Robert MacNeil & Roger Rosenblatt at April 6 Writers Speak
Stony Brook Southampton is featuring critically acclaimed author, novelist and TV anchor Robert MacNeil as a guest in the next installment of their Writers Speak Wednesdays program, a semester-long event which brings the student body and professional writers together on the first Wednesday of every month. Writers Speak is open to the public.
MacNeil will speak with essayist and Stony Brook professor Roger Rosenblatt on Wednesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in the Radio Lounge, which is on the second floor of Chancellors Hall. Rosenblatt teaches English and writing at Stony Brook Southampton, and he is also the author of six off-Broadway plays and 17 books, including The New York Times notable books Kayak Morning and The Boy Detective (both published by Ecco Press).
MacNeil’s journalism career began in 1955 when, after working at Reuters news agency for a few years, he became a correspondent for NBC News in London. He joined NBC’s Washington bureau in 1963, covering the civil rights movement, the White House and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He then worked for the BBC briefly, until he joined PBS in 1971, eventually becoming the executive editor of the MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour there. MacNeil won the 2008 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.
He’s written four novels: Burden of Desire (Formac), Breaking News (Nan A. Talese), Portrait of Julia: A Novel (Formac) and The Voyage (Mariner Books). He’s written three memoirs, as well as co-writing The Story of English (Penguin) and its sequel, Do You Speak American? (Mariner).
MacNeil currently serves as chairman of the board for the MacDowell Colony, a retreat for artists, writers and musicians in New Hampshire. He is also a trustee of the Freedom Forum Newseum, the world’s first museum of journalism, and a co-chairman of the Council of Conservators of the New York Public Library.
Writers Speak Wednesdays is a free program that begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Readings start at 7 p.m., followed by a Q&A session and a book signing after that. Upcoming Writers Speak dates will feature Fear of Flying author Erica Jong on April 27, and student readings on May 4 for students in the MFA in Creative Writing and Literature program.
For more info, call 631-632-5030 or visit stonybrook.edu/mfa.