~ Listings of books written by Silliman University alumni and friends ~ |
RUBY AGNIR LAUNCHES BOOK OF POEMS
On August 24, 2007 at 2 PM, Ruby Agnir launched Prisms, the complete collection of her poems. Ruby graduated from Silliman University High School in 1953 and obtained her masters in literature from the university in 1971.
Two copies of Prisms are in the Library of Congress which gave it the copyright registration number of TX 6-423-984.
The launching took place in Silliman during the Founders Day celebration and was sponsored by the Dept. of English and Literature. The event took place at the End House, the former Faurot home, which is now used as a venue for short arts-related programs.
PRISMS is a record in verse of Ruby's growing up from teenage awkwardness to adulthood dexterity, or even elegance. It spans about 50 years of growth, both personal and creative. It was originally called "Chansons Tristes," the French phrase for "sad songs," from Shelley's "Ode to a Skylark," in which he wrote "Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought."
There are youthful unhappy love songs, as well as sad ones written during the poet's middle age which allude to relationships with children, spouse, colleagues, etc. There are also sad verses centering on social issues, such as the suicide of a young boy who was abandoned by his parents. He was incarcerated when he was caught stealing in his effort to survive. Scared of being killed in prison, he took his own life.
Another poem, "To Rachel, Weeping," is about the tragedy of 9/11, the razing of the twin towers in New York by kamikaze terrorists. The poem mirrors the poet's horror at the ruthlessness of the precipitators and senselessness of the incident.
There are poems about death, a couple of poems for Christmas, poems about the awesomeness of God's creation, and poems that have been set to music by husband Federico .
PRISMS has received laudatory comments given by a few who have read some of the poems. One described them as "exquisitely lyrical." Another person, who had read a poem about the winter season, wrote, "I would venture to say your style is a cross between Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, New Englanders like you who perhaps unconsciously have invaded your mind and made their influence felt in your poem 'Winterscape.' The meaning or symbolism in 'Winterscape,' however, is original. Here, Shelley's odes are reflected in the simple imagery of Frost with the succinct, direct language of Dickinson."
Suffice it to say, Ruby's poems are evocative, as poetry must be. They evoke in the reader an intense emotion, whether disillusionment, sorrow, or joy.
At the book-launching, Ruby gave a lecture-recital on PRISMS, expressing her ideas about poetry and reading excerpts of her poems to illustrate these ideas. She also performed two of the songs she wrote, accompanied at the piano by her husband.
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CLOUDS BY DAY AND FIRE BY NIGHT (The Silliman Story)
by Lauby, Udarbe and Lauby In 1901, on the heels of the American victory in the Spanish American War and subsequent takeover of former Spanish colonies, American Presbyterian missionaries established in the Philippines the Silliman Institute, which eventually became Silliman University. Today, Silliman is acknowledged as one of the leading Christian schools in Asia and arguably the top evangelical institution of higher education in the Philippines. Silliman's graduates are spread all over the world bringing with them the Silliman spirit of honesty, integrity and professional competence that is forged from their combined tradition of Christian upbringing and Western educational influence This book was written as a tribute to Dr. Paul T. Lauby who started writing this "story of a very successful Philippine-American partnership in education in the past century." He wrote the first three chapters and then after his death in May 2003, the project was continued by his daughter, Dr. Jennifer L. Lauby and by Dr. Proceso Udarbe, who wrote seven of the remaining eight chapters. The book was launched at Silliman University on August 26, 2006. About the Authors PAUL T. LAUBY earned degrees from Pasadena College (B.A.), Berkeley Baptist Seminary (B.D. and Th.M) and the University of Souithern California (Ph.D.). After ordination in the UNited Church of Christ. Dr. Lauby and his wife, Edna, went to the Philippines, where he became a missionary educator at Sillimian University, Dumaguete City. For 16 years the Laubys remained at Silliman. where Paul Lauby served first as professor of ethics and sociology in the Divinity School, of which he became dean in 1961, the University pastor and later as the university's vice president for academic affairs. Dr. Lauby joined the United Board staff in 1969 as executive secretary and for the next 20 years led the United Board in broadening its scope from supporting seven Asian colleges to working with nearly 100 