pm: Bend’s Community Center 1036 NE 5th Street.

BERKELY, CA: January 18, 2013, 4:00pm: University of California at Berkeley.
Chevron Auditorium, International House. Sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Equity & Inclusion.

WALNUT CREEK, CA: January 19, 2013, 2:00pm: Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church. Co-sponsored by the Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: January 20, 2013, 2:00pm: Museum of the African Diaspora.

PASADENA, CA: January 23, 2013, 5:00pm: La Pintoresca Library.

SANTA MONICA, CA: January 25, 2013, 7:00pm: location in Santa Monica TBA: sponsored by CARE/Multicultural Healing.

POMONA, CA: January 26, 2013: 2:00pm: Pomona First Christian Church.

DENVER, CO: January 29, 2013: 7:00pm: University of Denver.

DENVER, CO: January 30, 2013: 6:30, meet the authors; 7:00 program begins: Park Hill United Methodist Church. The evening program will open with a performance by Sankofa, an ensemble of the Spirituals Project Choir.

 

Notable Appearances & Mentions

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman

These are just the highlights. Faitheist has been everywhere recently! Check out his website or follow him on Twitter to keep up to date.

The Melissa Harris-Perry Show/MSNBC (MSNBC also published a piece by Chris on their website. “In the Wake of Newtown, Why Blame Atheists?”

Utne Reader review in January/February issue.

Interview with Amy Goetzman at Minnpost.com books: “As I read your book, at several places I was struck by how brave you are.”

A playlist on Largeheartedboy from Chris about music that relates the book.

A post by Chris on Patheos about reactions to Faitheist.

 

 

Best of 2012

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

PW’s year end round up included this article by Robert Atwan on the 10 best essays written since 1950. “Notes of a Native Son” is #1.

Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Titles for 2012: 

Let the Students Speak!: A History of the Fight for Free Expression in American Schools by David L. Hudson 

Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition by Dan McKanan 

 

The Land Grabbers: The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth by Fred Pearce

Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek best books of 2012

 

A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today by Kate Bornstein

Washington Blade’s roundup of 2012’s best LGBT books

 

Coming Soon

Into Great Silence by Eva Saulitis (Jan. 15)

Booklist review, Jan 01: “Saulitis’ stunning and sorrowful ‘book of contemplation’ elucidates the discipline, tedium, danger, and bliss of whale studies… Candid, transfixing, and cautionary, Saulitis celebrates and mourns for a wondrous and imperiled species.” 

 

Intensive Care: A Doctor’s Journey by Danielle Ofri (March 05)

New York Times op-ed: "Labs, Washed Away"

 

 

Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East by Rashid Khalidi (March 12)

Kirkus Reviews in print (Jan. 15) and online (Jan. 01): “in sharp, take-no-prisoners prose, Khalidi maintains that the U.S. and Israel… have conspired to deny Palestinians any semblance of self-determination.  A stinging indictment of one-sided policymaking destined, if undisturbed, to result in even greater violence.”

“Drawing on his own experience as a Palestinian negotiator and recently released documents, Rashid Khalidi mounts a frontal attack on the myths and misconceptions that have come to surround America’s role in the so-called “peace process” which is all process and no peace. The title is not too strong:  the book demonstrates conclusively that far from serving as an honest broker, the US continues to act as Israel’s lawyer – with dire consequences for its own interests, for the Palestinians, and for the entire region. Professor Khalidi deserves much credit for his superb exposition of the fatal gap between the rhetoric and reality of American diplomacy on this critically important issue.” —Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at Oxford and author of The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World.

 

Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods by Christine Byl (April 16)

"Every denizen of wild places from Laotse to St. Francis to Rachel Carson to black bears to field mice has depended upon trails. But rarely have we considered the people, tools, or toil that lay our favorite trails down. Dirt Work is a spectacular correction of this omission. Imbued with a tough-minded, ribald reverence for honest labor that brings to mind a female Gary Snyder or Wendell Berry (if you can imagine that!), Christine Byl does epic justice to the whole-bodied satisfactions that come of staying out in the weather, staying alert, and working one’s ass off for others with love, tenacity and skill."  --David James Duncan, author of The River Why and Sun House.

“Christine Byl has been summering on trail crews for more than a decade and a half. A first-rate storyteller, she details the techniques and tools, and the spirit of fellowship and feel of the woods. If you love getting into the back country, or even if you're an armchair backpacker as I am now at age eighty, you'll love Dirt Work.”    --William Kittredge, author of Hole in the Sky and The Nature of Generosity

“Byl’s is not a world of groomed nature, inert tools, or nostalgic rituals, but a vibrant landscape inhabited by people and animals and layered by idea and history. She means this book as a love song, she writes, and it is, not only from her to her fellow laborers, but from the mind to the body, the hand to the tool, the human to the wild.” —Sherry Simpson, author of The Accidental Explorer: Wayfinding in Alaska

 

Related articles

Faitheist aims to aid others

In wake of Newtown shooting, why blame atheists?

Beacon Buzz: Moral Injury, Faitheist, and the Get Bitten blog tour

Interview with a Faitheist

Beacon Buzz: "A writer of uncommon, bracing eloquence."

Chris Stedman - Faitheist : How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious

Beacon Buzz: Holiday Sale, Great TEDx talks

Order any book at Beacon.org (including the ones featured in our Buzz Report below) by December 31st and receive 20% off your order and free standard shipping.* And orders of $75 or more will receive a free King Legacy Series tote bag. 

Plus, Beacon Press will donate 15% of total sales to the Teachers College Literacy Lifeboats Initiative. Use Promo Code GIFT20 at checkout.

*Due to the increased volume of mail shipping during the holiday season, we cannot guarantee orders submitted after December 13 will arrive by December 24. If you would like to ensure your package arrives by that date, we offer paid shipping options via UPS. A 15% donation from each sale using promo code GIFT20 will be given to the Teacher's College Literacy Lifeboats Initiative to aid those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Must Watch

Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America by Eboo Patel

Eboo Patel spoke at TEDx Women in Washington DC about his grandmother, Dorothy Day, and his growth as an interfaith activist. 

 

 

 

 

Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses, by Stacy Mitchell

Stacy Mitchell spoke at TEDx Dirigo on “Why We Can’t Shop Our Way to a Better Economy.”

 

I Told You So, by Kate Clinton

Kate Clinton talks about her job as a lesbian feminist comic and how humor gets us through the most discouraging of times at TEDx Women.

 

 

Notable Mentions

The $60,000 Dog: My Life With Animals, by Lauren Slater

Wisconsin Public Radio's Joy Cardin Show, Nov. 30, live by phone.

ELLE magazine’s December issue: “A thoughtful memoir unravels the depth of our animal attachments.”

 

 

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious, by Chris Stedman

Minneapolis Star Tribune review: “ [an] enlightening and engaging memoir.”

Skeptic blog write-up:  

Atheism is actually not a duopoly of firebrands and diplomats. These two types of evangelists no more describe “both kinds” of atheist than “country and western” describes “both kinds” of music.

Stedman explicitly rejects “the demise of religion”—that is not a goal he shares. He also rejects the firebrands versus diplomats dichotomy. “I believe how pushy should we be? is the wrong question,” he writes. The better question is how do we make the world a better place?

