Alumni Bookshelf

Alumni Bookshelf

Don Brooks ’54
The Sheltered Voyage: A Memoir of Gratitude
Don Brooks, 2019.

This book is a small window on a journey of the life of the author. He addresses the lessons he has learned from his family, his profession, his faith and his community. He also shares his take about how best to live and cherish the gift of life.

 

Stan Levenson ’54, Ph.D.
The Essential Fundraising Guide for K-12 Schools
Stan Levenson, 2019.

An updated and revised version of the 2014 book, this version contains more than 350 links to resources with new examples of successful schools and practices for the busy professional who seeks fresh, cutting-edge ideas to help alleviate the funding gap that exists in today’s K-12 schools.

 

Paul Ferguson ’69
A Father’s Duty
Paul Ferguson, 2020.

Retired bomb-disposal expert Steve Foley knows that something doesn’t feel right when his son, “Crazy” Eddie, and his friend Road Kill accept work as bodyguards in Afghanistan. Who is Malik, the mysterious man making the job offer, and why is he so keen to employ two young, inexperienced bodyguards? As the dream job turns into a nightmare, how far will Steve go to rescue his wayward son? How far will Malik go to avenge the death of his own child? And what will happen when two families at war finally come face to face?

 

Richard Sivers ’70, illustrated by Theresa Bondgren M’03
The Pane of Faith: A Pilgrim Journey
Fast Pencil Publishing, 2020.

A prolific author, Richard Sivers has had his plays produced on stages and in churches, and his writings about history have appeared in numerous publications. Now retired after nearly 40 years of active ministry in the United Methodist Church, he spends his time writing and traveling. He considers this latest book a spiritual revelation, taking the reader on a journey of personal identity unveiling.

 

George Colon ’71
A Bronx Tapestry: A Very Personal History of My Borough
George Colon, 2020.

This book covers all things Bronx—from Jonas Bronck and the Indians, Ann Hutchinson, Edgar Allan Poe and Jordan Mott, to the fires, and then, the Phoenix rises. This is a history of the author’s “Precioso El Bronx.”

 

 

Carol Brockway Lieto ’72
The Blanket of Many Colors Trimmed with Satin and Love
Happiness House Books, 2019.

Before the birth of her beautiful baby girl, a future mother sits and quilts a baby blanket. The story shares how a keepsake blanket became a powerful reminder of love and strength throughout a young woman’s life, as well as a connection to her mother and the threads of love that bind families together.

 

Tom Ciurczak ’76
Call Me Ishmael
Perfect Sound Studios, 2020.

The original songs on this debut album range in style from classic rock, jazz, folk and outlaw country, and an educated listener can hear influences from both Springsteen and Steve Earle throughout. Played by over 175 radio stations across the U.S. and reaching the top 150 on the AMA charts, this album was mastered by Grammy-nominated Emily Lazar. The album is available digitally on iTunes, Amazon, YouTube and Spotify, and hard copies can be purchased at tomciurczak.com.

 

Donald Moriarty O’Leary ’76
Bicentennial Abroad: A Declaration of Independence
Outskirts Press, 2020.

This book covers the author’s Irish roots and his coming of age in the Tipperary Hill neighborhood of Syracuse, N.Y. It also traces his college experiences that led to him ultimately studying abroad in 1976 in Bruges (Brugge), Belgium, via a program through SUNY Oswego. He details his 11 months abroad, based in Bruges but also traveling to Morocco, Ireland, Norway, Greece, Turkey and places in between.

 

John Turiano ’77
Flash Back (Time Travel Book 1)
John Turiano, 2020.

In a world where China is the sole nuclear power, Sam Reilly plunges into a mystery taking him back to another era. The time is 1942, the place is Chicago. While in the midst of a world at war, nations are racing to harness the power of the atom and the University of Chicago is at the center of the research for the United States. As a result of a mysterious flash drive planted in his apartment, Sam is abruptly reassigned to a project researching time travel. What if you could change the past… save a life and in doing so, alter history?

 

John Turiano ’77
Extreme Peril: To Save the World, Change the Future (Time Travel Book 2)
John Turiano, 2020.

While on assignment in Germany, U.S. Army Special Agent Frank Marino soon discovers disturbing news: a secret society is masterminding a plot to create a new world order. As the trial approaches amidst a racially charged atmosphere, a new more deadly virus appears and begins to spread across the globe. Frank is soon targeted by a killer, while back home a cure to the lethal disease eludes scientists. Can the evil plot be stopped before millions of people will die?

 

Joe Zeppetello ’77
Intimate Disconnect
All Things That Matter Press, 2020.

