Three decades after living in Okinawa, where h e was stationed with the Army in the late ’60s, Steve Rabson returned for research. His two-year study resulted in The Okinawan Diaspora in Japan, Crossing the Borders Within, the first English-language book on the topic. It examines the struggles of Okinawans who emigrated from the North Pacific islanbd to mainland Japan and to minorities there; how this phenomenon was influenced by government regulations, corporate policies, and popular attitudes; and Japan’s more recent struggle to accept its citizens’ multi-ethnicity. While living in Osaka from 1999 to 2001, Rabson explored essential sources, conducted dozens of interviews, administered hundreds of questionnaires, and gleaned information from conversations over coffee with neighbors. Christopher Nelson, associate professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wrote of the book, “Readers will find themselves immersed in the experiences of … [Read more...]

As a 21-year-old traveling alone, camping and picking up hitchhikers from Maryland to Colorado, Nathan Leslie ’94 came across some interesting personalities. Years later, the cross-country excursion he took after college graduation inspired his début novel. In The Tall Tale of Tommy Twice, an orphan dreams of living in a “typical” home. But, as he’s tossed from country to city and coast to coast to stay with one eccentric relative after another, he begins to question his desire for a conventional life. Family relationships, childhood wonder, and the difficulties of establishing an identity in America are explored as Tommy gets to know Grandma Gaga, whose home is perched on Pike’s Peak; Aunt Tess, who hides things in her fluffy hair; Aunt Penny, who communicates through ESP; and Aunt Chelsea, who hunts coyotes. Jason Sanford, a founding editor of the quarterly journal Story South, said of the work, “I have long been a fan of Nathan’s first-person writing style, and this [novel] … [Read more...]