Free Book Friday! Lessons from the Sand by Charles & Orrin Pilkey

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Pilkey: Lessons from the SandIt’s Free Book Friday!! Enter to win a copy of Lessons from the Sand by Charles O. Pilkey and Orrin H. Pilkey via Goodreads. Each easy-to-follow activity is presented in full color with dozens of whimsical and informational illustrations that will engage and guide readers through the experiments. Great for taking along on your next beach vacation! The giveaway ends on Friday, July 15, so get your entry in now!

Goodreads Book GiveawayLessons from the Sand by Orrin H. PilkeyLessons from the Sand by Charles O. Pilkey and Orrin H. Pilkey

Giveaway ends July 15, 2017. See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Continue Reading Free Book Friday! Lessons from the Sand by Charles & Orrin Pilkey

Recipe: Pickle-Brined Fried Chicken Sandwiches

Happy National Fried Chicken Day!! To honor this day, we look no further than Cynthia Graubart’s Chicken. She includes 7 (!!!) fried chicken recipes, so you’re bound to find one that you love. Try this fun recipe for Pickle-Brined Fried Chicken Sandwiches, and get to celebratin’!

If you want more recipes like this, look no further than Cynthia’s addition to the Savor the South® collection. The Washington Post calls Chicken “a tidy roundup done in good taste.” We couldn’t agree more!

Graubart: Chicken

Cynthia Graubart is coauthor, with Nathalie Dupree, of Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking, which won a James Beard Book Award for American Cooking. Among Graubart’s other books is Slow Cooking for Two.  Follow Cynthia on Twitter @CynthiaGraubart. For a bonus recipe, try Summer Anytime Bourbon Peach Chicken Thighs.

Don’t forget to “like” the Savor the South® book page on Facebook for more news and recipes. Keep an eye out this fall for a new Savor the South® cookbook!

Continue Reading Recipe: Pickle-Brined Fried Chicken Sandwiches

David Blevins on tour with North Carolina’s Barrier Islands

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Heading to the North Carolina beach next week? David Blevins will be there too with North Carolina’s Barrier Islands: Wonders of Sand, Sea, and Sky!

Stop by for an inspiring presentation on David’s writing journey and how he captures the wonder of the islands. You’ll learn more about nature photography from an award-winning photographer and will be in awe of the shots he took. (Look for my favorite—sea turtles on the beach in moonlight!) David gives jargon-free context to each photograph, explaining what is being photographed and why, as well as chapter introductions providing scientific and historical context to the barrier islands. If you love the North Carolina coast, you’ll love this book.

Anyone who attends a book event gets a free poster, too! Looking forward to seeing you there!

David Blevins tour dates

Island Bookstore – Corolla: Tuesday, July 11 at 11 AM

Island Bookstore – Duck: Wednesday, July 12 at 1 PM

Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum – Hatteras: Thursday, July 13 at 1 PM

Downtown Books – Manteo: Friday, July 14 at 3 PM

In this stunning book, nature photographer and ecologist David Blevins offers an inspiring visual journey to North Carolina’s barrier islands as you have never seen them before. These islands are unique and ever-changing places with epic origins, surprising plants and animals, and an uncertain future. From snow geese midflight to breathtaking vistas along otherworldly dunes, Blevins has captured the incredible natural diversity of North Carolina’s coast in singular detail. His photographs and words reveal the natural character of these islands, the forces that shape them, and the sense of wonder they inspire.

Featuring over 150 full-color images from Currituck Banks, the Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout National Seashores, and the islands of the southern coast, North Carolina’s Barrier Islands is not only a collection of beautiful images of landscapes, plants, and animals but also an appeal for their conservation.

Thank you to Island Bookstore, Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, and Downtown Books for hosting David! We love our partners on the coast!

Battle of Gettysburg Field Guide

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The Battle of Gettysburg ended on this day, July 3, in 1863, marking the end of three intense and devastating days of battle. Considered to be one of the most important battles during the Civil War, it was a turning point for the Union army and prompted President Lincoln to make his famous Gettysburg Address.

Reardon & Vossler: Field Guide to Gettysburg: Experiencing the Battlefield through Its History, Places, and PeopleGettysburg National Military Park is now a popular spot for visitors to learn more about the battle and to honor the legacy of those who fought. If you’re planning a trip this summer, check out their Living History Programs and Junior Ranger activities for kids. Another great resource is A Field Guide to Gettysburg, Second Edition. Put this on the top of your must-bring list!

This second, updated edition of the acclaimed A Field Guide to Gettysburg will lead visitors to every important site across the battlefield and also give them ways to envision the action and empathize with the soldiers involved and the local people into whose lives and lands the battle intruded. Ideal for carrying on trips through the park as well as for the armchair historian, this book includes comprehensive maps and deft descriptions of the action that situate visitors in time and place. Crisp narratives introduce key figures and events, and eye-opening vignettes help readers more fully comprehend the import of what happened and why. A wide variety of contemporary and postwar source materials offer colorful stories and present interesting interpretations that have shaped—or reshaped—our understanding of Gettysburg today.

Both Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler are themselves experienced guides who understand what visitors to Gettysburg are interested in, but they also bring the unique perspectives of a scholar and a former army officer. Divided into three day-long tours, this newly improved and expanded edition offers important historical background and context for the reader while providing answers to six key questions: What happened here? Who fought here? Who commanded here? Who fell here? Who lived here? And what did the participants have to say about it later?

With new stops, maps, and illustrations, the second edition of A Field Guide to Gettysburg remains the most comprehensive guide to the events and history of this pivotal battle of the Civil War.

For more reading on the Battle of Gettysburg and its significance in the Civil War, check out our previous blog posts by UNC Press authors and their books.

Ira Dworkin: In the Name of Lumumba

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Today is the 57th anniversary of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s independence as a nation, first declared in a legendary speech by the first prime minister Patrice Lumumba on June 30, 1960. Guest blogger Ira Dworkin, author of Congo Love Song: African American Culture and the Crisis of the Colonial State, speaks to the legacy of Patrice Lumumba, his brilliant speech, and the aftermath in both the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United States. 

