Michigan Author Homecoming - from the Michigan Humanities Council July 10, 2008

WHAT: Michigan Author Homecoming.

WHO: Richard Ford, Jim Harrison, Thomas McGuane: A Conversation.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, July 10, 2008. Book signing follows discussion. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.

WHERE: Pasant Theatre, Wharton Center at Michigan State University, East Lansing.

COST: Free to the public. Limited seating on a first-come, first-served basis.

(LANSING)-----On July 10, 2008, the Michigan Humanities Council will host a Michigan Author Homecoming with critically acclaimed authors Richard Ford, Jim Harrison, and Thomas McGuane at the Wharton Center at Michigan State University (MSU). The three authors, icons of contemporary American literature, are also MSU alumni and will meet together in public for the first time. The event will be a moderated discussion among the literary giants. It will commemorate the conclusion of the 2007-08 Great Michigan Read. It is free and open to the public. The discussion will begin at 7:30 p.m., followed by a book signing. Doors will open at 6:45 p.m.

Both Harrison and McGuane grew up in Michigan and became acquainted while attending MSU, where they earned degrees in the 1960s. Ford was raised in Jackson, Miss. and also graduated from MSU in the 1960s, but never crossed paths with the other authors while on campus. Ford met Harrison in 1977 and McGuane in 1983. Biographies that list their works and accomplishments are below.

“There’s a way in which I – and probably any of us – carry those formative experiences around with us every minute, think about them all the time, are never really away from them,” Ford said. “For me, that’s how I ‘commune’ with Michigan – in my imagination. All of it entirely in the present tense.”

“This is an historic event,” said Jan Fedewa, executive director of the Michigan Humanities Council. “It’s the first time all three will appear on stage together, in public. It’s a remarkable opportunity to celebrate and explore their Michigan connections.”

Bill Castanier, who reviews books for the Lansing City Pulse and served on The Great Michigan Read selection committee, will moderate the discussion. He is a 1973 MSU alumnus.

The Michigan Author Homecoming is a Great Michigan Read program presented by the Michigan Humanities Council and sponsored in part by the MSU Alumni Association, MSU College of Arts and Letters, MSU Libraries, MSU Press, and the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities at MSU. Schuler Books & Music will provide on-site book sales.

Official Website: http://www.michiganhumanities.org