BOOKS BY ALUMNI 1982 David Albert is director of education for the N.C. Symphony. He was conductor of bands and arts department chair at Leesville High School, Raleigh, for 19 years. 1980 Michael Boone ’80 ’81 is assistant vice president for distance education at Delaware State University, Dover, Del. He received his Ph.D. in public administration in 2012 from NC State. In 2009, he retired from the N.C. Department of Revenue. 1978 David R. White, retired assistant town manager for Southern Pines, was honored by the Southern Pines Town Council for nearly 33 years of service with the renaming of a greenway trail around Reservoir Park after him. 1974 Bill Horne retired as supervisor of the environmental division of the Columbus County Health Department. 1971 Carolyn F. Bernard retired as principal of Grassfield High School, Chesapeake, Va., after 41 years in education. In 2013, she was named the Virginia Excellence in Education Award recipient by AdvancED, a schoolaccrediting organization. Don Mills was appointed to a threeyear term on the Greenville Utilities Board of Commissioners. In 2007, he retired from NACCO Materials Handling Group, Greenville, after 33 years of service. 1969 Richard Broughton and wife, Claire, were recognized by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research at its annual MVP Banquet for the third consecutive year in New York City. They have raised more than $100,000 for Parkinson’s disease research. 1965
Willie Marlowe, an abstract painter based in Albany, N.Y., had a solo show at Red Dot Gallery, Sacramento, Calif.
A fast-growing sub-genre of the young adult category of books is steampunk, a type of science fiction set in the 19th century whose plots often feature steam-powered machinery. Among the best new offerings in that field is The Lotus Effect, a first book by Bridget Ladd ’10 of Greenville, which in July won this year’s Cygnus award in the young-adult/steampunk genre. Ladd graduated with honors with a B.F.A. in 3D computer animation/interactive design while minoring in art history. The Lotus Effect centers on Lily Emerson, whose parents rule an otherworldly City of Prosper. He is the Head of Council and she is Mistress of Science. As the story begins, Lily is about to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become the next Mistress of Science. But the night before her coronation, Lily learns about corruption in the council and even within her own parents. Lily realizes that to truly save the citizens, she has to fight. The Lotus Effect 538 pages $11.44 in paperback, $3.99 on Kindle Published by Obese Rhino Publishing
Educational consultant Patricia Calfee ’84 ’89 of Washington, N.C., has authored the 11th in her series of “Issy Books” for children just learning to read. All of the books are illustrated with pictures drawn by Calfee’s granddaughter, Isybilla Gee. Using sight words, controlled vocabulary and illustrations to support the beginninglevel stories, the Issy Books are designed to engage young minds. Picture clues and predictable text help young readers gain confidence. Gee is the daughter of Dr. Jennifer B. Calfee ’96 ’00 and ECU assistant biology professor Dr. Jason Gee. The Issy books are published by Compass Publishing. You can download one of the books for free at www.issybooks.com.
They say writers should stick to what they know, and Kit Kimberly ’83 ’90 certainly does that in her first novel, The Last Bohemians, a gripping tale of revolution and revulsion set in Prague, Czechoslovakia, after the election of dissident playwright Václav Havel as president. Kimberly lived and worked in Czechoslovokia from 1992 until 1999 as a journalist and writing teacher. A confirmed world traveler, she currently lives in New Zealand. The central character in the book is American journalist Sam Seton (who is a woman). She is among many idealists who come to Prague seeking Havel’s brave new civil society— capitalism with a human face. What she finds, however, is a hedonistic culture clash of expatriates and native Bohemians rising out of the ashes of communist bureaucracy. Amongst snow-covered castles and sootstained facades, bad food and good beer, addiction and corruption, Seton investigates a sinister conspiracy that threatens the foundations of the world’s newest country. At ECU Kimberly worked with The East Carolinian, The Buccaneer and The Rebel (for which she won the poetry contest in 1982-83) and WZMB. In Prague, she worked as a journalist for The Prague Post and other publications. She served as managing editor for Trafika, Prague’s premiere Englishlanguage literary magazine, as well as editor and press liaison for the EastWest Institute. In prose that is sometimes lyrical, sometimes sharp and with an edge of noir, Kimberly captures Prague’s unique moment in time, when heady idealism met a world of economic, political and creative possibilities at the end of the 20th century. The Last Bohemians E-book on Kindle and Smashwords $5.99
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