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Dworkin: Congo Love SongAs the Democratic Republic of Congo marks the 57th anniversary of its independence, the country continues to suffer political violence as part of seemingly unending crisis. The current president Joseph Kabila, who succeeded his father Laurent Kabila in 2001, refused to relinquish power after the end of his elected term last year: “Democracy was assassinated here when Patrice Lumumba was assassinated. And who brought democracy back to this country? We are the ones who did that after pushing out the [Mobutu] dictatorship in 1997.” Kabila’s proprietary claim to the mantle of the country’s first prime minister essentially erases the work of the country’s vibrant opposition. He can make this claim because it is impossible to overstate the significance of the assassination or the length of colonialism’s complicated shadow. That shadow is not confined to the Congo. As the United States faces its own crisis of transparent and representative governance, Lumumba’s vision and the contributions of those who labor in his name continue to animate what Robin Kelley terms “black radical imagination.”

June 30, 1960, was the occasion for Lumumba’s brilliant independence day speech, delivered in Kinshasa to the face of Belgian King Baudouin, insisting that neither the terrors of the colonial regime nor the heroic struggles of the Congolese people be ignored for the sake of diplomatic niceties. Malcolm X would later cite the speech at the June 28, 1964, founding rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity: “he told the king of Belgium, ‘Man, you may let us free, you may have given us our independence, but we can never forget these scars.’” In the United States, the history of Lumumba is remembered by the many who carry not only his vision of liberation but also his name. Three days after that same OAAU rally, Malcolm and Betty Shabazz named their newborn daughter Gamilah Lumumba Shabazz in honor of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and in memory of Lumumba, “the greatest black man who ever walked the African continent.”

Continue Reading Ira Dworkin: In the Name of Lumumba

AAUP 2017 Annual Meeting Recap

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Several UNC Press members recently attended the Association of American University Presses 2017 Annual Meeting, held in Austin, TX. With more than 650 publishing professionals in attendance, the meeting connected and encouraged collaboration among university and scholarly presses. Renowned journalist Dan Rather opened the conference, speaking on the importance of university presses in the current media environment. Our own Michael Donatelli received the 2017 AAUP Constituency Award for his continued contribution to the greater university press community. We’ve collected a few UNC Press members’ reflections to recap the meeting. For more insights, take a look at the hashtag #AAUP17 on Twitter or visit the AAUP 2017 home page. 

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John Sherer, Spangler Family Director: “For the third time in ten years, a UNC Press employee has won the AAUP Constituency Award (our sales director, Michael Donatelli). This prize honors an individual at a member press who has demonstrated leadership and service to the university press community. To me, this unprecedented run of winners is a reflection of UNC’s perceived excellence in the university press world. All of the members of the UNC Press community should feel deep pride about this accomplishment.”

Doug Armato, Michael Donatelli, Robbie Dircks

2017 AAUP Constituency Award winner Michael Donatelli with mentor Doug Armato (left, Univ of Minnesota Press) & Robbie Dircks (UNC Press Associate Director and Chief Financial Officer and previous Constituency Award winner)

 

Michael Donatelli, Sales Director (and recipient of the 2017 AAUP Constituency Award): “I was impressed by the younger people at the meeting.  The future of the AAUP is in good hands.  Favorite panels: Get Creative: The Challenges (and Opportunities) of Working with Authors of Creative Works and Preparing Authors for Publication.”

 

Forever Bicycles

Ai WeiWei, Forever Bicycles, on view at the Waller Delta as part of The Contemporary Austin’s Museum Without Walls program. Photo credit: John Sherer

 

Susan Garrett, Sales Manager: “I enjoyed the packed panel on Successful Partnerships with Independent Bookstores, chaired by Gianna LaMorte (University of Texas Press), with Amanda Sharp (University of Georgia Press), Elizabeth Jordan (BookPeople, Austin, Tex.), Emily Hamilton (University of Minnesota Press) and Jeff Deutsch (Seminary Co-op Bookstores, Chicago, Ill.).  Great tips and strategies for UPs connecting more effectively with Indie bookstores, most of which really enjoy promoting UP books.  It’s very helpful, in general, to be at AAUP around my peers who work in sales and marketing.  From big presses to mini-sized presses, everyone comes with ideas to share and much to learn from each other.”

 

Jessica Newman, Dan Rather, Susan Garrett

Jessica Newman (left, Assistant Editor) & Susan Garrett (Sales Manager) with Dan Rather, speaker at the Opening Banquet

 

Kim Bryant, Director of Design and Production: “The Production and Design Managers Roundtable is a wonderful example of the collaboration, support, and resourcefulness that can be found (and is encouraged by) the AAUP member presses and community.”

Amanda Sharp, Elizabeth Jordan, Emily Hamilton, Jeff Deutsch

Amanda Sharp (University of Georgia Press), Elizabeth Jordan (BookPeople, Austin, Tex.), Emily Hamilton (University of Minnesota Press) and Jeff Deutsch (Seminary Co-op Bookstores, Chicago, Ill.) Photo credit: David Goldberg, MIT Press, posting in Shelf Awareness 

 

Mark Simpson-Vos, Editorial Director: “I found the tone and energy around this year’s annual meeting as positive as I can recall, with a sense of our important and distinct mission as university presses carrying through from the opening keynote through the plenaries and sessions. I am always impressed by the spirit of innovation and forward thinking that characterizes the conversations I have with fellow publishing professionals at AAUP, and that was certainly true this year, from the smallest university presses to the largest. The renewed commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work was especially inspiring and challenging. So was an expanding sense of the role university presses play globally in disseminating knowledge that can be trusted by scholars and the general public. This is our essential purpose, and it’s great to feel a part of a community that is locked in around that purpose.”

Torchy's Tacos

The famous Torchy’s Tacos, a highlight for some UNC Press staffers. Photo credit: John Sherer

 

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Looking forward to #AAUP18 in San Francisco!!

Lindsey A. Freeman: The Uncanny Bohemia in Black Mountain

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cover art for the bohemian south by binghamToday we welcome a guest post from Lindsey A. Freeman, co-editor of  The Bohemian South: Creating Countercultures, from Poe to Punk. In today’s post, Freeman gives us a unique look into the bohemian culture within the south. Interested in learning more? Listen to Lindsey and co-editor Shawn Chandler Bingham talk about tracking southern subcultures on WUNC’s “The State of Things.”

