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DOTHAN, Ala (WDHN)— Pulitzer Prize nominated author and native son, Charles McNair, is returning home for the release tour of his latest novel, The Epicureans, and is bringing some friends from the rolling green hills of Ireland with him.

On Tuesday, December 20, from 6:00-9:00 p.m., the Thirsty Pig Craft Beer and Taproom at 257 South Saint Andrews Street, will host McNair in his soft-release tour for The Epicureans, a tale of a broken but heroic family facing off against spectacular odds.

The Epicureans publisher, Ireland-based Tune & Fairweather, is sending The Wonder Brothers documentary film crew with McNair to highlight real-life locations from the novel and document the signing.

The Smoke and Steel band will perform at the Thirsty Pig that night, playing a mix of southern and Irish tunes.

McNair hopes the turnout for the signing is immense and says he wants to send the Irish home with a good impression of the area.

Like all of McNair’s novels, many of the scenes and characters in The Epicureans were inspired by his life in Dothan. He cites the Circle City and the South as the main driving force for his literary masterpieces.

The experiances of Dothan really have filled my fictional life. My heart of hearts is really where I grew up. All of my books are set in Alabama, my beloved Alabama.

Charles McNair

The Epicureans was originally published in 2021, but McNair did not have a chance to hold the book’s official release tour that year due to the COVID-19 virus.

McNair says he tried twice to set up festive book launch events, but both were shut down last minute due to unexpected pandemic waves.

I just couldn’t bring myself to put my friends and fans lives in danger for the vanity of a book launch. This third times the charm, I hope. In the real world, this is the books introduction to readers, bookstores, and markets.

Charles McNair

Aside from being a critically acclaimed novelist, McNair has also seen success in the journalism and communications world.

McNair has served as the editor of three award-winning magazines and some of the publications that hold his byline include The New York Times, CNN Opinion, Southern Living, USA Today, and others.

He has appeared internationally on the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s Sunday Morning Live and the London Times Literary Supplement reviewing multiple subjects such as literature and business.

As a communications consultant, McNair has worked with international organizations such as CNN, TNT, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and many more.

McNair is also a founding member of the Executive Leadership Communication Council at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. According to McNair, the council is a think-tank composed of corporate, academic, and White House writers and executives.

The author’s talents do not stop in the academic world, as McNair says he has dabbled in sports, playing semi-professional baseball in Italy for a year.

While Dothan is McNairs forever home, he currently resides in Bogata, Columbia.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Four members of the Navy men's tennis team registered a pair of victories during a 6-1 win by the Mids over Villanova (3-3), Saturday morning at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis. The Mids (9-11) also lost a 7-0 decision at No. 69 Princeton (5-7) on Saturday.

The Wildcats won the first doubles match to finish, but the Navy team of Luke Garner (So., Arnold, Md.) and Sasha Panyan (Jr., Lutherville, Md.) won a 6-0 decision at No. 1 doubles to even the proceedings. The Mids won the point when their No. 3 tandem of Nathan Nguyen (Fr., McLean, Va.) and Nicholas Nguyen (Jr., McLean, Va.) posted a 6-1 win.

Gavin Segraves (Sr., Charlottesville, Va.) made the score 2-0 when he won, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 2 singles. Nathan Nguyen followed with a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles to make the score 3-0. Garner gave the Mids their fourth point with a 6-3, 6-4 win at the No. 3 flight. Panyan placed the fifth point on the board with his 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles, and Nicholas Nguyen made the score 6-0 with his 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 win at No. 4 singles.

Navy will play host to Temple and Morgan State on Saturday, March 5.

