This unique sheet of autographs, virtually a who’s who of the late 40s Boston jazz scene, was compiled by the late Sam Prescott, avid record collector and husband of Dorothy Prescott, the founder and chief benefactor of the New Hampshire Library of Traditional Jazz.

The autographs are written on a fragile and highly acidic business form. In early 2005, the Library sent the sheet to the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, MA, the largest nonprofit regional conservation facility in the country. There it was cleaned, deacidified, and reinforced with a layer of Japanese rice paper. After washing, conservators discovered the formerly hidden autograph of Duke Ellington on the back of the sheet.

• Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines (twice)
• Al Morgan
• Pete Brown
• Joe Battaglia
• Shirley Mhore
• Gene Sedric
• Art Hodes
• Vic Dickenson
• J. C. Higginbotham
• Roy Eldridge
• Erskine Hawkins (twice)
• Joe Marsala
• Adele Girard
• Jimmy Shirley
• Jess Stacy
• Ev Schwarz
• John Kirby
• James P. Johnson
• Edmond Hall
• Louis Armstrong
• Billy Kyle
• Bob Wilber
• Frankie Newton
• Willie ‘Bunk’ Johnson (twice)
• Baby Dodds
• Johnny Windhurst
• Johnny Field
• Sparky Tomasetti
• Jack Teagarden
• Dick Wellstood
• Pops Foster
• Sidney Bechet
• Sandy J. Williams
• Jimmy Archey
• Howey ‘Peacoo’ Gadboys
• Sidney de Paris
• Rex Stewart
• ‘Wild’ Bill Davison
• Pleasant Joseph
• Henry ‘Red’ Allen
• Milton ‘Mezz’ Mezzrow
• Pee Wee Russell
• Don Kirkpatrick
• Max Kaminski
• Paul Watson
• Bob Guy
• Charley Holmes
• Duke Ellington

The 2nd year of The New Hampshire Authors’ Series from the Dimond Library at the University of New Hampshire kicked off successfully on Sunday, October 23rd when Rebecca Rule interviewed popular fiction writer, Jodi Picoult, in front of more than 285 faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni and community members in the fifth floor reading room. Campus Journal ran a story and photos of the event.

The New Hampshire Authors’ Series from the Dimond Library at the University of New Hampshire is sponsored by the Friends of the UNH Library in collaboration with New Hampshire Public Television (NHPTV). Since its debut, just one year ago, the series has been a phenomenal success. Three times per year, in the style of Bravo’s “Inside the Actors’ Studio,” Yankee humorist, book reviewer and author, Rebecca Rule, invites poets, fiction and non-fiction writers, and journalists to share their insights and discoveries as they pursue their passion for writing. These one-on-one interviews are conducted in front of a live audience, recorded by NHPTV, edited to a ½ hour show for future broadcast on their program, New Hampshire Outlook, and set up for video streaming to New Hampshire public schools. Each interview is followed by a question and answer session, light refreshments, and a book signing. The programs are free and open to the public.

The programs are available via the NH Outlook website. In the inaugural year of the series, participants included:

• Donald Murray,
• Charlotte Bacon,
• Donald Hall

UNH Professor of English and award winning fiction writer, Alexander Parsons, is the next author to be interviewed on Sunday,
January 29, 2006 at 2:00 p.m.

ALEXANDER PARSONS earned degrees from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and New Mexico State University. His first novel, Leaving
Disneyland, won the 2001 Associated Writing Programs Award for the Novel and was a finalist for the 2001 PEN West Award. He has received a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, a Texas Literary Fellowship, and a Chesterfield Screenwriting Fellowship. He teaches fiction writing at the University of New Hampshire.

“I can’t think of anything I’ve read that held me as spellbound as this superlative book. In the Shadows of the Sun is vividly authentic whether Parsons is describing the high mountain desert of New Mexico, the jungles of the Philippines, or the characters that traverse these landscapes. The book is a riveting page-turner.”
– Thom Jones, author of The Pugilist at Rest

“This is a startlingly good novel. Alexander Parsons is a hugely talented writer and unlike anyone else of his generation.”
– Robert Boswell, author of Century’s Son

Poet, Charles Simic, is confirmed for April 2, 2006 and famed children’s author and illustrator, Tomie DePaola, has agreed to
be interviewed next October. For more information, or to register, please email nh.authors@unh.edu. Or, call 603-862-3041.

Recently a scanned map image of the southeast quadrant of a 1903 Boston map was provided from our “Historic USGS Maps of New England” digital collection to an independent film researcher. It is featured in the opening title sequence of the Disney film: The Greatest Game Ever Played about Francis Quimet who, as a 20-year old amateur player, unexpectedly won the 1913 US Open by defeating the British champion, Harry Vardon. Francis immigrated to Boston from France and was able to “…overcome a working-class background in which golf was seen (especially by his father) as a wealthy man’s game, the perfect example of the evils of capitalism.” (Publishers Weekly). The movie is currently playing in the area. Look for a credit to our collection at the end of the film.

We are pleased to announce the arrival of 12 new laptops available for checkout at the Reserve Desk at Dimond Library. These are ethernet pcs outfitted with cluster software. Please note that cluster laptops do not have floppy disk drives, but do boast DVD/CD-RW drives. If you need a floppy drive, please request a wireless laptop (also available at the Reserve Desk).