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In the fall of 2015, Chelsea Ragan and Adam Void, two artists living in Black Mountain, North Carolina, invited a slew of artists, creative folks, and teachers to get together in order to begin laying the foundations for a new school. They met by Lake Eden, the site of the legendary Black Mountain College (BMC). The new experimental learning community organized by Ragan and Void was initially called Black Mountain School, an intentional echo of BMC. In the summer of 2016, Black Mountain School attracted around 200 artists, designers, and teachers to participate in communal experimental learning on a beautiful expanse of land in Western North Carolina.

The original BMC began in 1933 with the controversial scholar John A. Rice at the helm. Rice and his colleagues wanted to create a new kind of environment for learning based on the educational principles of John Dewey. They believed that the study and creation of art was intrinsic to any liberal arts education. Continue Reading Lindsey A. Freeman: The Uncanny Bohemia in Black Mountain

UNC Press Summer Reading List

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Summer Reading ListHappy Summer! In honor of the summer solstice, we’re posting our suggestions for your summer reading list. If you’re planning a fun tropical vacation or just heading to your neighborhood pool, UNC Press has your perfect summer read. Pick up a fun guidebook or new biography, and don’t forget about our 40% sale!

Pilkey: Lessons from the Sand: Family-Friendly Science Activities You Can Do on a Carolina BeachLessons from the Sand: Family-Friendly Science Activities You Can Do on a Carolina Beach

A trip to the Carolina coast wouldn’t be complete without Lessons from the Sand. This easy-to-follow activity guide is presented in full color with dozens of whimsical and informational illustrations that will engage and guide kids and parents. It even includes rainy day projects!

 Elizondo Griest: All the Agents and Saints: Dispatches from the U.S. BorderlandsAll the Agents and Saints: Dispatches from the U.S. Borderlands

This is literary journalism in the form of sublime writing. You’ll get lost in Stephanie’s words as she shares her experiences and the stories of those living on the northern and southern borders of the U.S.

Rogoff: Gertrude Weil: Jewish Progressive in the New South Gertrude Weil: Jewish Progressive in the New South

The biography of a remarkable woman who fought for the progressive issues of the day. You’ll recognize figures such as Carrie Chapman Catt, national leader of the woman’s suffragist movement; Frank Graham, university president and U. S. Senator; and even Eleanor Roosevelt. My favorite part of the story? Eighty-year-old Gertrude desegregating a local swimming pool by diving in headfirst.

The New Southern Garden Cookbook: Enjoying the Best from Homegrown Gardens, Farmers' Markets, Roadside Stands, and CSA Farm Boxes, by Sheri CastleThe New Southern Garden Cookbook: Enjoying the Best from Homegrown Gardens, Farmers’ Markets, Roadside Stands, and CSA Farm Boxes

 Anyone else like to read cookbooks? You can learn so much, and the chefs always include fun anecdotes (and Sheri is no exception!) She includes plenty of recipes for summer, so hop on over to your local farmers’ market, stand, or CSA!

 Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American SouthHughes: Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South

Get the new paperback edition for easy carry! If you’re a fan of ‘60s and ‘70s country and soul music, then you’ll love Charles’ melding of the two. You’ll want to read this while listening to the perfect playlist. Good news, Charles has already done the hard work and made one on Spotify. 

 Reardon & Vossler: Field Guide to Gettysburg: Experiencing the Battlefield through Its History, Places, and PeopleA Field Guide to Gettysburg: Experiencing the Battlefield through Its History, Places, and People

If you’re planning a trip to Gettysburg this summer, this updated edition is a must-bring. Grab the expanded Ebook for even more stories, maps, and illustrations. Perfect for experiencing history on the go.

Brian L. Tochterman: Birth of a Vigilante

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cover photo for tochtermanToday we have another guest post by Brian L. Tochterman, author of The Dying City: Postwar New York and the Ideology of Fear. In this eye-opening cultural history, Brian Tochterman examines competing narratives that shaped post–World War II New York City, revealing how elite culture producers, planners and theorists, and elected officials drew on and perpetuated the fear of death to press for a new urban vision.

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I’m not letting the killer go through the tedious process of law. – I, the Jury (1947)

This year marks the 70th birthday of Mike Hammer, the hypermasculine private investigator that sprung from the imagination of his creator Mickey Spillane onto the pages of pulp fiction after World War II. Mike Hammer was Spillane’s Ubermensch, a perfected representation of himself that seemed to fill a canker left by the writer’s involvement, or lack thereof, in the war effort. Spillane was a product of working-class Brooklyn and New Jersey, who entered the comic book industry in the late 1930s, fleshing out a prototype of his ideal protagonist in a strip called “Mike Danger.” When the war came, Spillane never made it further than the base camps of the American south. When he published I, the Jury in 1947, his alter-ego was a Pacific front hero returning home to New York City “anxious to get some of the rats that make up the section of humanity that prey on people.”

In his seminal ode to the work of Dashiell Hammett, “The Simple Art of Murder” (1944), Raymond Chandler codified the pulp detective as a man “who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid . . . a man of honor . . . the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.” Continue Reading Brian L. Tochterman: Birth of a Vigilante

The History of Juneteenth: 5 Facts You Need to Know

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History of Juneteenth: 5 Facts You Need to Know

Today, the UNC Press blog explains the origins of Juneteenth and the tradition of Emancipation Day celebrations throughout the United States with contributions from William A. Blair, author of Cities of the Dead and With Malice toward Some and editor of  Lincoln’s Proclamation

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What is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth is a celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, given by President Abraham Lincoln, that declared freedom for all slaves in states still in rebellion. Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation following the Battle of Antietam on September 22, 1862, as a warning to the Confederacy, and the official order went into effect on January 1, 1863.  

Why June 19?

There are several dates that could celebrate the Emancipation, such as January 1 or September 22 or even February 1 (National Freedom Day,) but Juneteenth has become the most popular. June 19, 1865, commemorates the day when slaves in the Galveston, Texas, area heard a proclamation of freedom read by Union General Granger. 