Navy 6, Villanova 1 Singles (2-6-3-1-5-4) 1. Panyan, Sasha (NAVY) def. Brunetti, Tighe (VILL) 6-4, 6-2 2. Segraves, Gavin (NAVY) def. Gordon, Cooper (VILL) 6-0, 6-2 3. Garner, Luke (NAVY) def. Nguyen, Ryan (VILL) 6-3, 6-4 4. Nguyen, Nicholas (NAVY) def. Khromchenko, Eitan (VILL) 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 5. Fourticq, Trey (VILL) def. Pumpelly, Christian (NAVY) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 1-0 (4-10) 6. Nguyen, Nathan (NAVY) def. Choi, Lukas (VILL) 6-0, 6-3 Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (2-1-3) 1. Garner, Luke / Panyan, Sasha (NAVY) def. Robinson, Josh / Winton, Noah (VILL) 6-0 2. Brunetti, Tighe / Fourticq, Trey (VILL) def. Pumpelly, Christian / Segraves, Gavin (NAVY) 6-0 3. Nguyen, Nathan / Nguyen, Nicholas (NAVY) def. Choi, Lukas / Suarez, Justin (VILL) 6-1

#69 Princeton 7, Navy 0 Doubles -- Princeton wins the doubles point (3-2-1) 1. Fnu Nidunjianzan / Filippos Astreinidis (PRIN) def. Liu, Eric / Ballesteros, Andres (NAVY) 6-1 2. Matthew Bosancic / Thomas Bosancic (PRIN) def. McNair, Matthew / Buckingham, Graydon (NAVY) 6-0 3. Princeton wins on Navy default Singles (6-1-4-5-3-2) 1. Fnu Nidunjianzan (PRIN) def. Buckingham, Graydon (NAVY) 6-0, 6-0 2. Sebastian Sec (PRIN) def. McNair, Matthew (NAVY) 6-2, 6-2 3. Ellis Short (PRIN) def. Liu, Eric (NAVY) 6-1, 6-0 4. Aidan Mahoney (PRIN) def. Ballesteros, Andres (NAVY) 6-2, 6-1 5. Ben Smith (PRIN) def. Carol, Dylan (NAVY) 6-1, 6-1 6. Princeton wins on Navy default

Dr. Harris is a foremost expert on African American military history and its connection to civilian adult educational history.

LEAVENWORTH, KS, February 23, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Bernard F. Harris Jr., PhD, has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Dr. Harris is an Instructional Systems Specialist with the U.S. Army Center for the Army Profession and Leadership. In his current position, he works closely with U.S. Army leaders to refine leadership curricula and support their efforts in adhering to leadership doctrine. Before his current duties, he served over 16 years as a curriculum operations support specialist, assistant professor, and curriculum developer with the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Dr. Harris developed and refined his adult educational skills at the college by interacting with students, faculty, and publishers. Before his formal adult education career, Dr. Harris served in the U.S. Army, rising from the rank of private to lieutenant colonel. His service included tours in Europe and Asia in positions ranging from an armor company executive officer for Desert Storm in 1991 to a brigade-level staff officer in South Korea in 2000 and a theater-level logistical plans officer in Germany in 2004.

He completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Adult Learning and Leadership from Kansas State University in 2022 and a Master of Science in Logistics Management from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1995. Dr. Harris began his formal education by earning his Bachelor of Science in Construction Science and Management from Tuskegee University in 1987.

Today, Dr. Harris is a foremost expert on African American military history and its connection to civilian adult educational history. His doctoral dissertation, "The Education and Training of Seven African American U.S. Army Officers for World War I and its Aftermath," fills a lacuna or gap in the formal study of African American marginalization in a segregated society. His doctoral work is considered so critical that both the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, MO, and the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair, VA, requested copies of his dissertation when he graduated. He continues to build on his dissertation research with additional exploratory trips to the National Archives for primary source artifacts and presentations to the State Historical Society of Iowa, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

He also contributes to the field of African American history through scholarly works that include the following articles "Jim Crow in Kansas: African American Life During the Era of Segregation," published in 2022, and "Chipping Away at the Bedrock of Intolerance: Fort Des Moines and Black Officer Training, 1917–1918" published in 2018. He has several articles about African Americans in the American Revolution and World War I in the "Ethnic and Racial Minorities in the U. S. Military: An Encyclopedia," published by ABC-CLIO in 2013. Moreover, he is the co-author of "Savannah 1779", a book published by Osprey Publishing in 2017.

