In the News
April 13, 2022
Bill signed a contract for his 12th non-fiction book with McFarland, covering the life and work of classical composer Florence Beatrice Price (1887-1953). Estimated publication date, late 2023.
March 12, 2022
Bill’s publisher McFarland is now offering for sale his book, Screening Charles Dickens: A Survey of the Film and Television Adaptations.
July 14, 2020
Bill signed a contract for his 11th non-fiction book with McFarland, surveying the many film adaptations of works by Charles Dickens. Estimated publication date, early 2022.
January 3, 2020
Bill’s publisher McFarland is now offering for sale his book, Italian Crime Fiction in the Era of the Anti-Mafia Movement.
October 7, 2019
This day marked the passing of William E. Cox (1926-2019), co-dedicatee of Bill’s Ulysses S. Grant, 1861-1864 (2007), a U.S. Marine combat veteran of WWII (Iwo Jima), and Bill’s last surviving uncle. Special thanks to the American Legion Honor Guard of Dalton, Georgia, for providing appropriate tribute at the subsequent private family service. Mr. Cox will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.
July 23, 2019
Bill presented at the afternoon session of the 2019 Appraisal Institute Conference, held this year at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. His topic was “Affordable Rural Housing in the United States” but a little bit of The Afterlife of Adam Smith was included in the PowerPoint presentation because it was relevant! Audience participation was exceptional.
June 30, 2019
Bill returned to the Oak Park Public Library for a book signing and PowerPoint presentation on Saint James the Greater in History, Art and Culture. Lovely, enthusiastic audience. Thanks to OPPL staff for helping out.
February 1, 2019
Nice book signing and PowerPoint presentation event at St. Peter’s Church in the Loop (110 West Madison Street, Chicago) for Saint James the Greater in History, Art and Culture. All sales proceeds donated to St. Peter’s. Special thanks to Fr. Derran Combs and Communications Director Jo Ann Bednar for assisting.
July 28, 2018
We are excited to announce that Bill has signed a contract with McFarland to write his 10th non-fiction book, this one on Italian Crime Fiction of the Anti-Mafia Era (working title), scheduled to be published in early 2020, marking the centenary year of Prohibition. Should be fun!
January 3, 2018
Bill’s publisher McFarland is now offering for sale his book Saint James the Greater in History, Art, and Culture, officially released in the Spring of 2018.
December 7, 2016
On Bill’s birthday, Prime Time Publications released a lavish coffee table book titled Slicer Baseball, A Cut Above, edited by Steve Krah, chronicling the unique history of high school baseball in La Porte, Indiana (Bill’s hometown). Bill is given a feature profile under “Wordsmiths” as a former La Porte player later becoming a published author. The book also has some very kind words from the late Coach Ken Schreiber, who built the nationally-recognized La Porte baseball program from the ground up between 1960-1997. What a compliment!
August 15, 2016
Bill is pleased to announce a contract to write his ninth book for McFarland & Company, titled “Saint James the Greater in History, Art, and Culture”, scheduled to be published in early 2018.
January 4, 2016
The January 2016 issue of Choice magazine (American Library Association) gave a positive review for The Afterlife of Adam Smith, describing it as “a captivating journey through the history of Western Europe and the US from the time of Adam Smith to modern times…well researched, compelling, and well worth reading.”
September 6, 2015
The Sunday Review section of the New York Times printed a letter from Bill as the author of The Afterlife of Adam Smith. The letter was written in response to an opinion piece from the previous week quoting Smith’s The Wealth of Nations out of context, a frequent occurrence nowadays which became the main theme of Bill’s latest book.
October 2, 2011
Bill was among invited authors at “Read Local: Author’s Market at Redbery Books” in Cable, Wisconsin, home of the American Birkebeiner ski race. A good time was had by all (see media). Manuscript excerpts were read from Bill’s recent work, Eliot Asinof and the Truth of the Game. Thanks Redbery Books!
May 2, 2011
Bill’s summary of the latest Oxfordian research on The Merchant of Venice (“Origins of Shylock’s Venice: Mermaid Tavern or H.K.U.?”) appeared in the Summer 2011 issue of Shakespeare Matters, published by the Shakespeare Fellowship. His review of the new Oxfordian edition for Shakespeare’s Othello (edited by Richard Whalen and Ren Draya) was included in the Spring 2011 issue of the Shakespeare-Oxford Society Newsletter.
January 26, 2011
Bill spoke before a large audience at the Central Wisconsin Baseball Hall of Fame’s ninth annual induction ceremony. The event was held in Wausau, Wisconsin, where the subject of Bill’s new book, the late American writer Eliot Asinof (1919-2008), played minor league baseball in 1941.
October 4, 2010
Bill was named among the “Top 150 Most Influential Valpo People” by the university alumni association. Thanks alma mater!
November 21, 2009
Bill was keynote speaker for the annual Thanksgiving luncheon sponsored by the Mayflower Society at the Union League Club of Chicago. A large, enthusiastic audience attended his slideshow presentation on the early Civil War career of Ulysses S. Grant. Bill was also featured in the latest issue of the society’s newsletter, and all copies of his Grant book quickly sold out at the event.
February 26, 2009
Bill was interviewed for over 20 minutes on Chicago WJJF Radio by author and humorist Ray Hanania. In conjunction with the Lincoln Bicentennial, the topic was Bill’s second book Ulysses S. Grant 1861-1864, and Grant’s relationship with Abraham Lincoln. After discussing how both Lincoln and Grant changed their minds about Abolition during the course of the war, Ray asked Bill for an interpretation of this opinion shift and his response was “To me, it’s a sign of intelligence.”
January 5, 2009
At the request of the famed Bardo Museum in Tunis, Bill donated two copies of his most recent work, Perpetua of Carthage, to the museum library. The book features cover art photographed by the author’s wife Marion during their 2007 visit in Tunisia. The Bardo Museum contains one of the world’s largest collections of Roman mosaic art.
November 15, 2008
A copy of Bill’s most recent book, Perpetua of Carthage, was auctioned off (after some competitive bidding) at the annual Martinmass fundraiser sponsored by Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Evanston, Illinois.
News Articles
Valpo (Valparaiso University alumni magazine) (Fall 2008)
WREG-TV Memphis Live at 9 Interview (January 2008)
Evanston Review (October 2007)
Valpo (Valparaiso University alumni magazine) (Spring 2007)
Evanston Review (October 2006)