Notable authors honored

The 2009 Kansas Notable Book authors on Tuesday were honored in a ceremony and presented with medals.

Interim state librarian Marc Galbraith, Kansas First Lady Stacy Parkinson and Roy Bird, Director of the Kansas Center for the Book, presented the medals and praised their literary contributions.

"The State Library of Kansas appreciates this opportunity to recognize and celebrate Kansas' rich literary heritage," Galbraith said. "The Notable Books list captures the best work of our native sons and daughters, and literally captures our heritage -- Kansas history, Kansas heroes and heroines, Kansas wildlife, and so much more."

Fifteen fiction, nonfiction, and children's books populate the Kansas Notable Book llist, which is considered to contain the best of the books published by Kansas authors or about Kansas in the preceding year.

The list, a project of the KCFB at the State Library of Kansas, is an annual selection of books written by Kansans or about Kansas published in the previous year. The Kansas Notable Books Committee of the KCFB reviewed more than 100 books this year before identifying approximately 20 titles which were forwarded to the State Librarian for a final decision.

"Reading books by Kansas authors is a great way to learn about the beauty and history of our great state -- and a wonderful way to appreciate the literary talent found right here in Kansas," Parkinson said. "I'm proud we're taking time to recognize our home-grown authors."

The Kansas Notable Books selection committee included representatives from an academic library, a public library, a regional library system, booksellers, a publisher, a media representative, and a college children's literature professor. Kansas is only one of two states that choose to promote their authors and stories in such a manner.

The Kansas Center for the Book is a state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. As a program of the State Library of Kansas since 2005, the Center's role is to promote Kansas books, authors, libraries, booksellers, publishers, and the book community, and to foster awareness of literacy and the literary heritage of the state.

For more information visit www.kcfb.info.

The following is a look at the complete list with descriptions of the selections from the KCFB.

"Amelia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator" By Shelley Tanaka and illustrated by David Craig

Amelia Earhart's life was one adventure after another from her early days as a wartime nurse to her triumphant solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. This book celebrates the life and achievement of Kansas' and history's most amazing woman. Richly illustrated with family photos and photos seen worldwide, this book is an amazing look at her life.

"Artfully Done Across Generations: An Art Cookbook" By Friends of the Wichita Art Museum

Artfully Done is a cookbook filled with art, good food and stories. The pages reflect creativity and a joy for living. Compiled in memory of a special member of the Friends of the Wichita Art Museum, this oversized book features beautiful works of art from the Wichita Art Museum, 538 recipes from individuals of local notoriety.

"Burn" By Kathleen Johnson

A book of poetry so hot it could only be named "Burn." Kansas poet Kathleen Johnson's collection ranges from life on the frontier to memories at her parent's home to tornados. There is no real way to describe the eclectic and memorable voice of her verse.

"Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam" By Pope Brock

Brock's colorful account of the infamous 1930s goat-gland doctor John Brinkley matches his outsized subject. In the 1930s, Doc Brinkley, the ultimate snake oil salesman, hustled his pseudoscience over the radio, promoting astrologers and country music while he hyped his cures for impotency. But for the election laws of 1920s Kansas, he would almost certainly have gone down as the only human in history to be elected to public office after the government took away his medical license.

"A Curse Dark As Gold" By Elizabeth Bunce

This is a dark, re-telling of "Rumplestiltskin," set in England at the start of the Industrial Revolution. The miller is a woman who worries about debt and bankruptcy as her mill keeps most of the village around it employed. The mill and her family seem to be cursed. A first novel for Bunce, of Lenexa, it plays off her interests of embroidery and historical costuming. (Young adult)

"The Guide to Kansas Birds and Birding Hot Spots" By Bob Gress and Peter Jenzen

Summarizing the birds most likely to be seen in Kansas, the book gives each bird a full page with photo and helpful information on recognition, locations, etc. New birders will quickly find a species without sorting through the clutter of a larger field guide.

