Trinh Cong Son and Bob Dylan: Essays on Songwriting, Love, War and Religion

John C. Schafer

In this accessible deep-dive into the careers of Trịnh Công Sơn and Bob Dylan, Schafer retells countless colorful stories from the two artists’ lives drawn from a wide range of Vietnamese and English-language sources. Trịnh Công Sơn and Bob Dylan evaluates the relationship between two of the 20th century’s most beloved and essential songwriters, in the process illuminating Vietnamese and American views on spirituality, romance, philosophy, identity, and conflict.

Readers will find English translations of Trịnh Công Sơn’s essays and lyrics by Cao Thị Như Quỳnh, many here in translation for the very first time.

Schafer critically examines the singers’ lifestyles, relationships, and public statements, meticulously collecting primary and secondary sources into a handy reader of 20th century global literary culture. Trịnh Công Sơn and Bob Dylan is an essential read for fans of Bob Dylan and Trịnh Công Sơn, and a substantive addition to the libraries of comparative literature scholars.

The Gray Bird Sings: The Extraordinary Life of Betty Kwan Chinn

Karen M. Price

“Touched by childhood tragedy, Betty Chinn brings hope to those who have fallen on hard times. Left homeless as a child in China, Chinn became mute. When she came to America, she found both her voice and her mission: aiding those without shelter on our own shores. ” -Barack Obama, awarding Betty the Presidential Citizens Medal

She’s the humanitarian compared to Mother Teresa, hailed as the “Hong Kong Angel,” and beloved by her community in Humboldt County. She miraculously survived the most vile brutalities to become a beacon for humanity and an inspiration for all. Meet Betty Kwan Chinn.

Acupuncture for Curious People: A Needle Healer's Manual

Kaz Wegmüller

Welcome to the art of needle healing! In this handy manual designed for the lay reader and seasoned healer alike, acupuncturist Kaz Wegmϋller presents his art in a format that is clear, concise, instructive, philosophical, and practical. In a field dominated equally by clinical jargon and metaphysical Orientalism, Kaz’s approach is refreshingly down-to-earth. He starts by expanding acupuncture’s usual definition to encompass “a unique way of engaging with the mystery of existence,” and goes on to guide the reader in an exploration of this ancient art that centers on touch, curiosity, sensitivity, and humanity.

Southwest Humboldt Hinterlands

Jerry Rohde

A history of southwest Humboldt County, covering the years from 1850 to 1964, illustrated with over 200 full-color historical photographs and maps. Includes accounts of the oil “boom” in Petrolia, the building of the Redwood Highway, and the race to protect the redwoods of the Bull Creek and Dyerville flats, stories about “sheriff” Ulysses S. Grant Myers, early- day environmentalist Laura Perrott Mahan, and Indian survivor George Burtt, and images, in words and pictures, of once-important but now nearly forgotten places such as Capetown, Dyerville, Briceland, and Bull Creek.

All of this and more will recall the rich history of the 24 places that make up this remote corner of the country.

Southeast Humboldt Hinterlands

Jerry Rohde

A history of southeast Humboldt County, covering the years from 1850 to 1964, illustrated with over 175 full-color historical photographs and maps. Includes stories about the sheep ranchers who gambled and drank their days away in Blocksburg, the rescue party that took “High Rock” Gordon across the snowy wastes of Showers Pass, and the shootout on the Bridgeville bridge. The book also includes accounts of the governors from Michigan who collected redwoods on the Van Duzen; the “second largest city in Humboldt County,” whose businesses failed to fill a single street; and the navy that removed the pepperwoods from Pepperwood.

From Iaqua to Harris, from Carlotta to Dinsmore, this historic work covers the 28 towns and places that make up this remote corner of the country.

Southern Humboldt Indians

Jerry Rohde

More than a century after they had spoken, these early day Indians will be heard. All of us who make Humboldt County our home deserve to have access to this information. We deserve to know the many, many names of the tribal groups that were once here and to learn the story of these groups. And we deserve to know the names of the Indian elders who transmitted these names and told these stories, just as we deserve to know the stories about the elders themselves.

Toyon: Seven Decades of Student Driven Publishing

Erika Andrews, Asha Galindo, and Sarah Godlin

This book is meant to capture the history and spirit of Toyon literary journal from its origin in 1954 to the future that surely will exist beyond these pages. The aim of this book is to inform future Toyon staffers of the unique history of the publication, to stress the importance of maintaining archives, and to provide insight into the inner workings of book/magazine production over the last 60+ years.

This book is also a place to tell the story of a student-run publication from the perspective of the student. We, Erika and Asha, are two former Toyon staff members who worked on issues 65 and 66, in the years of 2019 and 2020, respectively. We hope that these pages will entertain as well as educate—and that it truly honors the passionate and dynamic voices of the student editors, contributors, and volunteers that have published this magazine year after year.

