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[ PAWPRINTS ∙ ALUMNI AUTHORS ]

ALUMNI AUTHORS

James W. Johnson ’61, a retired journalism professor, is the author Michael Widener ’82 has published “Joint Tenancies: Property
of “The Black Bruins” (University of Nebraska Press). It chronicles Leasing in Cannabis Commerce” (ABA Book Publishing), an
the inspirational lives of five black athletes who faced racial analytical look at the landlord-tenant relationship in the marijuana
discrimination as teammates at UCLA in the late 1930s. They were industry. Widener has published two dozen articles in academic and
baseball immortal Jackie Robinson, NFL groundbreakers Kenny trade journals. He is an adjunct professor of law and of counsel at
Washington and Woody Strode, civic leader Ray Bartlett, and former Bonnett, Fairbourn, Friedman & Balint as well as a member of the
Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. Arizona State Liquor Board and a Zoning Adjustment hearing officer
for the City of Phoenix.
Malcolm Terence ’63, a former Daily Wildcat editor-in-chief, has
published the irreverent memoir “Beginner’s Luck: Dispatches Ronald R. Rodgers ’83 is the author of “The Struggle for the Soul
from the Klamath Mountains” (Oregon State University Press) of Journalism: The Pulpit Versus the Press, 1833-1923” (University of
about his trip from Los Angeles Times reporter to hippie activist. Missouri Press). The book examines religion’s historical influence
Amid Vietnam protests and racial unrest, he joined a commune, on the news ethic of journalism, including opposition to the Sunday
worked with Forest Service wildfire crews and Native tribes, planted newspaper, the attempt to create a Christian daily newspaper and
gardens, ate acorn pie, woke up in jail cells, and battled the use the pressure on the press to become a moral agent. The disruption
of herbicides in the forests. The memoir documents 1960s-70s of the news media today has provoked a similar search for a news
Bohemian life and his adventures with characters like Peter Coyote, ethic that reflects a new era, but, Rodgers argues, before we begin
the San Francisco Diggers and Tucson buddy Linda Ronstadt. to transform journalism’s present ethic, we need to understand its
foundation and formation in the past.
Paul Lubenkov ’74 is the author of “Tap Dancing on the Razor’s
Edge” (David Robert Books), a collection of poems that reflect a Amy Trueblood ’92 has published “Nothing But Sky” (North Star
dynamic tension between exuberant joy and exquisite pain — with Editions), a young adult historical fiction novel about teenage
a liberal dose of sardonic humor. In the headlong pursuit of love and wing-walker Grace Lafferty, who thrills crowds with barrel rolls and
redemption, the poems in this collection peel back the subliminal loop-the-loops in hopes of making enough money to get to the
layers of comfort surrounding the soul and wander between the 1922 World Aviation Expo. Trueblood graduated from the UA with a
darkness and the light with a sense of alacrity often bemused, degree in journalism and worked in entertainment in Los Angeles
sometimes ironic, frequently comedic and too often alarmed at before returning to work in Arizona. Fueled by good coffee and an
what they find. awesome Spotify playlist, Trueblood is often to be found blogging
and writing. “Nothing But Sky” is her first novel.

54 ARIZONA ALUMNI MAGAZINE