Bruce Peabody ’91, a constitutional law scholar at Fairleigh Dickinson University, is the editor and one of the authors of The Politics of Judicial Independence (Johns Hopkins University Press), a new volume that gathers together a range of scholars and experts to chart and explore the importance of criticisms of courts and judges—in the United States and abroad. While contributors consider attacks against the judiciary over the past four decades, several of them are especially interested in court critiques (and their implications for judicial independence) in the 21st century. The judiciary in the United States has been subject in recent…

Bradley Galer ’83, M.D., and Charles Argoff, M.D., are the authors of Defeat Chronic Pain Now! (Fair Winds Press), a survival guide to preventing, reversing, and managing chronic pain. Galer and Argoff present hidden and little known causes of common chronic pain conditions, how to avoid misdiagnosis, and the latest treatments under development including: Myofascial Dysfunction: The real (undiagnosed!) culprit in 90 percent of back and neck pain; DMARDS and NSAIDS: Two breakthrough drugs that promise significant relief for arthritis; Nutraceuticals: The natural wonder treatment for peripheral neuropathy; Focal heat trigger-point (FHTP) therapy: The new drug-free approach to migraine relief. This…

Best-selling author James Kaplan ’73 has written an acclaimed new biography, Frank: The Voice (Doubleday), about the early life of one of America’s best known American singers and entertainers of the 20th century, Frank Sinatra, from the years 1915 through 1954. Kaplan reveals how Sinatra helped to make the act of listening to pop music a more personal experience to his fans than it had ever been before. Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times recently chose Kaplan’s book as one of her Top 10 Books of 2010. In her review in the Times, she wrote that Kaplan “has produced…

Jeanne Peterson ’85 has written a new novel, Falling to Heaven (St. Martin’s Press), the story of two American Quakers who trek into Tibet in 1954. In this work of historical fiction, Emma and Gerald Kittredge leave their secure Quaker community and travel to the Tibetan city of Shigatse where they soon find companionship with their neighbors, Dorje and Rinchen, and their small family. But the arrival of Maoist soldiers shatters these characters’ quiet life. Gerald is captured by the soldiers, leaving a pregnant Emma facing an agonizing decision: flee Tibet or stay and risk imprisonment herself. Dorje and Rinchen…

Alex Kudera ’91 has published a new satiric novel, Fight for Your Long Day (Atticus Books), which takes the reader into the secret life of an adjunct college professor, Cyrus “Duffy” Duffleman who has to travel to four universities a day in Philadephia to teach. Duffy can barely afford his two-room apartment and would be thrilled to have health insurance. Then one day, Duffy’s teaching routine changes when his first class is interrupted by the cryptic mumblings of a possibly psychotic student. Next he encounters a bow-and-arrow assassination. His long day continues downhill from there as he attempts to maintain…

Clara Silverstein '82 is the author of A White House Garden Cookbook published by Red Rock Press, 2010. When Michelle Obama decided to turn a chunk of White House lawn into a vegetable patch, she was cheered by parents who want their kids to eat better and Americans who want to have a hand in growing their own food. This book chronicles the first year of this famous garden, with its many dozens of vegetables and herbs, including descendants of seeds planted by Thomas Jefferson; its berries and the honey from the hives of First Family bees. Filled with ideas…