When did other regions celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation?

Celebrations often occurred around when black people in a particular region won their liberation. These were often tied either to the appearance of the Union army or the defeat of the Confederate military. For example, Richmond residents marked April 3 when Lee’s army fled the capital, while others preferred April 9, when that army surrendered at Appomattox. Beginning with the issuing of the proclamation in 1863, African Americans in the Union-occupied Sea Islands near South Carolina and Georgia gathered in ceremonial events to mark what they hoped was the destruction of slavery. 

Who celebrates it now?

Juneteenth had been only a regional observance until its revival in the last several decades of the twentieth century. Before then, it was remembered primarily by residents of Texas and the Southwest. Now it is celebrated nationwide with many states holding formal celebrations and festivals. 

How is Juneteenth celebrated?

Wherever African Americans constituted significant proportions of the population, business (at least black-owned ones) stopped for the day as African Americans conducted a parade. They listened to orations from prominent members of the community. A central ritual was the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, a duty considered as a special honor by the reader. Orators used these occasions to highlight the contribution of black people to American civic life and, consequently, press the case for the advancement and protection of their rights. Celebrations today look similar with picnics, festivals, and a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. 

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William A. Blair, the Walter L. and Helen P. Ferree Professor of American History at the Pennsylvania State University, serves as director of the Richards Civil War Era Center and is the founding editor of the Journal of the Civil War Era. 

Bridgette A. Lacy: Father’s Day Memories

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We welcome a blog post in honor of Father’s Day by Bridgette Lacy, author of Sunday Dinner: a SAVOR THE SOUTH® cookbook. Bridgette shares the memories of her grandfather in the kitchen and the importance of gathering together. Want to start Sunday dinner traditions of your own? Read Bridgette’s blog post on how to get started.

From Bridgette and the folks at UNC Press: Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. 

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Father’s Day Memories

James R Moore Jr My maternal grandfather’s love often came in packages. He would send a box of thick-sliced fatback bacon to my Howard University dormitory, sweet potatoes delivered by cousin Gwen, or a large brown bag filled with ham sandwiches for the train ride from Lynchburg, V.A., back home to Washington, D.C.

James Russell Moore Jr., who I affectionately called Papa, loved feeding his grandchildren. I was his oldest. As a child, I was a skinny girl and a finicky eater. But anything my Papa made, I was at least willing to try. That meant potato salad, which had too many complex flavors for my adolescent taste. But I couldn’t refuse a spoonful or two of one of my family’s favorite side dishes.

As we approach Father’s Day, I am transported to his backyard garden. My memory takes me to the two apple trees whose branches once met in the sky, forming an endless bridge of hope for me. The goldfish pond glistened with bright orange swimmers. The smoke house, the dog house, and the rabbit cages all snug with their appropriate inhabitants.

Some of my favorite moments with my Papa were made in that sacred space where vegetables, fruits, and flowers grew. He would often give me a cigar to keep the flies away as we picked string beans off the vine for dinner.

Sunday dinner is the gravitational pull that brings family and friends together. It’s a reassurance that the people you love are there for you.
Gardening and cooking were acts of love for him. His lessons continued in the kitchen as I watched him meticulously prepare coconut pies and his Nilla Wafer Brown Pound Cake on Saturday afternoons for Sunday dinner. There was an air of excitement in the kitchen as Papa flipped the heavy Bundt pan over onto a plate. He would remove the pan to reveal the Nilla Wafer Brown coloring of the cake. That was how he measured the cake’s perfection.

In my grandparent’s home, Sunday dinner was a big meal always served in the dining room with the good China. There was always plenty of fried chicken, potato salad, yeast rolls, and greens. There was always room for extended family members, a visiting aunt, nearby cousins, or a single uncle in need of a home-cooked meal.

Sunday Dinner cover imageSunday dinner was the place where you learned your family’s history. You heard stories of romance, challenges and triumphs. It was a time for storytelling. Problems disappeared during those cherished hours.

The meal was never rushed, folks always lingered. When you sat down, you didn’t get up until there was no more room for another delicious bite. Anything you needed was already on the table.

I learned a lesson that would guide me into adulthood during those meals. Food tastes better when it’s shared. Sunday dinner is the gravitational pull that brings family and friends together. It’s a reassurance that the people you love are there for you.

Even now, I always feel special when someone cooks for me. It’s such a sincere way to give a piece of you to someone else. Happy Father’s Day, Papa. Your memory is one of my most prized packages. You continue to deliver.

Bridgette A. Lacy is a journalist who writes about food for the Independent Weekly and the North Carolina Arts Council. She also served as a longtime features and food writer for the Raleigh News & Observer. Her book Sunday Dinner: a SAVOR THE SOUTH® cookbook is now available. Connect with Lacy on Twitter @bridgettealacy. Don’t forget to “like” the Savor the South® page on Facebook for more news and recipes. 

Interview: Sandra Gutierrez on The New Southern-Latino Table

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Author Sandra Gutierrez talks with publicity director Gina Mahalek about her award-winning book, The New Southern-Latino Table: Recipes That Bring Together the Bold and Beloved Flavors of Latin America and the American South. Sandra was recently selected as the grand prize winner of MFK Fisher Awards for Excellence in Culinary Writing by Les Dames d’Escoffier International. (Kudos, Sandra!) The New Southern-Latino Table is also part of an exhibit currently on display at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, and Sandra will be speaking at the museum in D.C. on Saturday, June 17, at 2 p.m.Sandra A. Gutierezz

Gina Mahalek: How do you define the Southern-Latino culinary movement?

Sandra Gutierrez: I define it as the melding of the foodways and flavors of the Southern U.S. with those of Latin America as a whole. Recent years have seen a huge influx of Latinos from all different socio-economic and culinary backgrounds into the South. Many of us are second- and third-generation Latinos who are proud of our heritage and of the food of our ancestors (as were previous waves of immigrants). We have brought along our ingredients and culinary traditions and have fallen in love with those of the South. This is not a movement that has occurred in a controlled manner; rather, it is happening naturally and by chance. Southerners and Latinos share similar culinary histories, ingredients, and cooking techniques, but we interpret them in very different ways. I find it exciting that, having found themselves in the same territory, these culinary traditions are correlating and intermingling. I call this the New Southern-Latino movement. This is a movement in which chiles rellenos are stuffed with pimiento cheese, and corn ice cream is topped with hot praline sauce.

