Recent works by alumni and faculty

Big happiness through small steps

Her publisher labels it "spunky self-help." Randy Peyser '77 (CLAS) calls it "comic intervention."

What it is, is Peyser's light-hearted view of how to "make it through the day when the crises in your life are

multiplying faster than rabbits," as presented in her whimsically titled book, Crappy to Happy: Small Steps to Big Happiness NOW! (Red Wheel/Weiser 2002).

"I teach people how to practice random acts of chutzpah," says Peyser, a UConn psychology major, turned writer and editor. "In my mind it's the willingness to take the kind of risk that others are not willing to take that often leads to the greatest happiness. When we're doing these kinds of acts, there's an inner urge that propels us to do so. We're being true to ourselves. If you're willing to risk being true to yourself, you'll never look back and say, " 'I wonder what would've happened if...?' "

The story of writing the book is a testament to that philosophy. Peyser was writing short stories about humorous incidents in her life purely for her own enjoyment. Soon she had about 100 pages of material. Her contacts in the publishing industry suggested that the stories would fit into a book if she listed some advice learned from the stories. Part of her editing job at a new-age magazine included writing one-line quotes which, when expanded, turned into more than 150 pearls of sage wisdom. An example:

"Abundance begins in your underwear drawer: One way to affirm abundance is to buy yourself all the socks and underwear you need. Any opportunity to replace lack of abundance in one aspect of your life sets the intention that you are open to receive greater abundance in all aspects of your life."

Says Peyser, "I like to write the kind of one-liners that give you mental or emotional 'whiplash.'"

Writing has always provided enjoyment for Peyser, who spent her first two years at UConn's Torrington campus, where she learned a writer's secret in a class.

"The question was about getting stuck at the beginning of writing. The professor said, 'Don't begin at the beginning.' That's something I still use over 20 years later," she says.

Peyser has also created a one-woman show called, "Crappy to Happy: Comic Intervention for Closet Visionaries and Almost-Manifest ers," in which she incorporates material from her book.

Murders at Brent Institute
Jerry Labriola
(Strong Books)
Doctors are in the business of life and death, but not murder. Unless the doctor is David Brooks, Jerry Labriola's modern day Doctor Watson who does not play second fiddle to a Sherlock Holmes. Murders at Brent Institute finds Brooks tracking clues in the fourth installment of this series.

Labriola, a retired doctor and assistant professor in the UConn School of Medicine, has the bow-tied Brooks again working with his detective-girlfriend and his lock-picking cab driver. A box of chocolates is the only clue left at the home of a murdered scientist working for the Brent Institute of Biotechnology. Another murder, along with a kidnapping, and Brooks finds himself as the killer's next potential victim.

With a fluid writing style, Labriola takes the reader through plot twists and turns with a quick pace that keeps the pages turning. His 30 years as a physician and a book collaboration with the renowned real-life forensic scientist Henry Lee lends credibility and accuracy to his writing.

Blondie, From Punk to Present: A Pictorial History
Allan Metz M.A. '91
(Musical Legacy Publications 2002)
A university reference librarian in Springfield, Mo., Allan Metz has used his considerable professional skills to compile biographical materials on female rock and pop singers for several years. Having previously written about Madonna, Go-Gos, Bananarama, B-52s and others, his latest collection is a comprehensive look at Blondie, the influential 1970s Punk/New Wave group led by Deborah Harry.

Blondie was the first punk/new wave band to cross over into pop, owing to Harry's sex appeal and energetic stage performance. She provided one of the critical links between the 1960s Girl Group vocalists like The Supremes and the female-driven rock groups like The Runaways, Bangles, and Pretenders. Harry and Blondie helped set the stage for rock's visual requirements when MTV began in 1980.

Metz has assembled a comprehensive text that includes a wide range of feature articles and essays as well as extensive appendices and bibliographies that turn the book into a valuable reference resource on a 1970s rock 'n' roll icon.