Asian institutions in nine countries. PROCESO U. UDARBE who holds B.Th and B.A. degrees from Silliman University and Central Methodist University, graduate degrees from Union Seminary In New York (M.Div and S.T.M.) from Harvard University (Ed.M), and from San Francisco Seminary (Th.D) has served Silliman for more than 50 years. Professor, later first Filipino dean of the seminary, first Filipino VPAA, Acting President during the first two years of Martial law and the longest serving University PIastor (1986-89) JENNIFER L. LAUBY finished her elementary and high school education at Silliman. She completed her college degree at Rutgers University in New Jersey and has an M.A. in Sociology from the University of the Philippines and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Harvard University. She has served on the faculty of De La Salle University in Manila and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. Currently she is Senior Research Associate at Philadelphia Health Management Corporation, where she conducts research on HIV prevention. Silliman University Press Copyright 2006 ISBN: 078-971-8530-15-3 (Softbound) ISBN: 978-971-8530-16-0 (Hardbouind) To obtain a copy of the softbound book: 1. By postal mail: Make out a check to SUACONA for $14.99 and mail together with your shipping address to: The Rev. Dr. Federico I. Agnir 6119 Weatherwood Circle Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 2. Ordering online: Click the Suacona Mart link on the left side of this page and follow instructions. Inquiries: agnir@juno.com |
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DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN THE THIRD WORLD: Myths, Hopes and Realities By Kenneth E. Bauzon This book is a compilation of works by 19 distinguished scholars including the editor who represent a wide variety of academic disciplines and come from several countries. The contributors challenge much of the conventional literature regarding democratization of the About the author Kenneth E. Bauzon, Ph.D., is currently an associate professor of Political Science at
ISBN 0-8448-1723-6 Taylor & Francis To order the book, log on to orders@taylorandfrancis.com |
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LIBERALISM AND THE QUEST FOR ISLAMIC IDENTITY IN THE PHILIPPINES
By Kenneth Bauzon
The book reveals how Muslims in the Philippines think and act with reference to a conceptual system that possesses an elaborate ontological doctrine as well as the time-honored system of values. Dr. Bauzon explains how the forces opposing Muslim aspirations, namely, Philippine government officials and other non-Muslim elites in the country think within a parallel but different cultural framework when dealing with Muslims. Whereas for Muslims, the religious motif predominates in practically every detail of their lives, the former are influenced by Western secular values or at least by alternative religious values if not sheer religious prejudice. Muslims are motivated by a commitment to enhance the Islamic religious community (ummah) as a social institution. This explains how Muslims came to view the values of colonial officials as well as those of Christian Filipinos as foreign or intrusive. For Muslims, the defense of their community encompassed not only a defense of family, home, and land but also of other traditional elements of common law and political life which, although pre-Islamic in origin, had come to be intimately associated with their understanding of Islam. Dr. Bauzon's analysis also serves as a framework for understanding other Muslim secessionist and nationalist movement currently happening elsewhere in the world. "Dr. Kenneth E. Bauzon’s distinctive contribution in this volume lies in the fact that it is the first comprehensive treatment of the role of Islam as a conceptual system explaining the Philippine Islamic movement. Cesar Adib Majul
Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Islamic Philosophy University of the Philippines
"The theoretical basis for Muslim separatism in the Philippines, combined with the programs of action, external support and domestic instability, presents a congruence of circumstances unique in the whole Muslim world."
Ralph Braibanti
James B. Duke Professor of Political Science
Duke University
King Faisal Distinguished International Lecturer
American Arab Affairs Council
"A major contribution. I am impressed by the thoroughness in use of sources as well as by Bauzon’s insight. A competent scholarly volume which will help bring understanding to a vexing problem."
Chester L. Hunt
Professor Emeritus of Sociology
Western Michigan University
"Bauzon draws attention to the inadequacy of a positivist viewpoint as a 'paradigmatic analysis’ of nationality formation problems in the Philippines. The new analytical tool of research is in itself a major contribution to Philippine scholarship, specifically in assessing the relevance of Islam to nation-building."
