We received your e-mail Newsletter today, and you mentioned the new book about William

L. Shirer called The Long Night,  written by a Steve Wick.  I ordered this book when it was mentioned in the Coe Courier for George, and it came, and I have read it. (He has not as yet, but is re-reading Shirer's famous book about WWII called The Rise/Fall of the Third Reich and is greatly enjoying it!  I read the Rise and Fall sometime ago, but am going to re-read it when G. is finished, but what I wanted to tell you is that I have read The Long Night and it is very well written and brings back a lot of long memories which many of us have forgotten!!!!  It also recalled when we were back for George's 60th Coe Reunion a couple of

years ago, and you had a Shirer Symposium, and we attended that, and were very impressed by the breadth/depth of this.  Coe is so very lucky to have all the Shirer letters, papers, etc. in their Archives,

and congratulations on getting those!  Two good books, and am glad the archives are being used.  Am sure there will be other forthcoming books coming out of the research this will present.

Thank you for listening, and thanks for keeping us updated about Coe.

Sincerely, George/Louise McNelly (G--Class of 1950)

First Book of 2012

The fourth selection of the Coe College Alumni Book Club is The Long Night: William L. Shirer and “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by Steve Wick.  The book is a nonfiction account of Shirer’s adventures in Europe during the time Hitler was rising to power in Germany.  Through the help of Coe’s own Stewart Memorial Library staff and the use of Shirer’s personal papers stored in the George T. Henry Archives on the Coe College campus, Wick was able to piece together an exciting narrative of the experiences of war reporters during and before World War II. Shirer graduated from Coe in 1925 and was drawn to Europe.  He found an interesting way to get there and met several writers and artists while there, including his wife.  The book reads like a novel and is so fascinating.  Grab a copy today! If you have any questions or would like to suggest a book, please email us at alumni@coe.edu or call our office at 1.877.KOHAWKS (877.564.2957).

New Book!

“It's no accident, I think, that tennis uses the language of life. Advantage, service, fault, break, love, the basic elements of tennis are those of everyday existence, because every match is a life in miniature. Even the structure of tennis, the way the pieces fit inside one another like Russian nesting dolls, mimics the structure of our days. Points become games become sets become tournaments, and it's all so tightly connected that any point can become the turning point. It reminds me of the way seconds become minutes become hours, and any hour can be our finest. Or darkest. It's our choice.”
― Andre Agassi, Open

The third selection of the Coe College Alumni Book Club is a couple of years from publication but so wonderful that we wanted to share it.  Open by Andre Agassi tells the tale of Agassi’s sometimes painful journey from childhood to tennis phenom to father helping underprivileged children.  The book is heartbreaking yet inspirational.  Even if you don’t know much about tennis or athletics, this memoir will touch you.  Professor of English, Gina Hausknecht says, “…couldn’t put it down.  I thought it was really well-written and intriguing.”  Open was a #1 National Bestseller, New York Times Notable Book and one of the Best Books of the Year: Forbes, San Francisco Chronicle and The Washington Post.  Grab a copy today! If you have any questions or would like to suggest a book, please email us at alumni@coe.edu or call our office at 1.877.KOHAWKS (877.564.2957).

The Alumni Office is excited about our second book club selection, recommended by Gina Hausknecht, Professor of English.  Hausknecht says, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky follows the teen years of a biracial girl sent to live with her black grandmother in Portland, Oregon after a family tragedy. During her childhood in Europe, raised by her Danish mother, she has never identified herself as black, and now has to come to terms with how other people see her. It's a beautiful, lyrical novel about identity--not just racial identity, but about the process of coming to be who you really are.”  Grab a copy today!  If you have any questions or would like to suggest a text, please email us at alumni@coe.edu or call our office at 1.877.KOHAWKS (877.564.2957).

1st Question

We hope you have had time to get the book and get started.  All you need to do to participate is create an account and start commenting or posting.  Our first question to get you started is about the title. 

What is the thematic significance of "tinkers" (plural, not singular) to the story? Who are the tinkers...and what does it mean to be a tinker, literally...and figuratively, within this story?

1st Selection

The Coe College Alumni Office is so excited about our new adventure in a virtual Book Club.  We have selected Tinkers as our first novel.  The book is written by Paul Harding, an Iowan who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his work.  Our hope is to have a new selection every three months, including the book selected as the First Year Reads choice for incoming Kohawks. 

We will post questions and insights as we read and hope that you will add as you read.  In this way, people can read at their own pace and still participate in the exchange.

Don't hesitate to contact our office at any time if you have an idea for a book.  We are working with departments across campus and look forward to what the faculty at Coe recommends.