Drue Heinz Lectures take intimate look at three cultural icons
PITTSBURGH – Elvis, the first rock ‘n’ roll superstar, blurred the lines between black and white and shattered the boundaries of American music. Brando was called “the greatest actor in the world,” revolutionizing American film with his sexual magnetism and improvisational wildness.
Warhol’s work shocked the art world, but the painter, photographer and filmmaker is considered one of the most important American artists of the 20th century.
The Drue Heinz Lectures presents an intimate look at three cultural icons in “Biography with a Point of View” at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.
In a panel discussion with editor, James Atlas, and writers Bobbie Ann Mason, Wayne Koestenbaum and Patricia Bosworth, the evening showcases “Penguin Lives,” the celebrated biography series that pairs acclaimed writers with famous individuals.
Mason’s biography, “Elvis Presley,” offers an insightful and touching portrait of the dirt-poor teen who blossomed into the “King of Rock ‘N’ Roll,” but succumbed to substance abuse and hard-living.
Mason is the author of several novels and short story collections, including the modern American classics “Shilo and Other Stories” and “In Country.”
Her 1999 memoir “Clear Springs” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Bosworth’s “Marlon Brando” goes beyond the myth and celebrity of the brilliant actor to explain the torment of Brando’s youth and the man who remains a mystery to this day.
Bosworth’s firsthand knowledge of the entertainment industry informs both her Brando book and previous biographies of Montgomery Clift and Diane Arbus. Her memoir “Anything Your Little Heart Desires” tells the story of her father, a Hollywood lawyer whose political activities included defending blacklisted actors in the 1950s.
In “Andy Warhol,” Koestenbaum has written an intellectually stimulating portrait of one of the most controversial artists of our time. Koestenbaum looks at Warhol’s art as an exploration of the artist’s ideas about fame, beauty and the essence of matter, specifically the human body.
Koestenbaum is a professor of English at CYNY Graduate Center in New York City and is the author of several collections of poetry and “The Queen’s Throat,” a National Book Critic’s Circle Award nominee.
The founding editor of “Penguin Lives,” Atlas has been an editor at the New York Times Magazine for many years. Atlas contributes to numerous magazines and journals and is an acclaimed biographer, having written about the lives of writers Saul Bellow and Delmore Schwartz.
“Biography with a Point of View” is the first of six programs of the 2003 spring series. Also appearing on the series are legendary newspaperman Pete Hamill on Jan. 27, foreign affairs expert Fareed Zakaria on Feb. 10, and novelist and memoirist Anchee Min on Feb. 17.
Award-winning short storywriter and novelist T.C. Boyle speaks on March 3 and Jill Ker Conway, the Australian-born historian, educator and best-selling memoirist, closes the 2002-2003 season on March 24.
Subscriptions to the spring series and tickets to individual events are available.
A discount is offered for full-time undergraduate students and groups.
The Drue Heinz Lectures is produced by Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures in association with Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and is sponsored by the Drue Heinz Trust. For more information, call 412-622-8866.