Books and Beyond

The can't-miss books, podcasts, films, and multimedia with a Queen's connection.

Summer 2020

  • Cover of Capital Recollections

    Capital Recollections: A Baby Boomer Growing Up in Ottawa

    Bruce MacGregor, Ed鈥70

    Bruce MacGregor, Ed鈥70, is the author of Capital Recollections: A Baby Boomer Growing Up in Ottawa, a humorous, affectionate look at Ottawa in the 1950s and 鈥60s. These should ring a bell for Ottawa boomers: Cradle League Hockey; Elvis rocking the Auditorium; Squirrels vs. Yohawks; the Ottawa Exhibition; Saturday Date on CJOH television; the Pigskin Parade at Lansdowne Park; and much more. Revisit the birth of television and rock 鈥榥鈥 roll, and remember the many Ottawa personalities in the media, music, and sports from that unique period of astonishing growth and change.

  • Cover of Down Inside: Thirty Years in Canada's Prison

    Down Inside: Thirty years in Canada鈥檚 Prison Service

    Robert Clark, Ed鈥79

    Robert Clark, Ed鈥79, is the author of Down Inside: Thirty years in Canada鈥檚 Prison Service. During his career with Corrections Canada, Robert Clark rose through the ranks from student volunteer to deputy warden. He worked with some of Canada鈥檚 most notorious prisoners, including Tyrone Conn and Paul Bernardo, and he dealt with escapes, lockdowns, murders, suicides, and a riot. But he also arranged;ice hockey games in a maximum-security institution,sat in a darkened gym watching movies with 300 inmates, took parolees sightseeing, and consoled victims of violent crime. In this book, Mr. Clark challenges the popular belief that a 鈥渢ough on crime" approach makes communities and prisons safer, arguing instead for humane treatment and rehabilitation and for an end to the abuse of solitary confinement.

  • Book cover Against My Will

    Against My Will: Lithuania to Freedom

    Artur Zylinski Arthur

    Many people at Queen鈥檚 will remember Artur Zylinski Arthur, an emeritus professor of psychology who died in 1990. But few of his colleagues or students would know about his life as a teen in Lithuania during the Second World War. Artur was conscripted, against his will, to work for the Nazis. He escaped and was helped by the French Resistance before fleeing to the U.K. and joining the Polish Forces. Artur鈥檚 daughter-in-law, Sandra Arthur, has written a historical novel based on Artur鈥檚 early life. Against My Will: Lithuania to Freedom was written using anecdotes from family members as well as historical research. after 15 years of piecing together Artur鈥檚 story, Sandra Arthur used the opportunity of being in quarantine to finish her novel. The work was a true family project; husband Richard Arthur, Sc鈥87, helped edit and proofread the manuscript, and their son Alex designed the book cover.

  • Church in Society: First-Century Citizenship Lessons for Twenty-First-Century Christians

    Don Hutchinson, Artsci鈥82

    Don Hutchinson, Artsci鈥82, has published his second book: Church in Society: First-Century Citizenship Lessons for Twenty-First-Century Christians. In storyteller style, he shares a real how-we-live-life-today narrative, applying lessons from the teachings of Jesus and life of the apostle Paul to our understanding of Christian exercise of citizenship. The text weaves its way into lessons on generosity, business practices, politics, media engagement and environmental stewardship. Mr. Hutchinson studied history and politics at Queen鈥檚, law at UBC (JD鈥88), and theology with the Salvation Army and at Canada Christian College and School of Graduate Theological Studies. Church in Society is available from major booksellers and at .