We have striven to include many details and first-hand accounts and to properly interpret the information archived in the Humboldt State University library special collections. As with any archive, gaps remain in the history of Toyon that we’ve been able to access; for some periods we had very little information other than the finished magazine. In these instances, we worked hard to summarize what we could and fill in gaps using course catalogues and other materials from the archives to properly capture the era.

The History of Congressional Apportionment

Charles M. Biles

NEW REVISED SECOND EDITION.

The Congressional apportionment problem is deceptively easy to state: How many seats in the U. S. House of Representatives does each state get? To answer that question, Charles Biles, award-winning Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Humboldt State University, examines the math and politics that has shaped government and power from the founding of the country to the modern day.

Employing an interdisciplinary approach that stems from his research in mathematical modeling and the modeling of natural resource systems, Biles tells a flowing evolutionary tale of how slight changes in calculating apportionment has wrought massive shifts in political power and even decided presidents. Bile’s work adds another chapter to the rich story of American history and the people, politics, and debates that continuously shape the political system we have today.

This second edition includes a detailed account of the reapportionment based on the 2020 census, the impact of extreme partisanship, and an account of the precarious road ahead for the electoral college. This is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand the past and future of our representative democracy.

Migraciones de la sangre: Textos de escritoras latinoamericanas

Lilianet Brintrup Hertling and Gladys Ilarregui

Migraciones de la sangre Textos de escritoras latinoamericanas, permite que diez autoras Marjorie Agosín, Esther Andradi, Lilianet Brintrup Hertling, Carolina Depetris, Ana María Dolores Huerta Jaramillo, Gladys Ilarregui, Isabel Lipthay, Blanca López de Mariscal, Sandra Lorenzano y Nora Strejilevich, dibujen los trayectos de la sangre en múltiples escenarios: los cuerpos, la sexualidad, los migrantes, los sistemas culturales, sociales y políticos del presente y el pasado a través de un collage de estilos literarios. La sangre con su fuerza atraviesa archivos, viajes, memorias cotidianas, lugares de destierro y migración. Leer este libro es asomarse al hilo de sangre que dibuja y une emotivamente nuestra historicidad.

What Kind of Future Will Our Children Inherit?

Samuel P. Oliner and Ronnie Swartz

This book describes two sides to the future our children stand to inherit: the glass half full and the glass half empty of what has been the trajectory of the world, it seems, since the beginning of human history. The arc of human progress has at times taken major leaps forward; at other times it appears to have lain dormant, only to burst forth with a new energy at a later time. In this collection of writings, we have attempted to show both sides of the picture because to do otherwise would leave this endeavor incomplete. Depicting only the negative would lead one to think that there is nothing positive moving us forward; depicting only the positive would suggest that we have no further work to do.

What kind of future will our children inherit? It is a future like all futures—it contains both an evolution of our species towards a higher level of consciousness and a resistance to such change. This has been the balancing act throughout human history. It will be incumbent upon our children to make sure that the glass of the future is half full.

- Sam Oliner, Founder, Altruistic Behavior Institute

Humboldt Bay Shoreline, North Eureka to South Arcata: A History of Cultural Influences

Jerry Rohde

In 1850 the area east of Arcata Bay was a tapestry of wetlands and sloughs, fringed by conifer-clad hillsides. Canoe channels and trails connected a string of Wiyot villages that nearly encircled the bay.

Then white settlers arrived, establishing towns at Eureka and Union (Arcata). With them came profound changes in the landscape. Rock quarries. Log drives. “Reclaimed” ranchland. An airport. Four and a half railroads. In 170 years the area was transformed into a web of structures and infrastructures that connected what became the two largest cities in Humboldt County.

Recently a new period of change has begun, promising far greater effects. Global warming has created sea level rise, and Humboldt Bay will be the most severely affected area on the California coast. In response, elected officials, agency experts, and the general public need to make informed decisions about how to deal with the resultant rising water levels. We need to recognize that preparing for the bay’s future requires gaining knowledge of the bay’s past. This book will help start that process.

HSU Staff Cookbook 2020 - 2021

HSU Staff Council and Sulaina Banks

Recipes from the staff at Humboldt State University. These recipes were compiled during the 2020-2021 school year, and organized by the Humboldt State University Staff Council.

