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In Memoriam

Robert Owen “Bob” Johnson, 86, professor emeritus of English at WSU, passed away on June 3, 2013, at Bishop Place in Pullman. Alexander Hammond, also emeritus in the Department of English, expressed fond memories of Johnson’s welcoming him to the department in 1975 and of Johnson’s administrative support for the American Studies program, his bibliographical scholarship on the New Yorker magazine, and his “wicked play in the department’s poker game.”

Read Johnson’s obituary in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News >>

Warrior Geronimo inspires WSU book collaboration

Buddy Levy
Buddy Levy

By Kaylee Ray and Kenny Short, WSU News interns

An upcoming book coauthored by Washington State University’s Mike Leach and Buddy Levy about Apache warrior Geronimo will focus on leadership.

Levy, a clinical associate professor who teaches English at WSU, said he originally pitched the idea to his agent who also represents Leach, WSU head football coach. The agent suggested talking to Leach because he knew Leach is fascinated by Geronimo.

Mike Leach
Mike Leach

“It started when my mom would read us books when we were kids, and for some reason I got into Geronimo,” Leach said. “We’d go to the library and grab these historic books about him, and she would read them every night.”

The book, still in the works, will talk about general leadership and problem-solving skills that spill over into all aspects of management and people, Levy said. His strong point is the history, whereas Leach has a profound understanding of leadership, he said.  Continue story →

Zombie craze mirrors modern-day anxieties, says WSU expert

By Linda Weiford, WSU News

A Washington State University expert on monsters says today’s zombie craze is a reflection of our own anxieties about death and the grind of day-to-day life.

“In literature and in film, stories about zombies are less about the zombies and more about ourselves,” said Michael Delahoyde, clinical associate professor of English, who has taught undergraduate classes about monsters and culture for more than two decades.

Cultural phenomenon

The American public’s interest in zombies has been on the rise since George Romero’s 1968 cult-classic “Night of the Living Dead,” but only in the past decade has it skyrocketed. Consider the movies released since 2002 – “28 Days Later,” “Shaun of the Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “I am Legend,” among dozens.  Continue story →

WSU professor ready to help ‘decode’ pop culture

Buddy Levy
Buddy Levy

Television personality, author, and Washington State University clinical associate professor of English Buddy Levy will appear at all three days of Emerald City Comicon, the largest comic book and pop culture convention in the Pacific Northwest. The gathering will be March 1–3, 2013, at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.

Levy is a co-star of the hit television series “Brad Meltzer’s Decoded” on The History Channel. The show finds Levy and company traveling the globe in search of answers to longstanding mysteries and legends, including the Lincoln assassination, the D.B. Cooper skyjacking, UFOs, and secret societies.

Levy also is an established author and freelance journalist.

Also appearing at Comicon will be Sir Patrick Stewart (Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian from “Star Wars” films), and Walter Koenig (Chekov from “Star Trek”).

Get tickets and more information at the Emerald City Comicon website.

Homeless women’s stories shared in book, video

Book cover

By Brenda Alling, WSU Vancouver

Homeless women’s stories as shared in a book by a Washington State University faculty member are featured in a two-part video to be broadcast on cable TV six times in the next two weeks.

The video, “Women Surviving Homelessness,” includes Desiree Hellegers, WSU Vancouver associate professor of English, and narrator-activists whose stories are featured in Hellegers’ 2011 book, No Room of her Own: Women’s Stories of Homelessness, Life, Death, and Resistance (Palgrave Macmillan). Hellegers is a founding co-director of the Center for Social and Environmental Justice at WSU Vancouver.

Her book is based on extended interviews with 15 women gathered over nearly 20 years. It illuminates the physical challenges of homelessness on bodies already compromised by health issues and harrowing conditions, including routine threats of sexual and physical violence. Continue story →