Megan Avery ’98, Bag Bazaar: 25 Stylish Bags to Sew in an Afternoon (Potter Craft, 2008)

Avery offers simple techniques and patterns for crafters to construct within a few hours, using a sewing machine. Bags featured are intended to carry clothes, cosmetics, work and school necessities, gifts, or gadgets. Avery is the founder and owner of M. Avery Designs and gives classes in creating bags; her sylish creations are sold in her boutique in Hoboken, New Jersey, and have been showcased in Modern Bride, Blueprint, InStyle, and ICView (“Sew Lovely,” 2004/1).




 

Jenna Bergen ’04, Your Big Fat Boyfriend: How to Stay Thin When Dating a Diet Disaster (Quirk Books, 2009)

Bergen wrote this guide to help women keep slim while dating a big eater. She discusses the differences between male and female metabolisms, gives advice about how to eat healthful meals when eating at not-so healthy restaurants, offers creative dating ideas, and shares recipes.

Bergen is a Philadelphia-based freelance writer and spinning and yoga instructor who has “dated a diet disaster for the last three-and-a-half years.” Your Big Fat Boyfriend, her first book, has been featured in several magazines including Fitness.
 

Laurie Conrad ’68, M.M. ’71, Images (Figaro Recordings, 2008)

The music of classical composer and pianist Conrad has been performed worldwide, and she has received numerous honors and grants. She composed Images, a cycle in six movements for flute, harp, violin, and viola, for harpist Myra Kovary. This recording also features Laura Campbell on flute, William Hurley on violin, and Suzanne Miller on viola. Conrad lives and composes in Ithaca.
 

John DiLeo ’82, Screen Savers: 40 Remarkable Movies Awaiting Rediscovery (Hansen Publishing Group, 2007)

DiLeo brings to light films he considers great but that have been overshadowed by their stars’ or directors’ other works. Among these gems are Boris Karloff’s 1945 horror film Isle of the Dead, George Clooney’s underrated 1999 war film Three Kings, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn’s Pat and Mike (1952), Anthony Perkins’s darkly comic thriller Pretty Poison (1968), and Stanley Kubrick’s 1956 caper The Killing.

This is the third book for film historian DiLeo, who writes filmbook reviews in three monthly columns, hosts classic-film series, and conducts film-history seminars. His previous books were And You Thought You Knew Classic Movies (1999) and 100 Great Film Performances You Should Remember—But Probably Don’t (2002).
 

Marsha Eger ’70, Voice of My Soul: Wisdom from the Stillness (Wheatmark, 2008)

Voice of My Soul is a collection of spiritual poetry and prose written over an eight-year period by Eger, who has long studied and practiced meditation. Eger’s poetry and prose are an outgrowth of her spiritual practice, in which she has led chanting-meditation sessions and attended workshops and retreats with many of the great spiritual teachers. The book was designed by Douglas Harp of Harp and Company and includes color washes done by his wife, the late Susan Harp. “The artwork and design have very special meaning to me,” says Eger, “and are as much a part of the experience for the reader as the words.” Eger is executive director of alumni relations at Ithaca College.
 

Stacey Branscum Fedele ’00 (writing as Stacey Jay), You Are So Undead to Me (Razorbill Books, 2009)

This is the first young adult novel for Fedele. Her high school–age protagonist, Megan Berry, has trouble with clueless parents and teachers. Plus she was born a Settler, able to communicate with the Undead. All she wants is to be normal, to go to homecoming like her classmates. But something or somebody at school starts turning students into flesh-eating Zombies, and Megan must stop it before everything, especially homecoming, is ruined. (Oh, and there’s a cute guy involved, too.)

Fedele writes in Maumelle, Arkansas, where she lives with her husband, Michael; sons, Logan, born November 10, 2008, and Riley, 4; and stepdaughters, Ashton, 10, and Laura, 14.

Joseph A. Gillan ’61, Just Before the Dawn (Rebecca Remembered) (Likaje Books, 2008)

Gillan’s debut novel centers on Thomas and Rebecca, who were once lovers and become reunited, bringing an end to Rebecca’s once-happy marriage to William. The author tells the story from both main characters’ points of view, while sharing his reflections on faith, religion, and relationships. Gillan retired from Exxon as a Washington, D.C., lobbyist in 2000. He lives in Sarasota, Florida, and is vice chair of the Florida Local Advocacy Council, which works on behalf of citizens with special needs.
 

Alyssa Altschul Graham ’94, Echo (Sunnyside Records, 2008)

Singer-songwriter Graham’s second CD is a “musical travelogue that traces . . . a love affair.” It took more than two years to finish the CD, as Graham traveled to Brazil, India, and countries in Africa and Europe. It’s a tribute to her longstanding love, guitarist and lyricist Douglas Graham, and “to many of the places we have traveled together —emotionally and geographically.” A mixture of jazz, pop, and Brazilian rhythms, the CD features Graham’s vocals, Douglas Graham and Romero Lubambo on guitar, and a stunning lineup of other musicians on strings, horns, and percussion.

Graham, who during her IC days cofounded and performed with the popular band Blindman’s Holiday, now lives in New York and is working on two new projects.
 

Drew Jacobs '81, Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing (Swingbatter Records, 2007)

This is the first CD from Jacobs, who bills himself as "an acoustic humorist in the tradition of Steve Goodman, Loudon Wainwright III, and Arlo Guthrie."

Jacobs writes about relationships, modern society, and life as a baby boomer, and he's been featured on local stations as well as on Serius/XM Satellite Radio's Laugh USA and the Dr. Demento Radio Show. Based in Latham, New York, Jacobs also performs regularly at the Northeast Country Music Association events and festivals.

