University of Nebraska Press

Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs Discusses Her New Lewis and Clark Book

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."

Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs Appearance offers sneak peek at 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, exploring questions the expedition continues to raise, such as, What really motivated Thomas Jefferson to send out his agents of discovery? What “mutinous expressions” were uttered? What happened to the dog? Why did Meriwether Lewis end his own life? In the resulting trip through history, Tubbs recounts her travels along the trail by foot, Volkswagen bus, and canoe—at every turn renewing the American experience inscribed by Lewis and Clark.

Tubbs is also co-author of The Lewis and Clark Companion: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Voyage of Discovery and holds two degrees in history from the University of Montana. She currently writes local history and serves on the boards of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center Foundation, the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Friends of Montana PBS and the American Prairie Foundation. She works with conservation and citizens groups to preserve and protect the trail and adjoining wilderness areas.

For more event information visit http://www.unl.edu/plains/index.shtml or contact Gary Moulton or Linda Ratcliffe at the Center for Great Plains Studies, (402) 472-3082.

Take Me Out to the...Book Signing?

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.

Author Event Snapshot

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.

Local Event Alert!

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 Month and a celebration of Restoring the Burnt Child as a 2008 One Book, One Nebraska selection.

April 26, 2008
2:00-3:00PM
Barnes & Noble
5150 O Street
Lincoln, NE 68510

We hope you can join us for this exciting event!

UNP Authors Gather for "Baseball Night" at Magers & Quinn Bookstore

Baseball fans won't want to miss this opportunity to meet and greet two talented UNP baseball writers. Tom Swift, author of Chief Bender's Burden, and Dan Levitt, author of Ed Barrow, will appear along with Peter Schilling (The End of Baseball) for a reading and signing event at Magers & Quinn Bookstore in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday, April 12th at 6:00 PM. Talk about an all-star line-up!

Magers & Quinn
3038 Hennepin Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408

UNP Author to Appear at Minnesota Twins Game

Are you in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area and raring for the baseball season to get into "full swing?" If so, mark your calendar because you're about to score a double! You can catch a game and visit with Tom Swift, Northfield-based author of Chief Bender's Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star. Swift's book chronicles the life and times of Minnesota's first representative in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The author will sign copies on the concourse of the Metrodome before and during the Minnesota Twins vs. Kansas City Royals game on Friday, April 4th at 7:10 PM. Books will be on sale for 20% off. Don't miss this home run of an event!

The Metrodome
900 S 5th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55415

A Tribute to Jane Grigson

By Sara Dickerman

Last year, I was privileged to write the introduction for Bison Books’ reissue of Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book, and it was a thrill to turn my thoughts to one of my favorite writers. She was a writer of tremendous agility. I regularly turn to her when I need a pair of fresh eyes on an ingredient that I’ve become bored with—a late summer glut of blackberries, say, or this spring’s asparagus (perhaps soon I will make her asparagus tart, or some asparagus “peas”—pea-sized diced asparagus in cream). But she was far too cunning and elegant a writer to only be remembered for her recipes. She was an archaeologist of the garden, celebrating lost or dying breeds of fruits and vegetables; a storyteller par excellence, passing on legends and histories of the foods she examined; and finally she was a sort of culinary psychologist. She seemed to get to the very soul of the foods she studied, never hesitating to show her fondness (or her disdain) for a particular ingredient: “In writing about food, the word spinach becomes praise, a standard of vegetable aspiration.”

I’m sad not to be able to be in New York next Saturday, the 15th when the Astor Center hosts a tribute to Ms. Grigson in honor of what would have been her 80th birthday. 

Speakers will include some tremendous writers: legendary editor Judith Jones; Amy Besa of New York’s Cendrillon and co-author of Memories of Phillipine Kitchens; Grace Young, author of The Breath of the Wok; food historian William Woys Weaver, author of Heirloom Vegetable Gardening: A Master Gardener's Guide to Planting, Growing, Seed Saving, and Cultural History; and the always-compelling Betty Fussell, author of The Story of Corn. Anne Willan, of La Varenne cooking school, will provide a video tribute.

Food for the all-day event will be provided by Katherine Alford, the director of the Food Network’s test kitchen; Besa’s husband, Cendrillon Chef Remy Dorotan; and cheese expert Daphne Zepos. It’s sure to be a delicious gathering!
 
A Tribute to Jane Grigson
Saturday, March 15, 2008
9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Astor Center
399 Lafayette Street (at East 4th Street)
New York, NY 10003

$95 includes program, meals, wine and cheese reception

For more information on the event, please visit http://www.astorcenternyc.com/class-a-tribute-to-jane-grigson.ac.

Click here for a complete listing of Jane Grigson titles available from the University of Nebraska Press.

UNP Author Event at the Great Plains Art Museum

If you're a Lincoln, Nebraska resident, mark your calendar for a great event with James W. Hewitt, author of Slipping Backward: A History of the Nebraska Supreme Court, hosted by the Center for Great Plains Studies at the Great Plains Art Museum. The event, part of the Paul A. Olson Seminars in Great Plains Studies series, will take place on Wednesday, March 12th at 3:00 PM. It is free and open to the public.

Great Plains Art Museum
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
1155 Q Street, Hewit Place
Lincoln, NE 68588

For a full listing of UNP author events, check out our author event page here.

"Valentines from Ted Kooser" a Poetic (and Profitable) Event!

Thank you to everyone who attended Saturday's fundraiser at the Rococo Theater here in Lincoln. The event was a rousing success! If you missed it, you can take a virtual tour of the festivities by viewing the event slideshow below. Enjoy!

Download valentines_from_ted_kooser_event.pdf