Ecopsychology Revisited

Jorge Conesa-Sevilla

Ecopsychology Revisited is a critique of and deconstructive approach to several trends termed “ecopsychology.” This work attempts to bring light to some of the misconceptions that have hardened as “ecopsychology,” as these ideas have been reinterpreted and sometimes oversimplified by the general public and some professionals outside mainstream psychology. Part of the confusion arose when “ecopsychology” became inadequately amalgamated with other ideas. Nevertheless, within the social and behavioral sciences, at least, there is great value in devising and applying evidence-based strategies that track the normative ramifications dealing with cognition, emotion and behavior, exploring how or why humans relate to natural processes in a wide range of ways.

Sewing Their Stories, Telling Their Lives: Embroidered Narratives from Chile to the World Stage (1969-2016)

Martha J. Manier

Embroidered narratives by women living in rural areas, shanty towns, inner cities, and refugee camps dominated markets during the last quarter of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st. Sewing Their Stories, Telling Their Lives traces the beginning of this artistic movement from three independent Chilean sources to other countries on five continents. Moreover, this richly illustrated book’s own story defines an art form without academic overlay or political agenda but from the artists’ own perspectives, recounted directly in interviews and at sewing tables around the globe.

For Martha J. Manier, Ph.D., who taught Spanish and Women’s Studies at Humboldt State University, stories have always been a prime interest, from the personal stories of family and friends, to medieval exempla, Spanish and American folktales, and, finally, the microcuentos and short stories of contemporary Latin America. Her translations of the latter have appeared in journals, anthologies, and bilingual editions. Currently, she is a research associate at the Museum of International Folk Art where she also volunteers as a textile cataloger.

Y.E.S.: 50 Years of Community Building

Erika Andrews and Amanda Ramirez-Sebree

Youth Educational Services (Y.E.S.) is more than just an easily acronymed program title. It’s a piece of Humboldt State University history. What started as an off-the-cuff idea has grown into a formidable force on campus and the community.

Y.E.S. provides community engagement programs for HSU students to volunteer in local school and community sites. Y.E.S. programs are student-initiated and student-led and directly serve local community needs. By creating a collaborative, inclusive and safe environment, Y.E.S. volunteers become active creators of their own learning.

Thousands of volunteers and community members have benefited from Y.E.S. programs. These are the threads that weave together the contributions of five decades of Y.E.S. community members, a quilt created by hands and hearts of all ages. This book honors all the voices and perspectives shared, and those yet to be shared, that together form the powerful legacy of Y.E.S.

American Prometheus: Carnegie's Captain, Bill Jones

Tom Gage

American Prometheus: Carnegie’s Captain, Bill Jones presents a compelling historical memoir of the illustrious life of rebellious steel genius and inventor, Captain Bill Jones.

Hero of the Civil War and Johnstown Flood, Captain Bill Jones built and supervised the Edgar Thomson Steel Works, which in its first five years advanced to the rank of the world’s most productive and profitable steel mill. His “hands-on, all over” style solved Carnegie’s production problems on the spot, enlisted baseball teams from the Works’ departments to defuse ethnic strife, promoted the eight-hour work day, and patented inventions, including the Jones Hot Metal mixer, which revolutionized the steelmaking industry, all while turning down Carnegie’s offers of partnership.

A deft blend of historical narrative and family memoir, this absorbing account of Jones’ dynamic life as a founding key figure in post-Civil War America’s Second Industrial Revolution and as a philanthropist in his own right, is told by none other than his great-grandson. Tom Gage moves beyond the role of biographer and storyteller to delve into research that traces Jones’ relationship to the steel magnate and explores the mysteries posed by family lore.

African Masks from the Collection of James Gaasch

James Gaasch

African Masks from the Collection of James Gaasch contains photographs of the African masks and carvers from the Bwa (or Bwaba), Winiama and Mossi peoples of Burkina Faso, and the Bamana and Dogon peoples of Mali. Gaasch acquired many of these masks in the villages where they were carved. When possible, he interviewed the village carvers, the creators, of these dancing masks. Gaasch’s interviews with the carvers underscore the cultural context where traditional African world views persist. And, to the extent possible, they give voice to the masks to reveal their own significance. “They are, in our times, signifiers of cultures increasingly under siege, hostage to religious fanaticism, or to impoverishing globalization,” Gaasch explains. “This small book reaffirms the rights of these masks to continue to dance.”

Võ Phiến and the Sadness of Exile

John C. Schafer

Võ Phiến and the Sadness of Exile describes the life and work of one of the most respected writers in the Vietnamese diaspora. A well-known writer in Vietnam before he sought refuge in the United States in 1975, Võ Phiến continued to write in the U.S. He published numerous stories and essays and edited a seven-volume collection of works written in South Vietnam from 1954 - 1975. In this first book-length study in English of a modern Vietnamese writer, Schafer introduces readers to an author who has much to teach us about war, revolution and exile in a strange land.