Online book buzz: the food’s the thing

Before the week gets away from me, I wanted to be able to share some more of the online buzz UNC Press books have gotten lately. It’s all about FOOD . . . Nancy Carter Crump’s Hearthside Cooking: Early American Southern Cuisine Updated for Today’s Hearth and Cookstove is hitting bookstores now. Get an early taste over at Gherkins and… Continue Reading Online book buzz: the food’s the thing

Guest Blogger Laura Browder: Sarah Palin: A “Pioneer Mother” in Hockey Mom’s Clothes?

Since her first appearance at the Republican National Convention, where she was greeted with rapturous applause by her fans and with astonishment by journalists — she’s a mother of five, and she hunts! — Sarah Palin has seemed to many like a brand-new phenomenon. Actually, she’s not. Sarah Palin is following in a long tradition of women who used their… Continue Reading Guest Blogger Laura Browder: Sarah Palin: A “Pioneer Mother” in Hockey Mom’s Clothes?

Robin Williams stops by UNC Press Booth in Nashville

The University of North Carolina Press was not the only out-of-towner attending the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville Oct. 10-Oct. 12. Comedian and actor Robin Williams strolled through the War Memorial Plaza on Sunday and checked out what UNC Press had to offer. He even purchased Lincoln and the Decision for War, by Russell McClintock, as seen in this… Continue Reading Robin Williams stops by UNC Press Booth in Nashville

Books for Understanding the Economic Crisis

Well, on the news that European governments are jumping in to help their banks continue lending to each other, markets seem to be showing some signs of regaining confidence today. We’ll see how long it holds. For the past couple of weeks — and no doubt for some time still to come — we’ve seen what large scale economic crisis… Continue Reading Books for Understanding the Economic Crisis

Verifying your voter registration status

According to an article in the New York Times today, tens of thousands of eligible voters have erroneously—and illegally—been removed from voter rolls in at least six battleground states, including North Carolina. On top of the fact that it is against the law (with few exceptions, such as death) to purge voter rolls within 90 days of an election, many… Continue Reading Verifying your voter registration status

Ella Baker Tour – SNCC alums to visit Durham

The Ella Baker Tour and Retreat, sponsored by the Southern Anti-Racism Network (SARN), is inspiring a wave of intergenerational dialogue and cooperation between veterans of the Civil Rights Movement and a new generation of social justice activists. The SARN website explains the tour’s origins this way: Social change movements led by people of African descent in the U.S. are experiencing… Continue Reading Ella Baker Tour – SNCC alums to visit Durham

Banned Books Week Gallery

National Banned Books Week ended on Saturday, but we’re not done! A few readers took me up on the invitation to send in photos of “getting caught reading a banned book.” I also stumbled upon a few other photos of folks around the country gettin’ down with Banned Books Week. The anonymous, the canine (more from Gus!), and the in-your-face,… Continue Reading Banned Books Week Gallery

Weekend Roadtrip #9: Grab a Plastic Bib and Head to the NC Seafood Festival

Grab your oyster knives and crab crackers! This weekend, Morehead City will be hosting the 22nd Annual North Carolina Seafood Festival. Friday through Sunday, October 3-5, locals and out-of-towners can enjoy all the Crystal Coast has to offer. Events include the Outer Banks Boat Show, cooking demonstrations by renowned chefs, live music, rides, an open air market with arts and… Continue Reading Weekend Roadtrip #9: Grab a Plastic Bib and Head to the NC Seafood Festival

Call for Entries: Get Caught Reading . . . a Banned Book! Send pics!

Dear, sweet readers, do you know what this week is? It’s Banned Books Week, brought to you by the American Library Association. It’s that time once a year when we celebrate the freedom to read what we want by flaunting all the books that people at one time or another, for one reason or another, didn’t want somebody to read.… Continue Reading Call for Entries: Get Caught Reading . . . a Banned Book! Send pics!

Dr. Hadler Advises to Think Twice about That Colonoscopy

Dr. Nortin Hadler, author of Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America, writes occasional commentaries for ABC News online. In his most recent piece, published Friday, Hadler discusses the screening of health conditions that may — or may not — significantly affect your lifespan or your quality of life. He suggests you think twice before signing up… Continue Reading Dr. Hadler Advises to Think Twice about That Colonoscopy

UNC Press in Mobile, AL

Greetings from Mobile, Alabama! What a weekend-well-spent at the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (commonly referred to as SIBA) 2008 trade show. The University of North Carolina Press received quite a bit of positive feedback for many reasons. EVERYONE we spoke with is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue and couldn’t give enough praise… Continue Reading UNC Press in Mobile, AL

It’s National Hunting and Fishing Day!

Aha! The perfect day, then, to let you know that we’ve brought back into print a great sportsman’s classic, Hunting and Fishing in the Great Smokies, by Jim Gasque. Gasque’s classic 1948 work offers a period portrait of outdoor life in the Great Smoky Mountains. Filled with anecdotes, fishing and hunting stories, and recollections of legendary local sportsmen and guides,… Continue Reading It’s National Hunting and Fishing Day!

E. Patrick Johnson’s “Pouring Tea” in Chapel Hill and Durham

If you didn’t go check out the videos mentioned in Tom’s post on Sweet Tea a couple of weeks ago, go do it now. In fact, here’s a direct link to the page where the videos are. Go on. I’ll wait. . . . . . . Okay, I actually just went and re-watched all six of them again. I… Continue Reading E. Patrick Johnson’s “Pouring Tea” in Chapel Hill and Durham

Deaf Awareness Week

I took some sign language classes about twenty years ago and had some interaction with the deaf community at the time, but when the classes ended, I didn’t keep it up. I remember little more than the American Sign Language (ASL) alphabet, plus a few things like “more,” “thank you,” and “finished,” which I learned again when my sister started… Continue Reading Deaf Awareness Week

American Business Women’s Day

Maggie Lena Walker (third from the left in the cover photo) was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1867 (or 1864, or 1865, depending on your source). She spent her lifetime working to empower the black community there, even as early as high school, when she led a protest against the segregation policy that prevented her class from holding its graduation… Continue Reading American Business Women’s Day

“Meet Mike Walden” on the State of Things

If the subject of economics isn’t your strong suit, welcome to the majority! That’s why North Carolina is lucky to have Mike Walden, a professor at NC State and economist with the NC Cooperative Extension Service. Walden is especially good at talking about economics in terms the rest of us can understand. His new book is North Carolina in the… Continue Reading “Meet Mike Walden” on the State of Things

A Yankee Vegetarian Considers North Carolina Barbecue

I grew up in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, the eldest child of parents who’s idea of gastronomic adventure was going out to the local Hot Shoppes Cafeteria (you southerners just think the K&W and you’ll get the idea). It wasn’t until I was eighteen, when I grew my hair long, pierced my ear, and became a vegetarian that… Continue Reading A Yankee Vegetarian Considers North Carolina Barbecue

Froth and Scum – Then and Now

I have a great deal of respect for Bill Moyers. Moyers, a former White House Press Secretary for Lyndon Johnson, newspaper journalist, commentator for PBS, CBS, and NBC and now host of his own program, Bill Moyers Journal, is that rare breed of journalist who understands that issues are generally far more complex than a five-second sound bite. All of… Continue Reading Froth and Scum – Then and Now