An author's Cinderella story

Published in the May 14, 2008, Issue

From self-published to 'really' published

Two years ago, Ann Herendeen ’77 was featured in a PAW story about alumni authors who had decided to self-publish books. Herendeen marketed her novel, Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander, with advertisements and press releases, but she told PAW that she did not have the "thick skin" required to sell books through those channels. As it turns out, she didn't need it.
A year-and-a-half after releasing her book, Herendeen received an e-mail from an editor at HarperCollins asking if the rights were available. Before long, she had a contract and a small advance. The newly packaged book â a romantic comedy about a rich gay gentleman, his wife, and his lover, set in early 19th-century England â was published in April to positive reviews. Library Journal called it "a brilliant exploration of love, sexuality, class, and gender, but above all, it is a wonderful love story."
Going from self-published author to "really published," Herendeen says, "feels like being Cinderella after her first visit from her fairy godmother. Now I get to go to the ball!" By Katherine Federici Greenwood

Names in the news

Alumnus Robert Caro ’57 and professors Paul Muldoon and Kwame Anthony Appiah will be among the eight scholars and artists inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters May 21. ... Boston Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino ’67 will deliver the commencement address at Boston University May 18. ... Forbes profiled Thomas Wu ’94, a managing director of Hopewell Holdings in Hong Kong and son of Gordon Wu ’58. While Wu admitted that he has much to prove, in part because of his famous father, the magazine said he deserves credit for aiding Hopewell Holdings' recent turnaround.
The Sun-Times asked prominent women in Chicago what they would change if they ran the city. Ariel Capital president Mellody Hobson ’91 suggested adding a "financial literacy" program to the curriculum in public schools. ... In the May 12 New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell highlighted the work of technology innovator and sometimes dinosaur-bone hunter Nathan Myhrvold *83. ... The Washington Post marked the passing of Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Warner ’43. Warner's first career was in the Foreign Service, but he became better-known for his writing, beginning in 1977 when the first of his four books, Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay, won the Pulitzer for nonfiction.

PAW on the ’Tube

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpNGw71pYfk&hl=en&rel=0]
PAW's online coverage of Reunions 2007 captured these scenes from the P-rade as well as other campus events that can be viewed at PAW's YouTube channel (youtube.com/PAWstaff) or on PAW's Web site. The YouTube channel also features archived PAW videos of the November 2006 bonfire, classic bonfires from 1926 and 1948, and coverage of Reunions 2006.
Other Princeton-related YouTube videos worth a look include footage of today's students playing intramural dodgeball and broomball, a brief clip of a 2007 University Orchestra concert in Budapest, the Princeton University Band's irreverent recruiting video, and a mid-1960s selection from I've Got a Secret with Steve Allen, featuring a classic Triangle Club kickline.