Spring 2011
Gallery: John Elwood with canjos and other instruments in his studio
Photos Zach Mazur
Read more at “Canjo”.
WSM Spring 2011
Spring 2011
Gallery: Vietnamese food
Photos of Vietnamese food from Kim Fay’s book Communion: A Culinary Journey through Vietnam.
(All photos Julie Fay Ashborn)
Read more at “Kim Fay ’88 — Communion: A Culinary Journey through Vietnam.”
Spring 2011
Gallery: Artworks by Worth D. Griffin
Sketches and watercolors, including a portrait of student and colleague Clyfford Still, courtesy the Fitzsimmons family
Gallery: Paintings of Washington pioneers by Worth D. Griffin (Courtesy Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU)
Read more at “An art history.” (Washington State Magazine Spring 2011)
Spring 2011
Gallery: Paintings of Washington pioneers by Worth D. Griffin
Gallery: Artworks by Worth Griffin (Sketches and watercolors, including a portrait of student and colleague Clyfford Still, courtesy the Fitzsimmons family)
Read more at “An art history.” (Washington State Magazine Spring 2011)
Spring 2011
HaiCoug
A haiku contest with a WSU theme
Winners of the 2011 contest!
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the first Washington State Magazine HaiCoug contest, featuring haiku poems with a WSU theme. After reviewing almost 100 entries, we chose first, second, and third place HaiCougs based on how they evoked the WSU experience, followed the haiku structure, and presented a clever or thought provoking twist.
First place goes to Susan Picatti ’74 from Seattle. She wins a gift package from the Bookie.
Two day old Evie
In Dad’s arms; Cougs beat Huskies
The perfect first game.
The second place winner, Susy (Roark) … » More …
Spring 2011
Video: How to clean a crab
Jim Haguewood demonstrates how to clean a crab. Haguewood, a 1981 graduate of Washington State University’s hotel and restaurant management programs, has been eating and cleaning crab for as long as he can remember. His family owned the Haguewoods Restaurant in Port Angeles, Washington, for 58 years.
He is a former director of the Clallam County Economic Development Council and works with the Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival in Port Angeles.
Jim says his favorite way to eat Dungeness crab is the simplest: cooked in salted water and then chilled.
Spring 2011
Video: Finding the right note
“The heartbeat is the basis of rhythm.”
For 40 years, Washington State University alumnus John Elwood has followed that beat to create music and instruments.
Making something from nothing, to share with others, is his delight, he said. He carves wood into a variety of instruments. He also makes “canjos”—a take-off of a banjo made from string, a solid wood neck and a can. The can from Cougar Gold—a cheese made at the WSU Pullman creamery—is a local favorite.
To learn more about Elwood, his music and the canjo, watch the video:
… » More …
Spring 2011
Video: Nicole Braux Taflinger narrates a slideshow of her photos from Occupied France in WWII
Nicole Braux Taflinger was only 13 when the Germans invaded France in 1940. She has published a memoir of her time growing up in Nancy, Lorraine, called Season of Suffering: Coming of Age in Occupied France, published by Washington State University Press in 2010. In it she recalls the severe shortages, collaboration, disappearances, and despair and hope of a teenage girl. After Nancy was liberated, Nicole met a dashing young American airman named Ancel Taflinger, General Patton’s personal pilot. They married and eventually settled in Pullman, Washington.
In this narrated slideshow, Nicole talks about some of her photos and her youth.
Spring 2011
Video: Canjo – John Elwood plays the Cougar fight song, “Shortnin’ Bread,” and his dulcimer
John Elwood, a maker of fine musical instruments and a 2001 graduate of Washington State University, crafts banjos from WSU cheese cans (like the iconic Cougar Gold).
Watch John play his “canjo” below and read more about his work.
Cougar fight song played on the canjo:
“Shortnin’ bread” played on the canjo (listen for the lyrical twist):
In addition to canjos, John plays folk music and creates whimsical and beautiful instruments like the goblin dulcimer in the … » More …
Spring 2011
True to his school long after graduating
Robert Williams ’79, a banking executive, is the current president of the WSU Alumni Association. He started volunteering with the University in the 1980s by joining the advisory board for the College of Business and later found his way to the Alumni Association. He is also on the Board of Trustees for the WSU Foundation. Recently, Williams met with WSM’s Hannelore Sudermann to talk about his time as a student and what he enjoys about volunteering with the Alumni Association.
Why did you choose WSU? In high school, I was a four year track and field letterman. … » More …