News

Congratulations to Sylvanna M. Falcón, winner of the National Women’s Studies Association 2016 Gloria E. Anzaldúa Book Prize for Power Interrupted, selected “for its clear writing, as well as its adept integration of intersectional and transnational analyses to assess the grassroots feminist work that employs international frameworks when addressing gender and racial issues through the global stage that the UN provides.”

Reviews and Interviews

David Takami reviews Judy Bentley’s Walking Washington’s History in the Seattle Times: “Coming soon to a city near you: clusters of visitors gazing intently at a handheld object as a way to engage with their surroundings. . . . The commendable new book by Judy Bentley. . . . is an immensely appealing approach to writing history. . . . Bentley demonstrates that history is not abstruse and remote from our current experience; it is ever present—and just around the next corner.“

Christian Martin reviews the book on the Chattermarks blog from North Cascades Institute: “Bentley provides brief but engaging historical overviews. . . . There are stories in the ground beneath our feet, dashed dreams lingering in the air, as well as legacies of benevolent forethought from a not-so-distant past all around us.”

David Fox of Anchorage Press reviews Michael Engelhard’s Ice Bear (November 2016): “Engelhard’s thought-provoking iconography explores in depth this multitude of cultural roles played by the polar bear.”

Jules Nadeau reviews William Wei‘s Asians in Colorado in Asian Avenue Magazine: “For all Asians in Colorado, this is a must-read book.”

Marina Alberti speaks with Peter Kelley of UW Today about Cities That Think Like Planets. Watch the UW News & Information video.

New Books

Looking for Betty MacDonald: The Egg, the Plague, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and I
By Paula Becker

Join us for these author events:

September 10 at 2 p.m. // Seattle Public Library with Elliott Bay Book Company

September 13 at 7 p.m. // Third Place Books Lake Forest Park

September 20 at 7 p.m. // Mystery to Me, Madison, WI

September 28 at 7 p.m. // University Book Store

September 29 at 7:30 p.m. // Village Books, Bellingham, WA

This first biography of Northwest storyteller Betty Bard MacDonald (1907-1958) reveals the story behind the memoirs and the difference between the real woman and her literary persona. The best-selling author of The Egg and I and the classic Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle children’s books, MacDonald burst onto the literary scene shortly after the end of World War II. Readers embraced her memoir of her years as a young bride operating a chicken ranch on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, and The Egg and I sold its first million copies in less than a year. The public was drawn to her vivacity, offbeat humor, and irreverent take on life. In 1947, the book was made into a movie starring Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert, and spawned a series of films featuring MacDonald’s Ma and Pa Kettle characters.

MacDonald followed up the success of The Egg and I with the creation of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, a magical woman who cures children of their bad habits, and with three additional memoirs: The Plague and I (chronicling her time in a tuberculosis sanitarium just outside Seattle), Anybody Can Do Anything (recounting her madcap attempts to find work during the Great Depression), and Onions in the Stew (about her life raising two teenage daughters on Vashon Island).

Author Paula Becker was granted full access to Betty MacDonald’s archives, including materials never before seen by any researcher.

Watch the book trailer:

The Plague and I
By Betty MacDonald

Betty MacDonald’s biting memoir of her year in a sanatorium just outside Seattle battling the “White Plague.” MacDonald uses her offbeat humor to make the most of her time in the TB sanatorium—making all of us laugh in the process.

Anybody Can Do Anything
By Betty MacDonald

After surviving both the failed chicken farm—and marriage—immortalized in The Egg and I, Betty MacDonald returns to live with her mother and desperately searches to find a job to support her two young daughters. With the help of her older sister Mary, Anybody Can Do Anything recounts her failed, and often hilarious, attempts to find work during the Great Depression.

Onions in the Stew
By Betty MacDonald

Betty MacDonald’s final memoir recounts her second attempt at farm-living, this time on Washington’s then-remote Vashon Island along with her second husband, Don MacDonald, and her two teenage daughters.

Sanctuary and Asylum: A Social and Political History
By Linda Rabben

Join us at these author events:

September 18 at 1 p.m. // Barnes and Noble—Francis Scott Key Mall (#2257), Frederick, MD

September 22 at 7 p.m. // Annapolis Bookstore, Annapolis, MD

September 26 // Bindlestiff Books, Philadelphia, PA

September 29 at 4 p.m. // Center for Global Migration Studies, University of Maryland

From primate populations to ancient religious traditions to the modern legal institution of asylum, anthropologist Linda Rabben explores the long history of sanctuary and analyzes modern asylum policies in North America, Europe, and elsewhere, contrasting them with the role that courageous individuals and organizations have played in offering refuge to survivors of torture, persecution, and discrimination.

Events

SEPTEMBER

David B. Williams, Too High and Too Steep, Bumbershoot, live podcast recording of the “Seattle Files with John Kiester,” September 4 at 4 p.m.

Judy Bentley, Walking Washington’s History, REI Issaquah, September 8 at 6:30 p.m.

Frederica Bowcutt, The Tanoak Tree, California Native Plant Society-Monterey Bay Chapter, Pacific Grove, CA, September 8 at 7 p.m.

David B. Williams, Too High and Too Steep, Town Hall Seattle, September 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Margaret Willson, Seawomen of Iceland, Port Townsend Wooden Book Festival, September 10 at 1:15 p.m.

Paula Becker, Looking for Betty MacDonald, Seattle Public Library with Elliott Bay Book Company, September 10 at 2 p.m.

Margaret Willson, Seawomen of Iceland, Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, September 11 at 9:30 a.m.

Margaret Willson, Seawomen of Iceland, University Book Store, September 12 at 7 p.m.

Paula Becker, Looking for Betty MacDonald, Third Place Books Lake Forest Park, September 13 at 7 p.m.

Frederica Bowcutt, The Tanoak Tree, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, CA, September 14 at 1 p.m.

Margaret Willson, Seawomen of Iceland, Village Books, Bellingham, September 15 at 7:30 p.m.

David B. Williams, Too High and Too Steep, King County Library System—Vashon Library, Vashon Island, WA, September 17 at 2 p.m.

Lorraine Bannai, Enduring Conviction, San Leandro Library, San Leandro, CA, September 17 at 2-4 p.m.

Linda Rabben, Sanctuary and Asylum, Barnes and Noble—Francis Scott Key Mall (#2257), Frederick, MD, September 18 at 1 p.m.

Paula Becker, Looking for Betty MacDonald, Mystery to Me, Madison, WI, September 20 at 7 p.m.

Linda Rabben, Sanctuary and Asylum, Annapolis Bookstore, Annapolis, MD, September 22 at 7 p.m.

Linda Rabben, Sanctuary and Asylum, Bindlestiff Books, Philadelphia, PA, September 26 (details tk)

Paula Becker, Looking for Betty MacDonald, University Book Store, September 28 at 7 p.m.

Paula Becker, Looking for Betty MacDonald, Village Books, September 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Linda Rabben, Sanctuary and Asylum, Center for Global Migration Studies, University of Maryland, September 29 at 4 p.m.