The Newport Beach, California library is displaying sketches from The Illustrated Courtroom by co-authors Sue Russell and Elizabeth Williams.

The critically acclaimed book is part of the library’s Courtroom Art exhibit. The exhibit pays tribute to courtroom artists and the critical role they play in the judicial storytelling process. Featured among the sketches are some of the greatest California courtroom dramas in The Illustrated Courtroom, including the trials of Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson.

The library recently hosted, “An Evening of Famous Trials in Pictures,” with Williams and two other courtroom artists whose work is featured in The Illustrated Courtroom – Bill Robles, who covered the infamous 1970 murder trial of Charles Manson, and Emmy Award-Winner Aggie Kenny, whose work includes illustrations of the trial of Nixon cabinet members John Mitchell and Maurice Stans.

Read the full article on The Daily Pilot.

The Illustrated Courtroom, the first oversized full-color book of American courtroom illustrations, is one of the best books published in 2014, according to Kirkus Reviews.

The acclaimed book review magazine included The Illustrated Courtroom in its annual best-of-the-year list in the independent books category.

BBC Culture is offering high praise for GEEKS BEARING GIFTS, the book that CUNY Journalism’s own Jeff Jarvis did for us on the future of news production and delivery. The BBC calls the book a must-read for February, along with some prominent authors such as Langston Hughes and Hilary Mantel. See the other books here:

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150129-ten-books-to-read-in-february

And here’s an excerpt of the praise from BBC Culture:

Jarvis, author of What Would Google Do? and Gutenberg the Geek, says his new book is the answer to the question he often hears: “So now that your damned, beloved internet has ruined news, what now?” He explores alternative futures, looking at how the emerging forms of journalism interact with the skills and core beliefs of the past. He affirms the rules of journalism – accuracy, fairness, completeness. At the core, he concludes, “We serve citizens and communities.” His section on the need for new and sustainable business models includes such pertinent examples as his own experience helping nonprofits develop a collaborative news ecosystem in his home state of New Jersey. Jarvis, who keeps his eye on the ever shifting digital world through his blog at Buzzmachine, is a smart observer and prognosticator, and his analysis is noteworthy. (CUNY Journalism Press/OR Books)

Geeks Bearing Gifts, the exploration of the possible future(s) of the news business by CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Professor Jeff Jarvis, has been named the “One Book” to read over the next six months by the Journalism Education Association, the leading professional association of journalism educators. Here’s what the JEA said:

“Geeks Bearing Gifts: Imagining New Futures for News” by Jeff Jarvis was selected as the next JEA One Book with 41 percent of the votes in the online poll.

They say journalism is dying. But is it? In “Geeks Bearing Gifts: Imagining New Futures for News,” Jarvis argues that even though our tools as journalists have changed, our mission and values remain the same.

To purchase this book about the future of journalism, visit the the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism’s website ($20), or you can download a copy for $9.99 to your Kindle.

Twitter discussions will be held in February and March, leading up to a face-to-face discussion at the JEA/NSPA convention in Denver.

The collection of legal artistry documenting many of America’s most high profile trial dramas over the past half century has earned a spot on the Best Indie Books list compiled by Kirkus Reviews. Elizabeth Williams and Sue Russell’s book, The Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art, has been named one of the Best Edifying Indie Books in 2014. “This on top of the Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year are great honors,” Williams said. “Especially for an illustrated nonfiction book.”

If you’re one of the people who couldn’t quite put your hand in your pocket to pay $60 for the oversized paperback edition of The Illustrated Courtroom, we have welcome news for you. Thanks to a new printing, the price has dropped 50 percent — from $60 to $30. The ebook is still $10, but you can buy the paperback/ebook combination — a surprising number of people do — for $35. Buy it here for yourself or as a unique holiday gift for journalists, lawyers, artists and anyone interested in the news of the day. The drawings cover iconic court cases over the past 50 years, from James Earl Ray to Charles Manson to Son of Sam to OJ to Michael Jackson to Bernie Madoff, and the text takes you behind the scenes for never-before-told tales of judges, lawyers and defendants — Black Panthers, Mafia dons, Middle East terrorists and more.

The Times Literary Supplement, the venerable publication looking at all things bookish for the Times of London, has called our book The Illustrated Courtroom one of the best books published worldwide in 2014. Contributing author Jonathan Benthall praises the book, by artist Elizabeth Williams and writer Sue Russell, as “an anthology of this underrated genre,” and notes that the camera has not replaced the courtroom illustration in evoking the tension in legal proceedings.

The Thurgood Marshall Court House, home of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is marking the court’s 225th anniversary with a number of events, including an art show featuring illustrations by the artists who produced our book The Illustrated Courtroom. The show, which runs through May 4 at the courthouse, 40 Foley Square in downtown Manhattan, includes illustrations from many famous trials — and infamous defendants — over the years: Imelda Marcos, Leona Helmsley, Bernie Madoff and more, along with more art from various proceedings that brought other boldfaced names to federal court, including Jackie Onassis, when she sued to keep the paparazzi away. The art show is open during normal courthouse hours.

The role of courtroom artists in American journalism and law will be the subject of a panel discussion on Nov. 19 at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

Titled “The Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Journalism, Law and Art,” the discussion will focus on court art and its unique blend of law, journalism and art. The panel will be moderated by renowned attorney Gary Naftalis and will encompass the ever-present tension between the public’s right to know and a defendant’s right to a fair trial through the eyes of two prolific courtroom artists. The panelists include U.S. District Judge Richard Berman, investigative reporter Diane Dimond and courtroom artists Elizabeth Williams and Aggie Kenny, who are featured in our book The Illustrated Courtroom, the first over-sized, full-color art book featuring more than 150 illustrations from some of the most iconic trials of the last half century.

