March|April Alumni Authors

By Ryan Duffy and Elizabeth Hlavinka in March | April 2018, TXEX on March 1, 2018 at 9:00 am | No Comments

The Tree That Ate Everything
By Bob Feiner, MBA ’97, Life Member

Inspired by Feiner’s two sons, this is a story of twins: Jake, who has Down syndrome, and Austin, who does not. Set in a leafy suburb, the story takes place on the boys’ eighth birthday and makes an unexpected turn when a tree on the playground comes to life and gobbles up anything that the boys throw near its branches. With engaging narration and pages full of vibrant watercolor illustrations, The Tree That Ate Everything shows the power of children coming together regardless of their differences.

 

Headed for Home
By Mary Helen Brown, PhD ’82, Life Member

Headed for Home opens with a funeral for a boy who was crushed by a fallen concrete angel after he crashed into a tomb while trying to catch a fly ball. From there, things get a bit supernatural. Narrated by the effusive and witty Speedy, the story follows a lively cast of characters who encounter ghostlike signs as they embark on a summer project. The journey unfolds in small-town Rowja—pronounced “Row-HA”—a piney enclave in deep-east Texas where everyone knows everyone.

 

Eve: Rise of the Machines
By Brian Walters, BS ’94, Life Member

Eve is a new take on an age-old concept in the sci-fi canon: the rise of the machines. John Founder, a well-intentioned and ingenious inventor, is working to create a super-intelligent system. He finds himself in a race against other more sinister groups looking to develop the same technology, weaponize it, and submit the rest of humanity to their will. The specter of inventions falling into the wrong hands looms large in this thriller, as John realizes that his rosy view of an artificial intelligence-augmented humanity may be out of touch.

 

The Original Design for Health
By Dr. Mark Shannan, ’93, Life Member

Shannan uses his 40 years of experience in chiropractic and clinical nutrition to guide readers toward healthier lifestyles. In an increasingly unhealthy country, plagued by higher rates of heart disease, obesity, and cancer, Shannan encourages Americans to take responsibility for their wellness and return to “The Original Design of God” through four pillars of health: physical, chemical, mental, and spiritual.

 

The Eyes of Faith
By Vempre Terrell Jr., BS ’10, Life Member

The Eyes of Faith provides a set of tools to overcome life’s challenges. Using personal anecdotes, Terrell models how he began turning his daily pessimistic remarks into a more mindful, positive lifestyle so that readers can, too. Whether through a simple change in vocabulary, like replacing the word “never” with “will,” increasing self-confidence, or focusing on the present, Terrell always traces success and happiness back to one, simple thing: faith.

 

Russell Lee in Color
By Shudde Bess Bryson Fath, BBA ’37, and Betsy Fath Hiller, BJ ’90, Life Members

This book features 162 previously unpublished color images shot by famed photojournalist Lee aboard a 3,000-plus-mile yacht trip from Mamaroneck, New York, to Port Aransas, Texas. The photos show everything from U.S. Navy destroyers and derelict barges to cantilevered bridges and burgeoning dams. The book takes the viewer along with Lee and Conrad Fath as they run into inclement weather, a raft of characters, and America’s infrastructural curiosities.