 

Before They’re Gone: A Family's Year-Long Quest to Explore America's Most Endangered National Parks, by Michael Lanza

2012 National Outdoor Book Awards NOBA Honorable Mention for Outdoor Literature. 

 

A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings, by Martin Luther King, Jr, Coretta Scott King, and Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock 

Beliefnet ran an excerpt, “Loving Your Enemies.”

Upheaval after upheaval has reminded us that modern man is traveling along a road called hate, in a journey that will bring us to destruction and damnation. Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, the command to love one’s enemy is an absolute necessity for our survival. Love even for enemies is the key to the solution of the problems of our world. Jesus is not an impractical idealist: he is the practical realist.

 

Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury after War, by Rita Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini 

Two great radio interviews with Rita Brock: Northern Spirit Radio and KPCC Take Two (interview highlights and book excerpt online at KPCC) 

Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis, by Cynthia Barnett

Barnett was interviewed for a Marketplace story on a water desalination plan for San Diego.

Educational Courage: Resisting the Ambush on Public Education, by Mara Sapon-Shevin and Nancy Schniedewind

Poughkeepsie Journal: “In “Educational Courage,” veteran educators and activists Schniedewind and Mara Sapon-Shevin bring together the voices of those resisting market-driven initiatives such as high-stakes testing, charter schools, mayoral control and merit pay.”

 

Coming Soon

Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East, by Rashid Khalidi (March 12, 2013)

Foreign Policy post by Khalidi, Nov. 29: “Obama’s Three Options”

Advance praise for Brokers of Deceit:

"Khalidi has combined history, common sense and his first-hand understanding of arab-israeli peace talks, as brokered by Washington, to make the case that American national security interests would be best served by a just peace in the Middle East.  Instead, he write with great sadness, Washington's efforts to be a honest broker fall "somewhere between high irony and farce" --and puts democratic America, with its avowed commitment to freedom for all, in the position of enabling the continued subjugation of the Palestine people.  This is an important book." --Seymour M. Hersh, the New Yorker; Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

 

Related articles

A story of educational courage

Holiday Sale: 20% off and free shipping, plus support a good cause

Beacon Buzz: Melissa Harris-Perry talks racial reconciliation with the authors of Gather at the Table

Beacon Buzz: "A writer of uncommon, bracing eloquence."

500th and Final 2012 Election Tweet from @ElinorLipman!

Beacon Buzz: "A writer of uncommon, bracing eloquence."

Praise for The $60,000 Dog

The $60,000 Dog: My Life With Animals by Lauren Slater

Enter to win a signed copy of the book at Beacon.org

Laura Miller reviewed The $60,000 Dog at Salon.com: “Because Slater is willing to take the personal essay to unsettling places and because she is a writer of uncommon, bracing eloquence, the beauty of her work can sometimes blindside her reader. But it’s precisely this wallop that makes her perpetually worth reading.” (Salon.com also posted an excerpt earlier this month).

Boston Globe also ran a favorable review: “Edgy, revelatory, disturbing, and beautifully written, Lauren Slater’s The $60,000 Dog is too unsentimental and idiosyncratic in structure to be lumped in with more traditional animal books.”

Boston Phoenix write-up in advance of Brookline Booksmith author event.

The Bookworm Sez post in the Clermont Sun.

 

Faitheist Roundup

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman 

Andrew Sullivan's blog on The Daily Beast on Nov 11 quotes from a previous Chris Stedman interview; Andrew Sullivan The Daily Beast

Religion Dispatches Q&A with Chris Stedman (picked up by the Washington Post On Faith blog)

The Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota) feature on Chris Stedman and Faitheist Nov 24 (his upcoming Twin Cities appearances are listed at article’s end).

Upcoming Events:

Nov 27, 7 PM
Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT
Speech, reception, and signing
Marquand Chapel
Sponsored by Open Party, Chaplain's Office, Yale Humanist Society, Bridges, and Yale Divinity Student Book Supply

Nov 28, 2 PM
Lincoln School for Girls, Providence, RI
Assembly speech
EEH Music Center

Nov 28, 7 PM
Bryant University, Providence, RI
Speech and signing
Bryant Interfaith Center
Co-sponsored by Humanists of Rhode Island, and Bryant University's Literary and Cultural Studies, History and Social Sciences, Applied Psychology, the Women’s Center, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Interfaith Center
More information

Nov 29, 7 PM
Subtext, St. Paul, MN
Reading and signing
More information

Nov 30, 7:30 PM
Magers & Quinn, Minneapolis, MN
Reading and signing
More information

Dec 2, 6 PM
Concordia College, Moorhead, MN
Speech and signing
Sponsored by Secular Student Community (SSC), Straight and Gay Alliance (SAGA), Concordia Better Together, Mathetai, and the Forum on Faith and Life
More information

Dec 3, 4 PM
University of Minnesota Bookstore, Minneapolis, MN
Reading and signing
More information

Dec 6, time TBD
Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
Speech, workshops, and signing

Dec 14, 7 PM
Center For Inquiry Transnational Headquarters
Speech
1310 Sweet Home Road Amherst, NY 14228

 

Notable Mentions

“They’re Bankrupting Us!” And 20 Other Myths About Unions by Bill Fletcher, Jr.

Daily Kos review Nov 11: “There's an immense amount to appreciate in these sophisticated discussions of 21 myths about unions.” The link was reposted by:

Mark Allan’s blog; Mark My Words          

I4U News; I4U.com

Politifreak; Politifreak

Politomix; Politomix

Liberal Roundup; Liberal Roundup

 

Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury after War by Rita Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini

Soul Repair co-author Rita Brock was on NPR’s Talk of the Nation on November 21^st. She was interviewed alongside Dr. Jonathan Shay and former marine Tyler Boudreau. 

Rita Brock was also interviewed on Interfaith Voices on DC’s WAMU and Think on KERA in Dallas.

The Huffington Post's religion page ran a post by Gabriella Lettini on Nov 12 (Veteran’s Day)

 

A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today by Kate Bornstein

 East Bay Express review and inclusion in the “Books We Love in 2012” roundup:

“Bornstein injects humor and love into the memoir of her life, and you'll walk away richer for having known this amazing person, even if only on paper.” 

Huffington Post named Kate Bornstein one of top 50 transgender icons. 

 

Educational Courage: Resisting the Ambush of Public Education edited by Nancy Schniedewind & Mara Sapon-Shevin

The Washington Post Answer Sheet blog ran an excerpt from the book about a group of New York City teachers taking a stand against standardized testing. 

 

Coming Soon:

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis (Jan. 29, 2013)

Publishers Weekly  review Nov. 12: “Theoharis submits a lavishly well-documented study of Parks’s life and career as an activist.”

Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East by Rashid Khalidi (March 12, 2013) 

“What has happened to the Palestinian people since 1948 is one of the great crimes of modern history. Of course, Israel bears primary responsibility for this tragedy. However, as Rashid Khalidi shows in his smart new book, American presidents from Truman to Obama have sided with Israel at almost every turn and helped it inflict immense pain and humiliation on the Palestinians. At the same time, they have employed high-sounding but dishonest rhetoric to cover up Israel's brutal behavior. As Brokers of Deceit makes clear, the United States richly deserves to be called ‘Israel's lawyer.’” - John J. Mearsheimer, coauthor of The Israel Lobby

Hunting Season: A Story of Home, Immigration, and Murder by Mirta Ojito (Nov 05, 2013)

"With the hyperbolic rhetoric of immigration spewing from every medium, we forget that there are dreams on either side of the divide that has cleaved United States society and threatens our sense of self. Respected journalist Mirta Ojito writes about immigration from the perspective of those who have lived it: from the Italian descendant Mayor of Patchogue to a naturalized waiter from Colombia, from undocumented Ecuadorean laborers to teenagers pumped on adrenaline with not enough to do on a fall night--to heartbroken parents in two continents.  This is an important book. I couldn't put it down." - Esmeralda Santiago, author of When I was Puerto Rican and Conquistadora.

