On Resilience: Stories of Climate Adaptation Across Washington’s Landscapes

Harriet Morgan, Lindsay Senechal, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Writing the Land Poets

2025

This anthology combines prose, poetry, and images exploring the ongoing impacts of climate change on Washington state’s ecosystems, including warming stream temperatures, shifting snowpack, and increased wildfire risk. Linda Russo, director of creative writing in the English department at WSU Pullman, and Julian Ankney, director of the Native American program at WSU Vancouver, contributed poems to the collection.

 

Life Along the Tracks: Candid Stories from a Career Railroader

Mike McLaughlin and Jim Providenza 

Basalt Books, WSU Press: 2025

His railroad obsession started as a kid. Mike McLaughlin was a regular stowaway in the 1950s, riding switch engines in Seattle, before embarking on a railroad career that spanned the United States. Before his death in 2012, he penned gritty personal accounts of life on maintenance and signal gangs, in bunk cars, and more. Jim Providenza, who has written extensively for specialty railroad publications, and Dave Clemens, who does hand-drawn maps, compiled his essays into a book.

 

Bennett’s Alphabet Adventures

Whitney (Little) Weigum ’21 MBA

Wonder Press: 2026

A first-time author, mom, Amazon employee, and West Seattle-ite penned a children’s book inspired by⁠—and starring⁠—her own young son with the aim of teaching 2- to 6-year-olds the ABCs. Whitney Weigum also illustrated the book, which is based on educational games they played together.

 

One Day Better: Mental Performance Concepts to Transform Your Game and Life

Jeff Troesch ’82 Busi., ’88 MA Ed.

80/20 Publishing: 2025

Jeff Troesch shares 150 mental skills he developed throughout his nearly 40-year career coaching elite and professional athletes in high-pressure sports. These include focusing during distracting situations, managing pressure when stakes feel high, building self-belief and confidence, coping with destructive self-talk, and handling emotions during training and competition.

 

Prison Vagabonds: The Role of American Prison Personnel in the Global War on Terrorism and Beyond

Mike Pannek ‘69 Anthro.

Book Publishing Group: 2026

Mike Pannek argues the corrections profession is one of the most difficult, most dangerous, and least appreciated occupations in the world. He describes programs designed to counter extremism in developing countries’ prisons as well as the nature of working in inhospitable locations, often amid war, to try to bring systemic change to overseas prisons that have long resisted modernization. His book includes anecdotes from and about prison personnel who have worked in developing nations worldwide.

 

The Self-Aware Interview: Essentials for Every Enneagram Type 

Carolyn Illman ’07 Comm.

Hire Possibilities Press: 2026

Carolyn Illman contends job seekers can’t script their way through a great interview. Drawing on more than 15 years of experience as a hiring leader, she argues great interviews are about self-awareness, not performance, and it’s imperative people understand why they say what they say. Using a framework of nine personality types, she helps readers understand how to prepare for an interview to actually reflect who they are and what they bring to a role.

 

Artifact: A Memoir

Michael Riley ’89 English

Purple Breeze Press: 2026

The son of an Arkansas businessman and a World War II survivor meet in Copenhagen, rush to marry, and travel the world from Europe and Asia to Oceania. Having children⁠—three boys and a girl⁠—slows them down a little as they pursue careers in academia. Michael Riley discusses the strangeness and familiarity of each new location as well as how individuals use hard work, resilience, and smarts to escape the chaos and find their own peace.