University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications professor Joe Starita’s book “‘I am a Man’: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice” is now available for purchase on audiobook.
Written by Starita and read by Armando Durán, the 9.5-hour audiobook chronicles the life and death of Standing Bear, the Ponca chief who, in 1879, unwittingly ended up in the crosshairs of a landmark legal case.
"Armando has done a masterful job of transforming this powerful story from text to audio,” Starita said. “So now there is yet another tool to help raise the profile of Chief Standing Bear and his historic effort to carve out a legal identity for Native Americans."
The book was the One Book–One Lincoln winner for 2011 and the One Book–One Nebraska winner for 2012.
The audiobook is available for purchase or rent at https://www.downpour.com/inner-work?product=208320
Starita also wrote “The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge – A Lakota Odyssey,” which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He has received several awards for his work with the Native American community, including the Leo Reano Award, a national civil rights award from the National Education Association, and the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution History Award Medal.
Durán has appeared in films, television and regional theater on the West Coast. He has been a member of the resident acting company at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for many years. “Audiofile” named Durán Best Voice in Biography and History in 2009 for his narration of “Che Guevara.”
Before joining the journalism faculty in 2000, Starita spent 13 years at the Miami Herald and served as the paper's New York bureau chief from 1983-1987. He also spent four years on the Herald's Investigations Team, where he specialized in stories exposing unethical doctors and lawyers. One of those stories, an article examining how impoverished and illiterate Haitians were being used to extort insurance companies into settling bogus auto claims, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in local reporting.
