Books from In Class Speakers

Fark.com founder and Lexington native Drew Curtis joined us in the classroom on March 8. Drew is also the author of It's Not News, It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap As News, which was published by Gotham. (Drew wrote his first book at the age of 16.) He also introduced the class to the "1,000 True Fans" and "nobody has a million twitter followers" discussions. (Reflect both in portfolio entries.)

Author Ed McClanahan joined us on March 10, and brought along a career's worth of books, including his first novel The Natural Man, an essay collection, Famous People I Have Known (Kentucky Voices), O the Clear Moment, and a collection, containing his favorite story, A CONGRESS OF WONDERS. He was also an editor on the Ken Kesey tribute, Spit in the Ocean, No. 7: All About Ken Kesey. His current publisher is Counterpoint, and his next book will be out this October.

UK connections he referenced in class included James Baker Hall, Wendell Berry, Gurney Norman, and Bobbie Ann Mason. All studied under Robert Hazel at University of Kentucky, and all were Stegner fellows at Stanford University. (Reflect on the importance of "tribe" in portfolios.)

The speaker scheduled for Tuesday March 22 is Dr. Kevin Nelson. His new book is The Spiritual Doorway in the Brain: A Neurologist's Search for the God Experience.