GM: What are some of the similarities between the cuisines of the American South and those of Latin America?

SG: There are many similarities in the way both cuisines were shaped, which in my opinion gives this movement a great starting point. Both have been influenced by people of three ethnicities: indigenous (Native Americans in the South; Aztecs, Mayans, Incas and others in Latin America), African, and European. Both cuisines have many ingredients in common, among them: corn, tomatoes, squash, pork, and beans, to name a few. Also, both share similar cooking techniques such as braising, frying, and barbecuing. Of course, we interpret food in very different ways. However, I chose to build a cuisine based upon our similarities, with flavors that both southerners and Latinos can relate to, in hope of bringing people together at the table.

Sandra Gutierrez: The New Southern-Latino Table: Recipes That Bring Together the Bold and Beloved Flavors of Latin America and the American South GM: In your book, you mention that the use of the word “Latino” has little meaning within Latin America. Could you talk a little bit about this from a culinary perspective?

SG: The term “Latino” only exists within the context of the U.S. and is used to define anyone who was either born in Latin America or is of Latin American heritage but lives here in the U.S. Latin Americans define themselves depending on their country of origin, not as “Latinos” but rather as “Guatemalans,” “Bolivians,” “Colombians,” etc. We don’t lump the nationalities together at all. From a culinary perspective, this becomes very important because not all Latin Americans eat the same foods. Argentineans, for example, don’t eat tacos, unless they are at a Mexican restaurant; however they do eat a lot of pasta, because their cuisine is heavily influenced by Italian flavors. Each Latin cuisine has been shaped by different cultures, and has its own native ingredients and each one varies greatly. I cannot stress this enough. What this means within the context of the New Southern-Latino movement is that there are many culinary influences imparting changes and contributions to one another. The New Southern-Latino movement, therefore, does not represent the melding of one culinary culture with another (as in the case of Southwestern cuisine, where Mexican flavors predominate) but represents the marriage of the culinary foodways of more than two dozen countries with those of the entire Southern region of the United States. It is very, very exciting. 

Continue Reading Interview: Sandra Gutierrez on The New Southern-Latino Table

Father’s Day Gift Guide

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Father's Day Gift Guide

Father’s Day is a week away! Still looking for the perfect gift? Look no further than the UNC Press Father’s Day gift guide. We’ve compiled our best suggestions to match any dad’s interests.

For the beach lover

North Carolina’s Barrier Islands: Wonders of Sand, Sea, and Sky by David Blevins

David Blevins: North Carolina's Barrier Islands: Wonders of Sand, Sea, and SkyIn this stunning book, nature photographer and ecologist David Blevins offers an inspiring visual journey to North Carolina’s barrier islands as you have never seen them before. These islands are unique and ever-changing places with epic origins, surprising plants and animals, and an uncertain future. From snow geese mid-flight to breathtaking vistas along otherworldly dunes, Blevins has captured the incredible natural diversity of North Carolina’s coast in singular detail. His photographs and words reveal the natural character of these islands, the forces that shape them, and the sense of wonder they inspire.

For the music fan

Talking Guitar: Conversations with Musicians Who Shaped Twentieth-Century American Music by Jas Obrecht

Obrecht: Talking Guitar: Conversations with Musicians Who Shaped Twentieth-Century American MusicIn this lively collection of interviews, storied music writer Jas Obrecht presents a celebration of the world’s most popular instrument as seen through the words, lives, and artistry of some of its most beloved players. Readers will read—and hear—accounts of the first guitarists on record, pioneering bluesmen, gospel greats, jazz innovators, country pickers, rocking rebels, psychedelic shape-shifters, singer-songwriters, and other movers and shakers. In their own words, these guitar players reveal how they found their inspirations, mastered their instruments, crafted classic songs, and created enduring solos. Also included is a CD of never-before-heard moments from Obrecht’s insightful interviews with these guitar greats.

For the history buff

The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, from the Washingtons to the Obamas by Adrian Miller

Miller: The President's Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, from the Washingtons to the ObamasJames Beard award–winning author Adrian Miller vividly tells the stories of the African Americans who worked in the presidential food service as chefs, personal cooks, butlers, stewards, and servers for every First Family since George and Martha Washington. Miller brings together the names and words of more than 150 black men and women who played remarkable roles in unforgettable events in the nation’s history.

For the sports fanatic

Game Changers: Dean Smith, Charlie Scott, and the Era That Transformed a Southern College Town by Art Chansky

Chansky: Game Changers:Dean Smith, Charlie Scott, and the Era That Transformed a Southern College Town Among many legendary episodes from the life and career of men’s basketball coach Dean Smith, few loom as large as his recruitment of Charlie Scott, the first African American scholarship athlete at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Drawn together by college basketball in a time of momentous change, Smith and Scott helped transform a university, a community, and the racial landscape of sports in the South. But there is much more to this story than is commonly told. In Game Changers, Art Chansky reveals an intense saga of race, college sport, and small-town politics.

 

The best part? We’re offering 40% off with the code 01DAH40. Happy shopping, and Happy Father’s Day!

The Best of Enemies Movie Adaptation

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UNC Press is going to the movies! The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South, by Osha Gray Davidson, will be adapted into a film starring Sam Rockwell and Taraji P. Henson. Other cast members include Anne Heche, Wes Bentley, Bruce McGill, Nick Searcy, John Gallagher Jr., and Babou Ceesay. Shooting began last month, so the good news is that you have plenty of time to read the full story. (And now you can picture Sam Rockwell in the role of C. P. Ellis and Taraji P. Henson as Ann Atwater.)The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South

C. P. Ellis grew up in the poor white section of Durham, North Carolina, and joined the Ku Klux Klan as a young man. Ann Atwater, a single mother from the poor black part of town, quit her job as a household domestic to join the civil rights fight. During the 1960s, as the country struggled with the explosive issue of race, Atwater and Ellis met on opposite sides of the public school integration issue. Their encounters were charged with hatred and suspicion. In an amazing set of transformations, however, each of them came to see how the other had been exploited by the South’s rigid power structure, and they forged a friendship that flourished against a backdrop of unrelenting bigotry.

