Book Marks
Somewhere among the core curriculum classes, midterm papers, lab reports and final essays, Xavier alums learned how to write. And at least some take that knowledge and apply it to the world of books. The following are some of the samples of recent books published by Xavier alumni:
How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack
By Chuck Sambuchino
Chuck Sambuchino is a 2003 graduate who is now an editor at F&W Media in Cincinnati. His initial venture into the publishing world (at least outside of what he does for his day job) is How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack, a humor book on tiny, annoying, ceramic figurines that people place in their gardens. He bills it as “the only comprehensive survival guide that will help you prevent, prepare for, and ward off an imminent home invasion by the common garden gnome.”
It’s published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House. Check out the book’s website, its catalog entry and an article on AOLnews.com.
Reclaiming Catholicism: Treasures Old and New
By Mike Daley and Thomas Gromme
Michael J. Daley graduated from Xavier in 1991 with a degree in theology and now teaches religion at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati as well as serving as an adjunct professor of theology at the University. He teamed with Thomas Groome, a senior professor of theology at Boston College who also serves as the chair if its Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry, to edit Reclaiming Catholicism: Treasures Old and New, a compilation of essays from “a who’s who of theologians and spiritual writers” who assess whether reclaiming spiritual wisdom from the pre-Vatican II days can enrich the faith loves of Catholics today.
Among those writing for the book is Bill Madges, former chair of Xavier’s Department of Theology. Madges and Daley previously worked together on the books Vatican II: Forty Personal Stories and The Many Marks of the Church. Daley’s a veteran of publishing, also writing In All Things: Everyday Prayers of Jesuit High School Students; Catholic Questions, Wise Answer; Catholic Symbols: Our Rich Spiritual Heritage; and Who Do Catholics...? Teens Respond to Questions About the Faith.
Check out the review in the National Catholic Reporter. The book can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the Maryknoll Society and Christianbook.com.
Shouting Down the Silence: A Biography of Stanley Elkin
By David Dougherty
For 40 years, David Dougherty taught English at Loyola University Maryland before retiring this year as professor emeritus. During that time he no doubt introduced countless students to the critically acclaimed but popularly unpopular author Stanley Elkin. Now, he’s introducing the rest of us to Elkin through Shouting Down the Silence: A Biography of Stanley Elkin. The book is the first complete biography of Elkin who died in 1995.
“Although materially and professionally successful by middle-class measures, even by standards for university faculty, Elkin felt that he never received the recognition and awards his art deserved,” writes Dougherty. “From the 1970s forward, he often expressed regret about, and occasionally even resentment of, his lack of popularity with general readers.”
Dougherty, who earned his master’s degree from Xavier in 1966, also edited two casebooks on Elkin’s novels.
Shouting Down the Silence can be found at Amazon and through the University of Illinois Press.
A Calendar Year of Horticultural Therapy: How Tending Your Garden Can Tend to Your Soul
By Janice Hoetker Doherty
So Many Hugs
By Deanna Hurtubise
Rarely does one find sisters who are both authors. Even rarer are sisters who both produce books by the same publisher at the same time. But such is the case with Janice Hoetker Doherty and Deanna Hurtubise. The Edgecliff College graduates—Janice in biology in 1962 and Deanna in French in 1966—recently published books through Lilyflower Publishing.
Janice retired as a microbiologist from Cincinnati's Christ Hospital and headed straight for the garden, where she became an Ohio Master Gardener and found the health-related benefits so strong she started her own company, Growing Healthy Inc. She’s now put that knowledge to paper with A Calendar Year of Horticultural Therapy: How Tending Your Garden Can Tend to Your Soul, which offers more than 60 projects that can be used as hands-on therapy sessions.
Deanna is a former high school psychology and French teacher who began writing stories, songs and poetry for her three children when they were young. Today she writes for her eight grandchildren, hoping to capture their innocent and uncomplicated views of the world through verse with So Many Hugs, a children’s book in rhyming verse that shows the power of a simple hug.
Brief biographies of the sisters are on the Lilyflower Publishing website where copies of the books can be purchased.
Janice’s book can be found at Amazon and Deanna’s book can also be found on Amazon.
