Wayne State University Press is having a virtual book launch Thursday to celebrate "Starring Tom Cruise," a scholarly look at why the 58-year-old actor was, is and likely will remain an object of our obsession. From tabloids with screaming headlines to slick magazines with literary pretensions, media outlets have been scrutinizing Cruise's life, work and multiple controversies for as long as he has been famous, a time frame tracing back to his breakout role in 1983's "Risky Business." A scholarly book on Cruise is a fresh approach to studying celebrity, according to Marie Sweetman, the acquisitions editor for the Detroit university's publishing arm. "Cruise is broadly and immediately recognizable as an actor and celebrity personality, but beyond that, his long career in the public eye lends itself to rigorous discussions of masculinity, ethnicity, sexuality and commodity," says Sweetman via email. "The energy and star power that Cruise brings to every one of his roles can be found in every chapter of this edited collection."

Stephanie Williams will take the helm of Wayne State University Press in early August, according to a university news release Tuesday. Williams comes from Ohio University Press, where she served most recently as director since June 2019. She replaces Kathryn Wildfong, who returned from retirement to take up the interim director post after Tara Reeser stepped down. “I am delighted that Stephanie will be joining the University Press as our new director," WSU spokesman Michael Wright said in a written statement. "Her leadership will make a difference for the Press, the university, and the community. I also wish to thank Kathryn Wildfong for stepping in as interim director while we conducted a new search. She did a great job getting the team refocused and re-energized, and we all wish her well on her second try at retirement.” 

Five women are standing together in the drawing, each wearing factory coveralls, each with bright scarves tied around their heads, each raising their right arms and flexing their biceps. They are all Rosies, "a group of women defined not by the identity of a single riveter in a single factory, but by the collective might of hundreds of thousands of women whose labors helped save the world," explains the introduction to "Rosie, a Detroit Herstory." The Wayne State University Press book, which officially arrives Monday, is special in several ways, starting with the fact that it was created by two Detroit women: author Bailey Sisoy Isgro and illustrator Nicole Lapointe, whose friendship just happened to begin through a Rosie-themed trivia question.