There’s lots going on in the world of the University of Nebraska Press today. Let’s get right down to it.

First, what are you doing at 12:42 p.m. today? If you’re going to be at your computer, you can stream an interview with Pamela Carter Joern, author of The Floor of the Sky and The Plain Sense of Things.  Joern will be on Des Moines community radio station 99.1, visiting with John Busbee, host of The Culture Buzz.

Second, today is the 100th anniversary of Wallace Stegner’s birth. Stegner, whose novel Angle of Repose won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1972, passed away in 1993. His legacy, however, lives on. Many of his books are still in print (including these UNP titles), a biography about Stegner (also a UNP title) is coming out in paperback in May, and a symposium honoring his life, legacy and his contributions as both an author and a conservationist will be held in Salt Lake City March 6 and 7. Among the speakers at the symposium is his daughter-in-law, Lynn Stegner, author of the UNP title Because a Fire Was in My Head, which comes out in paperback in July.

Lastly, my fellow Lincoln residents will be saddened to learn of the death of a very visible member of our literary community. Silas, the feline resident of A Novel Idea Bookstore downtown, died earlier this week. He had lived in the store for 14 years. Cindy Lange-Kubick wrote this very nice tribute to Silas, which ran in today’s Journal Star.