 

Beacon Buzz: Moral Injury, Faitheist, and the Get Bitten blog tour

Repairing the Spiritual Damage of War:

Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury After War by Rev. Rita Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini, PhD.

A Veteran's Day post by Gabriella Lettini at Huffington Post looks at the concept of Moral Injury as a wound of war: 

War does not end when peace is declared and the troops come home. It continues to affect the bodies, psyches, souls, lands and communities of everyone involved. War's tragic legacy passes on from generation to generation, more dangerously so when it is ignored and left unattended.

More about Soul Repair:

Publishers Weekly review: "eloquent and unflinching discourse on war's problematic moral core." 

Excerpt on BeliefNet

Rev. Rita Nakashima Brock interviewed on Interfaith Voices 

 

Faitheist is Everywhere:

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman

Since there are far too many links to post, here are a few highlights of media and mentions for Chris Stedman and Faitheist:

Christian Century review posted online November 2
Starred review in Booklist: "Stedman’s story is motivational, his thoughts on interreligious dialogue insightful, and in this short memoir, he proves himself an activist in the truest sense and one to watch."

Religion and Ethics Newsweekly segment on atheism, humanism, and the religiously unaffiliated.

State of Belief interview with Rev. Walton Gaddy

"Why I'm Proud to Work With a Faitheist" on Patheos.com

Salon.com excerpt

Edge Online November 2 feature 

On Being Both exploration of interfaith issues.

 

Fanpire Blog Tour:

Fanpire: The Twilight Saga and the Women Who Love It by Tanya Erzen

Fanpire took a bite out of the blogosphere last week with the Get Bitten blog tour:

Excerpt from the Introduction on the IndieWire blog Women and Hollywood

Guest post by Tanya Erzen at Feminism and Religion

Guest post by Tanya Erzen at Bitch Flicks

A look at Fanpire and the Twilight phenomenon at Fang-tastic Books

Guest post by Tanya Erzen at Everyday Sociology Blog

 

Coming Soon:

The $60,000 Dog: My Life With Animals by Lauren Slater

Excerpt posted at Salon.com

Powells.com Q&A with Lauren Slater;  

My Mother’s Wars by Lillian Faderman

“My Mother’s Wars tells the aching story of immigrant factory workers in the decades preceding World War II -- sad lives made sadder by the terrified knowledge that their families in Europe are being extinguished.  The book is part memoir, part reconstruction … and all artistry.” —Edith Pearlman, author of Binocular Vision

Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaping Our World by David D. Burstein

Kirkus Reviews in print (Dec 1) and online (Nov 12): “An inspiring look at what the millennial generation is doing in America.”

“With careful research and thoughtful observation, David Burstein holds a mirror up to his own generation and tries to help all of us better understand who they are, what matters to them, and how they may shape the future. Everyone who is fascinated by Millennials—and how can we not be?—will learn something from this book.”—Judy Woodruff, PBS NewsHour

 

500th and Final 2012 Election Tweet from @ElinorLipman!

With Barack Obama's victory over Mitt Romney yesterday, Tweet Laureate Elinor Lipman has concluded her own campaign to bring one political poem a day to her Twitter constituency. Today's tweet, number 500, expresses her joy at seeing her chosen Presidential candidate prevail:

O happy day, swing states came thru/"Too close to call" turned brilliant blue/Our fondest wish has now came tru/Barack Obama, God bless you

— Elinor Lipman (@ElinorLipman) November 7, 2012

You can read a selection of her tweets, along with commentary and context from the poet, in Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus. Ron Charles interviewed her about the project for the Washington Post. My personal favorite Q and its A:

What’s been your favorite response from a reader?

The day that Barney Frank announced that he would not be running again, I got an e-mail from him saying that he was proud to be evoked in the style of Ogden Nash.

The Corner Bookstore offered their gratitude on their Twitter feed:

.@elinorlipman It's been a long, strange trip and we're thrilled that we could be a part of it. Thanks, Elinor! #Lipman2016

— The Corner Bookstore (@CornerEvents) November 7, 2012

Novelist Joan Wickersham (whose book The News From Spain was just published and who helped to celebrate the publication of Tweet Land of Liberty) sent Lipman this celebratory poem:

Dear Elinor, it must be sweet
To wake and not be sworn to tweet,
So bask today. Cavort. Have fun.
You did your job. Your race is won.  

Everyone here at Beacon has had a delightful time working with Elinor and following her verse-a-day project. To her we offer our own poetic thanks:

500 Tweets? Amazing, that/ To @elinorlipman, we tip our hat/ At Beacon we shall forever be / Proud citizens of#TweetLandofLiberty.

— Beacon Press (@BeaconPressBks) November 7, 2012

 

Notable Mentions

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman

The just-released and already much-praised memoir received a starred review in the November 15th issue of Booklist:

“Enter Stedman, avowed atheist, former Fundamentalist Christian, and current interfaith activist whose heartfelt and thought-provoking account of his struggle with God and religion serves as a call to arms for those seeking to bridge the gap between the religious and the secular… To that end he paints an intimate and deeply affecting portrait of his own life, one characterized by the sort of staggering dissonances—gay Christian teen, religion-degree-seeking atheist—that could cripple a person. But Stedman is nothing if not determined, and his resulting journey toward personal reconciliation through service work and interfaith dialogue is inspiring. Stedman’s story is motivational, his thoughts on interreligious dialogue insightful, and in this short memoir, he proves himself an activist in the truest sense and one to watch.” 

The Land Grabbers: The New Fight Over Who Owns the Earth by Fred Pearce

Environmental journalist Fred Pearce wrote a piece for Yale e360 that's been getting lots of attention around the blogosphere. "Why Are Environmentalists Taking Anti-Science Positions?"

On issues ranging from ocean acidification and tipping points in the Arctic to the dangers of nanotechnology, the scientists have always gotten there first — and the environmentalists have followed.

And yet, recently, the environment movement seems to have been turning up on the wrong side of the scientific argument. We have been making claims that simply do not stand up. We are accused of being anti-science — and not without reason. A few, even close friends, have begun to compare this casual contempt for science with the tactics of climate contrarians. [Read the rest here.]

Reactions to the post include:

Huffington Post Oct 31; HuffPo
Cold Air Currents (blog) Oct 22; Cold Air Currents
Houston Chronicle SciGuy blog Oct 23; Houston Chronicle
MuckRack Oct 24 includes Twitter feed of journalists tweeting the link, like Erin Ailworth at the Globe; Muckrack.com
Tomorrow’s Table (blog) Oct 26; Tomorrow's Table
World.edu on Oct 26; World.edu
OverpopulationAwareness.org on Oct 28; Overpopulation Awareness
Environmental Health & Safety News blog Oct 28; EHS News
Living Green mag Oct 29; Living Green
Terra.com (Mexico) Oct 29; Terra.com
Science20.com; Science20
Current.com; Current.com

 

Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists by Courtney Martin

Courtney Martin and her book Do It Anyway were featured in the New York Times Sunday business section on Oct. 28. 

