Lost your copy of The Iliad? Need to check out contemporary queer fiction? Want to cry happy tears as you thumb through a best-selling romance?
Then you’ve come to the right place: Grit City Books.
A trio of Puget Sound alumni launched the independent bookstore online in 2023, followed by a brick-and-mortar store opening in May 2024 on Tacoma’s trendy Sixth Avenue.
In the lowlands of Nepal, near the Indian border, humans and tigers have coexisted for centuries. After years of declining numbers, tiger populations are now growing, putting pressure on resources like food, water, and land that are shared with nearby farms and villages—and leading to increased conflict between humans and tigers. Nepal Tiger Trust is a nonprofit group that tracks tiger populations in Chitwan National Park and tries to educate local communities about their wild neighbors.
Peter Bittner ’12 didn’t set out to become an A.I. expert when he first set foot on campus at the University of Puget Sound. As an International Political Economy major with a minor in Spanish, he was initially drawn to international affairs. However, a passion for storytelling and a detour into freelance journalism led him to become well-versed in the capabilities of artificial intelligence—and gives him a unique insight into how the technology is upending the media landscape.
When Burbank, Calif., native Frank Reed ’05, MAT’08 topped out at 5’8" in high school, he begrudgingly accepted that he probably wouldn’t be headed to the NBA. But when then-Puget Sound basketball coach Joe Callero asked if he’d be interested in joining the team, Reed liked the sound of continuing to play while getting a top-tier education. With a grant from the Gates Millennium Scholars Program covering his undergraduate tuition, Reed committed to Puget Sound and the basketball team with sights set on a career in marine biology.
Elizabeth Shatswell ’24 wasn’t sure what to expect when she walked onto the campus of the University of Puget Sound after 23 years in prison. She had started her higher education in the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor through FEPPS—the Freedom Education Project Puget Sound. Arrested at age 17 and serving a 55-year sentence, she was released early in July 2023.
Professor of History Katherine Smith studies what scholars sometimes refer to as “the long 12th century,” encompassing the social and political events from around 1050 to 1200 CE. As a member of the faculty since 2005, Smith has taught a range of classes in the History department. Both of her books, War and the Making of Medieval Monastic Culture and The Bible and Crusade Narrative, were inspired by classroom discussions. She’s now working on a book that examines life in the Middle Ages through everyday objects.