Rich with details about the rhythms of daily life in the mid-twentieth-century South, The Best of Enemies offers a vivid portrait of a relationship that defied all odds. By placing this very personal story into broader context, Osha Gray Davidson demonstrates that race is intimately tied to issues of class, and that cooperation is possible—even in the most divisive situations—when people begin to listen to one another.

If you’re like us and love to read the book before seeing the movie, make sure to grab a copy of The Best of Enemies.

Alisha Gaines: White Guilt and Allyship on WGN’s Underground

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cover image for black for a day by gainesToday we welcome a guest post from Alisha Gaines, author of Black for a Day: White Fantasies of Race and Empathy. In 1948, journalist Ray Sprigle traded his whiteness to live as a black man for four weeks. A little over a decade later, John Howard Griffin famously “became” black as well, traveling the American South in search of a certain kind of racial understanding. Contemporary history is littered with the surprisingly complex stories of white people passing as black, and here Alisha Gaines constructs a unique genealogy of “empathetic racial impersonation”—white liberals walking in the fantasy of black skin under the alibi of cross-racial empathy. At the end of their experiments in “blackness,” Gaines argues, these debatably well-meaning white impersonators arrived at little more than false consciousness.

Complicating the histories of black-to-white passing and blackface minstrelsy, Gaines uses an interdisciplinary approach rooted in literary studies, race theory, and cultural studies to reveal these sometimes maddening, and often absurd, experiments of racial impersonation. By examining this history of modern racial impersonation, Gaines shows that there was, and still is, a faulty cultural logic that places enormous faith in the idea that empathy is all that white Americans need to make a significant difference in how to racially navigate our society.

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White Guilt and Allyship on Underground

In the scandal-fueled aftermath of the election of Donald Trump, some of my white friends texted and emailed me vowing to fight Muslim bans, the deportation of Latinx immigrants, and dogwhistles promising the racist escalation of law and order. My social media was a visual cacophony of safety pins and pink pussy hats—emblems of resistance, empathy, allyship, and often, white liberal guilt.

Being seen as a “good” white person has rarely been more important.

Months before white women began knitting, the WGN cable show Underground debuted on March 9, 2016. It chronicles the attempted escape by seven slaves from a Georgia cotton plantation in 1857. Since staging black fugitivity through reimaginings of the Underground Railroad is critically and commercially popular, Underground was a ratings breakout for the network.

promotional photo from WGN's Underground series

Unlike the many representations of slavery that exploit black bodies in pain while over-representing white heroism, Underground is a different kind of history. Created by Misha Green and Joe Pokaski, it features the uncompromising resistance of black folks and the vulnerabilities faced by white allies.
Continue Reading Alisha Gaines: White Guilt and Allyship on WGN’s Underground

Nicole Eustace: American Democracy and the Imperial Presidency

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cover art for warring for america We welcome a guest post by Nicole Eustace, co-editor of Warring for America: Cultural Contests in the Era of 1812, to be published in September 2017 by the Omohundro Institute and UNC Press. The War of 1812 was one of a cluster of events that left unsettled what is often referred to as the Revolutionary settlement. At once postcolonial and neoimperial, the America of 1812 was still in need of definition. As the imminence of war intensified the political, economic, and social tensions endemic to the new nation, Americans of all kinds fought for country on the battleground of culture. The War of 1812 increased interest in the American democratic project and elicited calls for national unity, yet the essays collected in this volume suggest that the United States did not emerge from war in 1815 having resolved the Revolution’s fundamental challenges or achieved a stable national identity. The cultural rifts of the early republican period remained vast and unbridged.

In the following post, Eustace highlights how essays in Warring for America explore the ideas of dictatorial power and populism in early American history.

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American Democracy and the Imperial Presidency

Can an “imperial presidency” arise in a democracy? Commentators on both sides of the political spectrum have urged attention to this issue for several decades now and, for many observers, the question becomes more urgent by the day.

The term The Imperial Presidency was coined by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. in his book of that title, first published in 1973. Schlesinger believed that history operated cyclically and that Presidential war-making powers in the United States fell into a discernible pattern of 76-year rises, followed by 75-year falls. He charted the years from 1789-1865 as a period of ever-increasing presidential authority, followed by a period of decline up to 1940. If Schlesinger was right, 2016 saw another apex of the concentration of executive power. While there is little reason to believe that history in fact turns on such precise algorithmic calculations, there is good reason to recognize that we are currently living in an era of expansive and expanding presidential power that, while exceptional, is not without precedent.

If Schlesinger was right, 2016 saw another apex of the concentration of executive power.
The essays collected in Warring for America: Cultural Contests in the Era of 1812 have much to tell us about the ways in which Americans in the first strong presidential period debated the question of how to constitute authority. If Schlesinger tended to give blame, or credit, to the character of the chief executive himself in defining the nature of presidential power, critics, like Garry Wills (who reviewed The Imperial Presidency in the New York Times November 18, 1973) countered that responsibility for elevating the president to the place of emperor lay squarely with the public that selected him for office. Evidence of both trends emerges in the pages of Warring for America. Continue Reading Nicole Eustace: American Democracy and the Imperial Presidency

Nancy Tomes: Remarks from the Bancroft Awards Dinner

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Congratulations to Nancy Tomes, winner of the Bancroft Prize from Columbia University

UNC Press congratulates Nancy Tomes, winner of the prestigious 2017 Bancroft Prize in American History and Diplomacy from Columbia University for her book Remaking the American Patient: How Madison Avenue and Modern Medicine Turned Patients into Consumers. Tomes presented the following remarks at the awards dinner on April 29, 2017.

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I want to start by thanking the Bancroft Prize Committee for this incredible honor. My state of mind for the last few weeks is best summed up by the word, “wow,” which just keeps popping out of my mouth.

