Brandeis Magazine

Christopher Boucher published “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive,” which he described to a Boston Globe reporter as an “experimental novel.” It tells the story of a young man in western Massachusetts facing the challenges of raising a son who just happens to be a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle. “The Volkswagen drinks chai tea and runs on stories, and the book features other surreal elements as well,” Boucher told the newspaper. “There are characters who are memories and a character made of stained glass, and time is literally money. It’s a difficult book to describe!’’ He received his M.F.A. in fiction from Syracuse University. Before attending Syracuse, he worked as the arts and entertainment writer at the Daily Hampshire Gazette and drove a 1971 Beetle. He teaches writing and literature at Boston College, and is the managing editor of Post Road Magazine. Lana Gladstein, who was recently made a partner at Pepper Hamilton in Boston, was profiled in the Boston Business Journal. A 2000 graduate of the Northeastern University School of Law, she told the publication that she was drawn to the legal profession while at Brandeis when she became interested in the relationship between law and science. Her practice is devoted to intellectual property litigation, licensing, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s laws and regulations related to drugs and medical devices.