New Rudder exhibit at Texas A&M University

James Earl Rudder. If you don’t already know the significance of his name, travel to Aggieland and you will find the decorated war hero-turned-transformational A&M president’s name is all over town. The building that houses the current university president, the main local freeway and the University visitor’s center are all named after the esteemed former TAMU president and war hero.

Appropriately, the newest exhibit at Texas A&M University’s Cushing Memorial Library & Archives spotlights the life of James Earl Rudder. The exhibit, "From Pointe du Hoc to College Station," opened with a lecture by Thomas M. Hatfield, author of Rudder: From Leader to Legend (TAMU 2011), a book about the life of Rudder. Rudder: From Leader to Legend pays full tribute to Rudder, a man who exemplified leadership, vision, and courage.

TAMU Times recently gave a detailed look into the exhibit’s features:

“The exhibit highlights correspondence, documents and memorabilia from the James Earl Rudder Collection donated by his wife Margaret E. Rudder in 2002. Items on display include a wooden map case with maps used for the D-Day invasion, a dress uniform, French Legion of Honour and Croix de Guerre medals and his historic speech delivered April 27, 1963, supporting the admittance of women to Texas A&M.”

Copyright: D.McDermand, The Eagle

The exhibit features a June 11, 1954, cover story in Collier's Magazine on how he brought his son, Earl "Bud" Rudder, back to Point du Hoc, France.

The exhibit will remain on display until Jan. 27, 2012.

Find more information on the exhibit, Rudder and Thomas Hatfield’s Rudder: From Leader to Legend here!

Remembering Pearl Harbor

On this day, 70 years ago, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor killed more than 2,400 Americans, wounded 1,000 and almost wiped out an entire fleet. While the attack was designed to hurt the United States Navy, it instead drew Americans together, creating a spirit that Japanese leadership never expected.

TAMU Press remembers and reflects on the bravery and sacrifice that occurred at Pearl Harbor. In the spirit of remembrance, we encourage readers to check out William Bartsch’s December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor.

Bartch’s detailed account of the Pearl Harbor attack received the Arthur Goodzeit Award, presented by the Board of New York Military Affairs Symposium in 2004. December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor will be reprinted in paperback this spring.

In December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor, Bartsch draws upon 25 years of research into American and Japanese records and interviews with many of the participants themselves, particularly survivors of the actual attack on Clark and Iba air bases. The dramatic and detailed coverage of the attack is preceded by an account of the harried American build-up of air power in the Philippines after July, 1941, and of Japanese planning and preparations for this opening assault of its Southern Operations. Bartsch juxtaposes the experiences of staff of the U.S. War Department in Washington and its Far East Air Force bomber, fighter, and radar personnel in the Philippines, who were affected by its decisions, with those of Japan’s Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo and the 11th Air Fleet staff and pilots on Formosa, who were assigned the responsibility for carrying out the attack on the Philippines 500 miles to the south. In order to put the December 8th attack in broader context, Bartsch details micro-level personal experiences and presents the political and strategic aspects of American and Japanese planning for a war in the Pacific.

Despite the significance of this subject matter, it has never before been given full book-length treatment. This book represents the culmination of decades-long efforts of the author to fill this historical gap. Read more about December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor and order your own copy here.

Interested in World War II? The TAMU Press Consortium has published 80+ books covering the details of the war events. Whether you are a World War II scholar or reader searching for a great read, you are guaranteed to find a book that fits your interests. See our wide selection of World War II books here.

Kudos to Texas Review Press Authors!

Brian Carr, author of Short Bus (Texas Review Press, 2011) recently won the 2011 Texas Observer Short Story prize for his short story “The First Henley.” Larry McMurtry, legendary author of Terms of Endearment and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove judged the contest.

Read Carr’s award winning short story “The First Henley” here and check out his book, Short Bus on the Press website.

David Parsons, author of Color of Mourning (Texas Review Press 2007) and Editing Sky (Texas Review Press, 1999) is the Texas Poet Laureate for 2011. Read more about Parsons and his award in this article in the Houston Chronicle. Interested in ordering a copy of his published work? Click here!

(Photo Copyright: Melissa Phillip Houston Chronicle)

Against the Workshop: Provocations, Polemics, Controversies (Texas Review Press 2011) by Anis Shivani, is a collection of essays that will be published in September. The title essay of the collection, recently won a Pushcart Prize. Order your own copy of the award winning Against the Workshop here.

Congratulations Texas Review Press authors!

A&M System and Harte Research play instrumental role in response to the oil spill

Released earlier this week, Governor Perry named the Texas A&M System a participant in the Gulf Project, a coalition of energy and environmental scientists, policy experts, academic researchers, private sector research scientists and state officials.

Consultants for the Project include Dr. Larry McKinney, executive director of the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M - Corpus Christi. The Harte Research Institute has proved instrumental in providing data and research for information on the Gulf of Mexico and the oil spill. McKinney has also authored a foreword to the forthcoming book Glory of the Silver King edited by Brandon Shuler.

Texas A&M University Press authors Sylvia Earle and Wes Tunnell are both active at HRI, providing articles, interviews and access to research for greater understanding of the Gulf of Mexico and the effects of the recent oil spill.