Ohio State University Press

    As the dreary weather continues, so does the search for good reading material. It is not usually found on the New York Times Best Seller List which, we have come to learn, does not contain books recommended by the NYT, but only those found in the various tabulations gathered by someone who works for the NYT. The best sellers are often not good, but they are popular, which also does not necessarily mean "good". As I type this on "Family Day", a holiday throughout much of Canada, it is interesting to note that Jennette McCurdy's, I'm Glad My Mom Died, is #4 on the "Non-Fiction" list. It may, or may not, be good, but apparently it is selling well. 

  About 12,000 books are published annually by University Presses, but they rarely appear on the lists in the NYT. An exception might have been, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, which was published by the University of Chicago Press and was at least somewhat popular and made into a film directed by Robert Redford and starring Brad Pitt. Given that you may not come across many university press catalogues, or pay much attention to the book ads in some high brow magazines, there may be 12,000 new books of which you are unaware. 

  It is to make you aware of potential sources for good books that I have provided short profiles of university presses over the past couple of years. I began way out on the west coast with the University of Washington and lately have focused on ones near by, ranging from the University of Minnesota to those even closer to Ontario: Penn State, Wayne State, Michigan State and the University of Michigan. I must soon begin including Canadian ones. 

  Today, the choice is from Columbus, Ohio. I should have mentioned earlier, and have done so in earlier posts, that not all university press books are unreadable and full of the jargon we civilians associate with those who reside on campuses. While many current university press publications deal with things like intersectionality and hyphenated identities, the older entries in the catalogues can be of interest and many of them can be read and enjoyed by people like us. 

   At the website of The Ohio State University Press, you can quickly learn about their publishing priorities. When I have posted about the university presses close by, I have indicated that there is often a regional focus which encompasses our area, where books of "local" interest are found. See, for example, Penn State's "Keystone Books" and Wayne State's, "Great Lakes Book Series." Books with a midwestern focus produced at Ohio State are found under the "Trillium" imprint, a floral emblem Ontarians will recognize.

   If you are especially interested in nature and the birds and fishes found close by Ontario, be sure to check the works of Milton Trautman. Although he didn't make it beyond Grade 8, he is renowned as an ornithologist and ichthyologist and wrote many articles of interest about the Bass Islands a little bit south of Pelee Island. His very big book about The Birds of Buckeye Lake can be downloaded for free, but his Birds of Western Lake Erie could cost you almost $300. For a long and interesting article about Trautman see: "The Last Naturalist: A Zoologist Happiest in the Fields and Streams of Ohio, Wrote Major Works About the State's Birds and Fishes," Parker Bauer, The American Scholar, April 21, 2022. 

OSU PRESS

"The Trillium imprint publishes books about Ohio and the Midwest in an effort to help the citizens of the state learn more about the unique history, the diverse culture, and the natural environment of the state of Ohio. Books published under this imprint will also help to fund our scholarly publishing program, and will aid in lowering the cost of the student textbooks we publish." 

The entire book can be read by clicking on this link. 

A Few More Buckeye Books

The United States of Ohio covers little-known facts about Ohio, such as how the state was the birthplace of both the National Football League and Major League Baseball and how it was Ohioans who led efforts toward racial integration in both sports. Readers will learn what makes the state a manufacturing and agricultural powerhouse—with both the largest tire company, Akron’s Goodyear, and the largest consumer products company, Cincinnati’s Procter & Gamble, based there. The state grows, processes, and builds on a level that far outpaces the size of its population or expanse of its borders. And it is the birthplace of many prominent US figures—from Thomas Edison to John Glenn to Neil Armstrong. From sports to a century’s worth of entertainment superstars to aviation and space exploration, Ohio’s best have made for America’s greatest stories—all captured here in a look at the Buckeye State and its impact on the other forty-nine.

“An exceptionally thorough history of white supremacy focused on Ohio but relevant nationwide. By analyzing supremacist influences on American history, from conquests of Native Americans to today’s alt right, the authors have created an eye-opening resource. Its accessible style will engage a broad readership.”—Deborah Levine, editor of American Diversity Report

“Falconry in Hawking Women touches on so many topics: the strange intimacies of memory training that bonded a bird with its handler, gender hierarchies, and especially the entangled freedom and constraint of poetics. Petrosillo’s rich practical knowledge of the sport illuminates a key component of medieval literature.” —Karl Steel, author of How to Make a Human: Animals and Violence in the Middle Ages.

The Bonus:

  

   University presses also often publish journals and one produced by OSU is: Inks: The Journal of the Comic Studies Society. 

For an article of local interest in this journal see: "Comics and Public History: The True Story of the 1934 Chatham Coloured All-Stars, " Dale Jacobs and Heidi LM Jacobs, in Vol.4, No.1, Spring 2020, p.101.

