Recent works by alumni and faculty

Up close and personal with a doctoral mentor

Stephen Tabachnick Ph.D. '71 was drawn to pursue his doctoral degree at the University of Connecticut because he thought the best person to guide him in his dissertation on T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, was Rex Warner, who taught in the English department from 1963-1974.

Warner, a historical novelist and accomplished translator of Greek and Roman texts who died in 1986, was the author of such historical novels as The Young Caesar and Imperial Caesar; the translator of Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War; and the translator of the Greek poet George Seferis, who won the Nobel Prize in 1963.

Tabachnick, now English department chair at the University of Memphis, was reluctant to become the biographer of his teacher and friend. He was persuaded to tackle the job by his wife, Sharon, who encouraged his writing Fiercer Than Tigers: The Life and Works of Rex Warner (Michigan State University Press).

"It was such a vast job. Rex had done an enormous amount of writing," he says. "Because I was so scared and worried I wouldn't be able to do it, I went about it in a very obsessive way."

Tabachnick's previous four books, about Lawrence and the author-traveler Charles Doughty, were written as studies, not biographies. He made a key decision in writing about Warner: It would be a life and works instead of a life-and- times treatment.

"There is an important distinction. With most life-and- times books, what you have is a subject and not enough primary material, so you fill in with what life was like during the subject's time," Tabachnick says. "In this case the amount of material was enough. When you have a vast amount of primary material and no one has looked at it before, you're obligated to look at it all."

Tabachnick says one of the great surprises in writing Fiercer Than Tigers was learning more about Warner's personal life and history, including his experience in England during World War II, his political views, and his two marriages.

"When you work with somebody as his student and then you do a biography, you see a much fuller person," he says. "It's like a window opening fully after you've had the shade down halfway."

Flying Through
Naomi Sommers '00 (CLAS)
(American Melody)
Naomi (Rosenthal) Sommers grew up singing on the family-styled bluegrass and folk recordings made by her father, the respected multi-instrumentalist and singer Phil Rosenthal. She began writing and recording her debut album while completing her degree in English literature at UConn.

Her first solo effort is a contemporary blend of folk, bluegrass and blues with mature lyrics and skilled musicianship. A natural storyteller who changes her lyrical mix, Sommers writes simply and directly in compositions such as "Hard to Love You" and "I Can't Find You." But more often she weaves a narrative slice of life story, as in the dark-themed tale of a doomed relationship in "The Way of Innocence."

She also experiments by uniquely combining instrumentation, such as using a mandolin, normally associated with bluegrass, on a song with the bass trombone or flugelhorn, mostly heard in jazz or classical music.

As she begins thinking about her next CD, Sommers has settled into an active musical community in the Boston area and has formed a band that focuses on vocal harmonies.

Max and Annie's Mysterious Campfire
Sandra Phillipson '95 (ED) 6th Year
(Chagrin River Publishing)
The latest in Phillipson's illustrated storybook series about the adventures of Max and Annie takes the two dogs to the Arizona desert, where they make friends with other animals when they are invited to a campfire. Max finds himself confronting a mountain lion, who is the local bully. Annie helps Max to save those gathered around the campfire by figuring out a way to frighten away the mountain lion.

As in all of her books, there is an accompanying series of writing projects and activities at the back of the volume, this time including a campfire song written by Phillipson.

Phillipson began the series - aimed at children in grades K-4 - with a book based on the real-life story of how her dog, Annie, lost a leg to cancer yet has thrived. The book is now the basis for an upcoming feature film, Miracle Dogs, to be aired later this year on the Animal Planet cable channel.