Daniel R. Levitt, author of Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees’ First Dynasty, answers our questions about the origins of this engaging biography, the man behind the story, and the major happenings in the history of baseball directly influenced by this "bulldog" of baseball. Why did you pick Ed Barrow for your biography? I’ve always been fascinated by team building. Why do some franchises win consistently while others spend years without making the playoffs? My first book, Paths to Glory: How Great Baseball Teams Got That Way, which I coauthored with Mark Armour, focused on a number of … Continue reading A Bulldog, Babe, and Baseball History: An Interview with Daniel R. Levitt

I love Broadway musicals. My fiancé is a political junkie. One of my best friends is a sucker for British history. With today’s TWIH, I’m out to please us all! You’re sure to find a topic of interest to you in this smorgasbord of subjects, so let’s take a look back at… This Week in History March 9, 1934: Russian cosmonaut Yury Gagarin was born. Gagarin was the world’s first man in space.Get a detailed, behind-the-scenes account of the U.S. response to Russian advances in spaceflight during the 1960s in Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes by Billy Watkins. March … Continue reading This Week in History: March 9-14, 2008

Authors Sonya Huber and Mimi Schwartz both penned fascinating creative nonfiction works newly published by the University of Nebraska Press. Huber’s is a memoir and recreated family history that tells a layered story of an overlooked history of socialism in Germany before and after Nazism entitled Opa Nobody. Schwartz’s memoir, Good Neighbors, Bad Times, focuses on recovering the Nazi-era history of her father’s German village where Jews’ and Christians’ claims of congeniality were often proved true. Both women faced a number of challenges in writing non-fiction accounts of the lives of others. How does a creative writer do justice to … Continue reading Authors Reflect on the Challenges of Writing About Others

Links to the Past New this month from the University of Nebraska Press, Good Neighbors, Bad Times: Echoes of My Father’s German Village by Mimi Schwartz tells the tale of the author’s twelve-year quest to determine whether her father’s stories of neighborly harmony in his pre-Hitler German village were true or merely a product of selective memory. In traveling to his village, Schwartz attempts to piece together bits of history, speaking with those who lived through the Nazi era, to obtain a clear picture of how her father’s "neighbors" were able to cope with the hatred and fear that were … Continue reading Linking in Lincoln: March 13, 2008

Attention Yakima, Washington-area bloggers! Tune in to KIT Radio 1280-AM on Monday, March 17th at 7:40 AM to listen to an on-air interview with Kayaking Alone author Mike Barenti. You’ll hear all about the author’s awe-inspiring and thought-provoking solo journey along the Columbia River and its tributaries, from the Idaho mountains to the Pacific Ocean, as well as the environmental issues surrounding the salmon population in the Northwest. Don’t miss it! Continue reading Yacking in Yakima: Radio Interview with Mike Barenti

Pulp Writer: Twenty Years in the American Grub Streetby Paul S. Powers, edited by Laurie Powers “[Powers] penned this intriguing biography 40 years ago, but it remained unpublished until his granddaughter unearthed it in a closet and brought it to light, with her own biographical commentaries and research on the pulp fiction phenomenon. This is an extraordinary story.”—Margaret Guerrero, Southwest Books of the Year To read earlier praise for Pulp Writer, please visit http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2007/04/praise_for_pulp.html. Continue reading Pulp Praise: Continued Acclaim for Pulp Writer

Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman by Lee Lowenfish “[A] thoroughly researched, engrossing biography. . . . Lowenfish has illuminated one man’s life. In doing so, he reveals much about 20th century America.”—Jewish Book World For more praise for Branch Rickey, visit http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2007/02/praise_for_bran.html. Continue reading Branch-ing Out: Continued Praise for Branch Rickey