A new cookbook, Adventures of an Italian Food Lover: With Recipes from 254 of My Very Best Friends, by Faith Heller Willinger '68, goes on sale July 10. It is just the latest in a string of four intriguing titles still in print and available (The Chefs of Cucina Amore: Celebrating the Very Best in Italian Cooking; Eating in Italy: A Travelers Guide to the Gastronomic Pleasures of Northern Italy; and Red, White and Greens: The Italian Way With Vegetables). In addition, she writes and reviews for a number of American lifestyle magazines including Gourmet, Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, Food Arts and Departures; her cooking tips ("use the best extra virgin olive oil you can get your hands on"; "good wine and bad wine have the same number of calories") are frequently quoted by her peers in their own books; and her recipes turn up dozens of compendiums. Faith’s love affair with Italian food began when she moved to Italy more than 25 years ago; she now lives in Florence. In her own words, she "discovered that I had to learn all about Italian food and wine. I studied with professional chefs and home cooks, traveled back roads looking for artisans who hand craft the best products, prepare the best food, make the best wine." She writes about them because she wants her readers "to taste it all." For more words, pictures and -- most important -- recipes from Faith, visit her website: www.faithwillinger.com.
 

Last year, ceramics artist Colby Parsons '91 collaborated with a fellow artist in an exhibition at the prestigious Guldagergaard: International Ceramic Research Center of Denmark, in Skaelskor, Denmark. Titled Liquid: Dataspace and Embodiment, their installation is described by Colby as "an ongoing collaborative investigation of digitally created 'space' and its relation to our understanding of material space from a post-Cartesian perspective." And this spring, his artwork is included in a forthcoming book, Breaking the Mould: New Approaches to Ceramics, which Black Dog Publishing calls an "astonishing collection of the most exciting ceramic design today, exploring the increasingly varied ways in which the boundaries of pottery design are being extended and challenged by contemporary makers." After graduating from Western, Colby went on to Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where he earned an M.F.A. In 1998, he joined the faculty of Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Texas, and since then has continued to teach ceramics courses in the Visual Arts Department.

Although Colby's collaboration continues to develop, he also has his own body of work, which combines the physical characteristics of clay with the ephemeral and luminous qualities of video projection. In his own words: "This work involves taking some source object or imagery I consider ordinary, something that is not particularly noteworthy or interesting, and transforming it into a visual spectacle using the filmic illusion of animation. This act draws attention not only to the way we place value on certain objects or experiences over others, but also considers our visual interpretation of reality itself." To see more of Colby's work or contact him: http://colbyvision.com; colby@colbyvision.com