 

Notable Mentions

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis, Jan. 29, 2013

Starred review in Kirkus Reviews print (Nov 15) and online (Nov 04): “How Theoharis learned the true nature of this woman is a story in itself. Parks always stood in the background, never volunteered information about herself and eschewed fame. There were no letters to consult; even her autobiography exposed little of the woman’s personality. She hid her light under a bushel, and it has taken an astute author to find the real Parks. Even though her refusal to give up her bus seat sparked a revolution, Rosa Parks was no accidental heroine. She was born to it, and Theoharis ably shows us how and why.”

Booklist review Nov 15: “Historian Theoharis offers a complex portrait of a forceful, determined woman who had long been active before the boycott she inspired and who had an even longer career in civil rights afterward.”

The $60,000 Dog: My Life With Animals by Lauren Slater, November 20, 2012

More magazine (Nov issue) review, Pam Houston calls The $60,000 Dog: “assumption-busting, gut--wrenching, life-affirming.” 

Light Without Fire: The Making of America's First Muslim College by Scott Korb, April 16, 2013

“Will Islam become an American religion or remain permanently estranged? Will Muslims in America develop an identity that contributes to their country or one that emphasizes isolation and opposition? Scott Korb knows just how crucial these questions are, and in Light Without Fire tells the story of the leaders and animating ideas behind America’s first Muslim liberal arts college—an institution seeking to build an American Islam—in all its fits and starts, and in prose that is both clear and compelling. I for one could not put it down—it is essential and riveting reading.”

—Eboo Patel, Founder and President, Interfaith Youth Core, author of Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice and the Promise of America

Beacon Buzz: Melissa Harris-Perry talks racial reconciliation with the authors of Gather at the Table

Watch This

Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade by Thomas Norman DeWolf and Sharon Leslie Morgan

The authors appeared on the Melissa Harris-Perry Show on MSNBC where they discussed "Healing wounds of America's Past" and "A National 'Amnesia' of Slavery".

Visit the Gather at the Table website or Like Gather at the Table on Facebook for details on the authors' appearances and for more information about the book. 

Upcoming Appearances:

TONIGHT: Wednesday, October 24th at Trinity Church, Boston. Event begins at 7pm. More info...

Thursday, October 25 at Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, CT.
Salons at Stowe: Can We Talk About Slavery? 5-7pm. More info... 

Saturday, November 3 at DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago. More info...

Wednesday, November 7 at First Community Church, Columbus, Ohio.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus by Elinor Lipman

If you couldn't be there, the next best thing is to watch our video of the Elinor Lipman and Friends event at the Brookline Booksmith featuring Anita Shreve, Wally Lamb, Stephen McCauley, Chris Castellani, Mameve Medwed, Suzanne Strempek Shea, Alexandra Marshall, Michael Lowenthal, & Joan Wickersham.

 

Notable Mentions

Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America by Eboo Patel

Wall Street Journal's “India Real Time” blog:

Interfaith cooperation played a key role in everything from the American civil rights movement, to the swaraj movement in India, to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. I believe that if religious communities worked together to apply shared values like compassion and hospitality we would be able to go a long way to solving many of the great problems in our world today, everything from poverty to malaria.

Interview on Religion and Politics.org:

Continue to partake of the banquet of your religious tradition. But all of our traditions have what I call a “theology of interfaith cooperation.” So it’s not just an American thing to be involved in interfaith cooperation. It’s also a very Christian thing to do. One of the wonderful things about religion is that it’s wide, it contains multitudes, including seeming contradictions. As my evangelicals like to say, within the Christian tradition there is both the “Great Commission,” as well as the “Great Cooperation.” In the Sacred Ground, I write about Bob Roberts [evangelical pastor of NorthWood Church], who’s very happy to remind me that he wants to convert me, but he’s also very happy to run big events in Dallas with IFYC methodology.

 

Coming Very Soon

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman (Release date November 06, 2012—available for preorder)

An excerpt from Faitheist on Salon.com received over 4,000 Facebook “likes” in 24 hours:

I fear that some atheists are doing what I used to do in my antireligious days: engaging in monologue instead of dialogue. After years of dismissing religious people outright, I realized that I was so busy talking that I wasn’t listening. I was treating religion as a concept instead of talking to people who actually lived religious lives. When I started listening, something interesting happened:

I saw that my approach to religion had been distorted. I’d been thinking narrowly about the texts, not about some of their positive applications; of the one-sided stereotypes, not the diverse spectrum of beliefs and practices. It was only after I observed the actual actions of religious communities — and, more importantly, engaged with religious people and their stories — that I was able to see the benefits of working across lines of religious difference.

Author events:

Book release party at Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA on Nov 02

Lecture at Tufts University, Medford, MA on Nov 15

Lecture, reception, and signing at Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT on Nov 27

Assembly lecture at Lincoln School for Girls, Providence, RI on Nov 28

Bookstore event at Subtext, St. Paul, MN on Nov 29

Bookstore event at Magers & Quinn, Minneapolis, MN on Nov 30

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN on Dec 03

Lecture at Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH on Dec 06

Lecture at Center For Inquiry Transnational Headquarters, Amherst, NY on Dec 14

 

Have We Got Blurbs for You! 

My Mother’s Wars by Lillian Faderman (Release date March 05, 2013—available for preorder)

“Faderman's story of her immigrant mother is so vividly imagined that you can taste the borscht Mary eats, squirm at the claustrophobia of her tiny rented room, and be swept up in the sensual delight that will betray her.”—Janice Steinberg, The Tin Horse 

Raising Global IQ: Preparing Our Students for a Shrinking Planet by Carl Hobert (Release date February 12, 2013—available for preorder)

“Brilliant, original, engaging, and hugely important book!”—Edward M. Hallowell, author of Driven to Distraction

Defiant Brides: The Untold Story of Two Revolutionary-Era Women and the Radical Men They Married by Nancy Rubin Stuart (Release date April 09, 2013—available for preorder)

“An ingenious means of bringing new life to the oldest story in our nation’s past: the American Revolution from the perspective of the young and clear-sighted wives of generals Benedict Arnold and Henry Knox.  Tracing the parallel lives of two couples with conflicting loyalties, Nancy Rubin Stuart achieves a you-are-there verisimilitude in Defiant Brides that is rare and not to be missed.”—Megan Marshall, author of The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism 

Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaping Our World by David D. Burstein (Release date February 12, 2013—available for preorder)

“As young social entrepreneurs, Fast Future spoke to our core by telling the story of an exciting turning point that will change the course of history. That is, if we can channel this energy.  David Burstein takes a deep and nuanced look at the potential young people have and the terrible missed opportunity of not capitalizing on the innovation of the millennial generation. David himself represents the savvy impatience, the industriousness, and the possibilities of the millennial generation: this book is not to be missed or ignored. And, in Fast Future, he presents us with the opportunity to re-imagine how generations can work together to create a more innovative, equitable world—today.”—Jessica Posner Odede and Kennedy Odede, Co-Founders, Shining Hope for Communities

Beacon Buzz

Beacon Authors in the Media:

Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America by Eboo Patel

Eboo Patel asks colleges, "Do your students learn everything they know about Islam from their Facebook news feed?" Inside Higher Ed

 

Overdiagnosed:Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health by H. Gilbert Welch, Lisa Schwartz and Steve Woloshin

Author appearance on PBS "Money & Medicine" (Reading List)

 

White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf by Aaron Bobrow-Strain

Fox Foodie Column column on FoxNews.com looking at the history and healthfulness of white bread.

