Books by Mount Holyoke
Alumnae and Professors: P

Frances Perkins: First Woman Cabinet Member By Emily Keller Morgan Reynolds Publishing. 2007. This detailed biography of America's first woman cabinet member and acclaimed Mount Holyoke alumna tells the story of Frances Perkins, a young woman whose ideals of worker's rights and social reform fired her ambition and landed her in the White House as secretary of labor. The book chronicles Perkins's life, from reviving the nation's economy together with President Franklin D. Roosevelt to taking care of her often institutionalized, bipolar husband, all with the grace typical of her time. Emily Keller currently resides in Niagra Falls, New York. She is a retired schoolteacher and a copy editor.

Writing Path 1: Poetry and Prose from Writers' Conferences Edited by Michael Pettit University of Iowa Press. 1995. Faculty at 1994 writing conferences across the country selected work by their best students for this volume. After introducing their students, the teachers present examples of their own recent writing as well as the students'. Michael Pettit is director of the Mount Holyoke Writers' Conference.

Case for Wetland Restoration By Donald Hey and Nancy Stuart Philippi '56 John Wiley and Sons. 1999. Tracing over two decades of progress in wetland restoration, this book provides a pragmatic, goal-oriented approach to this often controversial subject. The authors draw on four long-term case studies from across the United States to show what a successful restoration is like and what we can learn from it. They demonstrate not only that wetland restoration can succeed, but also how to use it to reverse two centuries of losses. Key public-policy issues surrounding wetland restoration, along with future trends, are also examined. Nancy Philippi is a freelance writer specializing in ecologic issues.

Spatial Dynamics and Female Development in Victorian Art and Novels By Liana F. Piehler '93 Peter Lang Publishing. 2003. Spatial Dynamics and Female Development in Victorian Art and Novels explores the concept that space can be a productive and creative realm, rather than merely an empty or confining category, for personal development. Piehler recognizes connections between the visual and literary arts, and uses mid-to-late-nineteenth-century paintings and novels by women to illustrate the ways that these genres utilize space. The book sharpens our view of nineteenth-century women's perspectives on themselves. Liana Piehler earned her doctorate in English literature in 2001 from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, where she is currently the director of the Writing Center.

Art and Politics in the 1930s: Americanism, Marxism and Modernism By Susan N. Platt '67 Midmarch Arts Press. 1999. The first study to discuss the ways politics permeated all aspects of the art world in the pre-World War II depression years. It explores how artists and critics addressed subjects that ranged from the economic conditions of the working class, the rise of fascism and the threat of war to America, to the contemporary American scene and utopian abstraction. Chapters emphasize constantly shifting economic, social and political events that affected artists and critics. Susan Platt is an art critic and art historian, the northwest editor of Art Papers magazine and is an adjunct professor at the University of Washington.

Stalin's Folly: The Tragic First Ten Days of World War Two on the Eastern Front By Constantine Pleshakov Houghton Mifflin. 2005. During the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers were slaughtered, while their leader stood by. Pleshakov draws on newly available documents to paint a startling portrait of Josef Stalin, one of history's most feared despots, as a vulnerable and paralyzed leader. For more than a week, Stalin remained hidden away while Hitler rolled over Soviet territory, leaving the country rudderless and nearly losing power. The Red Army's effort to regain the territory lost in those first ten days would cost more than ten million Soviet lives. Stalin's Folly is a dramatic hour-by-hour account that sheds light on an enigmatic and ruthless figure while providing a new and far deeper understanding of Russian history. Constantine Pleshakov, a visiting professor at Mount Holyoke in Russian and Eurasian studies and the critical social thought program, is the author of The Tsar's Last Armada, Inside the Kremlin's Cold War: From Stalin to Khrushchev, and Flight of the Romanovs: A Family Saga.

Flight of the Romanovs: A Family Saga By John Curtis Perry and Constantine Pleshakov Basic Books. 1999. Conspiracy and murder, imprisonment, torture, flight and abduction punctuate the story of the Romanovs during their last century. This most comprehensive history of the Romanov family tells a tale of glittering sadness, unfulfilled expectations and squandered opportunities. The authors use a wealth of previously untapped sources, including unpublished diaries of many principal characters, interviews with people who knew them well and never-before-published photographs to create a history of a family and a time. Many Russians today blame the Romanovs for a legacy of material poverty and political repression, while others look back on the imperial era as a lost paradise. Ending with a discussion of the imperial restoration movement in Russia today, the book provides a new perspective on this family and its role in Russian history. Constantine Pleshakov is visiting professor of international relations at MHC and coauthor of Inside the Kremlin's Cold War: From Stalin to Khrushchev.

