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 Barbara Perdue Osterling ’65
Looking at Book Nook brought to mind a book that will most likely indelibly imprint my thoughts for a good long time. It’s Mitch Albom’s recent book, “The Stranger in the Lifeboat.” It’s a quick read, but keeps popping into my thoughts, even though I first read it before Christmas. I recommended it to my book club, and our discussion was lively and deep. This is a group of ladies who come from all points along the spiritual spectrum – from non-believers all the way to devout Catholics – and this book had something to say to each of us! If you haven’t read it yet, put it on your list and see what you think. I (Barbara) wrote this and it was my book club. But when my husband Dean saw how engrossed I was in it, he read it immediately after I finished it. I was “on deadline” to return it to the library!
The President’s Bookshelf Nine alumni gathered June 6 for The President’s Book Club, where they discussed “Leadership in Turbulent Times” in a Zoom conversation moderated by President Lori White. Author Doris Kearns Goodwin explores four presidents’ leadership and asks: Does the leader make the times or do the times make the leader? Roberta “Robin” Barnes ’70 said both could be true, especially for these leaders who shared “incredible energy, a strive to do something to leave a mark in a good way, to do something for others.” The four were “skilled at building coalitions, and getting people to look at issues rather than personalities and find their shared ground,” said Mary
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.
Angela Castañeda ’98, anthropology professor Editor “Obstetric Violence”
Scott H. Decker ’72 “On Gangs”
6 I DEPAUW MAGAZINE SUMMER 2022
Pedar W. Foss, professor and chair, classical studies “Pliny and the Eruption of Vesuvius”
David N. Gellman, history professor “Liberty’s Chain: Slavery, Abolition, and the Jay Family of New York”
