Happy Halloween

Halloween is tomorrow. Some people, mostly children and the parents that steal their candy, count this among their favorite holidays. But not everyone goes all in for candy and costumes.

For our readers who don't feel like trick-or-treating or dressing up or even a trip to the video store, we say  there is no shame in staying home with a good book. In fact, UPM has several titles that will still keep you in spirit of the holiday:

• Haunted Halls: Ghostlore of American College Campuses by Elizabeth Tucker. Tucker takes reader back to school to get acquainted with a wide range of college spirits.
  
  
• Shadows and Cypress: Southern Ghost Stories by Alan Brown. A collection of some of Dixie's most frightening ghost tales
  
  
• Stories from the Haunted South by Alan Brown. Even more ghost-ridden tales from the South.

And our friends at NYU Press have been blogging about Halloween all week. Check out their week-long series, A Study of Halloween: A Week of Ghoulish Articles at From The Square.

Legend of the Free State of Jones

A maverick, unionist district in the heart of the Old South? A notorious county that seceded from the Confederacy? This is how Jones County, Mississippi, is known in myth and legend.

Legend of the Free State of Jones by Rudy Leverett  was the first, authoritative explanation of just what did happen in Jones County in 1864 to give rise to the legend. Originally published in 1984, this book surveys the facts, the records, and the history of the "Free State of Jones" and well may provide the whole story.

Now back in print, the story has captured the imaginations of journalists, historians, essayists, novelists, short story writers, and Hollywood film makers lives on. Legend of the Free State of Jones is now available from UPM.

Keep an eye out for the Free State of Jones movie due out in 2012 from writer/director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville)

Jack Reed Still Finding Time to Speak

Yesterday UPM author Jack Reed read from his book and shared his experiences during the "History is Lunch" program sponsored by Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Reed's book, A Time to Speak, brings together more than a dozen of Reed's speeches over a fifty-year period (1956-2007). The Tupelo businessman discusses the events surrounding his talks about race relations within his church, his deep involvement in education with his close friend Governor William Winter and with President George H. W. Bush, and his own campaign for governor as a Republican in 1987. Danny McKenzie places this original material in historical context.

A Time to Speak is currently on sale for 30% off at the UPM website.

**UPDATE** See portions of Jack Reed's presentation at "History is Lunch" here

American Made Playlists: The Beat

The Beat!: Go-Go Music from Washington, D.C. explores the musical, social, and cultural phenomenon of the distinctive musical sound that is indigenous to D.C. Authors Kip Lornell and Charles C. Stephenson, Jr., place go-go within the larger context of black popular music made since the middle 1970s.

To the initiated, go-go is easily recognizable by its super-charged drumming and vocal combinations of hip-hop, funk, and soul But, outside of D.C. and Prince George's County very few people know what go-go is or even what it sounds like.

The Beat playlist below should help alleviate some of this ignorance and serve as a primer to go-go acolytes.

This playlist was put together with the help of Nico, the  "go-go-ologist."  Lornell and Stephenson swear Nico knows more about go-go recordings than anyone on the planet. Nico has a part of the go-go scene for decades and his selections below represent recordings that had great influence on the culture and the significance of the go-go industry.

Beep, Beep: The Roadrunner Story

Martha Sigall is the author of Living Life inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation. This book is a behind the scenes at the makings of classic cartoons from Warner Bros. and MGM Animation.

Sigall had a front row seat to the creation of some of the iconic cartoon characters, including Mike Maltese's The Roadrunner. Check out the video below for the back story of events that lead to the famous Roadrunner cartoon series.




Visit our website for to see more popular culture and comics titles.

Praise for Justice Older than the Law

Katie McCabe's Justice Older than the Law: The Life of Dovey Johnson Roundtree has been  awarded the  2009 Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Award from the Association of Black Women Historians.

Justice Older than the Law tells the dramatic and inspiring life story of Dovey Johnson Roundtree - a groundbreaking civil rights crusader, lawyer, and ordained minister. 

Praise from the award committee:

I simply loved this book.  I have a proclivity for fiction and find the character “Dovey” a real, heartfelt woman whose humble beginnings reflect the progress of the race from the 1920s to the 1960s. Her matriculation at Spelman, her internal conflict entering the “middle class”, mentoring from Mary McLeod Bethune all humanize the raw emotions of thousands of early twentieth century achievers must have encountered when living the dreams of entire African American community encompassing siblings, parents, grandparents, ancestors. Kudos [to McCabe] in crafting an engaging read from the well-lived life of minister, lawyer, military officer and humanitarian Dovey.

Readers can save 30% on this title during UPM's website-only African American Studies sale. View other titles on sale here.