"Hometown Appetites: The Story of Clementine Paddleford, the Forgotten Food Writer Who Chronicled How America Ate" By Kelly Alexander and Cynthia Harris

Clementine Paddleford is not a household name. Nevertheless, she is the guru of culinary chronicles, to the delight and edification of millions of readers over a career that spanned nearly a half century. A Kansan, Paddleford earned a journalism degree in 1921 and went to New York to begin her career as a writer. When that didn't work out, she moved to Chicago. Moving along until in 1936, she became Food Editor at the Herald Tribune, a position she held until 1966. She traveled the country reporting on the best fried chicken and other gastronomic delights.

"Kansas Opera House: Actors and Community Events, 1855-1925" By Jane Rhoades

From the communities to the buildings to the performers, Kansas Opera Houses takes a look at a grand age in theater. The extensive research, gathering of historical photos as well as current photography are the foundation for a thoughtful look at the social, as well as theatrical, significance of the community opera house.

"Making History Quilts and Fabric From 1890 â?? 1970" By Barbara Brackman

If you want to learn to date fabrics found in quilts and cotton clothing, then this book is the book to have. The book gives a great deal of information by combining period fabrics used for clothing, interiors furnishings, and quilts with interior and architectural design schools and wraps them into a synopses of their influence on patterned fabric's scale, color, weave and print. Kansas author Barbara Brackman presents the sequel to her book, "America's Printed Fabrics, 1770-1890s (2004)."

"Marco Polo Didn't Go There: Stories and Revelations From One Decade As A Postmodern Travel Writer" By Rolf Potts

For the past 10 years, Potts has taken his keen postmodern travel sensibility into the far reaches of five continents for such publications as The New York Times Magazine. His portrayal of his life on the road is captivating with some stories that are hilarious and others that are absolutely terrifying. His reflective essay on visiting a county museum in Minneapolis, Kan., shows just how wrong preconceptions can be.

"The Nature of Kansas Lands" By Beverley Worster

Explore the richness and depths of Kansas as never before in "The Nature of Kansas Lands." The book is a visually stimulating masterpiece, designed to encourage Kansas residents to look beyond their back yards and fences and to invite visitors to explore the back roads of this memorable state. Readers will learn about Kansas' native flora and wildlife and witness the wild beauty and ecological complexity. Waterways, woodlands, grasslands, farmland and high plains are captured in stunning photographs with essays and sidebars accompanying the interpretative essays with facts about wildlife and weather, forests and farming.

"A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir" By Donald Worster

An extensive and well-researched biography on the great conservationist John Muir. The book uses Muir's personal correspondence, published and unpublished journals, and other period sources to place Muir in the social and political context of his times, including a history of the conservation movement. Muir is revered for introducing fellow Americans to the spiritual fulfillment found in natural beauty, as well as founding conservation as we know it today.

"The Pizza Hut Story" By Robert Spector

On the eve of its golden anniversary, this book looks at Pizza Hut and how Wichita founders Dan and Frank Carney turned "pizza" into a household word and took the brand to the corners of the globe. The book is a fun, insightful, inspiring and beautifully packaged story of the brand, the company and its people, including rarely seen photographs, advertising, artifacts and other pieces of Pizza Hut history. True to its entrepreneurial beginnings, the book includes the business side of making it 50 years in the food industry.

"Seeding Civil War: Kansas in the National News, 1854-1858" By Craig Miner

This is a study of media coverage devoted to the beleaguered Kansas territory in the years leading up to the Lecompton Constitution. The work is considered to be a great contribution to literature that helps understand the Kansas conflict's broad political and cultural impact. Author is Craig Miner, Willard Garvey Distinguished Professor of Business History at Wichita State University.

"Survival of Rural America: Small Victories and Bitter Harvests" By Richard E. Wood

Rural communities need more than jobs or money to survive, they need to become valued as a place to live and work. In this book, Wood takes a closer look at what has happened in Kansas farming towns and how they have rebounded with different strategies. It's a book about community, lifestyle and the grass roots of America.