University of Michigan Press Blog

Sheryl James Featured on “Stateside”

by Phillip Witteveen May 20, 2013

Sheryl James was a guest on Michigan Radio’s Stateside to discuss her new book Michigan Legends: Folktales and Lore from the Great Lakes State. James, a former journalist, comprehensively researched Michigan’s folk traditions from archives and storytellers to gain a full understanding of the fact and fiction of the state’s mythology. “There’s a huge range of total fantasy, as well as pretty historical kinds of things,” said James. One famous story is of the Nain Rouge, “this little red, impish creature that has been known to appear right before Detroit’s greatest tragedies.” This character has persisted in the city’s cultural memory, [...]

Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life – As Seen in Publisher’s Weekly

by Phillip Witteveen May 20, 2013

Last week’s Publisher’s Weekly included a review of James Cannon’s Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life, calling it ”a first-rate political history and a compassionate biography.” The book, written by Ford’s domestic policy adviser James Cannon, follows his unlikely career from Michigan linebacker to President of the United States. “His portrait benefits greatly from intimate contact with Ford, as well as from numerous interviews conducted post-presidency, when Ford candidly assessed his time in office,” the reviewer said of Cannon.” The biographer’s unique perspective is not wholly uncritical either, but draws from Cannon’s honest impression of the man who made up for what [...]

Andreá Williams talks ‘Dividing Lines’ on News Books in African American Studies

by Phillip Witteveen May 17, 2013

Author Andreá Williams joined host Vershawn Young to talk about her new book Dividing Lines: Class Anxiety and Postbellum Black Fiction on the New Books Network’s New Books in African American Studies. The book examines the beginnings of class anxiety and intraracial class tensions in postbellum black communities as they manifest themselves in the literature of that time period. Williams incorporates the fiction of such authors as Sutton E. Griggs, Charles Chesnutt, and W.E.B. DuBois, as the first generations of freed men and women came to terms with their new social status. Her perspective on this more complex culture was framed by [...]

Maize Books Q&A with Jack Dougherty

by Meredith Kahn May 10, 2013

Our friend and colleague Jack Dougherty posed several excellent questions after our recent announcement. With Jack’s permission, we’ve reproduced his questions here with answers and commentary indented below. We have also included a follow-up question from another friend and colleague, Kristen Nawrotzki. Many thanks to Jack and Kristen for the opportunity to participate in a stimulating dialogue!

SUNDAY: Marina Whitman discusses her memoir ‘The Martian’s Daughter’ on BookTV

by Shaun Manning May 10, 2013

This Sunday at 10:30pm EST, Marina von Neumann Whitman will appear on CSPAN’s BookTV to discuss her memoir The Martian’s Daughter, which chronicles her life growing up with the brilliant mathematician John von Neumann for a father through to her own accomplishments, such as becoming a noted academic in her own right and becoming the first woman to serve on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and the highest-ranking female executive in the auto industry in the 1980s, among many others. Check your local listings for CSPAN2. After its air date, the program will be archived at the BookTV site. The [...]

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