In the field of adult education, Dr. Harris published several articles for the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, such as "Mandatory Accreditation and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College" in 2014 and a co-authored work titled "Flipped Classroom: Another Tool for Your Pedagogy Toolbox" in 2016.

Dr. Harris has been recognized for his distinguished academic and military achievements. He earned the Spring 2022 Outstanding Graduate Student Award from the College of Education at Kansas State University and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Silver and Bronze Pens for writing excellence in 2011 and 2016. His military awards include a Legion of Merit, a Meritorious Service Medal, a Joint Service Commendation Medal, and a U.S. Army Commendation Medal.

Industry certifications and professional networks serve to bolster Dr. Harris' professional profile. He is a Kirkpatrick Certified Strategic Evaluation Professional and holds a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certificate. The American Society of Training and Development granted him a Test Design and Delivery Certificate, and he is a Demonstrated Master Logistician as conferred by the International Society of Logistics known as SOLE. Dr. Harris' memberships include the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education and the American Educational Research Association.

About Marquis Who's Who®: Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Marquis celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2023, and Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.

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Although some may disagree, it’s a fool’s errand to assume facts not in evidence. True, Alabama won two games and still lost a few first place votes from voters from last week’s college basketball polls. But that very well could be because the Crimson Tide was fortunate to win in overtime against one of the weakest teams in the Southeastern Conference at South Carolina, and failed to finish and barely held on against Arkansas in Coleman Coliseum Saturday.

That would seem to be enough to take away some respect for Bama basketball. It was not enough, however, to drop Alabama from number two in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls this week. The Tide continues to trail Houston, an Alabama victim in Houston earlier this year that is described by some as the biggest win in college basketball this year, but nevertheless overlooked by voters as the Cougars continue to plow through the American Athletic Conference schedule.

Alabama did lose two first place votes in each poll.

Kansas, which is the best team in the best league (Big 12), is third in both polls with UCLA fourth, Purdue fifth, and Marquette sixth in both. The rest of the top ten includes the same four teams in slightly different order – Baylor, Arizona, Texas, Gonzaga.

Insofar as other SEC teams, in the AP poll Tennessee is 12th, Kentucky 23rd, and Texas A&M 24th. Missouri and Arkansas are among others receiving votes. In the Coaches, Tennessee is 14th, A&M 21st. Kentucky is among others receiving votes.

This week Alabama hosts Auburn (which had been ranked much of the season) at 6 p.m. CST Wednesday (ESPN2) and goes to Texas A&M for the regular season finale at 11 a.m. CST Saturday (CBS).

Both polls use the same methods, 25 points for a first place vote, 24 for a second, etc. Here are this week’s polls with records, first place votes in parenthesis, and total points.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dropped from top 25: Creighton 19, Northwestern 21, Iowa State 23

Others receiving votes: Creighton 87, Duke 78, Oral Roberts 40, Northwestern 39, Florida Atlantic 25, Iowa State 20, Nevada 17, Missouri 16, Arkansas 7, Charleston 6, NC State 6, Clemson 5, Memphis 4, Boise State 3, USC 3, VCU 1, West Virginia 1

COACHES

7COMMENTS

Dropped from top 25: No. 21 Iowa State; No. 22 Northwestern; No. 24 NC State.

Others receiving votes: Northwestern 52; Kentucky 49; NC State 48; Iowa State 42; Duke 29; Florida Atlantic 26; Oral Roberts 11; Southern California 9; Nevada 5; Toledo 3; Clemson 3; Kent St. 2; Boise St. 2.