 

Coming Soon:

The $60,000 Dog: My Life With Animals by Lauren Slater, November 20, 2012

Booklist review Oct 15: “A thoughtful examination of a sometimes difficult life, ameliorated and often alleviated by connections with nature and animals. . . .Dogs, wasps, and bats also figure in a poetic narrative that gives the reader a melodic look into a deeply considered life."

 

My Mother’s Wars by Lillian Faderman, Mar. 05, 2013

“Lillian Faderman is an extraordinary storyteller, one of the few who can tell a painful story, with a complex ending—and imbue it with humor, sensuality and earthy grace, in every sentence.”—Amy Bloom, author of Away

 

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis, Jan. 29, 2013

Jeanne Theoharis, author of The Rebellious Mrs. Rosa Parks has been  selected to keynote MLK Sunrise Celebration the Mid-Winter Meeting of  ALA. 6:30-7:45am on Monday, January 28 in Seattle, WA

 

What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine by Danielle Ofri, June 04, 2013

Essay in the New York Times: “Women Still Missing from Medicine's Top Ranks.”

 

Author Events:

Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home by Anita Hill

Author events include:
Oct 11 at Tufts Medical Center (Boston, MA)
Oct 18 at Brandeis House (New York)
Oct 23 at Harriet Tubman House (Boston)
Oct 27 at Boston Book Festival (Boston Public Library)
Oct 31 at Claremont McKenna College (Claremont, CA)
Nov 07 at USTA Serves (White Plain, NY)
Dec 06 at National Archives Records Center (Waltham, MA)

 

A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today by Kate Bornstein

Brooklyn Book Fair on Sept 23
Twin Cities Book Festival Oct 13
Miami Book Fair Nov 16-18

Beacon Buzz: Oppressive Student Debt

Beacon Press Authors on the Issues:

The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt in U.S. History and How We Can Fight Back by Alan Michael Collinge

“Romney Ryan On Student Loans - Crony Capitalism?” Forbes interview with Alan Collinge

"The true, conservative move for higher education would be to return standard bankruptcy to all student loans, thereby forcing the government to freeze, or even lower the federal lending ceilings for these loans. This would quickly, and surely compel a significant decrease in the price that the colleges could charge for their product. It would also decrease government spending. It would also show average Americans how the “invisible hand” can actually work for them, instead of against them." Forbes

Billionaires' Ball: Gluttony and Hubris in an Age of Epic Inequality by Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks

"Mitt Romney Blurts out the Truth About Neoconservatism." Linda McQuaig in The Star

"Once upon a time, 'conservative' could be used to describe people — Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, Robert Stanfield, Joe Clark — who had a vision of society in which a privileged elite dominated but also had a responsibility to less fortunate citizens and to the broader 'public good.'

"But about 30 years ago, a new breed of 'conservative' slithered onto the political scene. Stealing the moniker of conservatism, this new breed embraced the inequality of traditional conservatism (driving it skyward) while unburdening itself of the responsibility for others and the public good.

"This new breed has proved itself to be self-centred, greedy and indifferent to the public good." The Star

The Odd Clauses: Understanding the Constitution Through Ten of Its Most Curious Provisions and Holy Hullabaloos: A Roadtrip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/State Wars by Jay Wexler

Contribution to "We Represent the 47 Percent" blog.

"I now pay a shitload of taxes. Hell, I even got slammed with the alternative minimum tax last year, which I think is something that was actually designed for guys like you. But whatever. The point is that I didn’t always pay so much. Like twenty zillion or so other people who had to take out student loans to get through college and/or graduate school, I spent much of my early adult life in debt. I did the things that most of us have to do before getting into the 53%--scouring liquor stores for the absolute cheapest possible beer (Blatz Light? Lucky Beer?), paying rent with a Discover Card, living in apartments teeming with rats (rats, mind you, not mice), selling used CDs for a bit of pocket change, living in an apartment in China which only sometimes had running water (okay, that’s a bit idiosyncratic, perhaps, but you get the idea). Indeed, it wasn’t all that long ago that my wife and I lived in a slummy apartment where the sink fell off the wall when I leaned on it and where the bathroom was so small and close to the kitchen that I could flip pancakes while taking a shower."

 

Notable Mentions:

Fanpire: The Twilight Saga and the Women Who Love it by Tanya Erzen

An excerpt is running in the print and online editions of The Chronicle Review (subscription required)

The Springs of Namje: A Ten-Year Journey from the Villages of Nepal to the Halls of Congress by Rajeev Goyal

National Geographic Traveler’s “Trip Lit” section: an “engaging account of his failures and successes in both countries is an edifying and inspiring triumph.”

Dosed: The Medication Generation Grows Up Kaitlin Bell Barnett

Interview in Ladies Home Journal for the article “The Scary Truth About Sharing Pills.”

Interview on website, Bliss Tree.

 

Watch and Listen:

Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus by Elinor Lipman

Elinor Lipman was on Word of Mouth/NHPR Sept 25

Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal by J. Jack Halberstam

Three video interviews on YouTube:
J. Jack Halberstam Goes Gaga
Gaga Families
Is Feminism Going Gaga?

Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade by Thomas Norman DeWolf and Sharon Leslie Morgan

New book trailer; http://youtu.be/_IDNNMXddHY

Coming Soon:

Into Great Silence by Eva Saulitis, Jan. 15 2013

Kirkus Reviews in print October 15 and online Sept 23: “A vivid, moving depiction of a way of life tragically becoming increasingly endangered.”

“There's great tenderness in this book, and great pathos—sometimes one wonders if it's worth the pain to pay attention amidst the gathering storm, but this powerful account shows us that it's precisely by keeping track of the world around us that we stay human.”—Bill McKibben, author Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

Divided we Fail: The Story of an African American Community that Ended the Era of School Desegregation by Sarah Garland, January 29, 2013

Kirkus Reviews October 15 print and online beginning September 23: “A useful journalistic examination of a troubling societal phenomenon.”

