Book report
Politics and prose
Stephen Farnsworth, journalist and associate professor of political science, is no stranger to seeing his name in print. Farnsworth’s work has taken him from the District of Columbia to the Republic of Georgia, and most recently to the classroom lecterns of the University of Mary Washington. Farnsworth’s interest in media has persisted throughout his academic career, and his latest book, The Mediated Presidency: Television News and Presidential Governance, is a testament to his passion for politics and press.
Through content analysis of more than 100,000 news stories gathered from the past 25 years, the book chronicles the interaction between media coverage and the presidencies of such leaders as Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and G.W. Bush. Farnsworth and coauthor S. Robert Lichter, president of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, cover a variety of media forms ranging from network news to print. The book, published by Rowman & Littlefield, also looks forward to other increasingly popular media outlets and postulates which mediums will cover the news of the future.
The Mediated Presidency has garnered much praise from the academic community. Diana Owen, associate professor of political science at Georgetown University, called it “a serious work written in a lively style.”
“This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the presidency or the media,” said Thomas E. Patterson, professor of government and the press at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. “For that matter, it’s a must-read for anyone who seeks to understand contemporary American politics.”
Released in 2005, this book would be an excellent read paired with some of Farnsworth’s other publications, including his 2002 book, The Nightly News Nightmare.
– Elise M. Tobin ’06
Blossoming relationship
Genine Lentine ’84 found a soul mate in Stanley Kunitz. In 2000, a friendship between Lentine – gardener, poet and former UMW instructor – and the national poet laureate took root over soil and stanza, praying mantis and metaphor.
Lentine became Kunitz’s literary assistant. Kunitz became Lentine’s garden companion. The Wild Braid, published in 2005 by Norton, grew out of conversations that took place between the friends in Kunitz’s Provincetown, Mass., garden.
“I wanted it to feel like it would if someone was to come to the garden gate, and Stanley invited them in,” said Lentine, who earned a master of science degree in theoretical linguistics from Georgetown University three years after receiving her undergraduate degree in English. In 1989, she returned to Mary Washington to teach.
But the garden called, and Lentine left the classroom to open a small gardening shop in Fredericksburg. She also co-founded an organic farm coalition. When customers left her store with gloves or seeds or shears, she tucked original poems in their parcels. If visitors asked for the poems – printed with wood cuts of dragon flies, flowers and plants – they might also get the gift of a fragrant rose or leaf from Lentine’s garden.
Seasons changed, and Lentine set out for the creative life in Provincetown, Mass. While working at the Fine Arts Work Center there, which Kunitz co-founded, she met the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who spends his summers in the shore town. For Lentine, summer visits in Kunitz’s garden led to winter in New York City as his literary assistant, the job Lentine still holds.
Lentine knew of Kunitz the poet before she met Kunitz the gardener. He served two years as consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress, he was designated State Poet of New York, he is a Chancellor Emeritus of The Academy of American Poets, and in 2000 he was named United States Poet Laureate. A founder of the Poets House in New York City, he taught for many years in the graduate writing program at Columbia University.
The Wild Braid, with photos by Marnie Crawford Samuelson, was released last summer, in time for Kunitz’s 100th birthday.
“It is just a huge pleasure and gift to work with him,” Lentine said of her years with Kunitz. “And it has been such an adventure.”
– Neva S. Trenis
Research into reform
If a nation were to provide its workers with social security, health care and housing for decades and then suddenly stop, what would happen? That country would probably experience unrest. China’s attempt to avoid such a problem is at the center of Elizabeth Larus’ new book, Economic Reform in China: 1979-2003.
An associate professor of political science at UMW, Larus has extensively researched the politics of numerous Asian nations. Many of her experiences have taken her far from the classroom. From serving as the president of the Virginia Consortium for Asian Studies to living in Asia for three years, Larus has studied other countries through many different lenses.
Her new book, which explores the relationship between state-owned enterprises in China and the Chinese worker, is based on both archival and field research. Larus spent three years in Asia conducting field work and experiencing firsthand the
developing politics of the region. Larus’ experience is not lost on others in her field, such as Elizabeth Van Wie Davis of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. “This work gives a human quality to the realities of economic reform,” Wie wrote. Economic Reform in China: 1979-2003 “provides a clear, yet intricate understanding of the issues. It is rare to find such a cogent and clear explanation of the process of China’s rapid economic growth.”
Larus’ book, published in 2005 by the Edwin Mellen Press, should be a boon to anyone looking to understand the intricate and often contentious relationship between the government and the worker.
– Elise M. Tobin ’06
Marine Memoirs
Laura Lacey ’91 has never had to fight in a battle. She has never had to be in a combat zone. But her admiration for those who have is evident in her book Stay Off the Skyline: The Sixth Marine Division on Okinawa – An Oral History.
Her connection to Marines comes from being the daughter of one, the wife of another and the mother of a Marine officer candidate. But her infatuation with the Battle of Okinawa began when her husband was stationed in Okinawa from 1994-1997. The 50th anniversary of the battle took place in 1995, and Lacey found herself in the right place at the right time – at a reunion gathering of Marines who served there.
She then began to work at the Battle of Okinawa Museum and also gave Okinawa battlefield tours to both military and tourist groups. She became active in the 6th Marine Division Association after attending its 1996 reunion. She was named a lifetime member and eventually became the group’s historian.
To conduct 40 interviews with members of the 6th Marine Division, Lacey had to take time off from her job. She is a history teacher at Brooke Point High School in Stafford County, Va., where she has lived with her husband and three children since 2003.
She asked the same question in each interview: “Thinking back to 1945, knowing what you now know, what advice would you give those men?” The Marines unanimously responded, “Stay off the skyline.” In other words: Do not stand out, stay low and be smart.
In addition to being an author and a teacher, Lacey also is the U.S. representative for the Battle of Okinawa Museum and a volunteer with the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. She wrote this book while her husband was stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lacey hopes that her book serves two purposes. First, she would like for readers to gain knowledge of the Battle of Okinawa, which many consider the forgotten battle of World War II. But more important, Lacey wants to encourage people to remember the young Americans who sacrifice so much in order that others may have their freedom.
– Marie N. Purkert ’07