Alumni News

Tamara Wolff (MAW '05) was hired as a full-time English instructor at the College of Lake County starting in the fall semester of 2009. Tamara will be teaching composition classes at the Grayslake campus. Her concentration in the graduate program was in composition theory and pedagogy, and she taught at CLC as an adjunct after she finished her DePaul degree.

DePaul alum Lisa Reardon was recently promoted to Developmental Editor at Chicago Review Press and welcomes book proposals from DePaul faculty, alumni, and students. Founded in 1973, Chicago Review Press is an independent midsize publisher specializing in general nonfiction topics including music, film, social science, progressive politics, civil and human rights, feminism, popular science, how-to, travel, biography, and more. We also publish an award-winning line of nonfiction children's books. We do not publish strictly academic works, original fiction, poetry, inspirational, or self-help books. Contact llreardon@chicagoreviewpress.com or visit the website here.

Ann Swindell (MAW '08) is teaching as an adjunct professor of writing at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. She has started writing for Halogentv.com, scheduled to go live this fall.

Ira David Levy (MAW 1993) created and is now producing a new television series for PBS affiliates across the country. Pedal America is a new ongoing television series for Chicago PBS affiliate WYCC-TV20, produced by Levy's company, Out-Write Media. The show targets recreational cyclists and aims to create not just a following of viewers, but rather a viewing community that cares about health and the environment. Each 30-minute episode of the on-going series emphasizes health, bicycle safety, and preserving the environment while highlighting the icons, culture, and journey through North American locales that take pride in being bicycle-friendly. With attention paid to local bike paths, routes, and trails, Pedal America also aims to inspire the more than 160 million adult Americans who rode bicycles as children, many of whom now have kids of their own, to return to the basics and joy of cycling once again.

As the show's executive producer, writer, and host, Levy has assembled an Emmy-nominated-and-winning production crew through WYCC-TV, plus a production manager in Memphis from Clear Channel Communications. Levy expects to enter full production by spring/summer 2010. Kevin O'Connor, the host of PBS's long-running show "This Old House," has endorsed Levy's project. At least 24 PBS affiliates and state-wide networks across the U.S. have already agreed to air the series. Another 19 PBS affiliates have expressed interest once full episodes begin to air in Chicago. It will also be offered to Link-TV so the series can be viewed internationally.

You can visit the website, view the video trailer, and join Pedal Americaville for free at www.pedalamerica.tv or www.iradavidspedalamerica.com.