FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                    February 9, 2007 

NORTHWESTERN ALUMNUS HONORED FOR NOVEL ON OKLAHOMA LAND RUSH 

            A 1968 Northwestern Oklahoma State University alumnus’ latest novel has been honored by the Langum Project for Historical Literature located in Birmingham, Ala.

            “Dreams to Dust: A Tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush” by Sheldon Russell of Guthrie is the winner in the category of American historical fiction. This award is presented to the best book published in the preceding year that is both excellent fiction and excellent history. Russell will receive a $1,000 prize during a special ceremony in Birmingham on March 17, where he will join one other winning author to briefly discuss his book and take questions.

Sheldon Russell autographs a few copies of "Dreams to Dust: A Tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush" after a speaking engagement at the Alva Homestead Retirement Community during the summer.

            “Dreams to Dust,” published by the University of Oklahoma Press in Norman in 2006, is a vivid portrayal of the Oklahoma land rush of 1889, with special focus on the brief and intense boom-to-bust town of Guthrie.

            Many of the fictional characters in “Dreams to Dust” are patterned after actual persons and events in early Oklahoma. The book’s protagonist and many of its main characters are influenced by the spirit of greed and acquisition that accompanied the land rush and engage in conduct with questionable ethical standards.

“‘Dreams to Dust’ is an important addition to the many works about great booms because it features the less attractive consequences alongside the glitter,” said David J. Langum, Sr., the prize’s administrator.

The Langum Charitable Trust seeks to make the rich history of the American colonial and national periods more accessible to the educated general reader.

This book also has earned the Waynoka native honors in the State of Oklahoma through its designation as an official Oklahoma Centennial Project by the Oklahoma Centennial Commission.

Russell has written three other books titled “Empire,” “The Savage Trail” and “Requiem at Dawn,” which was a finalist for Best Original Paperback in the Western Writers of America’s Spur Awards competition.

Russell earned a master’s and doctorate from Oklahoma State University and taught psycholinguistics (the diagnosis and correction of reading disabilities) for 25 years at the University of Central Oklahoma before retiring to write full time.

He and his wife Nancy, an artist and sculptor, operate the Double Starr Gallery in Guthrie. Nancy recently was commissioned and has begun work on a life-sized bronze portrait that will be installed, sitting on a bench, under the front porch of the Runnymede Hotel on Alva’s downtown square. Dr. Kenneth Brown, retired Northwestern professor and manager of the Runnymede, said the bronze was commissioned by a good friend of his late wife Dale. It will be a likeness of her where she will be holding a book, possibly a copy of her own book for kids, "The Ugly Bugs," which she wrote to convey to them what was going on with her cancer and treatment.

For other information visit www.langumtrust.org or www.doublestarr.com.

-NW-

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