Friday, October 16, 2009

“Biographies garner bulk of National Book Award nods - Pioneer Press” plus 4 more

“Biographies garner bulk of National Book Award nods - Pioneer Press” plus 4 more

Biographies garner bulk of National Book Award nods - Pioneer Press

Posted: 15 Oct 2009 10:24 PM PDT

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NEW YORK — The subjects of this year's National Book Award nominees were better known than the authors. Biographies about tycoons Henry Ford and Cornelius Vanderbilt were among the finalists announced Wednesday, along with two books relating to ...

Tycoon tales and Darwin get award nominations - Honolulu Advertiser

Posted: 15 Oct 2009 04:27 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — The subjects of this year's National Book Award nominees were better known than the authors.

Biographies about tycoons Henry Ford and Cornelius Vanderbilt were among the finalists announced Wednesday, along with two books relating to Charles Darwin. But judges also omitted such widely publicized releases as Lorrie Moore's "At the Gate of the Stairs," Richard Powers' "Generosity" and Blake Bailey's biography of John Cheever.

Five books from university presses were among the 20 chosen in four competitive categories. Fiction judges picked Bonnie Jo Campbell's story collection, "American Salvage," a paperback original released by Wayne State University Press, the publisher's first National Book Award nomination in its more than 60 year history.

"We're very pleasantly surprised. We nominate some of our best books each year and we've finally made it," said Wayne State Press director Jane Hoehner. "I don't think awards should just go to the big guns. There needs to be a combination, a willingness to look around and find talent."

Winners, each of whom receive $10,000, will be announced at a Nov. 18 ceremony in New York. Humorist Andy Borowitz will host and honorary medals will be presented to Dave Eggers and Gore Vidal, to be introduced by actress and longtime friend Joanne Woodward.

None of the many recent books about Abraham Lincoln, whose bicentennial was celebrated this year, were included. Darwin, born the same day as Lincoln, was featured in two nominated works: Sean B. Carroll's "Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origin of Species," a nonfiction finalist; and young people's literature nominee "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith," by Deborah Seligman.

Marcel Theroux, son of travel writer and former National Book Award finalist Paul Theroux, was a fiction nominee for "Far North," a story of global warming disaster set around Siberia.

Also selected were such critical favorites as Colum McCann's "Let the Great World Spin," Daniyal Mueenuddin's book of stories "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders" and Jayne Anne Phillips' "Lark & Termite."

The National Book Awards have long been subject to competing demands — for picking well-known books of which readers have heard and for picking books that would otherwise elude readers. Larger publishers, eager for sales and visibility, have complained that the National Book Awards were too exclusive and briefly supported an alternative, the Quills, people's choice awards that shut down in 2008.

Few may have heard of the fiction finalists — the five books combined have sold just under 40,000 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 75 percent of industry sales. But the public, as it did with the Quills, will get a chance to pick a prize.

This is the 60th year of the National Book Awards and readers can vote online (www.nationalbook.org) for the greatest fiction winner. The choices include Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man," Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow" and story collections by Cheever, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor and Eudora Welty.

"I think that the tension between commerce and art exists in any cultural industry," says Harold Augenbraum, executive director of the National Book Foundation, which sponsors the awards. "That tension is a good thing. What you want is a little bit of both; you want attention for artists and you want awareness of the general public."

T.J. Stiles' "The First Tycoon" and Greg Grandin's "Fordlandia," about Henry Ford's ill-fated effort to set up a colony in Brazil, were nonfiction nominees, along with Carroll's "Remarkable Creatures" and David M. Carroll's journal of New England wildlife "Following the Water."

The fifth nonfiction finalist was Adrienne Mayor's "The Poison King," a biography of the Greco-Persian ruler Mithradates.

Besides Seligman's "Charles and Emma," young people's literature finalists included Phillip Hoose's "Claudette Colvin," David Small's graphic work "Stitches," Laini Taylor's "Lips Touch" and Rita Williams-Garcia's "Jumped."

The poetry nominees were Rae Armantrout's "Versed," Ann Lauterbach's "Or to Begin Again," Carl Phillips' "Speak Low," Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon's "Open Interval" and Keith Waldrop's "Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy."

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2009 Hall of Fame biographies - Batavia Sun

Posted: 15 Oct 2009 11:58 PM PDT


highlights:


• Was national champion in the 1,600-meter relay as freshman at 1999 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships -- North Central's first relay national title in women's track and field.


• Graduated as North Central's record holder in the indoor 200-meter dash (25.59 seconds), long jump (19 feet, 7 inches), pole vault (10-10¼) and 800 relay (1:45.0) and 1,6000 (3:55.42) relays, as well as the outdoor pole vault (11-3¾) and 400 relay (47.47).


• Won seven College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin individual championships.


• Won six Division III all-academic certificates.


• A 2002 College Sports Information Directors of America Academic all-America selection.

Career

highlights:


• First North Central College track and field athlete to win multiple NCAA Division III national championships -- an indoor national title in 1988 in the 800 (1:49.9) and an indoor national crown in the 1,500 in 1989 (3:54.41).


• Won back-to-back College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championships in the 800 in 1988 and 1989.


