Once the symbol of a robust steel industry and blue-collar economy, Youngstown, Ohio, and its famous Jeannette Blast Furnace have become key icons in the tragic tale of American deindustrialization. Sherry Lee Linkon and John Russo examine the inevitable tension between those discordant visions, which continue to exert great power over Steeltown's citizens as they struggle to redefine their lives.

When "the Jenny" was shut down in 1978, 50,000 Youngstown workers lost their jobs, cutting the heart out of the local economy. Even as the community organized a nationally recognized effort to save the mills, the city was rocked by economic devastation, runaway crime, and mob scandal, problems that persist twenty-five years later. In the midst of these struggles the Jenny remained standing as a proud symbol of the community's glory days, still a dominant force in the construction of both individual and collective identities in Youngstown.

Focusing on stories and images that both reflect and perpetuate how Youngstown understands itself as a community, Sherry Lee Linkon and John Russo have forged a historical and cultural study of the relationship between community, memory, work, and conflict. Drawing on written texts, visual images, sculptures, films, songs, and interviews with people who have lived and worked in Youngstown, the authors show the importance of memory in forming the collective identity of a place.

"Steeltown, U.S.A." is a richly developed portrait of a place, showing how images of the Jenny and of Youngstown have been used in national media and connecting these representations to the broader public conversation about work and place: Bruce Springsteen's song "Youngstown," the book Journey to Nowhere, and other pop culture artifacts have helped make Youngstown the symbolic epicenter of American deindustrialization. And while many people see the need to get over the past and on with the future, in rushing to erase the difficult parts of Youngstown's history they might also forget the powerful events that made the city so important, such as the struggles for economic and social justice that improved the lives of steelworkers.

This multifaceted study of the meaning of work and place in one community pointedly depicts the relationships among economic development, media representations, and community life. As we see how people's faith in the value of their work dwindled away in Youngstown, their stories can help us understand not only how the meaning of work has changed but also why the changing meaning of work matters.

George A. Romero's classic 1968 film, "Night of the Living Dead", introduced a new era of gutmunching cinematic mayhem and inspired legions of directors and writers, among them Quentin Tarantino and George Lucas. John A. Russo co-wrote the screenplay for "Night of the Living Dead" and turned it into two blood-drenched novels, now combined in one gory, chilling volume.

In John Russo and Sherry Lee Linkon's book, contributors trace the origins of the new working-class studies, explore how it is being developed both within and across fields, and identify key themes and issues. Historians, economists, geographers, sociologists, and scholars of literature and cultural studies introduce many and varied aspects of this emerging field. Throughout, they consider how the study of working-class life transforms traditional disciplines and stress the importance of popular and artistic representations of working-class life.

"We put the working class, in all its varieties, at the center of our work. The new working-class studies is not only about the labor movement, or about workers of any particular kind, or workers in any particular place even in the workplace. Instead, we ask questions about how class works for people at work, at home, and in the community. We explore how class both unites and divides working-class people, which highlights the importance of understanding how class shapes and is shaped by race, gender, ethnicity, and place. We reflect on the common interests as well as the divisions between the most commonly imagined version of the working class industrial, blue-collar workers and workers in the 'new economy' whose work and personal lives seem, at first glance, to place them solidly in the middle class." from the Introduction

In John Russo and Sherry LeeLinkon's book, contributors trace the origins of the new working-class studies, explore how it is being developed both within and across fields, and identify key themes and issues. Historians, economists, geographers, sociologists, and scholars of literature and cultural studies introduce many and varied aspects of this emerging field. Throughout, they consider how the study of working-class life transforms traditional disciplines and stress the importance of popular and artistic representations of working-class life.

Contributors: Robert Bruno, University of Illinois; Renny Christopher, California State University Channel Islands; Jim Daniels, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh; Elizabeth Faue, Wayne State University; Lisa Jordan, University of Minnesota; Paul Lauter, Trinity College; Sherry Lee Linkon, Youngstown State University; Jack Metzgar, Roosevelt University in Chicago; Don Mitchell, Syracuse University; Kimberley L. Phillips, The College of William and Mary; Alessandro Portelli, University of Rome La Sapienza; David Roediger, University of Illinois, Rachel Lee Rubin, University of Massachusetts Boston; John Russo, Youngstown State University; Tim Strangleman, London Metropolitan University; Tom Zaniello, Northern Kentucky University and George Meany Center for Labor Studies; Michael Zweig, State University of New York at Stony Brook"

1971: It's been three years since the blood-soaked night that the dead rose from their graves, attacking and devouring the living. Now, the legacy of that horrific and unexplained event is about to be unleashed once again upon an unsuspecting world! With zombies once again roaming the Pennsylvania countryside, only a handful of individuals know that the horror has begun anew! The ultimate zombie graphic novel, John Russo's zombie epic is unveiled in this definitive collection!

From legendary horror and suspense writer JOHN RUSSO comes a harrowing tale where no one is safe

Dealey Plaza is one of the most notorious places in America, and when youthful conspiracy buffs go there in 1964 to stage their own reenactment of the Kennedy Assassination, four of them are brutally murdered -- the first victims of a hate-filled legacy that continues for four more decades.

The survivors of that long-ago Dallas trip, each of them now icons of the American way of life, are about to be honored -- or killed.

Who will live and who will die? Will it be country-western star Lori McCoy? Her loving husband? Her scheming ex-husband? Or the case-hardened FBI agent and longtime friend who risks his life trying to protect them?

This is JOHN RUSSO at his best

"From the Prologue: "

Dealey Plaza is one of the most notorious places in America, and in the spring of 1964 I went there with some college pals, conspiracy buffs, who wanted me to help them film their own version of the Kennedy Assassination.

On the way home, four of them were murdered and their footage went up in flames.

It was the first link in a chain of violent death that spanned four decades and caused me to abandon all my youthful hopes and dreams.

As the years went by, some of us who had survived that trip became rich, some became famous or notorious, and some of us were entangled in tricky or dangerous situations that life had thrown our way.

Now we were gathered together for Homecoming Weekend 2000 at Belmont University.

But a killer was waiting for us.

And he was nursing a deadly grudge that had its roots in the trip to Dallas we had embarked on long ago when we were young, adventurous and innocent.

The zombie apocalypse can really put a downer on your holiday... 38 holiday-themed zombie stories from new and established authors including Night of the Living Dead co-writer, John Russo, Tony Burgess, Shaun Jeffrey, Rod Glenn, Ian McKinnon, Matt Hilton, David Dunwoody, Wayne Simmons, Bowie V Ibarra, Joe McKinney, Remy Porter, A P Fuchs and Eric S Brown. Over 500 pages crammed full of flesh-eating horror and dark humour from the cream of UK, US and Canadian talent. Theme parks, serial killers, seaside resorts, Christmas, Thanksgiving and fishing trips. You'll scream, you'll laugh and you might even shed a tear... Holiday zombie horror has never been so entertaining.