British Columbia or Sasquatchia?

 

Should The Name Be Changed? 

   

   At some point in the near future, the name of the province of British Columbia may be changed. Although right now a majority of the people who reside there do not want to change the name, those in the vocal minority are likely to make the call to do so and it will be done. 

   There are two major problems with the name: 1) the word "British" and 2) the word "Columbia".  They are both now noxious. 

    Don't worry. If the name changes and you miss the news, you will still be able to find the province. For example, if you google the "Queen Charlotte Islands" you will now automatically learn from the Wikipedia entry that this group of islands is known as "Haida Gwaii." I suppose future google searches will also find Galiano Island and Mount Garibaldi under their new names. And, for that matter, Prince Edward Island. 

   I was recently in British Columbia which is why I am bringing up again, the subject of "names." I wrote "again" because I think it is mostly mistaken to yield ground to the totalitarians of toponymy who would like to vacuum clean the map, and have said so. In short, remember the children's rhyme, "Sticks and stones.." For arguably more mature reasons see, Names on the Land, No More Name Changing or First They Came For the Names. For even more about both names and words now problematic see, This is NOT About Mariah Carey, where statues are also touched upon (the puzzling title is explained by the fact that it was conjured up on a new year's eve. I would change the title, but am not unhappy with the content. You will find in it, for example, a consideration of university names which are, or will be, under the microscopes yielded by the new linguistic puritans. Remember "Ryerson University?")

   More than enough said. You can decide for yourself and probably already have. Below are seven sources relating to the name "British Columbia." The last one is my favourite. Citations are provided in case the links rot. 

Sources:

“Renaming Places: How Canada is Reexamining the Map: The History Behind the Dundas Name Change and How Canadians are Reckoning With Place Name Changes Across the Country — From Streets to Provinces,” Robert Jago, Canadian Geographic, July 21, 2021. This is an interesting piece and in it one learns that in 1858, there was consideration given to the idea that an “Indian name should be sought out and adopted in a translated shape.” Columbus is thoroughly denigrated and the author asserts that: "The name British Columbia is unquestionably offensive in this or any era. The name was never meant as anything but a placeholder, disliked at its own inception; it became the name of the colony, and then the province, because time and distance prevented the founders from finding their preferred choice — an Indigenous name.”

“Should British Columbia Change Its Name? As We Reckon With History, Some Say It's Time,” CBC NEWS, AUG. 2, 2021

“There's been a national reckoning on place names and the people they're named after — and some say that conversation should include looking at the name of British Columbia, which is derived, in part, from Christopher Columbus.”

“Majority of British Columbians In New Survey Say No Way to B.C. Name Change

CBC News · Posted: Aug 31, 2021

Most B.C. residents don't want the name of their home province to be changed to reflect the area's Indigenous heritage, according to a survey created by Research Co. 

“A New Name For British Columbia? Here Are a Few Ideas,” Vancouver is Awesome, Jack Knox, Jan, 28, 2018. 

“First, let’s get real: Nobody is going to change the name of British Columbia. Good idea or bad, it isn’t going to happen. It’s an intriguing proposal to debate, though, as proven by the response to last Sunday’s column.”

It’s an intriguing proposal to debate, though, as proven by the response to last Sunday’s column. After we asked readers to submit alternative names, more than 300 poured in. Some were serious, some frivolous, some thoughtful, some racist, some anatomically challenging.

All were in response to an idea first advanced a decade ago by Victoria’s Ben Pires, who argues the province’s current name is neither historically accurate (direct British rule didn’t last that long) nor inclusive. Thinking about that perspective was the real point of the exercise.

“Rename British Columbia: The Province’s Name is the Shameful Holdover of a Colonial Past," Stephen Collis,  The Walrus, June 16, 2020.

“It Is Time to Rename British Columbia: Changing British Columbia’s Name is an Idea That Has Been Percolating for a While. A Notion That is not as Far Fetched as it Sounds or Without Precedent,” Jennifer Cole, Toronto Star, June 29, 2021.

“No, Don’t Change British Columbia’s Name,” Mark Milke, The ORCA, May 24, 2021.

This is a good article to read if you don’t think the name should be changed. The basic argument is presented briefly below, after which the author discusses slavery on the West Coast, that is, the practice of slavery in Indigenous societies.

“To wit, if the argument for changing British Columbia’s name rests on the notion of past colonial imperfection, that misses the big picture as well: Everyone’s ancestors fail by modern standards. And others, even out-of-step on some matters, had redeeming qualities on others.

But when ideologues look back, they see only extremes in black-and-white, and never the full spectrum of colour. They engage in cartoonish history.”

The Bonus: 

Forget about the politics and have fun. Read this fascinating book:

For more about the author, George R. Stewart, see: "George R. Stewart (1895 - 1980).