WBAA review of Rebel Bulldog

It was wonderful to discover the following discussion of Rebel Bulldog on WBAA (based out of Purdue University):

http://www.wbaa.org/post/book-review-rebel-bulldog#stream/0

Thank you, Nick Schenkel for great commentary on the book!

A Line of Praise Goes A Long Way

I received the following (via email) from a Rebel Bulldog reader today:

"I read your most recent book a month or so ago. Nicely done! VERY impressive job tracking down a lot of far-flung sources."

As an author, I can't tell you how nice it is to hear from readers!  This, and a good dose of family time, made this an excellent weekend.

I hope to be able to share a major Rebel Bulldog announcement soon.....plus updates on new and older projects (Dis-History sequel anyone)? 

NUVO on Rebel Bulldog

Many thanks to NUVO for the nice write up on Rebel Bulldog, and for including it in your expanded summer reading list!  It was fun to come upon it tonight, after spending much of today doing research on other Indiana History topics.

https://www.nuvo.net/arts/no-such-thing-as-too-many-books/article_89714a82-86c2-11e8-89a6-83a24d1728b7.html

MENSA and Eugenics

Earlier this year I was invited to speak at the annual MENSA that was going to be held in Indianapolis.  I accepted the invitation and was asked to speak about eugenics in Indiana, a topic I know a little something about having been part of a group that worked on commemorating the enactment of the first eugenic sterilization law anywhere in the world (it happened right here in Indiana in 1907).  The talk itself was before an audience of a round 50 people, who were treated with an overview of eugenics, the Indiana Plan, and the eventual repeal of the law in 1974 (thanks to Governor Otis "Doc" Bowen).

For me, it was nice to get to revisit the topic before a learned audience that asked very insightful questions.  But in preparing for today I also got to have some academic nostalgia. It has been a decade since the project came to an end (over a decade, really, as most of our work was finished by 2007).  In that time, all five of my books have been released (four of which were written in those years), I've traveled near and far, watched my kids grow from babies to tweens/teens, moved into a new house, spoken around the state (and even at some spots around the country), taught classes at several different universities, and found new research topics.  But perhaps not surprisingly, I'm never far from the Progressive era.

And that is a good thing. The Progressives are a mixed bag of reformers and reforms.  For good and bad, we live in a nation and world that they helped craft and create. Eugenics is a good example.  We have not escaped the legacy of state sponsored sterilization, after all, things like the vasectomy are with us still.  And like the negative branch, the positive arm of eugenics gave us pre-natal care and an emphasis on well child check ups.

Thank you, MENSA for the chance to speak today.  It wasn't on Disney or the Civil War, but on something equally important historically, and maybe just as importantly, near and dear to my heart.

Dis-History "Recieved"

One of the interesting things about publishing a book is that eventually it gets reviewed. This could be on websites (like Amazon) or it could be (if you are an academic) in journals. That being said, institutions that offer reviews always receive more books than they have space to review.  Sometimes, journals opt to just list those books.  Other times, they might provide readers an abstract.  I'm very pleased that Children's Literature Association Quarterly, in its Summer 2018 edition (page 202), has published the following about Dis-History:

Dis-History: Uses of the Past in Walt Disney's Worlds. By Jason Lantzer. New York: Theme Park Press, 2017.

A history professor at Butler University, Jason Lantzer looks at the Disney theme parks through the lens of public history. Lantzer discusses how the narrative elements in these parks combine to tell an idealized story of America's history, and how they have shaped contemporary American culture by cultivating a nostalgic desire to return to a past that never actually existed.

My thanks to CLAQ for being the first (as far as I know) to include Dis-History in the discussion!

And, while I've got you here, let me announce here that while I continue work on my Eisenhower and the Holocaust project, I have agreed, in principle, to write a sequel to Dis-History, with a focus on Universal Studios!  Indeed, I've already completed a research trip down to Florida.  There is more to come on both of these projects!

A New Dis-History Review!

And the latest 5 star review for Dis-History has been posted:

"Every turn, every page just makes my heart smile and makes me feel like returning to the happiest place on earth!" --Nickole Patton

If you need a copy for yourself, you can find it here!

Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Finalist!

Press Release from the Indiana Historical Society Press:

 

The IHS Press books Rebel Bulldog and Campaign Crossroads have been recognized as finalists in the 20th annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.

Rebel Bulldog is a finalist in the War & Military (Adult Nonfiction) category (https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2017/war-and-military-2/) and Campaign Crossroads is a finalist in the Regional (Adult Nonfiction) category (https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2017/regional/).

As part of its mission to discover, review, and share the best books from university and independent publishers (and authors), independent media company Foreword Magazine, Inc. hosts its annual awards program each year. Finalists represent the best books published in 2017. After more than 2,000 individual titles spread across 65 genres were submitted for consideration, the list of finalists was determined by Foreword’s editorial team. Winners will be decided by an expert team of booksellers and librarians—representing Foreword’s readership—from across the country.

 

The complete list of finalists can be found at:

https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2017/

“Choosing finalists for the INDIES is always the highlight of our year, but the job is very difficult due to the high quality of submissions,” said Victoria Sutherland, founder/publisher of Foreword Reviews. “Each new book award season proves again how independent publishers are the real innovators in the industry.”

Winners in each genre—along with Editor’s Choice Prize winners and Foreword’s INDIE Publisher of the Year—will be announced June 15, 2018.