"With all the noise about failing schools, standardized tests, teacher accountability, and America’s educational decline, only the courageous are willing to acknowledge the persistence of racism—let alone, address the problem in a serious, clear-eyed way. Sarah Garland has written a courageous book, documenting the struggles of courageous community activists, educators, parents, and children who continued to fight for equity and racial justice long after our nation declared victory over segregation. In telling this gripping, often tragic, often inspirational story, Garland reveals that integrating a classroom is not the same as dismantling racism. Divided We Fail is one of those rare books that will move even the most cynical to act. And act we must." —Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination

Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaping Our World by David Burstein

“David Burstein’s generation—a diverse, connected, and entrepreneurial lot that came of age around the Millennium—has already changed the face of politics from Washington to Cairo and beyond. Millennials are distinct and powerful, though scholarship about them has been slapdash and haphazard. Enter David Burstein. With Fast Future, Burstein cements his reputation as the millennial generation’s most thoughtful and insightful public intellectual.”—David King, Harvard University

“In Fast Future, David Burstein provides a personal and compelling picture of his generation. Millennials are pragmatic idealists and the first digitals, able to handle the fast pace of today’s world while they remake our economic and democratic political systems. Read this book not only to understand the future but also how the millennials are poised to shape it.” —Michael D. Hais and Morley Winograd, authors of Millennial Momentum

Now in Paperback:

Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words: Travels with Mom in the Land of Dementia by Kate Whouley

Upcoming author events:

Coffee with the Authors – Buttonwood Books and Toys (Cohasset, MA); Oct 09
National Reading Group Month Panel – Boston; Oct 18
Reading and Talk – Uxbridge Public Library (MA); Oct 20
Reading and Talk – Hanson Public Library (MA); Oct 25
Writers Day at Baypath College – Longmeadow, MA; Oct 27

The Odd Clauses: Understanding the Constitution through Ten of Its Most Curious Provisions by Jay Wexler

Read Chapter 6: "The Twenty-First Amendment" at Scribd.

Also check out Wexler's new collection of short fiction: The Adventures of Ed Tuttle, Associate Justice and Other Stories, available from Quid Pro Books.

Beacon Buzz: Interfaith Cooperation

Watch and Listen:

Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America by Eboo Patel

Melissa Harris-Perry Show on MSNBC

WNYC Radio/Brian Lehrer Show

Interview on Christine Amanpour's show, "Amanpour" on CNN International

 

Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus by Elinor Lipman

Lipman was a guest on WBUR's "Here and Now"

Review and Interview in Shelf Awareness for Readers, and Book Trailer of the Day in Shelf Awareness for the Book Trade

Notable Mentions:

The Springs of Namje: A Ten-Year Journey from the Villages of Nepal to the Halls of Congress by Rajeev Goyal

Booklist review, in print Sept 15: “An honest and inspiring look at the hard work and reward of development efforts.”

Write-up and author interview in The Island Now, Sept. 06; The Island Now

 

When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and Its First Fifty Years by Stanley Meisler

Stanley Meisler wins a Peace Corps Writers Award: 2011 Publisher’s Special Award, Peace Corps Worldwide

 

 

Coming Soon:

Defiant Brides: The Untold Story of Two Revolutionary-Era Women and the Radical Men They Married by Nancy Rubin Stuart (April 09, 2013) 

"In this lively double-biography, Nancy Rubin Stuart reveals the resilient lives of a leading Patriot and a notorious Loyalist: both of them women.  Lucy Flucker Knox and Peggy Shippen Arnold deftly performed the parlor politics that helped to shape the American Revolution in surprising ways."

--Alan Taylor, author of The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies

Beacon Buzz: Your Source for Convention-Themed Poetic Tweets

The Perfect Complement to the Conventions

Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus by @ElinorLipman

Elinor Lipman spoke with Here and Now about tweeting political poetry.

Shelf Awareness for Readers author interview.

Shelf Awareness Book Trade book trailer of the day.

Be sure to watch and share the Elinor Lipman for Tweet Laureate Campaign Video.

 

Listen and Watch:

Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America by Eboo Patel

Listen to Eboo speaking with Wisconsin Public Radio's Joy Cardin Show.

Upcoming: Patel interview on Christine Amanpour's show, "Amanpour," on CNN International September 11

Iowa Public Radio/River to River; September 07.

Melissa Harris-Perry Show/MSNBC; September 09.

WNYC Radio/Brian Lehrer Show; September 11.

Watch Eboo Patel give the convocation lecture at Concordia College, where he discusses the journey of college life. 

 

Notable Mentions:

White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf by Aaron Bobrow-Strain

Interviewed in a feature about white bread in Boston Globe

Mother Earth News review in the Aug/Sept issue:  “A really good read.”

Interview on KCRW (Southern California NPR) “The Lunch Show.”

The Most Expensive Game in Town: The Rising Cost of Youth Sports and the Toll on Today's Families by Mark Hyman

Boston Globe review in sports book round-up.

Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words: Travels with Mom in the Land of Dementia by Kate Whouley

Boston Globe author and book mention

Coming Soon:

Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaping Our World by David Burstein (Forthcoming February 2013)

“The millennials are a unique generation with a strong entrepreneurial streak that has seen them create some of the most impactful businesses of this century. As a millennial entrepreneur, I found Fast Future to be an inspiring and powerful account of the world we live and work in every day.” —Ben Lerer, Founder & CEO, Thrillist

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis (Forthcoming January 2013)

"Charisma is not a word often used to describe Rosa Parks yet we have to recognize her star. The Rosa Parks challenge to the political system was deep and lasting even while she never raised her voice. The first female Speaker of the House of Representatives once said, 'You can get a lot done if you don’t need to take credit for it.' She took a page from the book of Parks. Theoharis’ scholarship brings forth a woman whom many followed without ever realizing they were. She was courageous and strong. She also had a wonderful sense of humor. And an awesome sense of responsibility. This is a much needed book on the woman who is, arguably, the most important person in the last half of the twentieth century. Just as the Lincoln Memorial needs a statue of Frederick Douglass gently bending over with a pen in his hand for Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, the statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. needs a statue of Rosa Parks just one or two steps ahead mouthing the words: 'Come on, Dr. King. We’ve got work to do.'" --Nikki Giovanni, Poet 

 

Upcoming Author Events:

Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America by Eboo Patel 

September 10th, 2012: Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY

September 17th, 2012: Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN

October 9th, 2012: College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN

October 11th, 2012: : Chicago Ideas Week, Chicago, IL

Upcoming media appearances: MSNBC/Melissa Harris-Perry Show, Sunday, September 9^th

WNYC Radio/Brian Lehrer Show (NPR New York), Tuesday, September 11th

 

Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus by Elinor Lipman

TONIGHT! September 6th, 2012: Corner Bookstore (NYC)

September 23rd, 2012: Writers for Obama and Elizabeth Warren at the Hotel Northampton (Northhampton, MA)

September 24th, 2012: Broadside Books at 7 PM

September 27th, 2012: Women & Children First (Chicago, IL)

September 28th-29th, 2012: Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL

October 2nd, 2012: Port Washington Public Library (Port Washington, NY)

October 10th, 2012: Brookline Booksmith (Brookline, MA)

October 11th, 2012: Worcester Public Library

October 17th, 2012: Hewlett Woodmere Public Library (Long Island)

October 30th, 2012: Porter Square Books (Cambridge, MA)

Beacon Buzz: Labor Day Sale, the Tweet Laureate, and more!

Labor Day Sale:

In honor of Labor Day, online orders at Beacon.org are 20% off with the code LaborDay12. Offer ends Sept. 4. Some suggested titles that will help you brush up on your knowledge of the holiday:

"They're Bankrupting Us!" And 20 Other Myths about Unions by Bill Fletcher Jr.

From Wisconsin to Washington, DC, the claims are made: unions are responsible for budget deficits, and their members are overpaid and enjoy cushy benefits. The only way to save the American economy, pundits claim, is to weaken the labor movement, strip workers of collective bargaining rights, and champion private industry. In "They're Bankrupting Us!": And 20 Other Myths about Unions, labor leader Bill Fletcher Jr. makes sense of this debate as he unpacks the twenty-one myths most often cited by anti-union propagandists. Drawing on his experiences as a longtime labor activist and organizer, Fletcher traces the historical roots of these myths and provides an honest assessment of the missteps of the labor movement. He reveals many of labor's significant contributions, such as establishing the forty-hour work week and minimum wage, guaranteeing safe workplaces, and fighting for equity within the workforce. This timely, accessible, "warts and all" book argues, ultimately, that unions are necessary for democracy and ensure economic and social justice for all people.

