University Service:

Fall 2005               Co-taught SOAA 1000 002 (Academic Advantae).

2004-2005            Member of the committee responsible for bringing "Changing the Face of Medicine" traveling
                                      exhibit to East Tennessee State University.  

2004-                     Program Advisory Committee for the School Library Media Program.  East
                                      Tennessee State University. 

Fall 2004               Co-taught SOAA 1000 002 (Academic Advantage).

Fall 2003               Co-taught SOAA 1000 002 (Academic Advantage).

2001 -                    University Wellness Committee   (Chair 2004-     ).

2003-                     University Libraries Advisory Committee (Secretary 2003-     ).

2001-                     Reference Committee.  Sherrod Library.

2001-                     Web Weavers.  Sherrod Library.

2001-                     Public Relations.  Sherrod Library.

2001-                     Collection Development. Sherrod Library.

State Service:

March 2006 -      Member.  Editorial Board.  Tennessee Librarian.

2003 -  2005      TENN-SHARE Summer Workshop Committee (Co-chair 2004, Chair 2004-2005).

2003-                  Trainer for Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL) for K-12 librarians and teachers
                             in the region.

2003                   TENN-SHARE Training Committee, TEL Teacher's Manual Revision Project.

Community Service:

2005                  Coordinator for the American Heart Association's Red Dress Pin drive for East Tennessee  
                           Tennessee State University.  The drive collected $310 for the AHA.

2004                  "Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL)."  Workshop presented to Washington County
                           teachers on March 22, 2004.

2003                   "Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL)."  Workshop presented to Hawkins County
                            School librarians on October 13, 2003.

2002                  On November 4, 2002, I was invited  to Daniel Boone High School in Grey to speak to Mrs. Garrett's
                           government class about censorship.  This is the PowerPoint presentation that went along with my talk,
                           Censorship and Libraries.

Celebration of Authors 2002:

On April 13, 2002,  the Library Associates of  the Sherrod Library sponsored their first Celebration of Authors.  Over 100 authors, mostly local and regional  participated.  Members of the library faculty actively helped with this event from folding tee shirts and serving as helpers at the event to writing author biographies for the program.   Here are my author biographies:

Andy Straka

A Witness Above introduces Andy Straka’s series featuring Frank Pavlicek, a former New York City homicide detective living in Charlottesville.  Frank, a private eye with an interest in falconry,  is out hunting with his hawk when they discover the body of a teenage boy.  When Frank discovers his daughter’s phone number in the dead boy’s pocket, he removes the paper.  Several days later, Nicole is in jail and Frank must work to clear her and discover the truth.  A Killing Sky, the second Pavlicek novel, is due out in April. 

Andy Straka began a love affair with the private eye novel as a sophmore at Williams College.  After he gave up a sales job to become a stay-at-home dad, Mr. Straka decided to try his hand at writing a novel.  His interest in falconry developed from watching a pair of nesting red shoulder hawks that lived near his home in Earlysville, Virginia.  

Shantala Kay Russell 

Shantala Kay Russell is a woman with many interests including gardening, writing, art, and chickens.  She has written for the Asheville Citizen-Times and studied art for many years. In 2001, Ms. Russell graduated from Haywood Community College in Clyde, North Carolina after studying horticulture.  Shantala raises free range chickens on a farm in North Carolina and believes in the humane treatment of chickens. 

Let Me Tell You About My Chickens is a collection of stories about Ms. Russell’s experience with chickens as well as stories contributed by others.  The book is hand bound and artistically embellished with a chicken feather by the author. 

Shantala Kay Russell resides with her soul mate, Chuck, at Windy Hill Farm in Tryon, North Carolina.  They have two small dogs, a garden, and many chickens.

Schelly, Frankie 

In At the Crossroads, A Novel, four nuns find themselves at a crossroads when the school where they teach is closed.  The different ages, backgrounds, and personalities of the women allow the author to explore a variety of social issues, particularly from a feminist perspective.  Sister Vivian is torn between the past and present when she tries to help a former student who is pregnant and wants an abortion.  Kimberly, the youngest  nun, wants to see the Catholic Church become friendlier toward women.  Mary Ruth covertly seeks information on her biracial roots while the oldest nun, Sister Dominic, wants to sign an unacceptable living will after being hospitalized after a fall.

Frankie Schelly has published numerous short stories and articles. Before turning author she worked as an Advertising Executive. She has three children and lives with her husband in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina where she enjoys canoeing, cross country skiing, and playing bridge. This is her first novel.

Betty N. Smith

When Cecil Sharp traveled through North Carolina gathering songs for his English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, Jane Hicks Gentry was one of his best informants.  She also farmed, ran a rooming house, and raised children In Jane Hicks Gentry: A Singer Among Singers, Betty Smith brings this woman to life and thus preserves a slice of Appalachian culture. This biography includes seventy of Gentry's songs and fifteen of the "Jack" tales she learned from her grandfather.  The Folk School Songbook, written as a source book for the John C. Campbell Folk School, and The ABC Songbook are collections of traditional songs.

