Alumni Books

We have learned that through the years, many Crossroads alums have written and published books. We want to honor their work, but we also recognize that while writing a book is a wonderful accomplishment, so is the less visible work in which all us have engaged. Since we began Crossroads fifty years ago, it has always been a fine line to walk — recognizing accomplishments that can be readily measured but equally valuing that which is often invisible. When we use the word alum, we refer to all graduates, other former students and teachers who have been at Crossroads.

Alum Book Index

Jim Abbott

Darryl Flaherty

Carol Lieber

Carol Miller Lieber

Co-Founder of Crossroads, 1974

In the book department, let’s start with Carol who authored no less than six books. She spent most of her post-Crossroads years working with the Boston-based Educators for Social Responsibility, later known as Engaging Schools. She was a prolific writer and consultant, traveling from Anchorage to Tel Aviv sharing her wisdom and passion.

Those who knew Carol realized that her academic persona was coupled with remarkable energy and joie de vivre. There is no way that Crossroads could have come to be without her remarkable vision, planning, and creativity.

All of her books are still in print and are available at Amazon by clicking here.

NOTE: Engaging Schoolsis going out business for financial reasons. Some of Carol’s books are available now for FREE. Go to the on-line store at https://engagingschools.org/store/ and use the code FREE2024.

Darryl Flaherty

Crossroads Class of 1985

Darryl Flaherty, Crossroads Class of 1985, is now professor of Japanese History at the University of Delaware. His primary publication is Public Law, Private Practice: Politics, Profit and the Legal Profession in Nineteenth-Century Japan. The book is a study of civic society and legal practices in 19th century Japan. It examines how people in the “middle class” – such as government officials, lawyers, and reporters – resolved conflicts and shaped Japanese society and law during the transition from the Tokugawa to Meiji periods. The book has been translated into Japanese and was well-received, though with some differences in how it was perceived by Japanese historians compared to English-language scholars. Overall, the book contributes to the emerging historiography on the long transition from the Tokugawa to Meiji eras in Japan.

Darryl began his primary research on Japan when he was an AFS exchange student while at Crossroads. He majored in Chinese Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Many thanks to Darryl for all, including giving us the pleasure of renewing acquaintances at the Sept. 2024 Crossroads 50th reunion.

Jim Abbott

Crossroads Class of 1982 (Inaugural Graduating Class)

Jim Abbott, Crossroads Class of 1982, knew when he was a middle schooler that someday he would write a book about the Kennedy White House. His hero was John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy oversaw interior changes to the White House and further inspired Jim’s interest in museum curation. In 1998, along with Elaine Rice Bachmann, Jim published Designing Camelot. As you learn from the interview, Jim had excellent relations with the Kennedy family, but not with the White House curators at the time of publication.

Jim is currently Executive Director of Wright’s Ferry Mansion, Louise Steinman Von Hess Foundation in Columbia, Pennsylvania. Jim writes: