News Release

____________________________________________________________

April 18, 2006

Gene Harris Book by Boise State Authors Named Finalist for Music Book of the Year Award

 “Elegant Soul: The Life and Music of Gene Harris,” co-written by two authors affiliated with Boise State University, has been named a finalist in the Music Division of ForeWord magazine’s 2005 Book of the Year award.

 Boise jazz impresario Janie Harris, host of the Boise State Radio show “Jazz Straight Ahead,” and Bob Evancho, Boise State’s associate director of communications, co-wrote the biography of the late jazz piano great, which was published by Caxton Press of Caldwell in 2005. The book was designed by Chris Latter, a former BSU graphics designer and the communications officer for the JA and Kathryn Albertson Foundation in Boise.

 Gene Harris, to whom Janie Harris was married 14 years, lived the last 23 years of his life in Boise before he died of kidney failure in 2000.

ForeWord is a prominent trade publication that covers the independent publishing industry.  The winners of the magazine’s Book of the Year awards will be announced May 19 at the Book Expo America conference in Washington, D.C. The awards were established to bring increased attention from librarians and booksellers to the literary achievements of independent publishers and their authors. A jury of librarians, booksellers, editors and reviewers are selected to judge the categories for entry, and they select winners and finalists based on editorial excellence and professional production as well as the originality of the narrative and the value the book adds to its genre.

Past winners include, “The Road Home” by Jim Harrison and “Taking the Wall” by Jonis Agee for fiction and “And the Crowd Goes Wild” by Joe Garner for non-fiction.

-30-

Contact: Janie Harris, (208) 345-6220, Rhonda4299@aol.com; Bob Evancho, (208) 426-1643, bevanch@boisestate.edu

Media Contact: Julie Hahn, University Communications, (208) 426-5540, jhahn@boisestate.edu

Boise State University is the largest institution of higher education in Idaho with about 18,600 students and 2,200 faculty and staff. More than 190 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and technical degrees are offered within eight colleges. A metropolitan university located in the capital city, Boise State is committed to life-enhancing research, teaching excellence and public service.

The Office of Communications and Marketing - Boise State University
1910 University Drive - Education Building, #726 - Boise Idaho 83725-1030

208-426-1577
(fax)208-426-4001

email communications@boisestate.edu

Last reviewed on Wednesday, January 03, 2007