by Madeleine Blake

On April 29th, staff and faculty members of Carroll Community College gathered in the Great Hall to support and honor three of their peers engaged at varying stages in writing and publishing books. Dr. James Ball, Vice President of Academic Affairs, noted that while community college faculty focus on teaching and are not required to publish, the college is excited and proud when faculty or staff works are published.

Ms. Edie Hemingway, Coordinator of Admissions, read two chapters from her novel-in-progress, Tater Hill. Ms. Hemingway is co-author of two historical novels for children, Broken Drum and Rebel Hart. Her new novel, Tater Hill is geared toward children age 8–12 and is set in the North Carolina mountains during the summer of 1963. Eleven-year-old Annie Winters struggles with grief after the death of her newborn sister, Mary Kate, and worries about her mother's deepening depression. Annie finds comfort in holding an oblong stone she calls her "rock baby" and secretly befriends the mysterious Miss Eliza McGee, a mountain woman who has spent the last thirty years in prison. Tater Hill is Ms. Hemingway's creative thesis for her Master of Fine Arts in Writing Degree from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky.

Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Donald Hoepfer, gave a brief review of his forthcoming book, Living with Ethics. His plan is for the early chapters to consider the major topics that people generally think of when they hear the word "ethics," such as capital punishment and right to life issues. However, his main focus will be on situations that occur every day as people deal with relationships, parenting, and interactions with co-workers. We make ethical choices all the time, and as an example he asked the audience for their typical reaction when confronted by the modern phenomenon known as "road rage." Mr. Hoepfer said he knows of no textbooks that discuss everyday ethics, so his book will fill that gap.

Dr. Robert Young, Assistant Professor of History, described the process behind his new book, From Hard Coal to Hard Times: Greater Wilkes-Barre, 1918–1980. Dr. Young was born in Wilkes-Barre and lived there until he moved to Maryland to pursue higher education. He noticed that books currently available attribute the decline in the Wilkes-Barre economy to a decline in coal reserves. From his local knowledge he is aware that there is still plenty of coal, and decided to tell the true story. Through researching the local media, interviews with elder residents and his family, he documented a history of labor unrest early in the twentieth century leading to economic instability for the region. From his own experience, he was able to describe the devastation caused by the torrential rains that accompanied Tropical Storm Agnes and subsequent flooding. He considered his own childhood to be "normal" at the time, and was surprised while doing his research to learn that after Ladybird Johnson visited Wilkes-Barre, she described it as "the sort of depressed place Lyndon had in mind in his War on Poverty speech."

While taking photos of the area for the book, Dr. Young was quizzed by some students about why he was taking pictures. His response, "I am a writer," was a proud self-revelation. Though this is Dr. Young's second book, the first, a biography of Senator James Murray Mason, was part of his doctoral dissertation. He said that writing a book on his own volition is a different, and it would seem a more rewarding, experience.

English professor Dr. David Fell came up with the idea for Works in Progress, and Executive Assistant to the President Dr. Sherry Glass coordinated the reception that followed.

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