The Celebrity Lecture Series

Publisher, professor, novelist, and playwright Edgar Lawrence Doctorow is introduced by John Eadie, dean of the College of Arts and Letters and Alan Suits, architect and founding president of the Dean’s Community Council. Doctorow commences his lecture by addressing “how writers write,” including the importance of sentence structure within a story,...

Author David Halberstam is introduced by Wendy Wilkins, dean of the College of Arts and Letters and Stephen Rachman from the Department of English at Michigan State University. Rachman summarizes Halberstam's impressive career and praises the scope and depth of his writing. David Halberstam begins his lecture by talking about current events and the...

Dean John Eadie and Director of Michigan State University's American Studies Program, James McClintock, introduce author Tony Hillerman. McClintock discusses Hillerman’s past occupations and some of his literary works, including mystery novel, ...

Author and cultural theorist Susan Sontage is introduced by John Eadie and Marcelette Williams who summarizes Sontag's writing career by giving a history of her works and awards. Williams briefly meditates on what is to be the topic of Sontag's lecture, "Illness as Metaphor," commenting on the "danger" of metaphorical usage in our society. Sontag b...

Dean John Eadie and Professor Barry Gross introduce writer John Updike. Gross enumerates the large number and variety of works written by Updike. Updike, in an attempt to fit his readings to the occasion, reads some of his poetry about his various experiences in the Midwest and continues on to read from a collection of short stories called ...

Journalist and novelist Tom Wolfe is introduced by John Eadie, dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University, and Roy Saper, Community Council member. Saper describes Wolfe's priceless contribution to the writing world with the creation of ...