A mountaineer, scholar, and descendant of naturalist William Bartram, David Oates ’78PhD wrote Paradise Wild: Reimagining American Nature (Oregon State University Press, 2003) to explore the interaction of nature and culture. The book covers a range of topics, including debates over ancient forests in the Pacific Northwest, the environmental philosophies of Henry David Thoreau and Edward Abbey, and a passionate look at wildness, which Oates calls “the Eden in each moment and in each cell, that cannot be lost.”

Mary Margaret Britton Yearwood ’92T, has written In Their Hearts: Inspirational Alzheimer’s Stories (Trafford, 2003) about her experiences as a chaplain on a Special Care Alzheimer’s unit in Atlanta. “Alzheimer’s may steal your brain cells but it can’t steal your soul,” Yearwood says. “Who you are and what you believe never leaves.”

Jennifer Margulis ’99PhD has edited a collection of real-life parenting tales, including two of her own essays, about “those fickle, irrational, urgent, tiny people we love” called Toddler (Seal, 2003).

Billy Joe Cox ’54T has written a memoir, Growing Up White: Encounters Along the Road to Racial Justice (Harmony House, 2003), about his childhood in a segregated South and how his encounters with people of color during his life as a farmer, soldier, and minister convinced him of the dignity and equality of all races.

Robert G. Certain ’69C writes of his struggle to reconcile the horrors of combat and imprisonment in Vietnam with being an Air Force reserve chaplain and parish priest in Unchained Eagle: From Prisoner of War to Prisoner of Christ (ETC Publications, 2003).

Elliott Mackle ’77PhD is the author of It Takes Two (Alyson Publications, 2002), a double-murder mystery set in 1949 that captures the changing dynamics of race, sex, and politics during the Truman era. Mackle served four years as a squadron commander for the U.S. Air Force, ran a mess hall for pilots, and has been a dining critic for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Creative Loafing.

Donald D. Hook ’50C, professor emeritus of modern languages at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, has written Switching Churches: A Layman’s Guide to a New Commitment (Unlimited Publishing, 2002), in which he lays out steps to overcoming dissatisfaction with one’s religious affiliation, mixed with inspirational poems and prayers.

Gary Lee Kraut ’80C has written an insider’s guide to the City of Lights, Paris Revisited: The Guide for the Return Traveler (Words Travel International, 2003), which explores the monumental, the lesser-known, and the intimate sides of Paris and surrounding regions. A Francophile since his years at Emory when he majored in French, philosophy, and psychology, Kraut calls Paris–his home since 1988–“the world’s most revisitable city.”

Ren Davis ’73C and his wife, Helen, have written two guidebooks: Atlanta Walks: A Comprehensive Guide to Walking, Running, and Bicycling the Area’s Scenic and Historic Locales (Peachtree Publishers, 1993, fourth edition, 2003) and Georgia Walks: Discovery Hikes Through Georgia’s Natural and Human History (Peachtree Publishers, 2001), which includes a walk around Covington and Oxford.

Anne Ralston Davidson ’78Ox-’81C, using the pen name Sophia Moon, has written Journey to the Land of Angels (Protea Publishing, 2000) about overcoming her abusive childhood through travels around the globe, meeting “gentle, spiritual brothers and sisters” who helped her to heal.