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Jon was a college classmate of mine. The 2009 Pulizer Prize for a distinguished and appropriately documented biography or autobiography by an American author, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Awarded to “ American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House ,” by Jon Meacham ( Random House ), an unflinching portrait of a not always admirable democrat but a pivotal president, written with an agile prose that brings the Jackson saga to life. Finalists: Also nominated as finalists in this category were: “ Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt ,” by H.W. Brands ( Doubleday ), a richly textured and highly readable exploration of the inner Roosevelt , presented with analytical acuity and flashes of originality; and “ The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century ,” by Steve Coll ( The Penguin Press ), an epic tale extending far beyond Osama Bin Laden and the calamity of 9/11, rooted in meticulous research and written with ...

Skydog: The Duane Allman Story by Randy Poe Most people who know me know what a powerful influence Jimi Hendrix was in my life. He lead me down a wildly diverse but unique musical road. He also gave me some inspiration. I was a black kid who liked his music, he was a black man who played his music. Being an adventurous and slightly obsessive guitar fan I started to listen to rock radio and when I was a kid I heard “Rambling Man”, “Southbound” and “Jessica” on the radio all the time. I loved them because they had lots of guitar. As I read more and associated things…I thought Charlie Daniels was cool. I identified – quite bizarrely – with being Southern, and I mean redneck Southern. So, the Allman Brothers couldn’t be far off my radar. In college I was moving from a metalhead to a blues fanatic and again, the Allman Brothers were there. They were played on the same radio as Metallica and AC/DC and all the classic rock – guitar rock – I loved but they played blues songs and really ...

" School Days " by Stanley Clarke Took my iPod to lunch and right as I was leaving this classic tune popped up on my perptual shuffle setting. I love this song. When I was a kid first getting into Jimi Hendrix a family friend told my Mom that he was too white and I should listen to Stanley Clarke instead. My Mom bought the first two records, Stanley Clarke & School Days. I didn't know what to make of it. It wasn't what I wanted, first off, but it was interesting. I remember getting a very melancholy vibe from Stanley Clarke, especially "Lopsy Lu". I shelved them and delve deeper into Hendrix. When I got to college I took my records with me and I started listening to Stanley again. He's about as good as it gets.

Props to the Sewanee Tigers (with new coach Robert Black ) and Appalachian State. Sewanee, who usually doesn't field great teams won it's first game of the season as well as getting the SCAC player of the week . I have high hopes! Now, Appalachian State . What more can you say ?? We raced them when I was on the canoe team and for God's sake they are from the hills of NC . It was a great day for small colleges.

My glorious University made the top of yet another list. I have visited two of the other campuses mentioned and I did like what I saw. I was quite surprised that Wellesley didn't make the list. I thought it was beautiful. America's 20 Most Beautiful Campuses

Good luck to the Tigers and their new coach (my Sewanee classmate and childhood friend ), Robert Black . 2007 Sewanee Football Date Game Site September 1 Sewanee v. Westminster Sewanee September 15 Sewanee @ Colorado College * Colorado Springs, CO September 22 Sewanee vs. DePauw * Sewanee September 29 Sewanee @ Centre * Danville, KY October 6 Sewanee vs. Austin College * Sewanee October 13 Sewanee vs. Millsaps *! Sewanee October 20 Sewanee @ Trinity * San Antonio, TX November 3 Sewanee vs. Birmingham-Southern * Sewanee (Home Coming) November 10 Sewanee @ Rhodes * ...

Sewanee: The University of the South began a 10-month-long celebration of its sesquicentennial anniversary with a service of thanksgiving at Church of the Good Shepherd , Brentwood, Tenn., on Independence Day . The Living Church Foundation Technorati Tags: sewanee , university of the south , anniversary

During Taylor's brutal rule, US watched, waited . Now, specialists can only wonder if the United States could have forced Taylor from power sooner. "There could have been a much more robust role before we got to 2003", said Elwood Dunn, a political science professor at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., who is writing a book about relations between the United States and his native Liberia. Dr. Dunn was always nice to me. He is a gentle giant kind of guy and a genius from what I understand. I never took any classes from him but he was always supportive of me. Technorati Tags: politics , liberia , sewanee

Black on Campus 1970 — Nathaniel Owens becomes the first African American to graduate from Sewanee, The University of the South . Owens graduated with honors in English. Drafted right out of college by the Cincinnati Bengals , Owens decided to forgo a professional football career, choosing instead to enroll in Sewanee’s law school. Yea! Sewanee's Right. It took Sewanee awhile but when they got a Black grad, they GOT a Black grad Technorati Tags: sewanee , history , black america , football

It's 2007 and we're still noticing firsts. Congrats to Thelma, lets see if the College can follow soon. Thelma Monique Panton, a middler at Sewanee , the University of the South's School of Theology , is the first African American to be named student government president . Technorati Tags: sewanee , episcopal , african-american , black , religion

William Styron died ( NYT , you might have to subscribe) the other day. When I was a freshman at Sewanee I had a lot of trouble with writing (I blame this on my high school but that's another story). I had the same professor for both English 101 & 102 .She seemed convinced that I could write I just hadn't been given the skills. After the first couple or three writing assignments she had me in her office weekly were we would go over what I had done correctly and what I had done incorrectly. She was an extremely patient woman and I was a willing student, I mean, I never really thought about. The teacher says "come see me", you go, right? At Sewanee, English 101 was poetry + The Sound & The Fury by Faulkner ; English 102 was Shakespeare plays. My professor, whose name I can't remember, suggested we continue working together in ENG 102, our weekly meetings continued and improvements became apparent and consistent. By the end of the semester I was making B...

I didn't learn anything in Econ 101 . I spent more time making fun of the teacher's accent than anything. She, my teacher , is friends with the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner ! the Story