David Markson ’49, the author of eight literary novels, three crime novels, poetry and criticism, received the American Academy of Arts and Letters award in literature last month in New York City. The award carries a prize of $7,500. Markson and seven other writers were honored for "exceptional accomplishment in any genre."
Markson, 79, graduated from Union with a B.A. in English and went on to Columbia University. He lives in Greenwich Village. Among his close friends were the late literary legends Dylan Thomas, Jack Kerouac and Kurt Vonnegut. Markson’s novels include "The Ballad of Dingus Magee," which was made into a movie starring Frank Sinatra, "Wittgenstein’s Mistress" and "The Last Novel," published in May.
The Sorum Book Club has chosen two titles for discussion this fall, both true stories of people entering cultures foreign to them: “Black Ice,” by Lorene Cary, and “Keep the River on Your Right,” by Tobias Schneebaum.
“Black Ice” is the summer reading for first-year students, and there’s a good chance the author will visit campus next fall. .
Called “a stunning memoir . . . subtly nuanced and unsparingly self-aware,” by the New York Times Book Review, “Black Ice” chronicles the journey in 1972 by Cary, a bright black teenager from Philadelphia, into the world of the elite St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire, formerly all-white and all-male. Cary, a scholarship student, became the prep school’s first African-American female.
The Washington Post Book World wrote of this coming-of-age memoir: “A genuinely remarkable book that takes its place alongside those by Richard Wright [and] Maya Angelou . . . by a writer of singular grace, wit and self-knowledge . . . ‘Black Ice’ is beautiful in all respects, not merely as a contribution to that 'unruly conversation' among black Americans but as a precious gift to all of us.”
Tobias Schneebaum, Keep the River on your Right
“Keep the River on your Right” is the basis for a new, highly regarded documentary that Union will show in the fall. The book has been called an extraordinary, stranger-than-fiction story. It chronicles Schneebaum's return to the jungle, 45 years after his original visit, to reunite with the tribesmen he loved and who gave him nightmares for nearly half a century.
Schneebaum, who died in 2005, was a New York painter, an anthropologist and a Fulbright scholar in 1955 when he spent seven months in the rain forests of Peru with the Indian tribe, the Harakambut. When the tribe went on a raid, killed enemies and ate them, Schneebaum joined them in this cannibalism. The documentary, by Laurie and David Shapiro, has been described as “a deeply affecting and searing portrait.”
To participate in the book club, contact Sorum House Representative Suzanne Benack at benacks@union.edu. Spouses, partners and family members are welcome at the book club and at all Minerva events.
Therese McCarty has been named by President Stephen C. Ainlay as the vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of the faculty, effective July 1. She has been serving as interim vice president and dean since summer 2005.
"Professor McCarty has demonstrated remarkable leadership throughout her years at Union, and she is in a position to help move Union forward," Ainlay said.
An expert in public finance and the economics of education, McCarty joined the Economics Department at Union in 1987. She received her A.B. degree from Bryn Mawr College and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. She was promoted to associate professor in 1993 and to professor in 2002. She has held numerous leadership positions.
Ainlay said he was "impressed by the level of confidence, appreciation and regard expressed by her colleagues. She is a person of great integrity."
Commencement 2007: College employee Bob Arket installs a new light atop a light post near the Nott Memorial in preparation for Commencement.
Some 500 students in the Class of 2007 are expected to receive their degrees when Union celebrates its 213th Commencement on Sunday, June 17. The ceremony in Hull Plaza in front of Schaffer Library begins at 10 a.m.
Jonathan Young of Walnut, Calif., is this year’s valedictorian, and Leigh Ann Holterman of Albany is the salutatorian. Karyn Amira of Newton, Mass., was chosen student speaker.
Charles Gibson
c. ABC, Inc.
Charles Gibson, anchor of top-ranked ABC’s World News,will deliver the Commencement address. The son of Burdett Gibson ’23 and nephew of Charles D. Gibson ’20 (both Schenectadians), Gibson, 64, is one of the most distinguished journalists in television today. Gibson was covering the House of Representatives for ABC in 1986 when he met with Philip R. Beuth ’54, then an executive at Capital Cities/ABC. Over coffee in the cafeteria, Beuth, now a Union Trustee, asked Gibson to be the male host on Good Morning America.
“Phil Beuth literally changed my life,” Gibson said.
Richard Sorabji
The College will present Gibson with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree on Sunday, June 17. Richard Sorabji, professor emeritus of philosophy, King’s College, London, will receive a Doctor of Letters. Sorabji joined the faculty at King’s College in 1970 after many years as an associate professor at Cornell University. Since 2000, he has held teaching posts at Gresham College in London, the University of Texas at Austin, New York University and the City University of New York.
Library Plaza, May 27, 2004
Immediately after next Sunday’s ceremony, representatives of Union’s academic departments will host receptions. Look for sites in the Commencement program.
The Saturday, June 16 schedule includes Baccalaureate Commemorations at 4:30 p.m. in Memorial Chapel; Baccalaureate Mass at 6 p.m., Old Chapel; and the Garnet Gala, 8 p.m., Rugby Field. Nearly 2,500 are expected to attend the gala, an evening of dessert and dancing.
For more information about Commencement activities, visit www.union.edu/Commencement.
Biology Professors Emeriti Twitty Styles and George Smith were honored last week at College Park Hall for their role in helping to found the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) at Union in 1985. The New York state program helps prepare economically disadvantaged students in grades 7–12 for entry into postsecondary degree programs in scientific, technical and health professions.
James Hedrick, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was recognized for 10 years of service to STEP.
Thomas P. Boland Jr., Catholic chaplain and adjunct professor of Religious Studies, has been selected to attend a National Endowment for the Humanities summer study seminar, called “Religious Diversity and the Common Good.” The six-week program will be held at the Boisi Center for Religious and American Public Life at Boston College.
Mechanical Engineering Professors Frank Wicks and Richard Wilk have been awarded $10,000 from National Grid for research related to more efficient use of oil and the reduction of CO2 emissions that may be linked to global warming. The funding will support the ongoing development of Union’s 100 mpg Challenge Vehicle and for solar energy-related projects.
Mechanical Engineering Professor Richard Wilk received a research grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, totaling $80,000, for his project, “Development of a High Performance, Optically Enhanced Solar Thermal Collector System to Power a Trochoidal Gear Engine/Generator.”
