Journalist to speak in Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH – Pete Hamill, a well-known American journalist, will appear as the next guest of The Drue Heinz Lectures at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. As a newspaperman, Hamill has investigated murders, crime and the police in New York City in the 1960s. He has also covered conflicts in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Lebanon and Northern Ireland. He served as editor-in-chief for the New York Daily News, the New York Post and the Mexico City News.
He is also a best-selling fiction writer. His 1997 novel, “Snow in August,” spent four months on the New York Times bestsellers list. His newly published, “Forever” has already reached bestseller status. Hamill will discuss how he turns news into fiction during his lecture. As the oldest of seven children raised by Irish immigrants in Brooklyn, Hamill grew up around the hard life of drinking and fighting. After quitting school at 16 and then serving in the U.S. Navy, he used his educational benefits to attend Mexico City College where he studied painting and writing. For tickets and information, call 412-622-8866.
Hamill honed his craft as an award-wining journalist before writing short stories, novels and screenplays. His work has been published in most major magazines, including Esquire, Cosmopolitan, New York Times Magazine and The Village Voice. He is currently on the staff of the New Yorker.
He has written eight novels, two collections of short stories, and several screenplays, as well as books on Diego Rivera and Frank Sinatra.
His highly acclaimed autobiography “A Drinking Life” describes his struggle to overcome alcoholism, earning praise from critics for his unflinching candor and warmth.
Hamill’s lecture is the second of six programs in the 2003 spring series of The Drue Heinz Lectures. Also appearing this spring are foreign affairs expert Fareed Zakaria, novelist and memoirist Anchee Min, award-winning fiction writer T.C. Boyle and historian and educator Jill Ker Conway.
For tickets and information, call 412-622-8866. Students and groups are eligible for discounted tickets.
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.