June 24, 2005

WOLFE AND GIOIA SHOULD BE WORTHWHILE ANYWAY:

Commencement Speeches on American Perspectives (C-SPAN Special Alert!)

This Saturday night, starting at 8 pm ET on C-SPAN, American Perspectives will show commencement speeches from colleges and universities across the country with speakers from the arts and entertainment fields.

8 pm - Tom Hanks - actor and activist for WWII veterans and other causes speaks at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York

8:20 pm - Tom Wolfe - author of many books including his latest, I Am Charlotte Simmons, an account of American college life, speaks at his alma mater, Washington & Lee University, in Lexington, Virginia

8:50 pm - Lonnie Bunch - the president-elect of the Smithsonian's new Museum of African American History speaks at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois

9:15 pm - Dana Gioia - the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts speaks to the graduates of Seton Hall University in East Orange, New Jersey

9:35 pm - Stephen King - the well-known fiction writer speaks at the University of Maine in Orono

9:55 pm - Judith McHale - the president of Discovery Communications speaks at American University in Washington, DC

10:15 pm - Dwight Tierney - the co-founder of MTV speaks at his alma mater, Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 24, 2005 7:41 PM
Comments

One can only imagine the death toll from suicide of having to listen to Stephen King.

Posted by: bart at June 24, 2005 10:35 PM

bart:

I think King might be interesting just because I have no idea what he'd say. If he talks some about WWII, Tom Hanks might not be so bad, either.

That said, the odds of any college commencement address being particularly interesting or worthwhile just aren't very good -- maybe one in five.

Posted by: Matt Murphy at June 25, 2005 12:42 AM

King is or was actually not bad -- he spoke at my sister's high school graduation twenty-five odd years ago. Goofy but funny, knows Maine history cold.

Posted by: joe shropshire at June 25, 2005 3:49 AM

A drug-addicted, leftwing, egomaniacal windbag. I think I'll pass.

Posted by: bart at June 25, 2005 6:40 AM

I don't know much about his politics except that he strongly opposed Vietnam, appears to oppose the death penalty, and once said that when he met his wife they were both Democrats (his mother, however, was a Republican). He gave up drugs a number of years ago. I've heard him on talk shows before and he seems like an engaging speaker -- he definitely has a very interesting sense of humor. I think he'd be better than 80% of the guys who give commencement addresses.

Posted by: Matt Murphy at June 25, 2005 3:35 PM

An extremely low hurdle, more of an anthill.

Posted by: bart at June 25, 2005 3:47 PM

bart:

A low hurdle for you and me. A high hurdle for the professional bags of hot air who give commencement talks.

If they speak coherently and avoid the usual cliches, they've already got most of the competition beat.

Posted by: Matt Murphy at June 25, 2005 7:45 PM

Thanks for the warning.

Posted by: Genecis at June 26, 2005 11:19 AM
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