My sense of having wandered into an alternate reality is even more intense because of my very conflicted feelings about this book. It was very difficult for me to write. Although I’d had moments of struggle with my previous books, when they were done I liked them. I thought, hey, these are pretty good. With this one, as it went off to the printer I felt an emotion close to dread: I have not got it right yet, but I have to let it go. 

The idea for the book started out innocently enough: I’d been writing about germs, and how advertising about their dangers helped to reshape many aspects of everyday life. So, I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be interesting to think about how the dynamics of modern consumer culture, particularly advertising, have shaped our expectations of medicine. In that happy toddler phase, I had a lot of fun looking at old ads. But like a teenager, as the project matured it got more and more difficult. (I hasten to say here this child metaphor has nothing to do with my real child, who is sitting here tonight, who was and is a delightful daughter!) But this book child was a pain: at times sullen, at times maniacal, dragging me into all kinds of unpleasant places I didn’t want to go (like thinking about health insurance!). It was the one I felt I had to send to the corner to learn how to behave. What was supposed to be a quick little aside of a book turned into a monster that took almost eighteen years to complete, years when I made myself and those around me miserable with wails and moans: whatever possessed me to try to write this book? I would look gloomily at my graduate students and say, never ever try to do what I am attempting: a book that spans a century and attempts to reinterpret the history of American medicine from a patient/public perspective. This way madness lies.

For a lark, I recently went and typed in “American health care system” on Google Scholar: there were 3,590,000 results. As I wrote, I certainly felt the weight of all that has been written about that system, famous around the world for its complexity and its dysfunctionality. (Yes, we did know it was so complicated, Mr. President!) Whatever possessed me to think that there was something else that needed to be said? And yet I persisted.    

I would look gloomily at my graduate students and say, never ever try to do what I am attempting: a book that spans a century and attempts to reinterpret the history of American medicine from a patient/public perspective.
What kept me going was a determination to unravel what struck me as a contradiction of huge proportions: the U.S. claims to have a health care system shaped by a devotion to “evidence-based medicine,” patient empowerment, and consumer-driven policy and yet real patients seem to have a very limited role in shaping how it really works. They often end up with disorganized, ineffective, and whoppingly expensive care, only to be told it was their own fault: they made bad choices. They had unreasonable expectations of treatment. They were unwilling to pay what care “really” cost. I would often hear these arguments from economists when I was a Robert Wood Johnson investigator and I would wonder to myself, where did all these expectations come from? Who decides what care costs in the first place? Are the end users of health care really the ones who deserve the most blame? Those questions took on new significance when someone in my family—a child—became seriously ill and I experienced the reality that “so many Americans share a corrosive fear that the quality of their medical care depends too much on the size of their pocketbooks.”

Thinking about those issues was like entering a funhouse with distorted mirrors: people used the same words—patient, consumer, choice, value—and meant very different things by them. In search of the origins of this strange concept of the “patient as consumer,” I kept going back further and further, looking for where it came from. The roots turned out to be a lot earlier than I expected: the 1920s and 1930s, not the 1970s. It still surprises me to read advice given in Americans in the 1930s—that you need to check your doctor’s credentials and read up on treatments before you have them—that with barely adjusted phrasing could appear on the Internet today. I found that as early as 1954, somebody had the idea of forming an American Patients’ Association to create a voice for patients that would counter that of the AMA, the AHA, the pharmaceutical industry. While I discovered that these critics had had a lot more political impact than they’d gotten credit for in previous histories, their demands for change were deflected and co-opted all too easily, in part because of how bound they were by their own position of white middle-class privilege. That deflection also resulted from the endless creativity of entrepreneurs who skillfully adapted the language of consumer choice to their own advantage. Continue Reading Nancy Tomes: Remarks from the Bancroft Awards Dinner

Interview: Jennifer Ritterhouse on Jonathan Daniels’s Travels in 1930s America

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Jennifer Ritterhouse (photo by Ron Aira)

Author Jennifer Ritterhouse talks with publicist Catherine Cheney about her new book, Discovering the South: One Man’s Travels through a Changing America in the 1930s.

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Catherine Cheney: Who was Jonathan Daniels?

Jennifer Ritterhouse: Jonathan Worth Daniels (1902-1981) is most often remembered as an aide and press secretary for President Franklin Roosevelt and as the editor of the Raleigh, North Carolina, News and Observer. For much of his life, he was known as the son of his more famous father, Josephus Daniels, who owned and edited the News and Observer and who served as Secretary of the Navy under Woodrow Wilson. Josephus was also a key figure in North Carolina’s 1898 White Supremacy Campaign, while Jonathan had much more moderate racial views and grew to support black equality and civil rights over time. Jonathan’s efforts to distinguish himself from Josephus are an intriguing part of his biography and one of the reasons why, in 1937, he decided to take the driving tour around the South that I follow in the book.

CC: Where did Daniels go on his Travels through a Changing America in the 1930s?

JR: He visited ten of the eleven former Confederate states in just over six weeks and met a wide range of people, from governors to gas station attendants, industrialists to intellectuals, and socialists to reactionaries like Agrarian Donald Davidson and Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell. The heart of his own book about his trip was his conversations with the people he met, and a lot of the appeal for me in following him on his journey was to see and hear from them, too, in all of their variety. I also fell in love with the map from Daniels’s book and hoped that the line of his travels across it could serve in some ways to pull together an understanding of the South that captured the region’s complexity at a time when the New Deal and the social movements it fostered were making significant change possible for the first time in decades.

Jonathan Daniels route map

“Route of the Journey” map, in the Jonathan Daniels Papers #3466, Southern Historical Collection, Louis Round Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 
CC: What surprised or disturbed Daniels during his travels?Continue Reading Interview: Jennifer Ritterhouse on Jonathan Daniels’s Travels in 1930s America

Turning 20: Seashells of North Carolina

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#NCSeashells

This article originally appeared at Coastwatch Currents, the blog of North Carolina Sea Grant. Seashells of North Carolina is now distributed by UNC Press. For more information and to order, visit uncpress.org.

Turning 20: Seashells of North Carolina

by Danielle Costantini

Help celebrate 20 years of Seashells of North Carolina—a beloved guide to identifying seashells on our coast. 