Michael O. Mastura
Former Deputy Minister,Ministry of Muslim Affairs
Government of the Philippines
The Acorn Press
P.O. Box 3297 Durham, North Carolina 27715-3279
Phone: 919.471.3842 Fax: 919.477.2622 ISBN O-89386-028-X Copyright 1991, 219 pages |
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A COUNTRY OF OUR OWN: Partitioning the Philippines
By David Martinez In this controversial book, the author describes the Philippines as a failed state. The country in his eyes comprises five disaparate regions ("nations"): Cordillera, Luzon, The Visayas, Mindanao, and Bangsamoro. He proposes holding legally binding referenda in each of these places to determine whether those who live there wish to remain inside the Philippines or form their own independent countries. With the scheduled referenda over the proposed "peaceful partition of the Philippines"scheduled for May 2007 just months away, this book is an excellent resource for all Filipinos who wish to understand why their country continues to be deeply mired in stagnation while increasingly losing its place of esteem in the international community. About the Author
Born in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental to Celerino Pinili Martinez, a lawyer, and Carmen Enaje Cabello, a teacher, the author is the fourth of seven children. His siblings are Amelita [Garrovillo]; Beatriz [Erum]; Carmita [Remollo]; Elsa [Coscolluela]; Francisco; and Gerardo. All live in Dumaguete except for Elsa, who resides in Bacolod. His parents and sister Beatriz are deceased. His Silliman University Law School record of best debater medals against the leading universities of Xavier (Leyte], San Jose [Cebu], San Carlos [Cebu], San Beda (Manila], and Ateneo [Manila] remains unbroken.
Passing the bar in 1970 he practiced and taught law until his arrest and detention upon the imposition of martial law in September 1972. He fled the country six weeks later and was resettled with his family by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR.)
His short stories, essays, and poetry have appeared, among other publications, in the Weekly Graphic and in the Philippines Free Press. In 1997, the first and only time that he joined the competition, he won first prize in short story [The Amulet] and second prize in poetry [Shadow on the Sun] in the Philippines’ highly prestigious Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.
The author is married to the former Rosalind Ferraren Edrial. They have three children: Dave, Doug, and Dianne. All live in southern California.
A partial list of reviews:
"The best writing on the Philippines I've read in a long time."
Michael Ashkenazi, Ph.D.
Regents College, London
"Meticulously researched, coherently crafted, and passionately argued, A Country of Our Own is a must-read for historians, political scientists, educators, students, and especially the power-wielders and policy-makers of our central government, who often ignore or subvert the inherent right of our captive nations to 'rule their own houses.' Even those who may disagree with the author's major thrust will find his illuminating and unconventional perspective supremely challenging. I have yet to read a book on the Philippines more scholarly, compelling, and deeply moving."
Carmen Miraflor
Stanford University, California
In the twilight of the 1800s, Jose Protacio Rizal's novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo awakened our people to the evils of Spanish colonization. At the dawn of this millennium, David C. Martinez's long-awaited book takes deadly aim at the same target, except that this time, it is Imperial Manila's internal colonization, whose litany of abuses, deceptions, and "treason" Martinez unmasks with scrupulous documentation and analyzes with lucid logic.
Nilo A. Sarmiento
Formerly an ordained member of the Society of Jesus
If this book makes you weep, well and good. If it makes you angry, that's even better. Partitioning the Philippines, to most of us, will be an extremely bitter pill, but Martinez makes the compelling case that the alternatives, "anarchy or authoritarianism," are lethal. Never have our choices been more lucidly laid out. Never has the call for a return to our indigenous roots, strengths, and values been more fervently argued. This is a captivating, inspired, and disarmingly forthright book --- nothing short of a political masterpiece.
Orly Candari
Chairman, Alliance for Separate and Independent Nations Philippines
Bisaya Books
Los Angeles California
Copyright 2004, 514 pages
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WHITE REDLING
(a novel)
by N.C. Layumas Two Caucasian half-breed buddies find themselves in the maelstrom of underground activism in Silliman University in the Philippines. Archie is a diehard Communist and David, an artist, harbors doubts about the political movement. After the rebel group's messy assassination of a general, David decides to bolt the movement and escapes to Mindanao. High in a mountain plantation, enigmatic American millionaire Van Custer gives him sanctuary. As Archie hunts him down, David, with the help of an American nurse, finds spiritual enlightenment in his Shangri-La. With death and decay in the country, will David and Archie attain their
childhood dreams?