• Four-year participant in the prestigious Drake Relays, running as part of a distance medley relay team that placed third in 1988 with a then-school record time of 9:53.95.


• Earned all-America accolades as a member of the 1,600 relay at the 1987 outdoor national championships.


• Graduated as a member of the quartet that held the North Central College record in the 1,600 relay (3:13.55).

Career

highlights:


• Holds record for most victories in North Central history with 111.


• Member of three teams that earned league championships.


• Three-time first-team All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin selection.


• One of nine all-Americans in the program's history (1985 Division III all-American as an outfielder).


• A 33rd-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1986.

Career

highlights:


• He led North Central to 1981 cross country national title by placing ninth at the Division III national championships as a freshman.


• Placed fourth overall in 1982 as the Cardinals repeated as Division III national champions.


• One of just 14 Division III harriers to earn all-America honors four times.


• Placed in the top three at the CCIW Cross Country Championships each of his four years, helping lead the Cardinals to the team title each time.


• Earned a pair of all-America honors in outdoor track and field, placing sixth in the 10,000 at the 1983 outdoor national championships and fifth in the same event in 1984.

Career

highlights:

• Three-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national champion.

• Ten-time College Conference of Illinois (CCI) titlist.


• Established conference records in the 150-yard individual medley and 300 medley relay as a freshman in 1955.


• Captain of North Central's first national championship team in school history by helping Cardinals win 1958 NAIA Championship, where North Central set six national records.


• Rank and his roommate, diver John Mizanin '58, went on to become the first Cardinals to participate in the NCAA National Championships at the University of Michigan in 1958.




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Biographies garner bulk of National Book Award nods - Pioneer Press

Posted: 15 Oct 2009 10:24 PM PDT

[fivefilters.org: unable to retrieve full-text content]

NEW YORK — The subjects of this year's National Book Award nominees were better known than the authors. Biographies about tycoons Henry Ford and Cornelius Vanderbilt were among the finalists announced Wednesday, along with two books relating to ...

Contest celebrates 100 years of 'On, Wisconsin!' - UW Madison

Posted: 16 Oct 2009 04:44 AM PDT

Oct. 16, 2009

by Gwen Evans

It is 32 bars of hummable, toe-tapping Badger spirit and it turns 100 years old this year. Yes, the song "On, Wisconsin!" has hit the century mark, and Badger fans with spirit to spare can create their own versions of the song and submit them to a contest that will run throughout the academic year.

Contest winners will be selected in the following categories: largest group performance, performance farthest from Madison and most creative performance. Prizes will be awarded for the best videos every month, with a grand prize awarded at the end of the academic year. Fans can upload recordings to YouTube using their own YouTube account. Once uploaded, send an e-mail with the YouTUbe URL to onwisconsin@uc.wisc.edu. Visit the contest Web site for more details and instructions.

Over the years, "On, Wisconsin!" has been ranked among the best college fight songs. Countless high schools and at least 18 colleges have adopted "On, Wisconsin!" as their own — with their own lyrics, of course. The "march king" himself, John Philip Sousa, called it "the finest college marching song ever written" and "the most stirring, enthusiastic college melody I have ever heard."

"On, Wisconsin!" was written by William T. Purdy (music) and Carl Beck (lyrics), who were roommates in a Chicago rooming house. Purdy had intended to enter his composition in a contest offering a $100 prize for a new song for the University of Minnesota (gasp!). Beck, who attended Wisconsin from 1908-09, wrote new lyrics after hearing the melody and convinced Purdy to abandon his Minnesota plan. The rest is history.

The fact that the song was originally intended for Minnesota is ironic, considering that the Badgers and Gophers have met consecutively since 1890, which is the longest-running rivalry in all of college football.

Because the song is such a cultural icon, the melody is ripe for off-label use. The Cub Scouts used it to encourage fitness and Two Rivers, Wis., wrote a ditty to defend its claim as the birthplace of the ice cream sundae. For those so inclined, there is even a version that skewers FORTRAN computer programs.

It wouldn't be right to let the anniversary slip past, so a number of campus events and activities will celebrate and honor "On, Wisconsin!"

UW-Madison Libraries has put together a fascinating Web site on all things "On, Wisconsin!" with sections on history, photos, biographies of the composers, different lyrics, various recordings (the earliest posted is from 1915), different versions of the song and links to other resources. Find all this at http://archives.library.wisc.edu/uw-archives/exhibits/onwisconsin/.

"On, Wisconsin!" has been performed at nearly every athletic event and a good share of nonathletic events since its introduction.

Image: courtesy University Archives

The Marching Band, under the direction of Mike Leckrone, will present a special halftime show celebrating the centennial of "On, Wisconsin!" at the homecoming game against Iowa, on Saturday, Oct. 17.

The Wisconsin Alumni Association has designed a T-shirt for the anniversary as part of its Red Shirt program. The shirt is printed with the song lyrics, and sales benefit financial aid for students as part of the Great People Scholarship Campaign. Find out more by visiting http://www.uwalumni.com.

Doctoral music composition student Jerry Hui is preparing an arrangement of the song, which will be premiered by the UW-Madison Concert Choir later this semester.

A 30-minute documentary is in production and will air on the Big Ten Network later this fall. It will cover the song's history, lore and what it means to alumni.

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