The new Defense Health Agency director pinned on her third star during a ceremony at Fort Myer Memorial Chapel, Virginia, on Jan. 20, 2023.

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland took the DHA directorship reins on Jan. 3, 2023.

The agency’s fourth director chose her friend, mentor, and former boss U.S. Army Lt. Gen. R. Scott Dingle, the current Army Surgeon General, to host the ceremony. Former U.S. Army Surgeon General retired Lt. Gen. Nadja Y. West also attended.

"General West was the first African American female from West Point to make the rank of three stars. Today, you're getting ready to see the second with Telita Crosland," said Dingle.

Dingle presented Crosland with her certificate of promotion to lieutenant general and administered Crosland’s oath of office. He then performed a moving reading of “Mother to Son” by the poet Langston Hughes.

“She strives for excellence and to do things perfect and right. Not by herself but as a team leader, as a member leading the team, and as a member who’s not afraid to get in the boat and to row, just like the other teammates, to work tough wicked problems. She made my job easy there. She made it easy,” said Dingle.

“She serves as an example for all of us of how to keep climbing through the storms, through the blizzards, through the Cat. 5 hurricanes that life will through at you,” Dingle also said.

Crosland was joined by several family members, including her son, Jackson.

The ceremony was also attended by key DHA and Department of Defense leaders, including former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and current Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences President, Dr. Jonathan Woodson, and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Ms. Seileen Mullen, and Department of the Army Inspector General, Lt. Gen. Donna Martin.

In her remarks, Crosland recognized Dingle’s mentorship throughout her military career. “You are without a doubt a huge reason why I’m here today,” said Crosland.

In her decades-long service to the military, Crosland has held a series of assignments in accordance with Dingle’s career.

“I have followed General Dingle in every assignment as a general officer—from the MEDCOM357 to the RHC-Atlantic to the deputy surgeon general—you are a selfless impactful leader who always set me up for success,” said Crosland.

[Watch the full video of her promotion ceremony.]

The ceremony was also attended by key DHA and Department of Defense leaders, including former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and current Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences President, Dr. Jonathan Woodson, and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Ms. Seileen Mullen, and Department of the Army Inspector General, Lt. Gen. Donna Martin.

In her remarks, Crosland recognized Dingle’s mentorship throughout her military career. “You are without a doubt a huge reason why I’m here today,” said Crosland.

In her decades-long service to the military, Crosland has held a series of assignments in accordance with Dingle’s career.

“I have followed General Dingle in every assignment as a general officer—from the MEDCOM357 to the RHC-Atlantic to the deputy surgeon general—you are a selfless impactful leader who always set me up for success,” said Crosland.

[Watch the full video of her promotion ceremony.]

The new Defense Health Agency director pinned on her third star during a ceremony at Fort Myer Memorial Chapel, Virginia, on Jan. 20, 2023.

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland took the DHA directorship reins on Jan. 3, 2023.

The agency’s fourth director chose her friend, mentor, and former boss U.S. Army Lt. Gen. R. Scott Dingle, the current Army Surgeon General, to host the ceremony. Former U.S. Army Surgeon General retired Lt. Gen. Nadja Y. West also attended.

"General West was the first African American female from West Point to make the rank of three stars. Today, you're getting ready to see the second with Telita Crosland," said Dingle.

Dingle presented Crosland with her certificate of promotion to lieutenant general and administered Crosland’s oath of office. He then performed a moving reading of “Mother to Son” by the poet Langston Hughes.

“She strives for excellence and to do things perfect and right. Not by herself but as a team leader, as a member leading the team, and as a member who’s not afraid to get in the boat and to row, just like the other teammates, to work tough wicked problems. She made my job easy there. She made it easy,” said Dingle.

“She serves as an example for all of us of how to keep climbing through the storms, through the blizzards, through the Cat. 5 hurricanes that life will through at you,” Dingle also said.

Crosland was joined by several family members, including her son, Jackson.