Screentime: Poems
Fifty poems about growing up and growing older, looking back and looking ahead—and doing it all while the TV plays in the background.
Gilmore Girls, Gary Coleman, The Star Wars Holiday Special, The Great British Baking Show, smart TVs and more are duly noted.
A poem from the collection, “Sylvia Plath Totally Ruins Father Knows Best,” was featured in Shelf Unbound. (Inverted Pyramid)
Katharine Hepburn: A Stylish Life
A biographical portrait of the screen great, featuring dozens and dozens of gorgeous black-and-white images.
Praised People: “Ryan makes a convincing case that Hepburn…will continue to serve as an icon and inspiration for future generations.” (St. Martin’s)
Former Child Stars: The Story of America’s Least Wanted
Former Child Stars is “a commendably original investigation” (UK’s Uncut), tracing how the TV kid went from object of adulation to target of derision. In short: How the TV child star became “America’s Least Wanted.”
“You did a whale of a job…and from a new perspective. You did solid work on this book, Joal. Congratulations. You should be very proud of the effort. I am.”—Paul Petersen, A Minor Consideration (ECW Press)
The First Negro League Champion: The 1920 Chicago American Giants (Contributor)
A compendium of the history-making Negro League team, and its founder, Andrew “Rube” Foster. Edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin.
Contributed a game-day look at the final game of the Giants’ 1920 season: a Halloween contest against a white semipro team led by the MLB hurler Jack Quinn. (Society for American Baseball Research)
Joal Ryan 