Linda K. Riebel

Irene Dalis was an opera star in the twentieth century, performing leading roles alongside Placido Domingo, Leontyne Price, Franco Corelli, Birgit Nilsson, and Jussi Bj rling at the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, San Francisco, Bayreuth, and other major houses. In this, the first biography of this remarkable woman, we learn about her international career and the successful opera company she started in her hometown, San Jose, California. Filled with fascinating backstage anecdotes, stories of luck and perseverance, some of the most ecstatic performance reviews ever written, and sketches of the great impresarios Rudolf Bing, Wieland Wagner, Kurt Herbert Adler, and Lotfi Mansouri, Irene Dalis: Diva, Impresaria, Legend is also the story of talented young singers who come to San Jose to launch their careers. The candid and sometimes humorous account is generously illustrated with photographs of Miss Dalis's family, early career, stardom in America and Europe, and the memorable opera productions staged by Opera San Jose over the last 30 years. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with Irene Dalis, conductors, stage directors, former Opera San Jose resident artists, board members, orchestra members, and patrons, Irene Dalis: Diva, Impresaria, Legend is also a celebration of something unique in America: an opera company that hires talented singers for years at a time, forming a stable ensemble of singers that the audience grows to know and love in their wildly varying roles. Irene Dalis: Diva, Impresaria, Legend is also a must-read for arts administrators, as an inspiring story of making a vision into a reality, overcoming obstacles, attracting the right people, and keeping one's institution in the black. 302 pages. Includes appendix, discography, complete lists of Opera San Jose productions and resident artist singers, references, and index. Related website: IreneDalis.com. Available in print and electronic formats.

Millions of people realize that their food choices can help-or hurt-the earth. They want to reduce their "food footprint," but with so many decisions to make (omnivore or vegetarian, organic or conventional, local or global), how is a busy person to navigate all the possibilities? The Green Foodprint: Food Choices for Healthy People and a Healthy Planet is a concise, easy-to-read, and practical guide through the new world of healthful food that is also easier on the environment. The book is packed with inspiring facts and stories about how readers can make a big difference with a few wise decisions. Appealing to a wide range of readers and eaters, The Green Foodprint describes five memorable guidelines, and the many healthful, earth-friendly options available within each guideline. Against the background of a flawed industrial food system, the book highlights positive changes and the power of citizens to help themselves and the earth with their food choices. Likely audiences include people interested in sustainability, students and educators at all levels from middle school through university, health care providers, nutritionists, people concerned about their health, environmentalists, journalists, foodies, animal lovers, vegetarians, and parents of young children. Why is this book unique? Trade books on the environment fall into two broad categories: long, detailed narratives, exposes, or descriptions of specific industries; and lifestyle overview surveys that offer checklists for actions individuals can take. The former tend to be very detailed and depressing, leaving readers to deduce what to do. The latter tend to be superficial and try to cover too many aspects of American life. The Green Foodprint combines the best of both. It covers one domain-food-and shows how readers can make earth-friendly choices that have proven results. The book gives them enough information so they can appreciate the challenges we face, and also lists specific actions they can take. Rather than preaching a single approach, the book offers assurance that there are many earth-friendly food options and the encouragement to select the ones that make the most sense for each individual reader. Set off in an easy-to-read format are dozens of inspiring vignettes of real individuals and groups that are healing our food world. 155 pages, plus sources and index. Second edition (new title). Foreword by John Robbins, author of the groundbreaking book The Food Revolution. The Green Foodprint is highly recommended by experts in the worlds of food, environment, and health.