College of the Holy Cross | Holy Cross Magazine



		Peterman Rides Again: Adventures Continue with the Real "J. Peterman" Through Life & the Catalog Business by John Peterman ’63 Through the '90s, the J. Peterman Catalog became a cultural phenomenon, known to over 40 million consumers. The New York Times Magazine called the catalog, "witty, entertaining . the stuff of literature." And when the television show Seinfeld introduced a character named "J. Peterman," the man behind the catalog became a pop icon. Now the real John Peterman steps from behind his larger-than-life image in his new book, Peterman Rides Again: Adventures Continue with the Real "J. Peterman" Through Life & the Catalog Business (Prentice Hall Press). A candid memoir that interweaves the rise and fall of the J. Peterman Company, the book also recounts the unusual life experiences that shaped the man himself. Starting with a $500 investment and one product-an ankle-length, cowboy-style duster coat bought on impulse in Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Peterman built a $75 million company. Then came a cash-flow crisis, Chapter 11 and a personal and professional reassessment. For anyone starting, growing, or running a business, Peterman Rides Again offers hard-won lessons in entrepreneurship and the painful (but essential) art of learning from mistakes.

		Petty Theft by Skip Wilkins '83 Skip Wilkins '83 has released a new CD, Petty Theft, by the Wilkins & Allen Quartet (Cathexis Records). This exciting new jazz recording has been called "hard-charging . a welcome mix of energy and dexterity," by the Trenton Times. Featuring Grammy-nominated saxophonist David Liebman, the CD explores a broad range of contrasting moods, with hard-swinging originals that have been likened to the work of Wayne Shorter. The result of ten years of collaboration between pianist Wilkins and flutist Jill Allen, the record also features Tony Marino on bass and Tom Whaley on drums. The Wilkins & Allen Quartet have headlined at Tavern on the Green and Cleopatra's Needle in New York City and served as artists in residence at the Wichita Jazz Festival.

		When a Butterfly Sneezes by Linda Booth Sweeney '86 When a Butterfly Sneezes, by Linda Booth Sweeney '86, is subtitled A Guide for Helping Kids Explore Interconnections in Our World Through Favorite Stories (Pegasus Communications, Inc.). A manual for parents and teachers, the guide uses popular picture books (such as If You Give Mouse a Cookie and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back) to help children learn the basic skills and concepts of "systems thinking" in a fun and memorable way. Systems thinking, a method for understanding complex interconnections, always looks for the "feedback loops" that determine the behavior of a system, whether biological, social, ecological or economic. Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, says of the book, "Thanks to this wonderful guidebook, parents can now join the growing number of educators in developing children's innate capacities for systems thinking." Sweeney is an educator, researcher and consultant in systems thinking and its related disciplines. She is currently at work on several "systems-oriented" stories for children.

		An Archaeology of Social Space and Lines That Divide by James A. Delle '86 An Archaeology of Social Space (Plenum Publishing) and Lines That Divide (The University of Tennessee Press) are two recent publications by James A. Delle '86, assistant professor of anthropology at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. An Archaeology of Social Space is a study of the coffee industry that flourished in Jamaica between 1790 and 1850. Delle examines the cognitive and material records of the spatial design and use of three coffee plantations in eastern Jamaica and considers the ways in which these spaces served as an arena for the negotiation of power. Lines That Divide is a collection of essays on historical archaeologies of race, class and gender. Edited by Delle (with Stephen Mrozowski and Robert Paynter), the book demonstrates how material culture can be used to examine the processes that have erected boundaries between people. Drawing on case studies from around the world, the volume highlights diverse moments in the rise of capitalist civilization both in Western Europe and its colonies.

		These books are available from the Holy Cross Bookstore. Phone: (508)-793-3609. E-mail: erice@holycross.edu. If you mention that you read about these titles in Holy Cross Magazine, the bookstore will offer free shipping!