Soul Proprietor: 101 Lessons from a Lifestyle Entrepreneur By Jane Goodman Pollak '70 The Crossing Press. 2001. Soul Proprietor offers 101 valuable lessons for building a business that reflects one's values, priorities, and unique view of the world. Sharing her personal challenges as an entrepreneur, Pollak offers advice on topics ranging from image to risk-taking and overcoming fear. The book's lessons include: "Get comfortable asking about money," "Exert control over your own destiny," and "What makes you unique makes you successful." Jane Pollak is the author of the best-selling craft book Decorating Eggs: Exquisite Designs with Wax and Dye. She has made appearances on CNN, HGTV, Lifetime, and The Today Show, and has been featured in the Boston Globe and USA Weekend.

When the Moon Is Full: A Lunar Year By Penny Pollock (Penelope Morrow Pollock '57) Little, Brown, and Company. 2001. Pollock's lyrical poems accompany woodcut illustrations by Mary Azarian depicting the Native American names for the twelve full moons of the year. From the amorous amphibians singing love songs under April's "frog moon" to the rabbit outrunning its predators in sight of October's "hunter's moon," the poems draw attention to the natural world and the turning seasons. A question-and-answer section shares scientific information about blue moons and more. Penny Pollock is the author of several children's books, including her award-winning The Turkey Girl: A Zuni Cinderella

Religion on Campus By Amanda Porterfield '69, Conrad Cherry, and Betty A. DeBerg. University of North Carolina Press. 2001. Focusing on four disparate campuses across the United States, this book assesses the role religion plays in the lives of today's college students. Positing that worship services are not the only sources of spiritual experiences, the authors followed students from community service work sites to gymnasium locker rooms to learn about the ways they make sense of the world. Contrary to the common assumption that universities have become secularized, the authors conclude that religion is thriving, fed by diversity and tolerance and supported by students and faculty. Amanda Porterfield is professor of religious studies at the University of Wyoming at Laramie and president of the American Society of Church History.

Mary Lyon and the Mount Holyoke Missionaries By Amanda Porterfield '69 Oxford University Press. 1997. The author shows how Mary Lyon and her students made major contributions to cultural change and the development of new cultures in several parts of the world. Amanda Porterfield, professor of religious studies and director of women's studies at Indiana University-Purdue University, is the author of three other books on American religious history.

The Art of Creative Living: Making Every Day a Radiant Masterpiece By Thomas Kinkade and Pam Proctor '67 TimeWarner Book Group. 2005. Through a series of exercises and personal anecdotes, Kinkade, who is America's most collected living artist, offers a unique prescription for readers interested in applying "creative intention" to the challenges of family, faith, fitness, and relationships. Pam (Priscilla Moore) Proctor is the author of nine books of nonfiction, including Song of Saigon: One Woman's Journey to Freedom

Song of Saigon: One Woman's Journey to Freedom By Pam Proctor (Priscilla Moore Proctor '67) and Ahn Vu Sawyer Warner Faith. 2003. Song of Saigon tells the story of Sawyer's childhood during the Vietnam War. She recounts her family's everyday challenges in a war-torn culture of terror, as well as their harrowing escape as some of the last people rescued from the rooftop of the American embassy during the final hours before the fall of Saigon. Sawyer's story comes full circle more than twenty years later when she returns to Vietnam on a humanitarian mission and meets her past face-to-face. Pam Proctor, a former senior editor of Parade, is the author of seven nonfiction books, including Love, Miracles, and Animal Healing; Looking Good at Any Age; and The Joy of Living, with Today Show personality Willard Scott.

Looking Good at Any Age By Dr. Amy E. Newburger and Pam Moore Proctor '67 Doubleday. 2000. Pam Proctor and dermatologist Amy Newburger explain how a woman can look fabulous at any age, including what to expect to look like at every life stage; what to accept as the immutable result of genetic makeup, life choices and calendar age; and what she has the power to change. Pam Proctor is a freelance writer in Florida.

