The Union Bookshelf regularly features new books written by (or about) alumni and other members of the Union community. If you're an author and would like to be included in a future issue, please send us a copy of the book as well as your publisher's news release. Our address is Office of Communications, Union College, Schenectady, NY 12308.
Irwin N. Gertzog '54
Women and Power on Capitol Hill: Reconstructing the Congressional Women's Caucus
Lynne Rienner Publishers ISBN 1588262839; 197 pgs., $49.95
Until the 1994 “Republican revolution” – the midterm elections for the U.S. House of Representatives – the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues (CCWI) was one of the most powerful and productive political bodies since the end of World War II. With the 104th Congress, the CCWI's resources were eviscerated, and the CCWI sought alternative sources to keep its agenda alive. Irwin Gertzog, professor emeritus of political science at Allegheny College and adjunct professor of political science at Columbia and Rutgers Universities, traces the CCWI's evolution and its struggles in the often-Byzantine workings of the policymaking process.
Thomas R. Zentall '62
Stimulus Class Formation in Humans and Animals
North-Holland; ISBN 0444824014
Thomas Zentall is a professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky-Lexington. He and co-editor, Paul M. Smeets, collaborated on this book, which describes the sundry research programs that have investigated how humans and other animals form stimulus classes. The ability to form stimulus classes, says Zentall, allows us to categorize objects that are perceptually similar (e.g., dogs, cars, and trees) and to learn to symbolically represent objects by labels or words. This ability, formerly thought to be dependent on human language, is also found in animals, such as monkeys and even pigeons.
Antonio “Tony” Casillo '68
Tony Casillo's Family Cookbook: A Treasure Trove of Recipes and Cooking Advice from a Dad to His Daughters
Reader's Digest Books; ISBN 076210404X $30 hardcover, 256 pgs.
“I like families to eat together,” writes Tony Casillo, the self-described “antidote to the celebrity chef.” Tony's recipes and writing style are equally straightforward and imbued with gustatory eloquence.
Tony grew up in Florence and Naples, where cooking and family go together like fork in hand. He was twelve when his family moved to Buffalo, N.Y., and Tony helped his hardworking immigrant family by preparing meals and using their heirloom recipes. No haute or designer cuisine here-just good, traditional fare from “humble” ingredients.
Just because these recipes are simple and easy to prepare does not mean they are short on flavor. The book offers 400 recipes, literally from soup to nuts, ranging from one-pot meals to more elaborate “special occasion” meals. Tony also has annotated the pages with old family photos (“Uncle Geppino and Aunt Maria in Rome on their honeymoon”) and stories. Some recipes acknowledge their creators-“Grandma Flo's appetizer” and “Aunt Mary's whiskey cake.” This book is an extraordinary labor of love and artful preservation of family history and cuisine. Tony, father of two daughters and grandfather of Nicolas, has crafted an heirloom that can be treasured by any family.
Jennifer Smith Turner '74
Perennial Secrets: Poetry & Prose
1st Books; ISBN 1410743349
Corporate executive turned poet, or poet deep down in a corporate executive's soul all along? Jennifer Smith Turner has let the poet have its lead, and now her eclectic verse has found a home between covers.
Perennial Secrets is her first book-length collection of poetry and prose. She began writing poetry thirty years ago as an English major. Turner has captured life's experiences and influences-family, education, and the corporate world-in this lean, economical yet richly evocative collection. Her work has been hailed by eminent poet Maya Angelou, who pronounced it “an elegant work.” Turner, also a resident of Martha's Vineyard, has her work included in an anthology, Vineyard Poets. Currently she is working on her first novel, No Visiting Rights. She will visit the Union campus on May 22 for a book signing.
David Frangiamore '81
How Insurance Companies Settle Cases
James Publishing Inc.; ISBN 0938065432
Attorney David H. Frangiamore is president of 2nd Insight, Inc., an insurance consulting firm that provides analysis of insurance coverage and insurance claim handling issues. He is also claims manager and in-house counsel for Nationwide/Wausau Insurance Co. During his tenure at Nationwide/Wausau, he has supervised and/or personally handled more than 1,000 environmental first- and third-party claims and more than 2,000 commercial, construction, property, and automobile claims. His extensive background and experience have been called upon in the production of How Insurance Companies Settle Cases, on which he collaborated with co-authors Clinton E. Miller and Thomas McGreal. The handbook (geared for legal and insurance professionals) provides a behind-the-scenes look at how insurance cases are valued, what the adjuster needs to know to settle the case, and how to keep the case moving.
Teresa A. Meade
Professor of History and Director of the Center for Women's Studies, Union College
A Companion to Gender History (editor)
Blackwell Publishing; ISBN 0631223932
Prof. Teresa A. Meade and Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, have co-edited A Companion to Gender History. Part of the Blackwell Companions to History series, the book is a survey of women's history worldwide, including their interaction with men in gendered societies, and the impact of gender roles on the shaping of human behavior for thousands of years.
The book has two sections: a collection of thematic essays on gender issues in world history and chronological and geographical essays. The book examines the importance of class, region, ethnicity, race, and religion on the formation of gendered societies from pre-history to the modern era. The essays themselves are written by a variety of scholars from the English-speaking world as well as by those for whom English is a second language. Meade is also the author of “Civilizing” Rio: Reform and Resistance in a Brazilian City (1997), A Brief History of Brazil (2003), and is working on a project on marriage on the Alta California frontier, 1769–1860.
Walter J. Hatke
The May I. Baker Professor of Visual Arts/Painting & Drawing
Walter Hatke: Upstate Diary “…I wanted to make art that looked more real and convincing than a photograph, and as real and convincing as life itself.” – Walter Hatke
Walter Hatke is a master of light, creating ethereal works of hyper-reality and precision combined with a sense of other-worldliness through his treatment of light and shade; all the senses are employed when standing before a Hatke creation. Walter Hatke: Upstate Diary is a slim volume of the artist's works that were exhibited in fall 2002 at the Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe. Hatke's work conveys serenity and calm; the reassurance of his subjects' being grounded in time and history. Simultaneously he renders the verisimilitude of photography but is unbound by the camera's planes and range. He deftly “bends” dimensions and perspective, creating for his viewers a unique vision akin to a trompe l'oeil effect.