  • The Psychology Missive: A Memo to Law Enforcement Officers in a World of Stress and Violence

    Allan Hedberg, PhD鈥69

    Allan Hedberg, PhD鈥69 (Psychology), has completed his 12th book, The Psychology Missive: A Memo to Law Enforcement Officers in a World of Stress and Violence. Dr. Hedberg examines the high-stress occupation of law enforcement and offers practical advice for successful careers in the field

Spring 2020

  • Cover of Taking the Lead

    Taking the Lead

    Karen Spafford-Fitz, Artsci鈥86, Ed鈥87

    Karen Spafford-Fitz, Artsci鈥86, Ed鈥87, has released her sixth book. Taking the Lead is a novel for 10- to 13-year-olds. When track star Jonas lands in the school office, his principal notices that Jonas has not fulfilled his volunteer requirements. She kicks him off the track team and strips him of his captaincy. She later makes him a deal: Jonas can compete at the final track meet, but he must first complete his volunteer hours by training a vision- and mobility-impaired teen for a 5k race. A former junior-high teacher and an avid runner herself, Ms. Spafford-Fitz is delighted that her first sports story showcases running and athletes of various abilities.

  • Escape from Shambles County

    Pamela Haley, Artsci鈥79, MPA鈥97

    Pamela Haley, Artsci鈥79, MPA鈥97, is the author of Escape from Shambles County, a humorous work of fiction centred around a murder in the dysfunctional community. Hired to modernize the county library, Damares Mutch has to deal with a libellous press, a hostile county council, and the underhanded tactics of community members. And when she finds a body in the library, things go from bad to worse.

  • Cover Distant Impressions The Senses in the Ancient Near East

    Distant Impressions: The Senses in the Ancient Near East

    Ainsley Hawthorn, Artsci鈥04

    Ainsley Hawthorn, Artsci鈥04, (PhD, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale), is the co-editor of Distant Impressions: The Senses in the Ancient Near East. Although we often treat the senses as though they are immutable, fundamental properties of our physiology, the way we parse our sensory experiences is dictated by our cultural context. Accordingly, the essays in Distant Impressions explore the social aspects of sensation in the ancient Near East, inviting the reader to move beyond the physiological study of sensation to an examination of its cultural meanings. Dr. Hawthorn is an author, cultural historian, and multidisciplinary artist based in St. John鈥檚, N.L.

  • Cover of Boleyn Curse

    Boleyn Curse

    Deborah (Evans) Cohen, Artsci鈥94

    Deborah (Evans) Cohen, Artsci鈥94 (PhD, University of Ottawa), has released the first novel in a planned trilogy: Boleyn Curse. When PhD history student Ellie Bowlan attends a s茅ance, she receives a strange message: 鈥淭o end your family curse, you must save the life of the man who killed your parents.鈥 As a skeptic of all things supernatural, she ignores this bizarre advice, until her research forces her to face the truth about her parents鈥 murder and the astonishing connection she has with Anne Boleyn. Queen鈥檚 alumni readers will find plenty of familiar references: parts of the book take place on Queen鈥檚 campus. Dr. Cohen is an adjunct professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa and a researcher with the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

  • Mother鈥檚 Genius

    Kristin Andrychuk, Arts鈥62

    Kristin Andrychuk, Arts鈥62, is the author of Mother鈥檚 Genius. The novel follows the life of Martin Thorton, an intelligent but troubled man who suffered a terrible accident as a child, and the women in his life who are wrestling with guilt, devotion, and alienation. As in her previous novel, Cadillac Road, Ms. Andrychuk explores the intricate dynamics of small-town living and family relationships.

  • Mechanical Energy Storage for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Resources

    Abdul Hai Alami, PhD鈥06

    Abdul Hai Alami, PhD鈥06 (Mechanical Engineering), is the author of Mechanical Energy Storage for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Resources. The available literature on energy storage technologies in general, and mechanical energy storage in particular, is lacking in terms of both quantity and quality. This volume focuses on novel (yet uncomplicated) ideas that are currently part of the Energy Storage curriculum at the University of Sharjah, U.A.E. Although ideally suited for wind energy storage, the techniques described are also suitable for renewable energy storage in general. Dr. Alami is an associate professor in the Department of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of Sharjah.