Read a review at Labor Notes.

 

“All Labor Has Dignity” by Martin Luther King, Jr. Edited and introduction by Michael K. Honey

People forget that Dr. King was every bit as committed to economic justice as he was to ending racial segregation. He fought throughout his life to connect the labor and civil rights movements, envisioning them as twin pillars for social reform. As we struggle with massive unemployment, a staggering racial wealth gap, and the near collapse of a financial system that puts profits before people, King's prophetic writings and speeches underscore his relevance for today. They help us imagine King anew: as a human rights leader whose commitment to unions and an end to poverty was a crucial part of his civil rights agenda.

Covering all the civil rights movement highlights-Montgomery, Albany, Birmingham, Selma, Chicago, and Memphis-award-winning historian Michael K. Honey introduces and traces King's dream of economic equality. Gathered in one volume for the first time, the majority of these speeches will be new to most readers. The collection begins with King's lectures to unions in the 1960s and includes his addresses during his Poor People's Campaign, culminating with his momentous "Mountaintop" speech, delivered in support of striking black sanitation workers in Memphis. Unprecedented and timely, "All Labor Has Dignity" will more fully restore our understanding of King's lasting vision of economic justice, bringing his demand for equality right into the present.

 

Three Strikes: Miners, Musicians, Salesgirls, and the Fighting Spirit of Labor's Last Century by Dana Frank, Robin D. G. Kelly, and Howard Zinn

Three renowned historians present stirring tales of labor: Howard Zinn tells the grim tale of the Ludlow Massacre, a drama of beleaguered immigrant workers, Mother Jones, and the politics of corporate power in the age of the robber barons. Dana Frank brings to light the little-known story of a successful sit-in conducted by the 'counter girls' at the Detroit Woolworth's during the Great Depression. Robin D. G. Kelley's story of a movie theater musicians' strike in New York asks what defines work in times of changing technology.

"Three Strikes brings to life the heroic men and women who put their jobs, bodies, and lives on the line to win a better life for all working Americans. Zinn, Frank, and Kelley show us that while the country and the union movement have changed greatly in the last hundred years, our struggle to close the divide between rich and poor remains the same."-John Sweeney, president, AFL-CIO

"Provocative analysis of still relevant issues, as the passionate, sometimes violent demonstrations at international meetings of the global economy demonstrate."-Mary Carroll, Booklist

"Highly readable, well-researched narratives of dramatic action"-Leon Fink, Chicago Tribune

 

"Political" News:

Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus by @ElinorLipman

Featured on Amazon's Omnivoracious Blog with an original poem by Lipman.

Beacon launched a new “campaign” to name Elinor Lipman Tweet Laureate of the United States (would this be TLOTUS?).

The campaign includes a Twitter-based giveaway for a free copy of Tweet Land of Liberty and a limited edition campaign button. To enter, this text:

I support a funnier America! @ElinorLipman for #TweetLaureate: http://goo.gl/Bjnjp  #TweetLandofLiberty

Be sure to watch and share the Campaign Video.

Notable Mentions:

The Long Walk to Freedom: Runaway Slave Narratives edited by Devon W. Carbado and Donald Weise

Wall Street Journal review Aug 22: “Readers will learn more about slavery in the American South from these autobiographical accounts than they could from any textbook.” 

 

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman

Kirkus Reviews online August 29 and in print September 15: “The searching, intelligent account of a gay man's experiences growing away from God and into a thoughtful and humane atheist… Brave and refreshingly open-minded.”

 

 

Upcoming Author Events:

Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America by Eboo Patel 

August 30th-31st, 2012: Concordia College, Moorhead, MN/Fargo,ND (Live Webcast available of this event!)

September 10th, 2012: Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY

September 17th, 2012: Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN

October 9th, 2012: College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN

October 11th, 2012: : Chicago Ideas Week, Chicago, IL

Upcoming media appearances: MSNBC/Melissa Harris-Perry Show, Sunday, September 9^th

WNYC Radio/Brian Lehrer Show (NPR New York), Tuesday, September 11th

 

Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus by Elinor Lipman

September 6th, 2012: Corner Bookstore (NYC)

September 23rd, 2012: Writers for Obama and Elizabeth Warren at the Hotel Northampton (Northhampton, MA)

September 24th, 2012: Broadside Books at 7 PM

September 27th, 2012: Women & Children First (Chicago, IL)

September 28th-29th, 2012: Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL

October 2nd, 2012: Port Washington Public Library (Port Washington, NY)

October 10th, 2012: Brookline Booksmith (Brookline, MA)

October 11th, 2012: Worcester Public Library

October 17th, 2012: Hewlett Woodmere Public Library (Long Island)

October 30th, 2012: Porter Square Books (Cambridge, MA)

Beacon Buzz: How Evangelicals Could Grow to Love Muslims

Notable Mentions:

Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America by Eboo Patel

Opinion piece on the CNN Belief Blog: "How Evangelicals Could Grow to Love Muslims"

It is easy to draw a straight line between the evangelical anti-Catholic prejudice of previous generations and the Islamophobia of today, essentially saying that “evangelicals have to hate someone.”

But that’s too cynical a take for me. The more interesting - and certainly more hopeful - storyline is the one about change.

Evangelical attitudes changed markedly towards Catholics in the past generation, and they are changing towards Muslims now.

Column in USA Today: "The Dilemma of Religious Diversity"

My point is that in this era, the question of age when it comes to engaging religious diversity is moot. We are literally born into a condition of interfaith interaction. Our children will be raised in an environment of religious diversity — from a Mormon presidential hopeful, to Olympic athletes competing in Islamic head scarfs, to the images of a Wisconsin Sikh community mourning after a terrible attack.

 

Overdiagnosed:Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health by H. Gilbert Welch, Lisa Schwartz and Steve Woloshin

Op-ed by Dr. Welch in the New York Times Aug 20: "Testing What We Think We Know"

The truth is that for a large part of medical practice, we don’t know what works. But we pay for it anyway. Our annual per capita health care expenditure is now over $8,000. Many countries pay half that — and enjoy similar, often better, outcomes. Isn’t it time to learn which practices, in fact, improve our health, and which ones don’t?

 

Harvest the Wind: America’s Journey to Jobs, Energy Independence, and Climate Stability by Philip Warburg

Author letter to the editor in the New York Times

According to a report released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in June, America could supply nearly half our total power needs from wind and solar energy by 2050, using technology that is commercially available today. Imagine what that would do to our country’s carbon footprint.

To move America toward a more sustainable energy future, we need national leadership that will check the excesses of well-entrenched fossil fuel interests while encouraging cleaner alternatives like wind.

 

The Land Grabbers: The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth by Fred Pearce

Read an excerpt online at Utne.com: "The Price of Food"

 

A Queer and Pleasant Danger by Kate Bornstein

Santa Cruz Sentinel interview:

The Village Voice featured Bornstein in the piece “The Top 25 People Crippling Scientology--2012 Edition!”

