BOOK NOOK Is a recent read occupying your thoughts? Has a book indelibly imprinted your life? We want to hear from you. Send your recommendation to marydieter@depauw.edu.
What We’re Reading By Anna Werkowski ’19 I remember learning about HeLa DNA in my AP biology class during my senior year of high school. The lesson was lauded as an important part of our greater scientific knowledge but was a brief section in our overall studies. I learned about the woman behind the DNA by reading her story in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. Lacks’s story is one of medical ethics, scientific exploration at the expense of citizens, institutional racism, socioeconomic disparities and personal autonomy. While her situation is not unique for the time period (the Tuskegee experiments were in full swing when she died), her legacy is one that has spanned decades, continents and countless scientific discoveries. This year will mark the 70th anniversary of her death. Honor her legacy by reading her story. In some way or another, Henrietta Lacks has helped you. You just don’t know it yet. Werkowski is assistant director of alumni engagement at DePauw.
The President’s Bookshelf By Lori S. White Bob Bottoms’s legacy of leadership as DePauw’s president involved prolific fundraising (including one of the largest liberal arts college fundraising campaigns at the time, growing our endowment significantly), several new buildings (his nickname was “Bob the Builder”) and an unwavering commitment to diversifying our faculty and student body. He writes about his life and years at DePauw in “A Story of Vision and Values, Memoirs of DePauw University’s 18th President.” Students during his presidency will recognize many stories (student protests; the difficult decision to close the School
The Book Nook features notable, professionally published books written by DePauw alumni and faculty. Self-published books will be included in the Gold Nuggets section.
Connie Campbell Berry ’67 “The Art of Betrayal”
Paul Michael Johnson ’04, associate professor of Hispanic studies “Affective Geographies: Cervantes, Emotion, and the Literary Mediterranean”
6 I DEPAUW MAGAZINE SUMMER 2021
Terry Nichols ’76 “The Dreaded Cliff”
Duane Nickell ’80 “Scientific Indiana”
