The first book contracted by Trinity University Press publisher Barbara Ras, who took over in 2002, has just become a bestseller. Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape, a nature reference edited by Barry Lopez, has landed at #10 on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list and #8 on the Denver Post list, after hitting #3 on the San Francisco Chronicle list. Home Ground has also hit numerous regional bookstore bestseller lists, and the Kansas City Star picked it as one of its 100 notable books of the year. Ras reported the title has gone into a second printing, bringing the total in print to 27,500 copies. Not bad for a press that closed in 1989 due to lack of funding.
A grant from the San Antonio—based Ewing Halsell Foundation changed all that. Ras, a veteran of several publishers, including North Point and the University of Georgia Press, was chosen to engineer Trinity's revival. Having worked with Lopez at two of her previous stops, Ras brought with her a passion about a specific project of his—the creation of a working dictionary of American place. The main obstacle, as Ras saw it, was cost. "I asked my new bosses at Trinity to put a lot of money on the line to acquire this book," said Ras. "They said, 'Okay, if you want to use your budget, go ahead.' "
Given the green light, Ras was able to match an offer Lopez had received from Scribner. Trinity supported the project for three years as the lexicon was compiled. Six months before publication, Ras was able to secure two grants totaling $275,000, including one for $150,000 from the Kendeda Fund in Atlanta to support marketing, which made possible the hiring of the publicity firm Goldberg McDuffie and a 30-city author tour.
Lopez, whose Arctic Dreams (published by Scribner) won the National Book Award in 1986, invited 45 writers—including such notables as Charles Frazier, William Kettridge, Bill McKibben and Barbara Kingsolver—to define up to 20 nature terms from their own neighborhood or community. The terms, eloquently and often idiosyncratically defined, range from the simple "lake" or "creek" to the metaphorically rich, like "looking glass prairie," "basket of eggs relief" and "kiss tank." The $29.95 hardcover offers 852 definitions and 102 original black-and-white illustrations by Molly O'Halloran.
"We've sold 20 so far and have another 20 on hand, which is a strong position for us," said Paul Yamazaki, bookbuyer at City Lights. "It's a real browser's delight—you can just open it up and get lost in it."
Lopez told PW that Home Ground readers are particularly responsive to its implicit political message. "It fills a niche for a book that explains the different regional diction used to describe our landscape, a language that has diminished over time and was in danger of being forgotten," he said.
Ras, of course, is delighted with the early success of Home Ground. "I knew this would be the crowning glory of our first years and help me build the program," she said. Thus far, the new Trinity has published 20 titles, many of them about landscape and the environment. "People are responding to Home Ground," said Ras, "because it connects us to a sense of community, a sense of belonging."
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