 

Dispatches from the Abortion Wars by Carole Joffe

Opinion piece at RH Reality Check examining the differences in rhetoric and life choices by some pro-life candidates.

Appearance on Boston Public Radio at WGBH discussing Rep. Todd Akin's comments on abortion and rape. 

 

Author Events:

Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus by Elinor Lipman

September 6th, 2012: Corner Bookstore (NYC)

September 23rd, 2012: Writers for Obama and Elizabeth Warren at the Hotel Northampton (Northhampton, MA)

September 24th, 2012: Broadside Books at 7 PM

September 27th, 2012: Women & Children First (Chicago, IL)

September 28th-29th, 2012: Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL

October 2nd, 2012: Port Washington Public Library (Port Washington, NY)

October 10th, 2012: Brookline Booksmith (Brookline, MA)

October 11th, 2012: Worcester Public Library

October 17th, 2012: Hewlett Woodmere Public Library (Long Island)

October 30th, 2012: Porter Square Books (Cambridge, MA)

 

Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade, Thomas N. Dewolf and Sharon Morgan (October)

October 9: Gather at the Table book launch — 6:00pm, Martin Chapel; Eastern Mennonite University, 1200 Park Road, Harrisonburg, Virginia

October 14: Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church — 10:30am, 7400 Temple Hills Rd. Camp Springs, MD

October 17: Bloomsburg University — schedule pending, 400 East Second Street Bloomsburg, PA

October 24: Trinity Church Boston — 7:00pm, 206 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116

October 25: Harriet Beecher Stowe Center — 5:00pm, 77 Forest Street, Hartford, CT

November 9: African American Jazz Caucus event– schedule & location pending, Indianapolis, Indiana

November 10-12: Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society – multiple events in multiple venues, details to come, Kalamazoo, Michigan

 

Mary Oliver (award-winning author of numerous books of poetry, including twelve available from Beacon Press.)

October 15, 2012 New York, NY: 92nd Street Y

Wednesday & Thursday, October 24 & 25, 2012 Boston, MA: Boston Museum of Fine Arts 

Sunday, October 28, 2012  Bethesda, MD:  The Strathmore PAC.  Evening Joint Reading with Mary Oliver & Billy Collins

Monday, November 12, 2012 Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University  

Beacon Buzz: A Moving Portrait of New Orleans Post-Katrina

Notable Mentions:

We Shall Not be Moved: Rebuilding Home in the Wake of Katrina by Tom Wooten 

Review in the Wall Street Journal which calls the book a: “moving portrait.” 

UTNE online excerpt: “In We Shall Not Be Moved, Tom Wooten presents vivid narratives through the eyes and voices of residents rebuilding their homes after Hurricane Katrina, telling a story of resilience as entertaining as it is instructive and how citizens, remarkably, turned a profound national failure into a story of hope.” 

Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America by Eboo Patel

Publishers Weekly: “…an accessible and inspiring introduction to the meaning and practice of pluralism.”

Excerpt published on Huffington Post

A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today by Kate Bornstein

Review in The Gay and Lesbian Review July-August issue: “There are a number of adjectives that one could use to describe A Queer and Pleasant Danger: snarky, funny, anguished, frightening, heartbreaking, brave, honest…this is a book that is dangerously appealing.” (Subscriber only access)

 

Coming Soon:

Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words: Travels with Mom in the Land of Dementia by Kate Whouley (Paperback out September 25)

• October 2012 Indie Next List "Now in Paperback" pick

Rare Birds: The Extraordinary Tale of the Bermuda Petrel and the Man Who Brought It Back from Extinction by Elizabeth Gehrman (October)

 “Vanishing species these days are a dime a dozen. The truly rarer bird is the human being whose life stands between a creature and its permanent oblivion. David Wingate is a truly pivotal person on whom the fate of a whole species turned. It’s a remarkable seabird whose existence depended on this rare man. And this book, rendered with style and grace, is his story.”

—Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean and The View From Lazy Point; A Natural Year in an Unnatural World 

Author Events:

Kate Bornstein (A Queer and Pleasant Danger)

A packed house at Powell's Books the other night, and marquee billing!

August 15, 7pm Oakland, Diesel Books

August 16, 7:30pm Santa Cruz, Bookshop Santa Cruz

 

Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade, Thomas N. Dewolf and Sharon Morgan (October)

October 9: Gather at the Table book launch — 6:00pm, Martin Chapel; Eastern Mennonite University, 1200 Park Road, Harrisonburg, Virginia
October 14: Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church — 10:30am, 7400 Temple Hills Rd. Camp Springs, MD
October 17: Bloomsburg University — schedule pending, 400 East Second Street Bloomsburg, PA
October 24: Trinity Church Boston — 7:00pm, 206 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116
October 25: Harriet Beecher Stowe Center — 5:00pm, 77 Forest Street, Hartford, CT
November 9: African American Jazz Caucus event– schedule & location pending, Indianapolis, Indiana
November 10-12: Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society – multiple events in multiple venues, details to come, Kalamazoo, Michigan

 

Mary Oliver (award-winning author of numerous books of poetry, including twelve available from Beacon Press.)

October 15, 2012 New York, NY: 92nd Street Y

Wednesday & Thursday, October 24 & 25, 2012 Boston, MA: Boston Museum of Fine Arts 

Sunday, October 28, 2012  Bethesda, MD:  The Strathmore PAC.  Evening Joint Reading with Mary Oliver & Billy Collins

Monday, November 12, 2012 Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University  

Beacon Buzz: Healthy Beach Reads

Notable Mentions:

The Cure for Everything: Untangling Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness, and Happiness by Tim Caulfield

"Healthy Page Turners to Take to the Beach" by Abigail Zuger in the New York Times. 

"Mr. Caulfield muses at amusing and instructive length on the exact definition of fitness — the bizarre, science-free equivalency the modern aesthetic has established between fitness and sexy abs — and the depressingly well-validated fact that the older you get, the more running it takes to stay in exactly the same place."

 

Executed on a Technicality: Lethal Injustice on America's Death Row by David Dow

Author piece advocating for stronger mental health services in light of shooting in Aurora; The Daily Beast

Listen and Watch:

A Twist of Faith: An American Christian's Quest to Help Orphans in Africa by John Donnelly

Author interview on NPR's Tell Me More with host Michel Martin.

 

Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words: Travels with Mom in the Land of Dementia by Kate Whouley

C-SPAN2/Book TV aired the ALA Panel: “Best of the Best of the University Press” which featured Whouley as a panelist. 

 

 

Coming Soon:

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman, November.

“Smart. Funny. Heartening. Inspiring. Faitheist is the perfect book for those seeking a middle path between the firm, opposing certainties of religious fundamentalism and intolerant atheism.”—Reza Aslan, author of No God but God and Beyond Fundamentalism

 

Fanpire: The Twilight Saga and the Women Who Love it by Tanya Erzen, October.

"Tanya Erzen’s Fanpire provides a much-needed portrait of the girls and women who love Twilight. From how the series appeals to girl's and women's ideas of pleasure, power, and romance, to the ways in which the love of these books has forged communities and friendships among women, Erzen's window into these subjects is both sympathetic and critical.  Fanpire is sure to fascinate and, at times, trouble, anyone interested in the lives of girls and women today."—Donna Freitas, author of Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance and Religion on America's College Campuses