Spring Break
Faculty authors recognized in annual event
Joe Shreve
Daily Staff Writer
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About 30 people attended the event, which lasted two hours and featured the works of more than 20 faculty authors. The displayed books were available for purchase and the authors were on hand to answer questions. As further enticement, wine and other refreshments were served.
"This is an annual event in which we try to recognize all the faculty authors who have written a book in the last year or so, from 2004 to the most recent we know about," said Tony Sanjume, associate director of the Spartan Bookstore, who organized the event.
Rudy Rucker, a professor of computer science, was there to showcase his science-fiction book, "Frek and the Elixir." Rucker, a two-time winner of the Phillip K. Dick Award, gave a brief synopsis of his book. Set in the year 3003, the earth has become completely controlled by biological technology with nature completely conquered and reduced to a few dozen species by a huge mega corporation. It is left to Frek, a young boy, to find an elixir that promises to restore nature to Earth.
"Teaching has always been my day job and my other career is being a science-fiction writer," Rucker said.
E. Bruce Reynolds, a professor of history, had two books on display about World War II. "Thailand's Secret War" is Reynolds' second book about Thailand during World War II. It describes the actions of the pro-allied Free Thai organizations that fought to free Thailand from its alliance with Imperial Japan and join the allied forces, as well as the reactions the British and American intelligence communities took to them.
"Once it became obvious that Japan was going to lose the war, it became very imperative for the Thais to figure out a way to get over to the right side," Reynolds said.
"Japan in the Fascist Era," a book that was edited by Reynolds, describes the parallels between Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan to prove that the concept of fascism was not simply a "European phenomenon."
"We decided that we didn't want to do any kind of a formal thing. We decided it should be a laid-back reception so that everybody could mingle with colleagues and the campus community," Sanjume said.
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