For Immediate Release
Media contacts:
Jane Turnis
(719) 389-6138
JTurnis@ColoradoCollege.edu
Leslie Weddell
(719) 389-6038
Leslie.Weddell@ColoradoCollege.edu
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNER GEORGE WILL TO PRESENT
‘REFLECTIONS ON THE 2008 ELECTIONS’
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – August 25, 2008 – Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, television commentator and conservative intellectual George F. Will analyzes the 2008 presidential election in his lecture, “Reflections on the 2008 Elections,” at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 8 in the South Theatre of the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center, 825 North Cascade Ave. The lecture is free and open to the public.
For more than 35 years, Will has been one of the most influential, broadly recognized and widely read writers in the world. He has a syndicated column in more than 450 newspapers, a biweekly column in Newsweek and is a political commentator for ABC News.
Among his many accolades, Will won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1977 for “distinguished commentary on a variety of topics” for his newspaper columns, and received a finalist citation in the Essays and Criticism category of the 1979 National Magazine Awards competition for his “consistently outstanding special features columns” appearing in Newsweek. In 1985 the Washington Journalism Review named him “Best Writer, Any Subject,” and in 1997 he was listed among the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Journal.
Will began his syndicated column with The Writers Group of The Washington Post in 1974, just a few months after it was founded. Two years later, Will started writing his biweekly back-page column for Newsweek.Often combining factual reporting with conservative commentary, Will’s columns are known for their scholarly vocabulary, allusions to political philosophers and frequent references to baseball.
In addition, Will also has written two best-selling books on baseball and three books on political philosophy, and has published 11 compilations of his columns and various book reviews and lectures.
Beyond print, Will has been an ABC News analyst since the early 1980s and was an original panelist on ABC’s “The Week with David Brinkley” in 1981 (now titled “This Week with George Stephanopolous”). He also was a regular panelist on “Agronsky & Company” from 1977 through 1984 and on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in the 1970s.
Will was born in Champaign, Ill., and was educated at Trinity College and Oxford and Princeton universities. Prior to entering journalism, Will taught political philosophy at Michigan State University and the University of Toronto, and served on the staff of U.S. Senator Gordon Allott (R-Colo.). Until he became a columnist for Newsweek, Will was Washington editor for the conservative journal The National Review.
The event, part of the Sondermann Series: Election 2008, is sponsored by the Colorado College political science department, the Marianne Lannon Lopat Lecture Endowment and the W. Lewis and Helen R. Abbott Memorial Fund.
Other election-related events sponsored by the political science department this fall include a homecoming panel on Oct. 10 with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chuck Buxton CC ’68, political analyst Eric Sondermann CC ’76 and Colorado College Political Science Professors Tim Fuller and Bob Loevy; and a lecture by New York Times columnist Frank Rich on October 26.
NOTE TO EDITORS: A high-res photo of George Will may be downloaded at http://www.coloradocollege.edu/news_events/Photos/9.08%20George%20Will.CREDIT%20SIGRID%20ESTRADA.jpg
For information, directions or disability accommodation, members of the public may call (719) 389-6607.
About Colorado College
Colorado College is a nationally prominent, four-year liberal arts college that was founded in Colorado Springs in 1874. The college operates on the innovative Block Plan, in which its 1,975 undergraduate students study one course at a time in intensive 3½-week blocks. The college also offers a master of arts in teaching degree. For more information, visit www.ColoradoCollege.edu.
