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 David
Halberstam, a Pulitzer-winning writer and reporter, will speak at
6:30 p.m. Jan. 16 in McCrary Theatre as part of the Baird Pulitzer
Prize Lecture series. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting
on the Vietnam War, Halberstam's last 13 books have made the New
York Times best-seller list.
One of his
latest books, "War In A Time Of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the
Generals" (Scribner, September 2001), revealed how post-Cold
War U.S. foreign policy has been haunted by the legacy of Vietnam
- and how domestic politics have determined our role as a world
power. His classic works include the brilliant trilogy of power,
"The Best and the Brightest" (about the origins of the
Vietnam War), "The Powers That Be" (about the quantum
rise in power of the modern media) and "The Reckoning"
(about the industrial challenge to Detroit by Japan). In a Wall
Street Journal poll of CEO's, "The Reckoning" was voted
Most Important Book of the Year. His follow-up was "The Next
Century," an analysis of global economic change.
Halberstam
is one of the nation's most distinguished social and political commentators.
Because of the broad nature of his books, he is seen by many as
someone who can define and illuminate the rapid changes in American
society beyond today's headlines and sound bites. A recipient of
16 honorary degrees, perhaps no other American writer has so meticulously
and prophetically defined the second half of the 20th century.
Halberstam's
"The Fifties" is an expansive examination of a defining
but under-scrutinized era in American life. It was made into a 10-part
series by The History Channel. "The
Children" introduced readers to the students whose 1960 boycott
of a southern lunch counter focused national attention on the issue
of segregation. Halberstam's exploration of American culture is
seen in his many bestselling sports books, including "The Summer
of '49," "October 1964" and "Playing for Keeps:
Michael Jordan and the World He Made." He is also a regular
columnist for ESPN.com's Page 2, where he writes bi-weekly columns
on various topics surrounding the world of sports.
Halberstam's
penetrating commentary has been sought by numerous programs, including
"Face the Nation" and "Nightline," on subjects
as diverse as the presidency, Vietnam, changes in the media, the
influence of Elvis Presley, the Gulf War and the business of baseball.
His latest
national best seller is "Firehouse," a moving portrait
of the brave men of Engine 40, Ladder 35 in Manhattan, which lost
12 of its 13 firefighters in the attacks on the World Trade Center
on 9/11.
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