Indiana University Press blog

Author event: Carolyn Harstad to speak in Indianapolis this Saturday

Carolyn Harstad, author of Got Shade? and Go Native!, will present an illustrated talk called "Using Native Plants in Your Garden" at 1 p.m. this Saturday, May 19 in Indianapolis, IN. This free event will be held at Irvington Community Middle School, 6040 E. Pleasant Run Parkway South, and is open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing after the presentation.

May author events for Matthew Tully

Matthew Tully, author of Searching for Hope and award-winning political columnist for the Indianapolis Star, has the following events scheduled for this month:

May 8
Tully will discuss his book and the education system at the Bloomington Rotary Club meeting. His talk begins at noon at Alumni Hall in the Indiana Memorial Union. This event is open to rotary club members and their guests. 

May 12
Tully will discuss his book with Project Home Indy, a non-profit organization that helps homeless teenage girls who are pregnant or parenting to gain self-sufficiency. The speech will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Indiana Landmarks Center in Indianapolis.  

May 15
Tully will speak about his series of columns on Manual High School at the Marion County Central Library in Indianapolis at 6:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. Copies of Searching for Hope will be available for purchase, and a booksigning will follow the event.

May 23
Tully will be the featured speaker at the Avon Education Foundation's 5th Annual Community Breakfast. The breakfast will be held from 7:45 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at Serendipity @ Metropolis in Plainfield. Tickets are available at the Avon Community School Administration Center between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Cost is $25 per person or $300 for corporate tables of eight.

For more information on these events, visit Tully's blog.

Celebrate Bloomington history at a 'Town and Gown' booksigning for two new IU Press books

On May 16, from 4 to 6 p.m., IU Press and the City of Bloomington present “Town and Gown,” a celebration of the release of two historically significant books—Showers Brothers Furniture Company by Carrol Krause and Herman B Wells by James H. Capshew.

The event, a part of Historical Preservation Month activities, will take place in City Hall Atrium and is free and open to the public. Mayor Mark Kruzan and IU Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Tom Gieryn will introduce the authors who will read from and sign books. Books will be available for purchase at a 20% discount.

When the Showers family arrived in Bloomington, IN, the railroad had only recently come to town and a modest university was struggling to survive. Having spent the prior 18 years moving from place to place, the family decided to settle down and invest its modest resources to start a furniture company. The business proved to be extremely profitable and a stroke of good fortune for the small community. The company’s success strengthened Bloomington's infrastructure, helping to develop new neighborhoods, and the philanthropic acts of the Showers family supported the town’s continued development. The family’s contributions helped Indiana University through difficult times and paved the way to its becoming the largest university in the state. In The Showers Brothers Furniture Company, Carrol Krause, a member of Bloomington’s Historic Preservation Commission and a Herald-Times columnist, tells the story of a remarkably successful collaboration between business, town, and gown.

Energetic, shrewd, and charming, Herman B Wells was the driving force behind the transformation of Indiana University—which became a model for American public higher education in the 20th century. A person of unusual sensitivity and a skilled and empathetic communicator, his character and vision shaped the structure, ethos, and spirit of the institution in countless ways. Wells articulated a persuasive vision of the place of the university in the modern world. Under his leadership, IU would grow in size and stature, establishing strong connections to the state, the nation, and the world. His dedication to the arts, to academic freedom, and to international education remained hallmarks of his 63-year tenure as President and University Chancellor. Wells lavished particular attention on the flagship campus at Bloomington, expanding its footprint tenfold in size and maintaining its woodland landscape as new buildings and facilities were constructed. Gracefully aging in place, he became a beloved paterfamilias to the IU clan. A faculty member of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at IU Bloomington, and former Wells house boy, James Capshew shows how Wells built an institution, and, in the process, became one himself.

For more information on the event, contact Nancy Hiestand, Program Manager Historic Preservation, at hiestann@bloomington.in.gov or 812-349-3507.

Scott Russell Sanders to speak at Plainfield Library tomorrow

Tomorrow, May 1, at 7 p.m. Scott Russell Sanders (author of Earth Works) will give the 2012 Kidwell Memorial Lecture at the Plainfield-Guilford Public Library in Plainfield, IN. The event is free, but you must register by calling (317)-838-3800. Books will be on sale at the event with a booksigning following. For more information, visit the library's website.

IU Libraries to host book launch for 'Herman B Wells' biography April 18

In celebration of the man who made Indiana University what it is today, the IU Libraries will host a reception to introduce a new biography by James H. Capshew, Herman B Wells: The Promise of the American University, published by IU Press.
 
Held April 18 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Herman B Wells Library, the event will feature remarks by President Michael A. McRobbie and IU Libraries Dean Brenda L. Johnson. Professor Capshew, who is a faculty member in the History and Philosophy of Science Department, will read a selection from the biography. Wells-themed hors d’oeuvres and Wells cake will be served, and copies of the book will be available for purchase.
 
In researching the biography, Capshew relied primarily on the IU Archives, a department of IU Libraries that maintains the university’s historic records. Wells’s papers and other professional and personal items are part of these extensive collections, which document IU’s origins and development. Selected items from the IU Archives will be on display during the event.
 
“We are so pleased that the IU archives could offer such rich material for this biography,” said Dean Johnson. “Professor Capshew spent years poring over the Wells papers, discovering a great deal of illuminating information about Herman B Wells and his influence on the university. It’s been especially fascinating to learn from Capshew about how and why Wells built the university’s Main Library in 1969. That building is now the Herman B Wells Library, where we are honored to host this exciting event. Professor Capshew has done a remarkable job of portraying Wells not only as a visionary but also as a compassionate person whose presence enriched the lives of so many, and this biography offers an opportunity for the IU community to be reintroduced to this extraordinary man.”
 
