LOCAL

LOCAL

‘Licensing Parents’ by former Salem man

SALEM — A former Salem resident, Michael T. McFall, Ph.D., is the author of a newly published book, “Licensing Parents: Family, State, and Child Maltreatment.”

McFall, a 1997 Salem High School graduate, is a postdoctoral teaching fellow in the Introduction to Humanities Dept. at Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. He is the son of Larry and Kaye McFall of Salem. McFall earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and political science from Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, where he was an Ashbrook Scholar. He earned his doctor of philosophy degree from Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.

McFall’s new book explores the balance of children’s and parents’ rights, and probes such questions as: How important is parental love in creating healthy morals?; does everyone have a right to be a parent?; and Should government have the right to prevent some people from bearing or raising children?

Main character in book is based on author’s life

In his book “Live, Love and Lawn Chairs,” author George Arnold Danes has found a fascinating way to tell his life story through the actions of the main character, David Arnold.

Born in Warren, Danes, who spent most of his years in Niles, headed west to clear his head when he became overwhelmed with thoughts of unemployment, the fear of becoming a bar fly and the responsibilities of fatherhood.

However, he found that no matter how many miles he traveled he could not escape his troubles. Realizing it was time to grow up and face the problems. he decided that returning home to Ohio was his only option.

Danes acknowledges that the story was written at a time when most everyone he knew was depressed, so he decided to create one character that could represent all those people and his own situation.

“Life, Love and Lawn Chairs” is available at PublishAmerica.com, Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com and Target.com.

‘Middlesex’ to be topic at Villa Maria club

VILLA MARIA, Pa. — Villa Maria Community Center will have its next monthly book club meeting from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The club meets the second Wednesday of each month on the grounds of Villa Maria Community Center in the Mother Madeline Room. There is no fee, but advanced registration is required.

The featured novel for this month is “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Book club members gather to review and discuss current fiction and related topics. Barbara Lenarcic, HM, will lead the sessions. Refreshments will be served.

For more information or to register, call (724) 964-8920, ext. 3283 or e-mail blenarcic@humilityofmary.org

COMING TO SHELVES

Obscure Tolkien book to be published in May

NEW YORK — An early, long-unpublished work by J.R.R. Tolkien is coming out.

“The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun,” a thorough reworking in verse of old Norse epics that predates Tolkien’s writing of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, will be published in May by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

According to Houghton, the book will include an introduction by Tolkien and notes by his son, Christopher Tolkien.

J.R.R. Tolkien, whose fantasy novels have sold millions of copies, died in 1973. “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun” was written in the 1920s and ’30s, when the author was teaching at Oxford University.

Combined dispatches