Ruby River By Lynn Pruett '82 Atlantic Monthly Press. 2002. In this debut novel, Hattie Bohannon has just opened a truck stop - a magnet for transients of questionable background and inclination, some say, and an uneasy presence in tradition-bound Maridoches, Alabama. Hattie is quietly mourning her recently dead husband and trying to determine the contours of herself alone, but too often her strong-willed daughters - whose burgeoning sexuality is attracting attention - keep her at loose ends. Lynn Pruett deftly interweaves the stories of Hattie, her daughters, and the surrounding community to create a tapestry of individuals desperaately trying to deny the conflicting urges of flesh and spirit, progress and tradition. Reading-group guides are available at http://www.groveatlantic.com. Lynn Pruett, a recent class coscribe, has published stories and prose in numerous literary magazines. She teaches at the University of Kentucky and is a founding member of KaBooM!, the Kentucky Book Mafia.

Because Teaching Matters By Marleen C. Pugach '71 Wiley/Josse-Bass Education. 2006. It is both a truism and a truth that teachers make a difference in the lives of their students. This textbook emphasizes that precisely because teaching can so profoundly affect the lives of students and their families, the decision to become a teacher is not one that should be taken lightly. Despite the external pressures to which a teacher must respond, once teachers are in their classrooms, their individual choices directly affect the students they teach and the quality of the learning that takes place. The concept of making choices as a teacher and taking responsibility for the consequences of those choices is a central theme of this book. Marleen C. Pugach is professor of teacher education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 2005, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Curriculum Trends, Special Education, and Reform: Refocusing the Conversation Marleen C. Pugach '71 and Cynthia L. Warger, editors; foreword by Michael Fullan Teachers College Press. 1996. Brings together for the first time chapters by leaders in all curriculum areas and by special educators, argues that the reform agenda must address the needs of all students, and gives practical suggestions for both the classroom and the district level. Marleen Pugach is professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Cynthia Warger is educational consultant for Warger, Eavy and Associates in Reston, Virginia.

On the Border of Opportunity: Education, Community, and Language at the U. S.-Mexico Line By Marleen C. Pugach '71 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. 1998. "Weaves together a description of a town and school on the border, words of students and teachers, vignettes from [the author's] experiences and her interpretation of the meaning of her observations and interviews. ... [C]asts a positive light on a situation that the media often portrays negatively." Marleen Pugach is professor of education at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she directs the primary/middle teacher preparation program.

Secret Boston: The Unique Guidebook to Boston's Hidden Sites, Sounds and Tastes By Laura Purdom ECW Press. 2002. Behind Newbury Street and Harvard Square, the Public Gardens and Chinatown, lurks a secret Boston hidden from tourists and locals alike. Here you'll find authentic Venetian gondolas and the best Irish music west of Limerick, perfect croissants and luxurious tearooms. You'll also encounter out-of-the-way restaurants, small art galleries, secluded historical sites, and gorgeous parks and orchards. In Secret Boston, you'll see the New England capital afresh. The book reveals Boston's most fascinating sites, those left untouched by battalions of tourists and known to only a few intrepid locals. Discover the art treasures of the Boston Public Library and explore Nabokov's butterflies. Or take a course in the rich history of Boston folk music at the club that started it all; you can even learn to juggle at MIT in five minutes, guaranteed. Laura Purdom, a staff writer at Mount Holyoke College's office of communications, has culled the best secrets from friends and friends of friends. A self-described secretmonger, she searched high and low for hidden destinations and obscure events. Laura admits a weakness for some of her favorite discoveries: the birthplaces of Edgar Allan Poe, Benjamin Franklin, and Malcom X; not to mention the city's federalist architecture, lime rickeys, and sweet potato pie.

All about Vee By C. Leigh Purtill '88 Penguin. 2008. Veronica May, "Big Vee," is a bubbly and confident eighteen-year-old with a weight problem and big dreams. After caring for her widowed father, who is about to remarry, she heads to Hollywood to seek her day in the sun. Between shifts at a coffee bar, she deals with love and loss, and finally finds a place in the spotlight. C. Leigh Purtill lives in Los Angeles and is also the author of Love, Meg.