Alumni Authors Recently published works
Short by Cortright McMeel ’89 Described as Wall Street meets “The Office,” Cort McMeel’s debut novel features a cast of high-powered, Boston-based energy traders, inhabiting a world of intense stress and big money. Joe Gallagher is a gifted trader who—in jockeying to make bets in the face of an impending hurricane—finds himself caught between following the careful dictates of his old-school mentor and the high-stakes demands of his new boss, a ruthless industry maverick. The decisions he makes not only mean the difference between gaining or losing tens of millions of dollars in a single day; they will also portend either happiness or ruin in his life off the trading floor. Written in a clean, spare style— but with tactile descriptions and humorous, exacting dialogue—
Cort’s prose keeps pace with the fast-track trading world and his ambitious, larger-than-life characters. “Short does for the world of energy trading what ‘Mad Men’ has done for advertising,” says Sarah Bynum ’90, award-winning author and National Book Award finalist. “You’ll never turn on a light switch again without thinking of this exuberant novel and its unforgettable cast of swaggerers, schemers, and sad sacks.” Best-selling author James Carroll writes, “The shadow world of the market economy is cold and dark, but Cortright McMeel renders it with heat and light… Short nails the contemporary American condition— pathos and tragedy alike.” Cort has worked as a commodity broker and energy trader, and he was the founder and publisher of the acclaimed literary noir magazine Murdaland.
Ten Thousand Joys & Ten Thousand Sorrows: A Couple’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s by Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle ’55 Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle has endured the struggles of caring for a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s disease: her husband, Harrison “Hob,” was diagnosed at age 72. In Ten Thousand Joys & Ten Thousand Sorrows, Olivia chronicles the challenges, surprises, and “moments of grace” of their journey living with the disease. Rather than allowing the disease to consume and define this phase of their life, Olivia and Hob make the commitment to negotiate his illness consciously and lovingly, anchored in their Buddhist practices. In this intimate memoir, Hob—a former professor of comparative literature and an ordained Dharmacharya (senior meditation teacher)—is revealed as
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the funny and brilliant man who continues to amaze those around him with his startling insights about his diminishing mind. Olivia’s book is not only a compilation of anecdotes and personal reflections, but also a collection of teachings aimed to help others who are suffering from—or caring for someone with—dementia. Joan Borysenko, author and founder of Mind-Body Health Sciences, says that the book “is lyrically beautiful and timelessly poignant… We don’t always get to choose what happens in this life, but we can choose to grow in compassion and wisdom as a result. Olivia Hoblitzelle offers valuable, practical methods for doing so. Her suggestions ring clear and true because she knows the territory intimately, in all its pain and promise, and has given us the gift of sharing it.”