Westminster English Professor Published in Miamian Magazine

Dr. James Perkins, professor of English at Westminster College, recently had a short story published in the "Miamian," the magazine of his alma mater, Miami University.

 "The Discovery of Electricity" is a story about Perkin's childhood experience surrounding plugging in his dad's console radio, and the resulting jolt that sent him "flying backwards across the living room."  This story is one of many from Perkin's book "Snakes, Butterbeans, and the Discovery of Electricity" published in 2003 by the Mercer University Press.

 "I loved the picture of the young boy tuning the old radio that they found to accompany the story," Perkins said.  "I was pleased with the fact that my appearance in the "Miamian" sparked a noticeable increase in book sales."

 Perkins book explores the innocence of Four-eyes, a Kentucky boy who grew up in the 1940s.  Through a series of stories about his family, his childhood pranks, and his vivid imagination, this nostalgic and funny book goes down the forgotten paths and pitfalls of childhood.  In the fashion of the truest Southern storytellers, Perkins invites the reader to come in, stay awhile, and listen.

 Perkins who has been with Westminster College, since 1973, is also the chair of the Department of English and Public relations.  He earned his undergraduate degree from Centre College, his master's from Miami University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee.  During the fall term of 1998, he was a Fulbright Visiting Professor at Seoul National University in Korea.  He has also been honored as a Henderson Lecturer and McCandless Fellow.  His publications also include three chapbooks of poetry, "For the Record: A Robert Drake Reader (a collection edited with Randy Hendricks), and collections of short stories, and "Southern Writers at Centuries End," (a collection of essays co-edited with Jeffrey Folks).

 For more information, contact Perkins at (724) 946-7347 or e-mail jperkins@westminster.edu.

Dr. James Perkins