New this month from the University of Nebraska Press, is The Grace Abbot Reader edited by John Sorensen and Judith Sealander.  Grace Abbot (1878-1939) was a “tireless and brilliant social reformer” in the early parts of the twentieth century. She used her writing talent to help develop social programs devoted to mothers, children, immigrants, and child laborers.  U.S Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter said he didn’t think “the American experience would disclose a finer illustration of the rare art of public administration” than Abbott. Taking a nod from Ms. Abbott, Tuesday Trivia is going to provide a few facts about … Continue reading Tuesday Trivia: October 13, 2008

The Swedish Academy announcement yesterday featured French author Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio as the 2008 Nobel Prize winner in Literature for a lifetime of successful works. Le Clézio is one of 105 persons since 1901 to have received this award.  As one of France’s best-known contemporary writers, he has published nearly 30 novels, essays and short stories.  Le Clézio is the author of Onitsha (Nebraska, 1997) and The Round and Other Cold Hard Facts (Nebraska, 2003), published by University of Nebraska Press. “Before there was multiculturalism, there was the work of Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio. Le Clézio spins words which … Continue reading Congratulations to University of Nebraska Press author, 2008 Laureate Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio

We have a great week of facts for you. Everything from the 1919 World Series scandal to the Day of Six Billion, six billion people that is. Oh, and there are a few great books too…. Care to join me? October 8, 2001: U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security. War has always led to a change in any society. For Americans after 9/11 and the start of the ‘war on terror’, this was Homeland Security. To see the how other societies may have been affected by non-peaceful times, check out World History … Continue reading This Week in History: October 6-10, 2008

It’s a new week, bloggers! I don’t know about you but I’ve been enjoying the new cooler weather (though not all the rain) and the series premieres of all my favorite shows! I’m not going to lie, Gossip Girl has become a guilty pleasure…..the couture is just so beautiful but lets face it, what high school kid dresses like that?  This week we’ve got a real variety for you guys! Starting with Star Trek and ending with a tribute to those lost in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Ready to start bloggers? Sept 8, 1966: The first Star Trek premieres … Continue reading This Week in History: September 8-12, 2008

On the trail of Tuesday Trivia….New this month from the University of Nebraska Press, is Why Sacagawea Deserves the Day off and Other Lessons from the Lewis and Clark Trail, by Stephanie Ambrose Tubbs.  By foot, by Volkswagen bus, and by canoe is how this adventurous woman renewed and relived each step the two explorers and their famous (though relatively unknown) guide took more than two hundred years ago.  This week Tuesday Trivia will try to shed some light onto this mystery woman-with all the information the world wide web has to offer. Put your thinking caps on bloggers….this trivia … Continue reading Tuesday Trivia: September 3, 2008

Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs, author of Why Sacagawea Deserves the Day Off and Other Lessons Learned from the Lewis and Clark Trail, spoke to a crowd of 50 Lewis and Clark enthusiasts at the Great Plains Art Museum last week. Tubbs discussed the extraordinary symbolism that has been attached to Sacagawea’s legacy as well as the importance of the Lewis and Clark expedition to capturing and developing the lifelong environmental interest of young readers, answered questions from the audience, and read from the title chapter of Why Sacagawea Deserves the Day Off:

"Again I ask that we reconsider the historical Sacagawea and give her credit for who she was. For example, although in popular culture she is celebrated as a guide, we do not celebrate her greater genius, which would seem to be her memory for landscapes, her ability to translate between highly different languages and worldviews, and her understanding of harvesting foods and moccasin reading. In modern times she might have been an engineer or a crime scene investigator or a foreign correspondent with those skills. In her world landmarks told stories and because of that they stayed fixed in her mind. Think of Beaverhead Rock. She remembered those places because as a young child she would travel there with her people looking for bison and roots. These travels were based on the seasons and the stories associated with the places they went. The landmarks told stories, and Sacagawea must have been a very good listener."

Continue reading “Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs Discusses Her New Lewis and Clark Book”

Next week, Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs, daughter of late historian and bestselling author Stephen Ambrose, will give a sneak preview talk about her upcoming book, Why Sacagawea Deserves the Day Off and Other Lessons from the Lewis and Clark Trail.  Tubbs will discuss her experiences and observations on the Lewis and Clark Trail, which she first followed in 1976 with her father. The talk and reception begins at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 15 at the Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St., Lincoln. In the book, Tubbs revisits the Lewis and Clark Trail and its famous people, landmarks, and events, … Continue reading Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs Appearance offers sneak peek at Lewis and Clark book

What happens when one brave university press author sets up a book signing event at the Metrodome during a Minnesota Twins game? Find out by linking over to Tom Swift’s blog at http://tom-swift.com/weblog/post/161/. Swift is the author of Chief Bender’s Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star. Continue reading Take Me Out to the…Book Signing?

A.J.B. Johnston, author of Endgame 1758: The Promise, the Glory, and the Despair of Louisbourg’s Last Decade, presenting at the Ohio Country Conference sponsored by Bushy Run Battlefield in Western Pennsylvania. Continue reading Author Event Snapshot

Nebraska residents will want to mark their calendars for an appearance, reading, and signing by celebrated local author William Kloefkorn at the O Street Barnes & Noble in Lincoln on Saturday, April 26th. He will read from Restoring the Burnt Child, the second volume in the author’s four-part memoir, which will cover the four elements: water, fire, earth, and air. Negotiating the no man’s land between ages nine and thirteen, this memoir of a small-town boy’s life in 1940s Kansas continues the story Kloefkorn began in his much-loved volume This Death by Drowning. The event is part of National Poetry … Continue reading Local Event Alert!