Cindy Kardeman ’76, with Dave Reynolds, Your Body Is Meant to Move (Dave Reynolds and Associates, 2009)

Physical therapist Kardeman collaborated with her husband, Reynolds, a certified fitness specialist, to create this exercise DVD for active senior citizens. It’s also appropriate for beginner exercisers of all ages and abilities.

The 45-minute DVD includes a warm-up segment, two active portions, and a cool-down period, all set to big band music. About 75 percent of the exercises are intended to be done from a seated position, and all of them can be performed while seated if necessary. The only tools needed are an exercise resistance band (which comes with the DVD) and a stick or cane, if used.

To keep costs down and the DVD affordable, the couple enlisted the aid of their daughter's high school video production department to make the DVD.
 

Annette H. Levine, Cry for Me, Argentina (Rosemont Publishing, 2008)

This is an interdisciplinary study that draws on Latin American literary, trauma, performance, and cultural studies to analyze the narrative of three female Argentine writers/activists whose work reveals the traumatic repercussions of Argentina’s 1976–83 “dirty war.”

Levine, an assistant professor of modern languages and literatures at Ithaca College, carefully reads the works of Aida Bortnik, Griselda Gambaro, and Tununa Mercado to help put in context the impact of an era when 30,000 individuals disappeared, civil liberties were wiped out, and families’ lives were shattered—an era the effects of which are still felt today.
 

Katharyn Howd Machan, When She’s Asked to Think of Colors (Palettes & Quills, 2009)

Howd Machan, a professor of writing and women’s studies at Ithaca College who was named Tompkins County’s first poet laureate in 2002, penned this collection of very personal poetry over the course of 30 years. The collection won a national poetry chapbook contest sponsored by Palettes & Quills. It is Howd Machan’s 29th published collection.
 

Shelly Mazzanoble ’94, Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl’s Guide to the Dungeons & Dragons Game (Wizards of the Coast, 2007)

Mazzanoble, a self-described “girly-girl,” became smitten with D&D when a friend asked her to join his game as a 134-year-old sorceress named Astrid Bellagio. Part light-hearted confessional, part how-to guide (especially for girls and women) to the popular game, the book covers basics such as how to create a character and begin role-playing, and even offers D&D-themed snack suggestions.

The Seattle-based Mazzanoble is a freelance essayist, short story writer, and playwright. Confessions was nominated for an Origins Award/nonfiction publication by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design and won the 2008 ENnies Award (chosen by role-playing fans) for best regalia. See “Aluminaries” story on Mazzanoble.
 

Maria Raha ’94, Hellions: Pop Culture’s Rebel Women (Seal Press, 2008)

In Hellions, Raha analyzes how pop culture informs and limits our definitions of female rebellion. In the chapter “The Rebel Curve” she presents historical rebel women such as Susan B. Anthony and Frida Kahlo, who challenged oppression against women and changed the course of history and art. In “Crime and Punishment” she questions why many talented and inspirational icons of film, music, art, and literature are remembered for their untimely deaths or downfalls rather than their successes. In “Cherry Bombs” she discusses icons who are remembered not for their enduring characters but instead for their beauty and sex appeal—women such as Bette Page, Marilyn Monroe, and, most recently, Britney Spears.

Raha is the author of Cinderella’s Big Score: Women of the Punk and Indie Underground and a contributor to Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture. Based in Philadelphia, she is currently a freelance writer and editor.
 

Susan Ring ’77, Where Should Turtle Be? (Sylvan Dell Publishing, 2009)

Ring’s book for small children, with illustrations by Laurie Allen Klein, is about a little turtle who gets lost when he leaves his egg. The bear tells him to live in the woods, but the frog tells him to live in the swamp. He needs help, but where can he get it?

Ring, a onetime music education major at Ithaca College, is a prolific, Emmy Award–winning writer who specializes in writing for children in all media, including television and song. She has also written nonfiction books and series. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, where she teaches docents at the Roger Williams Park Zoo. She also teaches as an artist-in-residence in schools and libraries throughout New England.

Julie Spira ’79, The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online (Morgan James Publishing, 2009)

In this memoir Spira shares often funny tales about the more than 250 online-originated dates she’s been on in the last 15 years, including the marriage proposals and the actual marriage (which ended in divorce) that came from them. She tells of her dating disasters as well as the more happy outcomes, and shares tips about cyberdating, including her “Top Ten Rules of Netiquette in Cyber-Dating.”

Spira, who lives near Los Angeles, is an entrepreneur and hosts the weekly radio show Ask the Cyber-Dating Expert. The book has received a lot of media attention since it came out in February.

Stephen Tropiano ’84, Obscene, Indecent, Immoral, and Offensive: 100+ Years of Censored, Banned, and Controversial Films (Limelight Editions, 2009)

Tropiano begins this examination of popular films that deal with provocative subjects by exploring the history of the battle between filmmakers and the institutions—censorship boards, the Roman Catholic Church, the federal government, and others—that have tried to censor or regulate films’ content.

The author focuses on the six major topics with which censors have taken issue—profanity, violence, sex, nudity, politics, and religion—and offers a take on the films that have been challenged and how those challenges played out behind the scenes and in public. Films profiled include Anatomy of a Murder, The Birth of a Nation, Blackboard Jungle, Bonnie and Clyde, Life of Brian, Natural Born Killers, The Passion of the Christ, Rosemary’s Baby, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Tropiano is founding director of the Ithaca College Los Angeles Program, where he teaches courses on film and television history, theory, and criticism. He and his book were featured at this year’s Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF) at IC.