Betty N. Smith is a music scholar and wonderful singer, who accompanies herself on dulcimer, guitar, and psaltery.  She has performed, researched, taught and shared traditional Southern, Appalachian, and British ballads, folk songs, hymns, and children’s songs and games for more that thirty-five years.

E. M. Schorb 

In Paradise Square, Edgar Allan Poe is called upon for assistance in solving the murder of a young girl in the Five Points section of Manhattan. When a former classmate of Poe's at West Point is accused of the crime, Poe is honor-bound to help clear the young man who had years before helped to save him from complete disgrace upon leaving the Academy.  This book won the International eBoook Award Foundation’s Grand Prize for Fiction at Frankfurt.   Scenario for Scorsese, Mr. Schorb’s first novel, has been described as a powerful tale of love and suspense involving a young priest and a drug dealer.  It was nominated for the Frankfurt eBook Award. 

Murderer’s Day, Mr. Schorb’s fourth book of poetry, won the Verna Emery Poetry Prize in 1998. 

E. M. Schorb resides in Mooresville, North Carolina.  He is a member of PEN, Mystery Writers of America, the Academy of American Poets, and the Poetry Society of America.

Bonnie Habel 

“Shannon” was hyperactive, language impaired, and socially inept.  The author met this woman when she was in her mid-forties and applying for her first teaching job.  Despite an early school diagnosis of mental retardation, “Shannon” taught herself to read and had earned undergraduate and graduate degrees.  She also attained her goal of becoming a teacher.  In Nvr, Nevr, Never Quit, Bonnie Habel uses creative license to tell a fictionalized version of  “Shannon’s” embattled life and her dogged determination to overcome a unique combination of severe learning disabilities.   

Bonnie Habel holds an EdS degree for Western Carolina University.  She has taught for many years and was awarded the ACLD Sam Kirk Award for National Learning Disability Educator of the Year in 1989. 

C. H. Charlton

The Agony and the Ecstasy of the Ministry was written to enlighten parishioners and encourage ministers.  There is the agony of loneliness, fatigue, and the stress of being with people during their hard times.  On the other hand, there is the ecstasy of being alone with God, resting in Jesus, and seeing people overcome their challenges. 

In As the Twig Is Bent, Dr. Charlton reflects on simple lessons that will help people to feel blessed in their lives. 

In God Give Us Some “Real” Men!, Dr. Charlton  discusses what real men do  and how they can make a difference in the lives of those around them by looking at the company they keep, how they treat their families, and their relationship with God. 

Dr. Charlton is the pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Johnson City.  He is a former member of the Johnson City School Board and a member of the Johnson City Commission.  He and his wife, Janet, have presented numerous workshops on family life and ministry throughout the United States.

Christy Tillery French

In Chasing Horses, recently divorced Ricki England forms a support group for women in problematic relationships that soon becomes an activist group, Women Aware and Responsive. Evolving from this group is a smaller, core group of Ricki and her two closest friends that becomes a self-proclaimed vigilante group.  

In seeking her goal to live life to the fullest and to experience all that she can, Ricki finds herself in predicament after predicament. After much soul-searching, as well as having to deal with an unwanted pregnancy and then being kidnapped by the man who committed the murder she witnesed, Ricki finally realizes who she is and what she wants from life. 

Christy Tillery French resides in Powell, TN, with her husband and two children. She has been nominated for "Who's Who in U.S. Writers, Editors, and Poets," to be published 2002. Her next book, "Wayne's Dead," a psychological thriller, will be published summer, 2002.

Paul Efird 

Hazel Pendley creates heirloom-quality quilts. Ed Ripley wraps bits of fur and feathers into trout flies the size of gnats. Edna Hartong still makes an item that has all but disappeared from the American scene: lye soap.  All of these people, and many more like them, are Appalachians who work with their hands.  Mountain Hands: A Portrait of Southern Appalachia is an intimate look at more than three dozen such craftspeople and their vocations.  The high quality black and white photographs enrich the text with a warmth and charm. Journalist Sam Venable and photographer Paul Efird spent four years combing the hills of Southern Appalachia to find these talented individuals and let them talk about their work.

Paul Efird is a photographer and senior editor at the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Dave Foster 

Tennessee Territory to Statehood describes the intrigue-filled times, from 1790 to 1796, when Tennessee was known as the Southwest Territory. The state was the first to enter the Union by way of a territory. The book explains the pioneers’ efforts at self-government.

During the 1780s, the pioneers of Western North Carolina wanted to set up a new state called Franklin in East Tennessee. Franklin the Stillborn State describes their failed efforts.

Life in the Orphanage is a moving story as seen from inside a mid-century orphanage. After the death of his father, the author goes with his mother, two sisters and brother to live in an orphanage. Foster tells how the four siblings devise a tight family bond of kinship.

Dave Foster was born in Knoxville and grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee.  He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Tennessee and splits his time between Orlando, Florida and Pigeon Forge.

Edward Schell

Tennessee is Edward Schell’s second book of photography.  This coffee table book is a seasonal exploration of Tennessee, from the Great Smoky Mountain in the east to the Mississippi River in the west.  According to the book jacket, Tennessee has invited, delighted, challenged, and inspired visitors and natives alike.  Strategic, paradoxical, vivid with contrasts and pulsing with vitality, Tennessee has found appreciative interpretation in Edward Schell’s photographs and Wilma Dykeman’s words.  Tennessee is a wonderful and moving experience.  

