Meet the Press

This week in North Philly Notes, we participate in an AAUP Blog Tour where we celebrate the staff of Temple University Press: Who we are, what we do, what we read, and what we love.

Temple University Press began publishing 50 years ago with books about urban studies, labor studies, as well as women’s studies, ethnic studies. We’ve since grown to include books on Asian American, Latina/o and African American studies as well as gender and sexuality, law and criminology, animal rights, sports, and regional studies. Our titles showcase our proud commitment to social sciences and the humanities.

But Temple University Press is more than just the books we publish. It’s about the people at the press and the knowledge, skills, and talent they bring to help our authors’ words and ideas into print.

To show that the Press is more than just a sum of its parts, we focus this blog on the people at the Press and what they are passion about.

Mary Rose Muccie, Director, has worked in publishing for over 30 years. Thanks to over a dozen summers working on the Wildwood, NJ boardwalk, Mary Rose counts among her skills the ability to make a perfect soft-serve ice cream cone and dip it in chocolate. A lifelong Philadelphia sports fan, she has high hopes that the Flyers will win another Stanley Cup in her lifetime. She finds inspiration and hope in the Press’s titles on women and politics, such as Navigating Gendered Terrain and The Gendered Executive.

Aaron Javsicas, Editor-in-Chief, has worked in academic book publishing for 19 years, including almost six at Temple. Aaron pays far too much attention to politics for his own good, though it may benefit his political science list. He’s a fan of cooking, Philadelphia, the films Dr. Strangelove and Flash Gordon (the one with the Queen soundtrack), and he takes any opportunity to get outdoors with his two sons and his wife, Lucinda.

Like the Duke Ellington book title “Music Is My Mistress,” Marketing Director Ann-Marie Anderson rocks when the Press has music and dance titles on the list. From saxophonist Jimmy Heath and composer Benny Golson to swing dancers Norma Miller and Frankie Manning, she’s a closeted jazz vocalist who lives vicariously through their stories. And on the side Ann-Marie loves marketing books, all books, well sorta.

Karen Baker, Associate Director and Financial Manager, doesn’t manage the press like she’s scheming for power on Game of Thrones, but that’s because she’s a softie for animals and the press’s list in Animal and Society—If You Tame Me in particular. Karen is also the queen of the gif.

Gary Kramer, Publicity Manager, has honed his media experience since he started working at the press 20 years ago. The development of social media has been particularly exciting to embrace. He also manages the press blog. An avid reader, he has a special appreciation for the Press’s cinema studies, Latin American studies, and sexuality studies lists. A foodie and professional film critic, he is quick with a restaurant or movie recommendation, too.

Irene Imperio, Advertising and Promotions Manager, started at the Press as a student and advanced her way up to being the Press database master and a master crafter. Among her many talents, Irene made a Rocky statue cutout for the recent Organization of American Historians conference here in Philadelphia to promote a book about Philadelphia public artworks, Contested Image.

Dave Wilson, Senior Production Editor, loves his book projects almost as much as he loves his three cats. He truly enjoys reading and working on the Press’s regional titles and working with various book printers.

Joan Vidal, Production Editor, manages in-house book projects and oversees TUP’s pool of freelance copyeditors. She enjoys international folk dancing and holds a special place in her heart for the TUP title Klezmer, by Hankus Netsky. A firm believer in the morale-boosting power of sweets, she helps stock TUP’s communal snack area and keeps track of staff birthdays so everyone has cake!

Kate Nichols, Art Manager, enjoys designing the covers and interiors of Temple University Press books. But she especially enjoys working on the press’s journal, Kalfou, When she is not at the press, she can be found tending her garden or walking her dogs.

Sarah Munroe, Editor and devoted dinosaur lover, acquires all things humanities and is pumped to herald Quynh Nhu Le’s Unsettled Solidarities, the first book in the new Critical Race, Indigeneity, and Relationality series. Her personal bookshelves reflect her expansive curiosity and background in poetry, and she likes to balance the more literary and deep-thinking endeavors with true crime and crime fiction. Years down the road she may leave publishing to become a paleontologist or a forensic geographer.

Ryan Mulligan, Acquisitions Editor, acquires the Press’s titles in sociology and criminology. He also acquires Temple’s sports books, so he is always eager to get his colleagues excited about sports, including running the Press’s interoffice March Madness bracket contest, to the bemusement of his colleagues. One of Ryan’s proudest moments in the office was suggesting the copy for the Press’s first billboard ad, a promotion for Boathouse Row that ran alongside the perpetually traffic jammed Schuykill Expressway near the iconic riverside landmark, reading “You’d Get There Faster By Rowing.”

Ashley Petrucci, Editorial Assistant and Rights and Contracts Coordinator, assists acquisitions editors, creates book contracts, and reviews permissions for Temple University Press. She likes people, places, and things (credit: April Ludgate, Parks and Recreation, 2009 / permission form from NBC incoming), along with the Press’s more ghostly titles, like The Supernatural in Society, Culture, and History.  She is the Press’s resource on all things Gen Z—despite actually being a Millennial—and is always up to date on the latest memes.