About the author It was no accident that N.C. "Bong" Layumas wrote a novel; it just came late. Since childhood, he has loved words - his mother taught him how to read at the age of three, when he would squat before Carnation milk cartons reading the box labels. By grade school, he had read through the 20-volume The American Educator, an inventory write-off item from his parents' failed bookstore, the first in their hometown San Carlos, on Negros island where he grew up. He graduated valedictorian in both elementary and high schools.
In college at Silliman University, he decided to live it up and dove into extracurricular activities. He bagged the editorsilip of The Weekly Sillimanian, was elected vice president of the Student Governmerit, and garnered a silver medal in a campus-wide oratorical contest. On the side, he was elected grand archon of Gamma Phi Fraternity and outside the campus walls was elected chairman of the Eastern Visayas College Editors Guild, a regional group of campus editors. The Weekly Sillimanian later hosted the 10th annual congress of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines where he gave the keynote address.
After graduation from college, he was hired as founding editor of MICC Sarimanok, a corporate newsletter in Mindanao. Feeling uncomfortable with the war there he went north to Manila where he landed a job as research and promotions chief of the then 12-station Radio Mindanao Network. After six years, he decided to go back to the print media, this time as associate editor and columnist of Sun*Star Daily in Cebu, the Philippines’ second largest metropolis. There, among his varied activities, he was invited to speak before the Rotary Club on a theme he had always written about: a clean government and a progressive Philippines. In 1987, he again went north and got hired as consultant with the office of Deputy Speaker Tony Cuenco at the House of Representatives. In 1990 he came to the States and has worked and lived since in Los Angeles, California.
He is married to Raylene Comoda and they have two children, Free and Cherish.
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CULTURE CLASH: THE AMERICANIZED TEENAGERS Implications for Parenting, Teaching and Mentoring
by Lutie O. Lee When immigrant parents send their kids to school, they don’t expect them to come home and rebel against every aspect of their ethnic culture, but that is exactly what American schools are doing to first-generation immigrant youth.
Former newspaper columnist and public school teacher Lutie O. Lee has been helping families cope with their Americanized youth for years, and now she has written the only book to deal directly with the issue of raising an Americanized child. Culture Clash is a firsthand account of how the tension and conflict at home is caused by daily pressures at school and from American peers. Culture Clash provides a better way of dealing with those pressures and helps families communicate.
The number one lesson, Lutie says, is “open” communication between parents and teens.
“Refreshingly written! Lutie Lee presents all teachers—not just religious educators—with ways to understand their students of Filipino descent.” —Erick Mata, M.A., President of the
Filipino American Educators Association, Inc. (LA) and Principal
“Lutie Lee’s wisdom and understanding of the cultural conflicts that immigrants face in their adopted country bring incredible awareness and clarity to the real situation all immigrants face in everyday life.” —Sheilachu P. Gomez, Ph.D., Gainsville, FL
“Lutie Lee provides a fresh perspective and understanding of teenagers who are caught in the crossfire of two conflicting cultures. Most importantly, this inspiring book addresses the issues of prejudice and misunderstanding between people of different religious traditions and cultures.” —Rev. Jolene Cadenbach, Arcadia Congregational Church, Arcadia, CA
About the Author Lutie O. Lee is a former columnist for the Asian Times and also helps immigrant families cope with divergent cultures. Her first book, Teaching Cultural Diversity through Children’s Literature, is used in teacher training programs in the Philippines and other countries in Asia. A B.S.E. graduate of Silliman University, Lutie holds two Masters Degrees in Bicultural Development and Religious Education. She lives in Corona, CA.
E-mail: valorcirclebooks@yahoo.com
Parenting & Family
ISBN: 0-9786196-0-9
$19.95 Ms. Lee's book was launched on June 10 and 11, 2006 in Carson California as part of the Tambayayong Festival 2006. (Click the link for a poster about the event) |