The Arab Spring was not only about political revolution; it heralded a revolution in news gathering, too. The use of social media in war-torn cities in the Middle East is an extension of the new era described in Andy Carvin’s book Distant Witness, which chronicles unprecedented coverage of breaking news in wake of the Arab Spring. Then the social media strategist for the National Public Radio (NPR), Carvin has been hailed “the man who tweets revolutions,” and his book describes — in the manner of a thriller — breathtaking, eyewitness accounts of civilians risking their lives to show the world intense conflicts via social media. If you want to know more about what’s happening now, read about how it all started in 2011.

Kirkus Reviews touts The Illustrated Courtroom as “a new approach to understanding the criminal justice system through the eyes of courtroom artists.” Writer Sue Russell and five acclaimed courtroom sketch artists, led by Elizabeth Williams, document 50 years of the most historic trial dramas that “reveals one fascinating aspect of the legal system, informing the reader while demonstrating the value of artistic interpretation.” Read the full review here.

For a limited time, we’re offering 20 percent off the $60 cover price — save $12 — of The Illustrated Courtroom. The price will still say $60, but the discount will be applied upon checkout. You pay only $48. If you’d like to own this collector’s item — the first comprehensive look at American courtroom artists and this unique meeting of law, art and journalism — but been put off by the steep cover price (it is a beautifully produced full-color oversized art book, after all), this is your opportunity. If you want to save even more, contact us about bulk purchases of 5 or more.

Psychology Today magazine is giving a rave to our new book THE ILLUSTRATED COURTROOM: 50 YEARS OF COURT ART. Author Katherine Ramsland marvels at how many iconic court cases are featured in the book, the first looking at this unique meeting of law, art and journalism. She writes:

“Originally done for media outlets in proceedings where cameras were banned, these renderings give us eyes into some intense human dramas. Courtroom artists attend to a trial’s most memorable moments.”

If you want to hear more from our superstar courtroom illustrators — and see them livestreamed via Skype — here’s your chance via Talk Center America. Diane Diamond leads Liz Williams and Bill Robles, two of the artists featured in our book THE ILLUSTRATED COURTROOM, in this fascinating discussion.

The Times’ Larry Rohter has done a nice piece on David Lewis’ new documentary and the companion book he did for CUNY Journalism Press, both titled “The Pleasures of Being Out of Step,” on the remarkable life of Nat Hentoff — freelance writer, the inventor of jazz criticism, First Amendment activist and all-round media gadfly/curmudgeon. The movie opens at the IFC in Manhattan this week, where our book will be on sale. Or you can buy it here. It’s a great read — an oral history that allowed Dave Lewis to preserve some fascinating comments from Hentoff and many others that didn’t make it into the documentary.

‘The Illustrated Courtroom’ Finds Art In Real-Life Legal Drama

			‘The Illustrated Courtroom’ Finds Art In Real-Life Legal… For some trials, courtroom sketches are the only images the public ever sees. NPR’s Rachel Martin speaks with artist Elizabeth Williams about her new boo…
			View on www.npr.org

Amazon has put up part of the American Lawyer review of our book The Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art, which features 140 iconic deadline-delivered drawings by five of the top courtroom artists of all time from dozens of the biggest trials of the last half century: Published in May by CUNY Journalism Press, “The Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art,” by artist Elizabeth Williams and crime writer Sue Russell, is a raucous celebration of five practitioners of this endangered workaday art. The moments captured here include everything, as one artist put it, “from celebrities, spies, terrorists, corporate corruption, political scandals, killers, mass murderers, celebrity custody hearings, to sex scandals, child molestation cases and military court martials.”  Here is a perfect match of artists and subjects: Elizabeth Williams on Martha Stewart and dapper John Gotti, Howard Brodie on Jack Ruby and the Watergate plumbers, Aggie Kenny on Jackie O. and Oliver North, Bill Robles on O.J. Simpson and Richard Tomlinson capturing a young David Boies. Lawyers who treasure beauty should root for the Luddites in the courtroom camera debate. Court TV has been called many things, but it’s never been called art.

American Lawyer, one of the legal profession’s leading magazines, is featuring our new book The Illustrated Courtroom in its June issue. Read it here (if you’re prompted to register, fear not, it’s quick, free and painless. No lawyers will call you.) The writer, Michael D. Goldhaber, calls the book “a raucous celebration of five practitioners of this endangered workaday art. The moments captured here include everything, as one artist put it, from celebrities, spies, terrorists, corporate corruption, political scandals, killers, mass murderers, celebrity custody hearings, to sex scandals, child molestation cases and military court martials.”

The Hudson (N.J.) County Bar Association is sponsoring a show, “Historic Courtroom Art from the Last Half-Century,” through June 18 at the Mason Civic League, 1200 Washington Street in Hoboken. The show features many of the illustrations from our book The Illustrated Courtroom, and was curated by Elizabeth Williams and Aggie Kenny, two of the five renowned artists who contributed to our book. If you’re interested in art, journalism or law, you’ll be fascinated by these riveting courtrooms scenes and portraits of the famous and the infamous.

Renowned courtroom illustrators Elizabeth Williams and Aggie Kenny, two of the artists featured in our book The Illustrated Courtroom, are scheduled to both present some of their work to the Library of Congress, and to be interviewed on NPR. Also upcoming is a showing at famed lawyer David Boies’ firm in Manhattan. Watch this space for more information and links.