The Legacy Cary West

William R. Cook is Distinguished Teaching Professor of History at the State University of New York at Geneseo, where he has taught since 1970. He received his Bachelor’s degree cum laude at Wabash College and his Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Professor Cook teaches courses in medieval, Renaissance, and Reformation history as well as the history of the Bible and of Christianity. His books include Images of St. Francis of Assisi and Francis of Assisi: The Way of Poverty and Humility.

Professor Cook received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1974. In 1992, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education named him New York State’s Professor of the Year.

Professor Cook and Professor Ronald B. Herzman have been collaborating intensively since 1973 when they team-taught a course at SUNY-Geneseo called "The Age of Chaucer." Subsequent courses included "The Age of Dante" and "The Age of Francis of Assisi." Both prolific writers in their own right, together they have published The Medieval World View with the Oxford University Press, currently in its second edition. In 2003, Professors Cook and Herzman were presented with the Medieval Academy of America’s first-ever CARA Award for Excellence in Teaching Medieval Studies.

Bob Brier is an Egyptologist and Professor of Philosophy at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Hunter College and Ph.D. in philosophy from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

From 1981–1996 he was Chairman of the Philosophy Department at C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. He has served as Director of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “Egyptology Today” program.

Professor Brier has twice been selected as a Fulbright Scholar and has received LIU’s David Newton Award for Teaching Excellence in recognition of his achievements as a lecturer.

In 1994, Dr. Brier became the first person in 2,000 years to mummify a human cadaver in the ancient Egyptian style. This research was the subject of a National Geographic television special, Mr. Mummy. Dr. Brier is also the host of The Learning Channel’s series The Great Egyptians.

Professor Brier is the author of Ancient Egyptian Magic (1980), Egyptian Mummies (1994), Encyclopedia of Mummies (1998), The Murder of Tutankhamen: A True Story (1998), Daily Life in Ancient Egypt (1999), and numerous scholarly articles.

This is another of Belafonte's attempts to musically circumnavigate the globe, performing songs from a variety of world cultures. Songs from the West Indies, once a major portion of his repertoire, were reduced to one on this album. Joining him on this album is a junior high school choir from Queens, New York.