Class Notes: 1990
Jonathan Schroeder, M.A. ’87, Ph.D. ’90, has published the third book in a trilogy on vinyl records and the stories they tell about cultural history. Designed for Success: Better Living with Midcentury Instructional Records, published by MIT Press with co-author Janet Borgerson, shows how instructional records tap into a distinctly U.S. belief in self-transformation, touted through transcendentalist notions of aspirational striving and human development. Alterations of the body, modification of behavior, transformation of the mind all are possible with the help of albums such as Keep Fit | Be Happy, On Wine: How to Select & Serve, and Better Golf through Hypnosis. The book marks the first comprehensive celebration of instructional records, with 125 full-color images of album covers from the 1950s and 1960s that will entertain, inform, and inspire. Many of the records featured in the book were sourced at legendary Berkeley record stores like Amoeba, Rasputin, and Asta’s. Makes a great gift! https://www.borgersonschroeder.com/
Colleen Hofstadter Hlavac completed her debut mystery novel, The Stalker in the Desert, during the pandemic. The novel has become an international seller, achieving sales in seventeen countries. Colleen’s next mystery novel, Liquid Deceptions, is scheduled to launch this summer.
For more information, please visit www.Colleenhlavac.com or @colleenhofstadterhlavac on Instagram.
Donna M. Binkiewicz, who teaches at California State University, Long Beach, has recently published Between the Sea and Sky: The Saga of My Portuguese American Family in Upcountry Maui, 1881-1941, which is available on Amazon. The book follows an immigrant family from the Azores Islands to Maui, Hawaii, and covers three generations up to the beginning of World War II, blending historical research and creative non-fiction writing to bind the individual stories to the broad historical context. It brings to life the details of Portuguese immigration and community development on Maui, labor and social mobility, religious institutions, gender issues, and political involvement. Jonathan Schroeder, M.A. ’87, Ph.D. ’90, currently the William A. Kern Professor of Communications at Rochester Institute of Technology, has published Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance (MIT Press, 2021), written with Janet Borgerson. A visually compelling collection of vintage dance record covers from the golden age of album cover design, the book discusses their neglected contribution to the story of American identity. These records offer lessons about race and dance-floor relationships, Cold War politics, fashion and entertainment—and how to throw a great dance party. See designedfordancing.net.
Class Secretary: Althea Kippes, PO Box 2807, San Francisco 94126, atkippes@alumni.haas.org
Colleen Hofstadter Hlavac completed her debut mystery novel, The Stalker in the Desert, in November 2021. The novel has become an international seller, achieving sales in seventeen countries. Colleen’s next novel, Liquid Deceptions, is hitting shelves this summer. For more information, visit colleenhlavac.com.
Class Secretary: Althea Kippes, atkippes@alumni.haas.org