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Frisky, industrious black squirrels are a familiar sight on the Kent State University campus and the inspiration for Black Squirrel Books®, a trade imprint of The Kent State University Press.

Trolling Big-Water Walleyes

| Filed under: Black Squirrel Books, Nature, Regional Interest

On big, open water like the Great Lakes, sprawling Western reservoirs, and large North American rivers, trolling puts more walleyes in the boat—hour for hour—than any other fishing method. Why? Because if done correctly, the lure or bait is always in the fish’s strike zone. If anglers do it wrong, all they will net is a long, frustrating boat ride. In this detailed instructional guide, generously illustrated with more than 50 color photos and complemented by time-tested fish-catching secrets from 17 professional fishing authorities, fishermen will learn to catch walleyes from those who chase this highly prized sport fish for a living.

 


Why Cows Need Names

| Filed under: Black Squirrel Books, Regional Interest

Why Cows Need Names follows one young Amish family as they dream about and then struggle to establish a profitable and quintessentially American small farm. The story starts with Eli Gingerich’s first timid phone call to author Randy James, the county agricultural agent in Ohio’s Geauga Amish Settlement—the fourth-largest Amish settlement in the world—and traces the family’s progress over the next five years. Through gentle dialogue and true stories, James captures the challenges of creating a simple business plan that will lead to the family’s radiant success or dismal failure. As the narrative unfolds, readers get a rare glimpse into what it’s like to work in the fields with draft horses; in the barn with cows, calves, children, and Chip the family dog; or to sit at the table talking with family and friends over a noontime meal. A picture emerges of how quietly living a shared goal and “doing without” during hard times can strengthen families and provide an appreciation for what is truly important in life.

In addition to the business aspects and day-to-day farm activities, James interweaves commentary on our complex relationships with animals. The stark differences in the way animals are treated and valued in agribusinesses versus on small family farms is a recurring theme, as is debunking the myth that bigger is always better in American agriculture.

 


The Complete Funky Winkerbean, Volume 2, 1975–1977

| Filed under: Art, Black Squirrel Books, Humor
Batiuk Cover 2

Since its debut on March 27, 1972, Funky Winkerbean has chronicled the lives of a group of students from the fictitious Westview High School. This second volume, which presents strips from 1975, 1976, and 1977, sees the comic strip rounding into the form that will carry it into its middle years. With gentle humor and not-so-gentle puns, Les, Funky, Crazy Harry, and the gang comment on life’s little absurdities.

 


Poachers Were My Prey

| Filed under: Audiobooks, Award Winners, Black Squirrel Books, Nature, True Crime
Stewart_Gross Cover

For nearly two decades, Stewart infiltrated poaching rings throughout Ohio, the Midwest, and beyond. Poachers Were My Prey chronicles his many exciting undercover adventures, detailing the techniques he used in putting poachers behind bars. It also reveals, for the first time, the secrets employed by undercover wildlife officers in catching the bad guys.

 


Finding Utopia

| Filed under: Black Squirrel Books, Regional Interest

In Finding Utopia, Randy McNutt sets off again to explore Ohio’s for- gotten nooks and byways. He begins where his last journey ended— on roads less traveled—finding more ghost towns, battlefields- turned-cornfields, and old memories that beckon him like spectral hitchhikers. On the way, he meets another cast of quirky and deter- mined people who struggle to keep their towns on the map.

 


In the Kitchen with Cleveland’s Favorite Chefs

| Filed under: Black Squirrel Books, Cookery
Isabella Cover Image

Have you ever wondered what your favorite local chefs cook at home? What they prepare for their own family and friends? What they whip up when truly pressed for time? The secret’s finally out as In the Kitchen with Cleveland’s Favorite Chefs takes you into the private kitchens of 35 local culinary greats to discover what’s really cooking.

 


You Stink!

and | Filed under: Black Squirrel Books, Sports

There are countless volumes celebrating the best teams in professional baseball. Unfortunately, winning represents only one side of the game. For every champion’s record-setting season, there has been an equally memorable story of defeat. These teams and their shameful contributions to America’s national pastime have been a neglected topic in the annals of baseball history. Until now.

 


The Complete Funky Winkerbean, Volume 1, 1972–1974

| Filed under: Art, Award Winners, Black Squirrel Books, Humor
batiuk cover

Since its debut on March 27, 1972, Funky Winkerbean has chronicled the lives of a group of students from the fictitious Westview High School. This volume, which presents the strip’s first three years, introduces the strip’s title character, Funky, and his friends Crazy Harry Klinghorn, Bull Bushka, Livinia Swenson, Les Moore, Holly Budd, and Roland Mathews. Prin- cipal Burch, counselor Fred Fairgood, and band director Harry L. Dinkle also make their first appearances.

 


WIXY 1260

, and | Filed under: Black Squirrel Books, Music, Regional Interest
Olszewski cover

Before FM radio and the commanding album rock stations of the 1970s, there was WIXY 1260, a tiny Northeast Ohio AM radio station that became an entertainment powerhouse. Three visionaries assembled a legendary staff of on-air personalities and, with savvy programming and groundbreaking promotions, created WIXY 1260—a station that would become synonymous with 1960s pop culture. A Midwest juggernaut, WIXY aired everything from surf and Motown to country and the British Invasion. Crossing cultural and generational lines in one of the hottest radio markets in the country, it regularly took in more than fifty percent of the Greater Cleveland audience.

 


The Bruiser

| Filed under: Black Squirrel Books, Fiction
Bruiser Book Cover

The Bruiser is the story of Shane Rory, a drifter who turns to boxing and works his way up the heavyweight ranks. Like Tully, Shane starts out as a road kid who takes up prizefighting. While The Bruiser is not an autobiographical work, it does draw heavily on Tully’s experiences of the road and ring. Rory is part Tully, but the boxers populating these briskly paced chapters are drawn from the many ring legends the writer counted among his friends: Jack Dempsey, Joe Gans, Stanley Ketchel, Gene Tunney, Frank Moran, and Johnny Kilbane, to name a few. The book is dedicated to Dempsey, the Roaring Twenties heavyweight champion, who said, “If I still had the punch in the ring that Jim Tully packs in The Bruiser, I’d still be the heavyweight champion of the world today.”