Press Notes: Memoir by Athens Author’s Makes National News
October 30, 2009
The big news in October at Ohio University Press came from a memoir written by a local author, John Thorndike. The Last of His Mind: A Year in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s, Thorndike’s fourth book, is a compelling story about a son taking care of his father during his final year of life. Kirkus Reviews called it “A brave, moving story of a son’s devotion to his dying father,” and went on to say, “Thorndike’s prose is serenely beautiful and his patience in caring for an Alzheimer’s patient is extremely admirable. An affecting work of emotional honesty and forgiveness.”
Publishers Weekly gave The Last of His Mind a starred review and listed it as a top fall/winter title from an independent publisher. The PW review provided this report: “A beautiful book, this memoir reveals the painful chaos of Alzheimer’s, as well as the strength, faith, and unexpected joys that come with caring for a loved one in his last days.”
At the beginning of October, Thorndike attended a trade show in Cleveland, the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association; in the middle of the month he was interviewed by WOUB-TV’s Fred Kight and gave a reading at Writers’ Harvest; and in early November he will be reading to a local hospice organization and attending the Buckeye Book Fair.
A review of The Last of His Mind is expected to appear in the Washington Post during the week of October 26th. Toward the end of the month, sales of the first printing had been active enough for the press to initiate a second printing.
Ohio University Press is the largest university press in Ohio, publishing 40–50 books annually on a variety of topics. These books carry the Ohio University name into the world, receiving national and international attention from leading scholarly journals, prominent review media, and prestigious award competitions.
Ohio University Press Titles Published and Promoted Since September:
Recasting the Past: History Writing and Political Work in Modern Africa, edited by Derek R. Peterson and Giacomo Macola. This collection of essays gives studied consideration to the wealth of meaningful historical and political writings produced by African journalists, pastors, politicians, and others.
Gibbons v. Ogden, Law, and Society in the Early Republic, by Thomas H. Cox. This is the first book-length treatment of a landmark Supreme Court case from 1824. In this lively and colorful history, Cox engages readers with details of the period, depicting personalities such as Robert Fulton, John Marshall, Daniel Webster, and CorneliusVanderbilt, all of whom participated in this case involving a steamship monopoly along the Hudson River.
Dancing out of Line: Ballrooms, Ballets, and Mobility in Victorian Fiction and Culture, by Molly Engelhardt. Dancing out of Line transports readers back to the 1840s, when the craze for social and stage dancing forced Victorians into a comples relationship with the moving body in its most voluble, volatile form.
Wartime in Burma: A Diary, January to June 1942, by Theippan Maung Wa (U Sein Tin). This war diary was written by a well-loved and prolific Burmese author who was forced to flee Rangoon with his family after the Japanese invasion. Translated into English, the diary reveals grim horrors as well as surprisingly pleasant accounts of people coming together during a time of crisis.
Colonial Meltdown: Northern Nigeria in the Great Depression, by Moses E. Ochonu. This study explores the unraveling of British colonial power at a moment of global economic crisis. Ochonu shows that the Depression made colonial exploitation all but impossible and that this dearth of profits and surpluses frustrated colonial administrators into taking harsh actions.
In recent weeks, Ohio University Press has learned of books and authors having received press from the following places:
The Washington Post, The Akron Beacon Journal, African Studies Quarterly, Canton Repository, Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, Etudes Anglaises, African Studies Review, WGBH/PRI’s “The World,” Publishers Weekly, Northwest Ohio History, NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” The News-Herald (Willoughby), Ohio News Network’s “Capital Square,” Midwest Book Review, Canadian Journal of African Studies, NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” Anncol: New Colombia News Agency (Spanish, distributed to nine other Spanish media outlets), Sarmatian Review, WOUB-TV, Journal of African History, A Contracorriente (Spanish journal), Journal of Religion in Africa, Journal of Modern African Studies, Africa Today, American Historical Review, Journal of Contemporary Religion, Newburyport News (Massachusetts), Great Plains Research, Inside Higher Ed, SirReadaLot.org
Jeff Kallet
