Distinguished Lecture Series at University of Wisconsin-Madison
Speaking at my alma mater on Sunday, 27 October, at 630pm
Got the gig finally settled this week. Very excited for the opportunity and wanted to share it in advance for anybody in the area who might want to make the effort to attend (the audience description below suggests that anybody not immediately in those categories should call ahead on what’s possible).
Anybody who wants any book signed, please bring and I will gladly do so.
The lecture will be at the UW’s famous Memorial Union right on the shoreline of Lake Mendota, a place I know well.
The Distinguished Lecture Series (from the website):
Since 1987, Wisconsin Union Directorate Distinguished Lecture Series (DLS) has contributed to broadening the educational experience of UW–Madison students and the community by bringing the smartest, most engaging, and influential people to campus, to encourage thought-provoking conversations and ideas. Through DLS-sponsored lectures and collaborations, we strive to achieve our mission of seeking and spreading powerful ideas, while also allowing the passionate and dedicated students on our committee to be exposed to a diverse and vibrant array of people, backgrounds, and ideas.
All free events sponsored by the WUD Distinguished Lecture Series are intended for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff, and Union members and guests.
800 Langdon St.
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 265-3000Recent speakers have included Bill Nye the Science Guy, former astronaut and current AZ senator Scott Kelly, whistleblower Chelsea Manning, and biologist Jane Goodall.
The evening will play out like this:
4:15pm-4:45pm: Media time
4:45pm-5:30pm: VIP Meet and Greet (with food)
5:30pm-5:45pm: Sound check
5:45pm-6:30pm: Speaker Downtime in private green room
6:30pm-6:40pm: Event Starts, Welcome, Introduction (10 mins)
6:40pm-7:30pm: Lecture (50 mins)
7:30pm-8:00pm: Audience Q&A (30 mins)
8:20pm-8:50pm: Optional Informal Public Meet and Greet (30 mins)
I’ll be speaking in the restored Tripp Commons area of Memorial Union.
Should be fun, so I wanted to let people know as soon as I could.
The shared history of the UW and my family runs deep:
Both of my parents got law degrees from the UW, as did a sister and brother following their undergrad degrees.
Basically, all four of my brothers and both sisters either did undergrad or grad or both here.
I attended 1980-1984 and left with a Honors Degree in Russian literature and US foreign policy.
My spouse got a journalism BA, an MS in urban planning, and a Master’s of Social Work.
Both of my sons graduated with BAs, and my daughter Vonne Mei will be graduating next year. Mei nominated me for the series months ago.
I could add all sorts of nieces and nephews (including a great nephew there now), but you get the idea. My family’s degrees from the UW system number in the dozens.
Yes, I later got an AM and PhD at Harvard, but this place is my alma mater and where I met, and fell in love with, my spouse of now 38 years of marriage (after a four-year courtship).
Vonne was a server at the downtown and very popular Italian restaurant called Paisan’s (then in University Square and now closed) and I was a line cook. We met when I — against the rules — made a smiley face on a double-sauce pizza and Vonne got a big tip (which she did not share, despite my Marxist protestations of exploitation and alienation). We really conversed for the first time at my sister Maggie’s birthday bash weeks later in the summer of 1982, when Vonne asked me to walk her back to campus to her bike. I decided I could marry here about ten minutes into the walk on Bassett Street (I can still point out the very spot). Our first date a week later was to see Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. Six kids later, I was pretty sure neither of us was an android, until I saw Blade Runner 2049. Now I keep my eye on her.
