Knox College faculty and alumni who have published books will sign copies of their books from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Saturday, October 15, in the Ford Center for the Fine Arts. The event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Knox College Alumni Office, as part of Homecoming 2005.

Knox alumni authors at the signing, listed with their books, will include:

Frances Christiansen: "Camp Follower: A Bride's Life Outside the Barracks" (shown at right) -- A Galesburg native and 1941 Knox graduate who married a fellow Knox student relates the challenges that faced a young couple in the World War II era, and a military wife during the war. Her late husband, Al Christiansen, was a Galesburg business owner and Knox admission director. Frances Christiansen now lives in Ft. Myers, Florida.

Chris Hill: "Holidays and Holy Nights" -- A history of the holy days of the liturgical calendar, with reflections from the author on the spiritual meaning in church tradition. Hill is a 1975 Knox graduate and managing editor at Magna Publications.

Joseph Lennon: "Irish Orientalism" -- An exploration of relationships between Irish literature and Asian and West Asian cultures, with emphasis on Ireland's complex colonial heritage. Lennon is a 1990 Knox graduate, author and assistant professor of English at Manhattan College. He is also poetry editor of The Recorder, a publication of the American Irish Historical Society.

William J. Wagner: "Wrigley Blues: The Year the Cubs Played Hardball with the Curse (but Lost Anyway)" -- Wagner uses the 2004 season, when the Cubs were projected to win the World Series for the first time since 1908, to explore the entire Cubs culture. Wagner is a 1987 Knox graduate who has been an editor for numerous sports publications including Inside Sports. His work has appeared in Sports Illustrated and Vine Line, the official publication of the Cubs.

Thomas Wolf: "Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland" -- A detailed account of a murder in 1900, when Margaret Hossack, the wife of a prominent Iowa farmer, was arrested for bludgeoning her husband to death while her children slept upstairs. The book is co-authored with Patricia Bryan. Wolf graduated from Knox in 1969 and received an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1975. He taught at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg from 1978 to 1984, and is now a writing consultant for the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Faculty authors will include:

Robert Hellenga: "Blues Lessons" -- a coming-of-age novel; also "The Fall of a Sparrow," a college professor struggles to rebuild his family after his daughter is killed in a terrorist attack; and "The Sixteen Pleasures," about a young American book conservator who discovers a controversial medieval manuscript. Hellenga is the George Appleton Lawrence Distinguished Service Professor of English at Knox College.

Robin Metz: "Unbidden Angel" -- an award-winning poetry collection that traces the emotions that follow the death of the author's wife in 1993. Metz is Phillip Sydney Post Professor of English at Knox College.