Intimate Disconnect is a literary legal drama that opens when a disturbed ex-employee goes to his old job with an assault rifle to “rescue” his ex-boss and lover, Anne Mali. The carnage nearly kills Anne and destroys her pending divorce case. Zoe Peters, a guardedly idealistic attorney, is handling the case, and she is struggling to be a player in her male-dominated law firm. The notoriety from the case can make or break her career if things go wrong—and they go very wrong right from the start.

 

Joe Zeppetello ’77
These Truths
All Things That Matter Press, 2020.

These Truths shifts back and forth in time, mostly following the trials of Gil Sykes, an English professor whose colleague has found a charter in the ruins of a villa in Haiti that proves the “all men are created equal” line in the Declaration of Independence came from a freed Black man, not the Founding Fathers. The resulting furor results in nothing but trouble for the pair as they are punished, especially by their respective institutions, for publishing the truth. While touching on historical issues of slavery, this novel also deals with contemporary issues of race, sexual harassment, intimidation and conservative political correctness.

 

Mark Allen Baker ’79
The World Colored Heavyweight Championship, 1876-1937
McFarland & Co., Inc., Publishers, 2020.

For six decades, the World Colored Heavyweight Championship was a useful tool to combat racial oppression—the existence of the title a leverage mechanism, used as a technique to counter a social element, “drawing the color line.” The book traces the advent and demise of the championship, the stories of 28 professional athletes who won it and the demarcation of the color line both in and out of the ring.

 

Lois Fanning Hamill ’79
Archives 101
American Association for State and Local History, 2021.

The third book by Hamill who is the archivist at Northern Kentucky University, this practical ready reference was written for people who care for historical records, photographs and collections regardless of their professional education or institution type. It addresses all aspects of managing cultural collections from acquisition, arrangement and description, researchers, exhibits, security, to collection storage and digitization.

 

William E. Plunkett ’81
The G-Men and the Heiress
Orange Frazer Press, 2021.

The third in a loose trilogy of books that began with The G-Man and the Diamond King, a 1935 story of the murder of Cincinnati FBI Special Agent Nelson B. Klein, which was followed by two other cases, Klein assisted in investigating: a 1929 Washington, DC, murder case, The G-Men and the Nurse, and now The G-Men and the Heiress: The 1934 Alice Speed Stoll FBI Kidnapping Case. This latest book covers the story of Thomas Robinson Jr. who masterminded the 1934 kidnapping of wealthy Louisville socialite Alice Stoll, hid out successfully in an Indianapolis apartment and acquired the $50,000 ransom before eventually getting caught and launching a three decade long legal battle.

 

John Mercer ’86 M’91
They Call Me Zombie: Kangaroo
John Mercer, 2020.

This is the third book in the middle-grade series, which began in 2013. It follows the haunted adventures of 12-year-old Mikey, who, after recovering from a near-death experience, discovers that he did not return from the land of the dead alone. He soon realizes he is being haunted by ghosts, and the only way to make them stop is to figure out how to help them. As if that weren’t bad enough, Mikey also has to deal with the everyday struggles of junior high.

 

Glenn Miller ’91
Camper Girl
Fitzroy Books, 2020.

This young adult novel follows Shannon Burke, a directionless 18-year old. When her estranged aunt dies and leaves behind a beat-up camper van, a cryptic note and a string of mysterious maps, Shannon journeys into the heart of the Adirondack wilderness where she uncovers a stunning family secret. During her scavenger hunt of self-discovery, she scales ancient peaks, hikes to hidden waterfalls and traverses open roads and breathtaking lakes.

 

Glenn Miller ’91
Red’s First Snow
Fitzroy Books, 2020.

Red is a fox pup who can’t wait to get outside and play with his friends. There’s only one problem: his friends are too busy. And everyone is chattering about something called “winter.”  Confused and tired, Red settles in for a nap. He wakes to find his world covered in fluffy white flakes. Red isn’t sure about this snow stuff. It’s cold and wet, and it sticks to his thick fur. Through determination and encouragement from his friends, Red discovers that he’s changed, too, and is ready for winter fun. This picture book follows a young fox pup who discovers the importance of accepting change.

 

Marisa Burns Maney ’96
The Intuitive Messages Handbook
Balboa Press, 2020.

The messages in this self-help book are a combination of the author’s education, experiences and missives that come to her from a source that she cannot define. Each chapter starts with a story that is a combination of experiences people have had related to the chapter topic. The author structured the book so that the reader can open to any page, and that page or paragraph will contain a message relevant to the day or moment. There are very simple ways to improve one’s life, outlook and experiences.

 

Keith Wing ’99
The Secret of Santa Claus
Keith Wing, 2021.

When a young boy is told at school that there is no Santa, his grandfather shares a long kept secret that proves the opposite.

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