Edward Schell’s photographs have been shown in the Dayton Museum of Natural History, Washington’s Cosmos Club, and the Smithsonian Institute.  Mr. Schell has been the recipient of the Ansel Adams Award for Nature Photography.   He resides in Johnson City, where he serves on many conservation and environmental organizations.

Wilma Dykeman, Tennessee State Historian, provides the text.  Ms. Dykeman has been named Tennessee Conservation Writer of the Year.

Fred W. Sauceman 

Three years in the making, Home and Away is a collection of stories, recipes, essays, poetry, regional history, and foodlore from over 500 contributors, whose common bond is East Tennessee State University. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends, and notable campus visitors have contributed over 1,000 entries, accompanied by some 400 photographs, in an effort to document the rich culinary heritage of this one university community. In Home and Away, you’ll find heirloom recipes from Southern Appalachia alongside international dishes from all over the world--“Killed” Lettuce from Southwest Virginia and Japanese Pork Tonkatsu, Molasses Stack Cake, and Polish Christmas Cookies.

A native of Greeneville, Tennessee, Fred Sauceman has over 25 years of experience in media and public relations work. He currently serves as Executive Assistant to the President for University Relations at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, where he has worked since 1985.

Frank Sikora

Hear the Bugles Calling, by Lionel Pinn with Frank Sikora, is a memoir by a combat infantryman who served in three wars — World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.  Reared during the Great Depression and hardened in combat against the Imperial Japanese Army in WWII, Pinn fought as a foot soldier in Korea, Laos, and Vietnam.  Pinn recounts these wars as only an infantry soldier could, and he neither glorifies them nor the picture of himself.  His raw depiction of fighting is a journey through America’s tumultuous last half of the 20th century.  Sgt. Pinn’s memoir is a testament to the uncompromising fighting spirit of U.S. soldiers.   

Frank Sikora is a veteran journalist and the author of The Judge: The Life and Opinions of Alabama’s Frank M. Johnson, Jr.; Selma, Lord, Selma; and Until Justice Rolls Down:  The Birmingham Church Bombing Case.  He recently retired from the Birmingham News.

Stephen G. Fritz 

The Landser, German soldiers in World War II, were feared for their efficiency and ruthlessness in battle. In Frontsoldaten, Stephen G. Fritz mines the letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral histories of these men to create the definitive account of soldiers' lives on the front lines. Frontsoldaten addresses the training, images of combat, living conditions, combat stress, bonds of comradeship, ideology, and motivation of the Landser.

Fritz contrasts these German soldiers with their American counterparts, showing how much soldiers everywhere have in common. But he also discusses significant differences in ideological intensity, group cohesiveness, ingenuity, discipline, and quality of equipment that will come as a suprise to many readers familiar with the history of World War II.

Stephen Fritz is associate professor of history at East Tennessee State University and the author of numerous articles on modern German history.    

Patty Smithdeal Fulton 

The true story of Hack Smithdeal, a sucessful Johnson City, Tennessee, businessman and the events that lead to his involvement in the shooting of Roy Faircloth during a Roy Acuff concert. Faircloth's death led to the most sensational trial in Johnson Citry's history, complete with Roy Acuff as a key witness. Though her sympathies understandably rest with her father, author Patti Smithdeal Fulton relates the facts of the mysterious shooting and trial as a professional. 

I Wouldn’t Live Nowhere I Couldn’t Grow Corn is a compilation of Ms. Fulton’s columns from “Patty’s Corner.”  She has written this popular column since 1986. 

Patty Smithdeal Fulton is a graduate of Stephens College and East Tennessee State University, with majors in communications and English, and a minor in history.   A published author, Fulton has been a newspaper columnist  for two weekly papers in Northeast Tennessee since 1986.                                   

Christine M. Goldbeck 

Welcome to Fairlane County and stories about a late evening in a local bar with the regulars ... a summer evening on the front porch in coal country ... a town gathering for an old-fashioned Irish wake ... a journey home and a change of heart ...  A Tribute to John O'Hara and Other Stories resonates with wise comments on the human condition and is filled with the sort of local characters we all have met but whose words and lives could transcend the coal-cracker settings and be just as true anyplace with minor tinkering with the dialect and details. 

Former award-winning photojournalist and columnist for various Pennsylvania newspapers, Christine Goldbeck makes her debut as a fiction writer with this book. She is legislative assistant to Matthew J. Ryan, Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Christine lives and writes in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, where she is at work on a novel based on five generations of women in the anthracite coal region.

Winter Cruise:

Rebecca Tolley-Stokes and I created the Sherrod Library's display for Winter Cruise.  We included a number of items including book marks with the library's hours and phone numbers of departments, information on the Library Associates, candy, and give away books from the Read ETSU collection.  In keeping with the theme of New York, we included a folding Statue of Liberty for the students to make as well as a bibliography on the Harlem Renaissance.