Ninth Annual Author Dinner
Each year the Friends of the Library host a Spring dinner, welcoming
a noted author to speak and honoring one of our exceptional faculty.
This year the Author Dinner is scheduled for April 7, in the River Rooms
of Webb University Center. Our guest author this year is Sheri Reynolds,
and our outstanding faculty honoree is Professor Michele Darby.
Ms. Reynolds, an associate professor of English and the Ruth and Perry
Morgan Chair of Southern Literature in the Department of English, has
been a member of the university's faculty since 1997. Originally recruited
to teach courses in creative writing, Ms. Reynolds quickly proved herself
in the literature classroom as well. Today she consistently receives
exemplary evaluation scores from students ranging from first-semester
undergraduates to graduate students who have published books themselves;
many students cite her as their "all-time favorite teacher."
Most notable among her many scholarly accomplishments are her three
critically acclaimed novels. Ms. Reynolds's first novel, Bitterroot
Landing, was her publishers' nominee for the 1995 GRANTA Young American
Author Award. Her second novel, The Rapture of Canaan, reached the top
position on the bestseller lists of The New York Times and USA Today.
Following publication of her third novel, A Gracious Plenty, a reviewer
wrote that Ms. Reynolds had "broken the perhaps mythical barrier
... [of writing] a third novel after a book that was an enormous financial
success. In this line of work, then, she has shown not only increasing
mastery of her craft and of the undefined form of long prose fiction,
but discipline and determination This year she was the recipient of
one of Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Awards, the Commonwealth's
highest honor for faculty at Virginia's colleges and universities.
Michele Darby completed her bachelor and master of science degrees
in dental hygiene at Columbia University. She has been a full-time faculty
member at Old Dominion University since 1974 where she served seven
years as chairman and over 17 years as graduate program director. In
May 1981, Michele was an official guest of the Chinese Ministry of Health
and Education, sharing current dental hygiene concepts and techniques
with Chinese dentists. She also has lectured in Korea, Yugoslavia, Moldova,
Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy. She was a 1993 recipient of
the Virginia State Council on Higher Education Faculty Award. She is
one of few faculty at Old Dominion University who has earned the titles
of Eminent Scholar and University Professor.
2003 Author Dinner
Date: April 7, 2003
Time: 6:00 p.m. Reception / Cash Bar
7:00 p.m. Dinner / Program
Location: River Rooms, Webb Center
Cost: $20 per person
To make reservations: Make your check payable
to Friends of the Library, and mail it to
2003 FoL Author Dinner
229 Perry Library
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA 23529-0256
For more information: 683-4141
Recent Events
Fall Book Sale
The Fall Book Sale featured extended hours over the Halloween weekend,
and resulted in $2,926 in sales!
Baskets for Books
The Lady Monarchs triumphed in a match against Virginia Commonwealth
University at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on January 24. With
5836 in attendance, a total of $1665 was generated for Baskets for Books!
Fall Forum
It was standing room only at the creative and informative 2002-03 Fall
Forum, as two Old Dominion researchers, Dr. Martina Doblin and Dr. John
Adam, offered presentations highlighting their fields of study. Dr.
Doblin, a Research Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Ocean, Earth
and Atmospheric Sciences, is using digital images of microscopic marine
organisms to develop a K-12 curriculum which combines the disciplines
of science and art. Dr. Adam discussed some common and not-so-common
patterns in nature in terms of their mathematical constructs.
Book Review
In the city of Bast, in Nick Smith’s novel Milk Treading (Luath
Press, 2002), the mayor is embattled with the Church, gangs are at war
in the slums, class distinctions are important and racial tensions are
at a boiling point. The controlling denizens of Bast are cats, the racial
tensions are with dogs, and the mayor is a lion. We view this world
primarily through the eyes of Julius Kyle, a (feline) novelist-turned-journalist
who is trying to make sense of his morally corrupt world by investigating
the gang conflicts. It is gritty in parts – there are vicious
fights – and there is love, betrayal, grinding poverty and political
corruption. Smith has a marvelous, sardonic and very dry wit that serves
to keep the story from being relentlessly depressing. This is a deeply
disturbing, thought-provoking and quite remarkable novel. It offers
an edgy and inventive approach to social commentary.
– Lisa Murray
