Ford, McGuane, Harrison, and moderator Bill CastanierThree American authors came home to their alma mater tonight, my university. All three graduated from the English department where I am the academic adviser. No, I'm not that old, I wasn't their adviser. And oh, I got my BA in this department too. It was fun to hear them talk about their antics in Morrill Hall back in the 1960s though.
- Richard Ford - wrote Independence Day (not the Will Smith movie) and won the Pulitzer for it, as well as the Penn/Faulkner Award.
- Jim Harrison - wrote Legends of the Fall (book and screenplay for the movie).
- Tom McGuane - wrote The Sporting Club.
They've written over 50 books among them, and I have read ONE: True North by Harrison, set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
They made us laugh and quoted a lot of other authors tonight, but a few lines I can recall:- If we knew what went on between women and men, we wouldn't need literature. (Ford)
- When I read 'Alice in Wonderland' as a kid I felt that I'd been struck by lightning. (Harrison)
- Pundits think talking is thinking. (Harrison)
- I became a writer to justify my reading. (McGuane)
- When asked what the Pulitzer meant to him, Ford said: Philip Roth had an off year.
I think that as a representative of the English department where these guys studied I should probably read a couple more of their books, eh what? I mean, they're good. I hear Jim Harrison is France's favorite American author.
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