Authors speak: interviews, op-eds, and more

We’ve got several authors out there making appearances online in various forms. If you’ve missed some of the live appearances in this busy spring, take a moment to follow-up virtually. In history… Russell McClintock, author of Lincoln and the Decision for War, was interviewed recently by Michael Noirot over at This Mighty Scourge. An excerpt from Amy Wood‘s new book,… Continue Reading Authors speak: interviews, op-eds, and more

Call to action: buy indie today

Today is Buy Indie Day: a day to make a mass statement of support for independent booksellers. People all across the country will be making a special trip to their local bookstores to purchase a book. You can help make it a banner day for indies by buying just one book and spreading the word to your friends and family… Continue Reading Call to action: buy indie today

Meet the Armchair Birder…dot com!!

What do you see when you look out your window? City-friendly pigeons? Meadow-loving bluebirds? John Yow, author of the fun and fantastic new book The Armchair Birder: Discovering the Secret Lives of Familiar Birds, is now blogging! He talks about birds almost all of us have heard of and that many of us see on a regular basis. He’s watching… Continue Reading Meet the Armchair Birder…dot com!!

Get satisfaction: the indy publisher blog feed

You may have noticed a new widget in the righthand sidebar over the last several weeks. (It was previously down under the categories and tag cloud; I just bumped it up to prime real estate today.) In the right column, just under the search box is a bigger box displaying current headlines from the blogs of dozens of other university… Continue Reading Get satisfaction: the indy publisher blog feed

Big birthday wishes to 2 legendary UNC Press authors!!

Two well-loved and renowned authors are celebrating major birthdays this month. On 4/11, Mama Dip turned 80 years old (Photo Ann Hawthorne) Mildred Council, aka “Mama Dip,” has won the hearts of Chapel Hillians for decades as a restaurateur and community builder. In 1999 we published her first cookbook, Mama Dip’s Kitchen, which became a runaway bestseller and made her… Continue Reading Big birthday wishes to 2 legendary UNC Press authors!!

Baby/bathwater proposal, or a much-needed revolutionary idea?

As an interesting follow up to Friday’s post, in which I talked about publishing as one of those industries going through major shifts right now, Mark C. Taylor’s op-ed from Sunday’s New York Times, “End the University as We Know It,” proposes a BIG shake-up for universities in general. Taylor, chair of the religion department at Columbia, offers six big… Continue Reading Baby/bathwater proposal, or a much-needed revolutionary idea?

A post I didn’t see coming: on the last days of the printed catalog

I was going to offer a roundup of book news today and started writing out a brief intro for it. Then the intro became the post, and well, the news roundup will come another day. We’ve just received a few advances of our Fall 2009 catalogs, and will see the rest of the shipment arrive next week. As the person… Continue Reading A post I didn’t see coming: on the last days of the printed catalog

Upcoming events, 4/21 – 4/27

New York, NY – Today! Tuesday 4/21 at 6 pm – Ann Marie Stock, author of On Location in Cuba: Street Filmmaking during Times of Transition (hot off the press!), will be speaking at the Havana Film Festival at the King Juan Carlos Center. Raleigh, NC – Wed., 4/22 at 11 am – Rob Christensen, author of The Paradox of… Continue Reading Upcoming events, 4/21 – 4/27

Those Who Don’t Learn From History Are Doomed to Repeat it….

April 14, 2009 proved to be a dark day for progress and equality in, ironically, one of the most liberal collegiate atmospheres in the country. Forty-six years after the highly controversial Speaker Ban law was passed, it seems that the UNC Chapel Hill finds itself once again in the spotlight. In 1963, the Speaker Ban prohibited members of the Communist… Continue Reading Those Who Don’t Learn From History Are Doomed to Repeat it….

SIBA book award finalists include Holy Smoke & biography of Susie Sharp

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance is narrowing in on the year’s best southern books. Here’s how they describe the process: Each year, hundreds of booksellers across the South vote on their favorite hand-sell books of the year. These are the Southern books they have most enjoyed selling to customers; the ones that they couldn’t stop talking about; the ones most… Continue Reading SIBA book award finalists include Holy Smoke & biography of Susie Sharp

Upcoming events 4/14 – 4/20

Upcoming author events, including a C-SPAN taping tonight! Today, Tuesday, 4/14: John & Dale Reed in Kernersville, NC –  Shakespeare & Company Books in Kernersville hosts the authors of Holy Smoke at 6 pm. Lars Schoultz in Durham, NC – The author of That Infernal Little Cuban Republic will read and speak at the Regulator Bookshop at 7 pm .… Continue Reading Upcoming events 4/14 – 4/20

Glue Sticks & Glitter: Art talk from two people who know very little about art

The Ackland Art Museum’s current exhibition At the Heart of Progress: Coal, Iron, and Steam since 1750 – Industrial Imagery from the John P. Eckblad Collection is a worthwhile venture into the dark world of progress. The artwork vacillates between hard, industrial imagery and intimate views of man’s relation to the hard work of a new world. Though often downtrodden,… Continue Reading Glue Sticks & Glitter: Art talk from two people who know very little about art

Upcoming events: UNC wins NCAA championship, etc.

The Tar Heels are on order by the Commander in Chief to win the NCAA tourney tonight. Go Heels!! Here’s a preview of tonight’s celebration on Franklin Street. This video was shot on Saturday, when the Tar Heels beat Villanova in the final four. Hopefully any potential thunderstorms and tornadoes will happen sooner rather than later today so we can… Continue Reading Upcoming events: UNC wins NCAA championship, etc.

Job Programs and Stimulus II: What We Can Learn from New Deal Programs

I’m pleased to have a guest post today from Frank Stricker, author of Why America Lost the War on Poverty — And How to Win It, which we published in 2007. That book focused on the second half of the twentieth century. In his current work, Stricker’s looking more closely at unemployment and job creation, and looking further back in… Continue Reading Job Programs and Stimulus II: What We Can Learn from New Deal Programs

In memoriam, Archie Green (1917-2009)

I wrote briefly last week (in rather vague terms) about some of Archie Green’s accomplishments. Over the weekend, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times both published lengthy obituaries. I wanted to offer a more personal glimpse of him here from a longtime friend and colleague of Green’s, Robert Cantwell. In 2001 UNC Press published Green’s collection Torching the… Continue Reading In memoriam, Archie Green (1917-2009)

Grandfather Mountain: personal and public

Yesterday Governor Bev Perdue signed legislation making Grandfather Mountain North Carolina’s newest state park. Hugh Morton (1921-2006) inherited the 2500-acre property and developed part of it into a tourist attraction, including a famous “mile-high” swinging bridge. Morton’s family will continue to operate the tourist site and nature center there. My family vacations as a child were often in the mountains… Continue Reading Grandfather Mountain: personal and public

Robert McElvaine on The News Hour: reconsidering consumption

I’ve posted a couple of items recently (here and here) about the renewed relevance in these painful economic times of Robert McElvaine’s classic collection of letters written to FDR, Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man. On Friday, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer aired a wonderful segment featuring McElvaine and his book,  incorporating some… Continue Reading Robert McElvaine on The News Hour: reconsidering consumption

Remembrances for Franklin abound

Our hearts are warmed by the outpouring of remembrances for John Hope Franklin. We’ve been blogging about it the past couple of days (here and here), but there’s no letting up yet. In a New York Times editorial, Brent Staples cites John Hope’s “groundbreaking work on free Negroes in antebellum North Carolina” (that would be JHF’s first book, The Free… Continue Reading Remembrances for Franklin abound