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Maine Lines
his way on his own, even at that age. Today, Joe is a successful
writer in several genres. I’ve sent him a copy of my book as well. I
hope he remembers me.”
According to Peter, his fictional story is based on the premise of
a virus that attacks the amygdala, an area of the brain that controls
reasoning and adaptive choice making. “There’s a whole system of
connections in the brain, called the mesolimbic system, that are
responsible for our emotional memories and responses. Our
behaviors come out of that. If those connections get disrupted or
lost, people can do very crazy things,” Peter explains. “It is not
beyond belief that certain medical conditions could produce
zombie-like behaviors. For example, there’s one called Kluver-Bucy
syndrome.“ It’s this taut balance between real science, imagination
and skillful story-telling that has brought Peter’s book some excellent
reviews. Besides the film work of George Romero, director of
Night of the Living Dead, Peter claims that his other major influence
was the television series, “The X-Files.” “I loved that show. I particularly
loved the Scully character. Here was a character who had to
take things that were beyond belief and rationalize them. I was
always surprised and dismayed that no writer had done more
with a character like that. So I did.”
The hero of Peter’s book is Benjamin Hawk, MD, a pathologist
who is described on the book jacket as “an unassuming, regular
guy who happens to cut up dead bodies for a living.” Hawk’s
involvement begins as a sort of joke when he gives a tongue-incheek
lecture on the neuropathology of zombies to a group of
medical students. Next thing he knows, he’s drafted by the government
and sent to a resort island to deal with an outbreak of
zombies at a luxury hotel. “The plot revolves around a scientist
trying to overcome his fears and using his knowledge to save the
world. Does he have the confidence to pull it off? You’ll have to
buy the book to find out,” Peter concludes.
The Neuropathology of Zombies is available from the UMaine
Bookstore’s Website, or from Amazon.com if you want an eBook
version. It is also available from Sinister Press.
From sports biographer to investigative journalist
How does a retired sportscaster find himself in the middle of
exposing a closely guarded secret left over from the Vietnam
conflict? According to Terry Tibbetts ’63, it happens when you go
the extra mile in your research. Terry’s new book, A Spartan Game,
reveals the story of Don Holleder, the quarterback of the 1955
UMaine authors with new books
Tackling Football:
A Woman’s Guide to
Understanding the College Game
By Sandra Caron ’79, ‘82G and
J. Michael Hodgson ’79, ’82G
Sandra Caron, UMaine professor of family
relations and human sexuality, and Mike
Hodgson, former UMaine tight end,
college coach and now UMaine’s assistant
athletic director for development, have
joined forces to help women football fans
get a greater appreciation of the game.
“I was your classic, ‘Oh the whistle
blew. I wonder what that means,’” Sandy
says. “From my experience, some women
football fans – and some men football fans
for that matter – are not well versed in the
intricacies of football. Most are avid spectators,
but some are not knowledgeable avid
football spectators. There are very few
resources that are as user-friendly and
colorfully appealing as our book,” Sandy
explains. “We designed the book for
women who are enthusiastic fans and want
to learn more about the game. Most books
are written for young boys wanting to play
the game. And they take the perspective of
someone who actually plays the game.
Ours is a more casual, visual approach
geared to women spectators.”
The book was conceived by Caron and
Hodgson back when they were UMaine
students. But the two went their separate
ways after graduation and nothing ever
came of the idea. The two met again at a
UMaine-UNH football game last year in
Orono. In the midst of reminiscing, the idea
of the football guide came up again, and
the two set to work on it. The book, with
illustrations by Val Ireland of UMaine’s
creative services department, is published
by Maine College Press. It is available at
the UMaine Bookstore’s Website, and as an
eBook on Amazon.com. The Website
www.tackling-football.com has more
details.
The Eat Local Cookbook:
Seasonal Recipes
from a Maine Farm
By Lisa Leclair Turner ’85
So what is a civil engineer doing writing a
cookbook? Lisa and her husband, Ralph,
own Laughing Stock Farm in Freeport,
Maine. Now in their 15th year of farming,
they farm 10 acres of certified organic
vegetables and herbs plus five greenhouses
they heat in the winter with used cooking
oil. In addition to supplying 18 Maine
12 MAINE Alumni Magazine