A new book by essayist Lawrence Velvel

Sherwood Ross Associates

Media Consultants

A new book by essayist Lawrence Velvel, Dean of the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, has won the 2009 gold medal in the essay/creative category of Independent Publisher, the voice of the independent publishing industry.

The “IPPY” Award was conferred for his non-fiction work “An Enemy of the People: The Unending Battle Against Conventional Wisdom,” published by the law school’s Doukathsan Press. The small number of other academic presses to win awards were headed by those of Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Michigan. The “IPPY” award recognizes excellence in independent publishing, and a total of 3,380 books were entered in 85 categories, Independent Publisher said.

Velvel’s work contains more than 100 essays that discuss a wide variety of subjects. They include the war in Iraq, the ineptitude of American politics and politicians, America’s history of overthrowing foreign governments, Supreme Court nominations, books that impressed him, higher education, medical care, ex-presidents’ shameful use of their former office to “cash in,” the impact on policy of the American South, reactionary decisions by federal judges and, on a lighter note, discussions of University of Michigan football and a comparison of Oscar Robertson and LeBron James.

A previous book of Velvel’s essays, “Blogs From The Liberal Standpoint: 2004-2005,” received the bronze medal, in a national competition, from ForeWord, the magazine for librarians and the book industry. That book was adopted for use in political science classes at Tufts University, Medford, Mass., and the University of California at Berkeley.

Both books of collected essays are taken from Velvel’s blog, velvelonnationalaffairs.com, which was listed by USA Today in its “The Blogger & Podcaster Guide” of top Internet sites. In addition to his duties at the law school, the prolific Velvel writes, on average, one to two essays a week. His works have been quoted and reprinted widely on internet sites in the U.S. and abroad.

Last year, Doukathsan Press brought out Velvel’s unsparing fictionalized memoir, the 818-page quartet “Thine Alabaster Cities Gleam.” It chronicles post 1960 cultural declines -- a moral meltdown that caused America to go from the world’s hope to a country often reviled abroad. Reviewers said the memoir reads like a novel.

Velvel cofounded the Massachusetts School of Law to pry open the doors of the legal profession for minorities, mid-life persons, immigrants and low-income students, who otherwise would generally be excluded from the profession. The National Jurist has called him "a modern day crusader" and "one of the most influential people in legal education over the past 15 years." The National Law Journal has honored him for his law school’s contributions to law school reform.

ENDS

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