Bookshelf

Alumni and faculty members who would like to have their books considered for this listing should contact Stacey Himmelberger, editor of Hamilton magazine. This list, which dates back to 2018, is updated periodically with books appearing alphabetically on the date of entry.

Side Tracked by Yonder Blair (nom de plume of Rod Sangster ’64).

May 6, 2025

Tags Alumni Book

(Polyverse Publishing, 2024).

A retired professor, Sangster is a self-described news junkie and fan of crime novels and Law and Order on TV. So it wasn’t a stretch for him to write a novel about a college professor who gets wrapped up in the legal system.

According to the publisher, “Young Isaac Bell, Ike for short, thought he knew what he wanted out of life the moment he joined a junior year abroad program in Paris. He would become a university professor and teach foreign languages. His initial foray into academia did not go the way he planned, however. He soon found himself contending not only with the vagaries of the academic system but, as fate would have it, the legal system as well. In telling his story, Ike recounts what it was like trying to find his way in the two systems, relishing the opportunity to show them both for what they are, warts and all.

“Part mystery story, part character study, Ike's journey proves the adage: ‘What goes around comes around.’ It just takes a few detours, often self-inflicted, to get there — in Ike’s case via Paris, France; Siena, Italy; and Prescott, Ariz.”