Now Reading: Alumni Bookshelf

By Jennifer Latson
 

Birds of the Texas Coast: Photographs
Photography by Ron Grimes; Text by B.C. Robison ’88
Texas Tech University Press, 2025

For abundance and variety of birds, the Texas coast is tough to top. More than 480 species have been reported in the region, from warblers to woodpeckers, hummingbirds to herons, along with the hot pink roseate spoonbill, the white-tailed hawk and the endangered Attwater’s prairie chicken. Conveniently located as a pit stop along migratory routes with a diversity of habitats, the Texas coast is uniquely positioned to welcome birds of all stripes. 

In “Birds of the Texas Coast,” photographer Ron Grimes and environmental writer B.C. Robison document more than 200 species that call Texas home for at least part of the year. It’s a celebration of the region’s iconic birds that acknowledges the grave danger these birds face from climate change, particularly as rising sea levels threaten the coastal habitats where they thrive. “Will the breathtaking diversity of today’s bird life dwindle to just a few resilient species?” Robison asks in the book’s introduction. “For today, let us enjoy, cherish and preserve our native birds as best we can.” 

Artisans and Designers: American Fashion Through Elizabeth and William Phelps
Rebecca Jumper Matheson ’97
Kent State University Press, 2025

William and Elizabeth Phelps didn’t start out with lofty ambitions of revolutionizing women’s fashion. Before they created a line of clothing and accessories, Elizabeth just wanted a wide leather belt — so her husband made her one. Similar belts became a hallmark of their business, Phelps Associates, which was active from the 1940s through the 1960s, as Rebecca Jumper Matheson reports in “Artisans and Designers.” The pair went on to design a range of offerings that happened to be revolutionary. 

“In their New York City workshop, the Phelpses created made-to-order belts as well as custom shoulder bags modeled on forms from American military history and adorned with Americana motifs, repurposed horse harness decorations, and other vintage metalwork,” writes Matheson, a fashion historian and an instructor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Both modern and historical, romantic and practical, the Phelpses’ designs helped define American fashion in the post-World War II era, setting trends and creating classic looks that have stood the test of time.

Net Values: Environmental, Economic, and Social Entanglements in the Gulf of California
Nicole D. Peterson ’97 
University of Arizona Press, 2025

Anthropologist Nicole D. Peterson has spent the past two decades immersed in the Mexican seaside community of Loreto. A small fishing village and the home of Loreto Bay National Park, Loreto has become a haven for tourists from around the world. But this influx of visitors, coupled with the effects of overfishing and the climate crisis, poses serious risks to the environment as well as to the livelihoods and traditions of the town’s residents. 

In “Net Values,” Peterson examines the competing and overlapping agendas of various stakeholders in Loreto — among them commercial fishers, environmentalists, national park staff, government officials and entrepreneurs in the tourist trade. “My naive belief … was that the fishers were unaware of the impact they had on the marine areas where they worked. But the more I talked with Don Javier and the other members of his community, the more I realized that awareness of their impact was not the only barrier to better care of the marine area, and in many cases, the fishers were fully aware of the impact fishing had,” she writes. Untangling various stakeholder perspectives and motivations, Peterson demonstrates how misunderstanding and oversimplifying each other’s values exacerbates these issues.

Running in Borrowed Shoes: Thane Baker and the 1952 Summer Games
Catherine Baker Nicholson ’81
TCU Press, 2024

Thane Baker was already dreaming of the Olympics when, at age 14, he suffered a work injury that left a shard of metal wedged under his kneecap so deeply that a surgeon was unable to remove it — and told him he’d have to give up running forever. Two years later, however, Baker got back into the sport and went on to run track at Kansas State University before earning a spot on the 1952 U.S. Olympic track and field team. Having never owned running shoes, he won a silver medal in the 200-meter dash wearing the preworn leather shoes he had been issued when he joined the Kansas State team.

In “Running in Borrowed Shoes,” Baker’s daughter, Catherine Baker Nicholson, recounts his experience at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. The experience shaped Baker’s life, and he never gave up on running. At the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, he earned gold, silver and bronze medals. In his 40s, he returned to the sport to compete in a “masters” division, earning world records for his age group in the 100 and 200 meters. Now the oldest living U.S. Olympic medalist in track, Baker has inspired countless other runners — including Nicholson, a national champion in the 800 meters. 

From the Winter 2026 issue of Rice Magazine