The culmination of more than a decade of work, Herman B Wells incorporates Capshew’s firsthand knowledge of the IU president and chancellor as his friend and former employee. Capshew worked as a houseboy for Wells in the 1970s, when Capshew was an IU undergraduate and Wells served as university chancellor.
 
“He really changed my life in all kinds of positive ways,” said Capshew. “He did the same for the university. I’ve tried to make this book a comprehensive survey of his life and career, focusing on his main areas of involvement and what he stood for.”
 
Publishing Capshew’s book holds special meaning for IU Press, as it was President Wells’s idea and initiative to establish a press at Indiana University in 1950. “Throughout the years until his death, President Wells remained a mentor to the Press and a prime supporter of its work, recognizing its importance to Indiana University,” said Janet Rabinowitch, Director of IU Press. “We are proud and honored to publish this book.”
 
Capshew will be available to sign copies of the book and answer questions about his research. In addition, a new paperback edition of Wells’s autobiography, Being Lucky: Reminiscences and Reflections, will be available. The event is free and open to the public. For more information on the event, contact Helene O’Leary at IU Libraries.

April author events for Norbert Krapf

IUP author and former Indiana Poet Laureate Norbert Krapf has the following events planned during National Poetry Month in April:

April 5-7
Krapf, along with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey, will be the featured reader at the Scissortail Creative Arts Festival at East Central University in Ada, OK. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the festival's blog. 

April 13
Krapf will give a poetry reading as part of the annual meeting of the Society for German American Studies (SGAS). The meeting takes place at the University of Kansas and the Oread Hotel. For more information, visit the SGAS website. 

April 28
The Village Lights Bookstore in Madison, IN, will host a reading and a booksigning with Krapf as part of the bookstore's Poetpalooza. The event will be held from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. For more information, visit the bookstore's website. 

Win a copy of 'Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate' signed by author John T. Shaw!

In honor of tonight's BookTV event with John Shaw, we're giving away an autographed copy of his new book Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate. Send an email to winiupress@gmail.com with your name and mailing address to enter. The contest ends Friday, April 6 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Winners will be notified by email and books will ship via USPS.

BookTV to cover event for 'Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate'

A booksigning for Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate with author John T. Shaw will take place Monday, April 2, at 7 p.m. at the Cook Theater in the Indiana Landmarks Center. The event is co-sponsored by Howey Politics Indiana and Bookmamas and is free and open to the public. C-SPAN’s BookTV will cover the event, and Shaw will be speaking, followed by a Q&A session.

As Senator Lugar enters his toughest election battle in years, Shaw examines the two-time chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s approach to lawmaking and diplomacy for what it reveals about the workings of the Senate and changes in that institution. Drawing on access to the senator over several years, and interviews with Lugar and other leading figures in foreign policy, Shaw chronicles Lugar's historic work on nuclear proliferation, arms control, energy, and global food issues, highlighting the senator’s ability to influence American foreign policy in consequential ways.

The book presents Lugar’s career as an example of the role Congress can play in shaping foreign policy in an era of a strong executive branch. It demonstrates the importance of statesmanship in contemporary American political life while acknowledging the limitations of this approach to governance.

About the author:

John T. Shaw has covered Congress since 1991 as a congressional correspondent and vice president with Market News International and as a contributing writer for the Washington Diplomat magazine. He is the author of The Ambassador: Inside the Life of a Working Diplomat and Washington Diplomacy: Profiles of People of World Influence. He has been a Hoover Institution Media Fellow and is a frequent commentator for C-SPAN and public radio.

Related links:

Listen to an IU Press podcast with Shaw
Read Shaw’s opinion piece on the upcoming primaries in the Washington Post Political Bookworm
Read Publishers Weekly's review of the book

San Francisco exhibit features jazz photographs from 'Keystone Korner'

Starting this month through the end of April, the Jazz Heritage Center in San Francisco will exhibit photographs from Kathy Sloane's Keystone Korner. There will be a reception to celebrate the opening of the exhibit March 17 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Jazz Heritage Center's Koret Heritage Lobby. Books will be available for purchase at the reception, and Sloane will be on hand to sign them.

On March 31, Sloane and fellow colleague Professor Lewis Watts will present a lecture focused around jazz in the Bay Area. This event will begin at 2 p.m. at the Jazz Heritage Center's Media and Education Theater. Tickets are $10 and are available to purchase online.

For more information on these two events, email info@jazzheritagecenter.org or visit the Jazz Heritage Center website.

March author events for Norbert Krapf

Norbert Krapf, author of the forthcoming poetry collection Songs in Sepia and Black and White, has the following events planned for March:

March 17

Krapf will join Liza Hyatt for a poetry reading in Indianapolis to celebrate the release of her new collection, Under My Skin, from WordTech Editions. Bookmamas is hosting this free event at 2 p.m.

March 22

Krapf will be a featured writer in an Author's Showcase at Vincennes University in Jasper, IN at 6 p.m. He'll sign copies of Bloodroot and Invisible Presence before and after the event. 

March 25

The Indianapolis Artsgarden will host an afternoon of poetry and jazz with Krapf, David Baker: A Legacy in Music author Monika Herzig (piano), Carolyn Dutton (violin), and Peter Kienle (bass/guitar). The event is free and goes from 2 to 3 p.m.

For more information on Norbert Krapf, please visit his website.