Seashells of North Carolina, By Hugh J. Porter, Lynn Houser, Edited by Jeannie Faris Norris, Photographs by Scott D. Taylor

For avid collectors and casual finders alike, this beachcomber’s bible identifies commonly found shells on our coast.

Written by Hugh Porter and Lynn Houser, this beachcomber’s bible has been trusted by many to assist in the identification of common and rare shells on our beaches. It features photography by Scott Taylor and was edited by Jeannie Faris Norris. The book is published by North Carolina Sea Grant, and now distributed by the University of North Carolina Press.

“We are very excited to partner with UNC Press as the new distributor of Seashells—and together bring this book into its 20th year,” says Katie Mosher, Sea Grant communications director.

With summer fast approaching, people are heading to the beaches to sunbathe, swim, and sift through the sand for treasure. From shark’s teeth to long-forgotten buckets and shovels, what many people prowl the beach for are the beautiful seashells that wash in with the tide.

Seashells are external skeletons of animals called mollusks that once lived inside. The shell protects the soft inner body from predators, as well as from harsh currents capable of tossing the tiny creatures around in the waves.

The most common mollusk shells found on the beaches of North Carolina are of the classes Bivalvia and Gastropodia. The name bivalve comes from the two valves, or parts of the shell, hinged together like a door. Common bivalves are clams, oysters and scallops. Gastropods only have one part to their shell, and include snails and slugs. These facts, among many others, are highlighted in the book.

By the time seashells are picked up on the shore, the slimy creatures inside usually are long gone. All that remains are the calcium-carbonate shells. These shells come in varying sizes, shapes, and colors.

Scotch Bonnet

With careful searching, you may be able to find a Scotch Bonnet, the state shell. Photo by Vanda Lewis

“Even today, when I pick up seashells, I am amazed that animals created them. It’s fascinating to think about a creature extracting the calcium carbonate from the ocean water and making a home for themselves,” explains Terri Kirby Hathaway, Sea Grant marine education specialist and avid beachcomber.

To identify a shell, look at the shell structure and markings, a process detailed in Seashells of North Carolina. Color is generally the least reliable indicator, as it is heavily influenced by external factors in the ocean. Two shells of the same species can look very different depending on things like location or sun exposure. Beachcombers usually find shells easier to identify based on other characteristics like texture, size, and shape.

“Veteran shell collectors prefer good black-and-white photographs that show the details of the shell’s surface sculpture and markings,” Seashells notes.

There is no right or wrong time to look for shells. Tides constantly bring in new treasures all day and night. Right before or after low tide is usually when the most shells are exposed. For the largest selection, getting an early start in the morning may be your best bet.

Good sunlight is necessary, as having visibility is important. With this in mind, those long walks on the beach in the rain might not be the best time to search for the shells; however, right after a storm is the perfect time to discover what rough seas have brought in.

On all of North Carolina’s beaches you can find beautiful shells. Coastal Living magazine ranked Ocracoke Island as one of the best beaches for finding seashells in the nation.

Two shells of the same species can look very different depending on things like location or sun exposure.
There may be a lot of competition, though. Many summer days on the coast are crowded with locals and tourists out on the beach. 

While enjoying your time on the coast, do remember to be considerate of others and of the beach. Don’t go on private property. Be cognizant of the rules of state and national parks. Unless you are prepared to take care of a new pet, it is best to make sure the shell is empty of its previous inhabitant before you take it home. Most importantly, have fun and appreciate the beauty of nature in North Carolina.

Celebrate the warm weather and Seashells of North Carolina. Every Sunday, now through Labor Day, we will be posting on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Look for the hashtag #NCSeashells from @seagrantNC and @UNCPressblog to learn more about beachcombing, shells, and the book itself.

If you have a great shell you just can’t wait to share, tag us and use the hashtag, or send a picture to dncostan@ncsu.edu.

If you are interested in buying Seashells of North Carolina, it is available for purchase online at ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/bookstore or at uncpress.org. Also check bookstores and gift shops where UNC Press publications are sold.

Brian L. Tochterman: A Telling Inscription

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cover photo for tochterman

Today we have another guest post by Brian L. Tochterman, author of The Dying City:Postwar New York and the Ideology of Fear. In this eye-opening cultural history, Brian Tochterman examines competing narratives that shaped post–World War II New York City. As a sense of crisis rose in American cities during the 1960s and 1970s, a period defined by suburban growth and deindustrialization, no city was viewed as in its death throes more than New York. Feeding this narrative of the dying city was a wide range of representations in film, literature, and the popular press–representations that ironically would not have been produced if not for a city full of productive possibilities as well as challenges. Tochterman reveals how elite culture producers, planners and theorists, and elected officials drew on and perpetuated the fear of death to press for a new urban vision.

It was this narrative of New York as the dying city, Tochterman argues, that contributed to a burgeoning and broad anti-urban political culture hostile to state intervention on behalf of cities and citizens. Ultimately, the author shows that New York’s decline–and the decline of American cities in general–was in part a self-fulfilling prophecy bolstered by urban fear and the new political culture nourished by it.

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In New York City’s larger bookstores, like the Strand (“home to 18 miles of books”) near Union Square, there’s always a table devoted to the eight million stories from the naked city’s past. It’s where you go to grab a copy of Robert Caro’s The Power Broker, Joseph Mitchell’s Up in the Old Hotel, Jane Jacobs’ Death and Life of Great American Cities, Colson Whitehead’s The Colossus of New York, Luc Sante’s Low Life, or Weegee’s The Naked City. And there’s always a stack of E. B. White’s Here is New York, typically the 1999 edition featuring a young White on the cover and an introduction by his stepson Roger Angell. The slim book with a little over sixty pages offers a tiny window onto New York City in the summer 1948, but its observations, gleaned from White’s active participation in city life, seem to endure among transients and recent arrivals.

I bought my copy used at a bookstore in Minneapolis—I’m fairly certain that it was the iconic Book House in Dinkytown before it became a Starbucks—after I had left New York for the first time. It’s a first edition that once possessed the original dust jacket, a photographic cover featuring the title in red san serif block lettering hovering over the greyscale skyscrapers of mid-century Midtown as viewed from the bird’s eye.Continue Reading Brian L. Tochterman: A Telling Inscription