February 9, 2012: Hazel Rowley Memorial Lecture with Jodi Kantor, Author of The Obamas
On Thursday, February 9, 2012, Roosevelt House, in memory of Hazel Rowley, hosted a book discussion with Jodi Kantor, author of The Obamas in conversation with Kati Marton, award-winning author and journalist and introductory remarks by Ambassador William J. vanden Heuvel. The discussion will be held in the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College.
Book sales: 6:00-6:30 pm; Program: 6:30 pm
Location: The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, East 68th Street (Between Park & Lexington Avenues)
When Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, he also won a long-running debate with his wife Michelle. Contrary to her fears, politics now seemed like a worthwhile, even noble pursuit. Together they planned a White House life that would be as normal and sane as possible. Then they moved in.
In The Obamas, Jodi Kantor takes us deep inside the White House as they try to grapple with their new roles, change the country, raise children, maintain friendships, and figure out what it means to be the first black President and First Lady. Filled with riveting detail and insight into their partnership, emotions and personalities, and written with a keen eye for the ironies of public life, The Obamas is an intimate portrait that will surprise even readers who thought they knew the President and First Lady.
About the Hazel Rowley Memorial Lecture: The Hazel Rowley Memorial Lecture is dedicated to the memory of author and biographer Hazel Joan Rowley (1951-2011). Born in London, she was raised and educated in Australia, where she later taught at Deakin University. She was well-known for her biographies on Christina Stead, Richard Wright and Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre. Her last biography, Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage, a ground breaking account of the Roosevelts' relationship, garnered much praise from critics and was named one of the 10 best books for 2010 by NPR's Fresh Air.
About the Author:
Jodi Kantor began her journalism career by dropping out of Harvard Law School to join Slate.com in 1998. Four years later she became the Arts & Leisure editor of the New York Times, the youngest person in memory to edit a section of the newspaper. She has been covering the Obamas since 2007, writing front-page stories about their faith, friends, marriage, roots, and family, along with portraits of Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney and other major political figures.
About the Moderator:
Kati Marton is author of seven books and is a former NPR and ABC News correspondent and winner of a George Foster Peabody Award for broadcast Journalism. Her pioneering book on the subject of Presidential marriages, Hidden Power - Presidential Marriages that Shaped Our History, was a national best seller. Her last book, Enemies of the People -My Family's Journey to America was a National Book Critics finalist and is being turned into a motion picture. This summer she will publish her eighth book, a memoir, Paris - A Love Story.
