Interesting Alumni

tAlENtED BrothErS oF Psi Upsilon

Investment advice to fi ction to the big screen, Psi U writers are infl uencing the nation’s readers.

wooD worK rECogNIZED By PrESErvAtIoN lEAguE oF Ny Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmarks by Anthony C. Wood, Iota ’76 received recognition from the Preservation League of New York State for his ‘outstanding commitment to the preservation of New York State’s irreplaceable architectural heritage.’ Through his work, Wood tells the story of New York City’s local landmark law (passed in 1965) by uncovering the very things that shaped this famous city – its people, buildings, battles, politics and policies. The book has been hailed as an enlightenment to the entire historic preservation movement. Preserving New York and Wood received a special citation from the Preservation League at its annual meeting on May 15, 2008.

CoBEN oN thE BIg SCrEEN The French fi lm, Tell No One, based on the internationally best selling novel by Harlan Coben, Gamma ’84 (Amherst), may now be seen on this side of the Atlantic. Released in North America in July, the movie featured actors Francois Cluzet, Marie-Josee Croze and Kristin Scott Thomas. New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden wrote, “Tell No One is pure, nasty fun. I watched it twice. It was even better the second time.” Coben’s most recent novel, Hold Tight, was number one on The New York Times Bestseller List in May.

DuCKEr rElEASES ComEDy NovEl Dizzying Heights, the eighth novel of Bruce Ducker, Zeta ‘60 (Dartmouth) came out in June 2008. A comedy of manners set in Aspen, Dizzying Heights received early and glowing praise, including from the Denver Post: “just the novel for a leisurely beach read... Ducker’s novel guarantees a temporary, giant romp in the privileged playpen of the rich and famous. He also assures the reader that good, clean living and hardworking people can sometimes fi nish on top.”

Ducker’s work has been featured in the nation’s leading literary magazines, including the Yale, Hudson, Sewanee, and Southern Reviews and Poetry. Honors include the Macallan prize and a nomination for the Pulitzer. He attributes his skills to hours of sedulous wool gathering at the Zeta chapter.

Bruce A. Burton, Kappa ’67 (Bowdoin College) has recently published The 3 D’s – Democracy, Divinity, and Drama – an Essay on Gender & Destiny. The indexed essay and reference text spans 10,000 years in its study of Gender Balance and the Natural Law origins of Democracy. Similarly, in terms of natural law, the epilogue reveals how the death of Jane McCrea, in a Homeric repetition of history, infl uenced the American struggle for independence and the rebirth of democracy in America after its disappearance from Athens some 2,000 years earlier.

mCDowEll ShArES trADINg SECrEtS

As a trading coach and fi nancial advisor, Bennett McDowell, Pi ’79 (Syracuse) has used his own proprietary trading system, Applied Reality Trading (ART®) to enhance the performance of his clients’ portfolios. McDowell outlines the unique benefi ts of his system in The ART of Trading.

Readers will discover the importance of simplicity in a trading approach; how to develop “The Trader’s Mindset”; how to use ART technical analysis software; and much more. The ART of Trading will enlighten readers in how to use reality to enrich both their fi nancial portfolio and their own fi nancial psychology.

SKINNEr oN SlAvEry

E. Benjamin Skinner, Xi ’98 (Wesleyan University) published his fi rst book, A Crime So Monstrous, which documents current slave trade throughout the world. As a reporter who lives in Brooklyn, Skinner presents a shocking report on the slavery conditions on fi ve continents.

yANNES AlSo ShArES SECrEtS James Yannes, Theta ’59 (Union College) methodically researched fi nancial data “from a plethora of resources” in order to maximize his investment strategy. Friends frequently asked him to share the information which he has compiled in his fi rst published book, Astonishing Investment Facts and Wisdom, a 5-Year Retrospective.

tAu BrothEr IS NAtIoNAl FItNESS ExPErt

Jim Karas, Tau ’83 (Penn) realized while still an undergraduate that his fi tness level was less than acceptable. At Penn, he smoked until the day he found himself out of breath while climbing stairs at the Castle.

After graduating and working on Wall Street for a few years, he found the pounds were sneaking up on him. To rid himself of the extra weight, Jim joined the running craze of the ’90s only to fi nd that, despite logging miles of strenuous running, he didn’t lose weight. According to Jim, cardio training is not the answer to weight loss or fi tness. He developed a four-phase program that emphasizes interval strength training to boost metabolism. Jim does a fi tness segment on Good Morning America and has a personal training business in Chicago and New York