Frank Bruni

Libby Lewis Photography

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Literary Arts

Frank Bruni

Past Event: Friday, May 1, 2015

At Town Hall Seattle—The Great Hall

My talk, bridging culture, politics and even higher education, will be about one of defining dynamics of our day: the way in which digital technology and the Internet, which have the capability of opening up our worlds as never before, speeding us to distant horizons and enabling unprecedented connections, are too often used to create narrow niches—some call them silos, I think of them and have written of them as customized cocoons—that separate us from one another.

— Frank Bruni

As we pepper students with contradictory information and competing philosophies about college’s role as an on ramp to professional glory, we should talk as much about the way college can establish patterns of reading, thinking and interacting that buck the current tendency among Americans to tuck themselves into enclaves of confederates with the same politics, the same cultural tastes, the same incomes. That tendency fuels the little and big misunderstandings that are driving us apart. It’s at the very root of our sclerotic, dysfunctional political process.

— Frank Bruni

Show me someone whose identity is rooted in where he or she went to college. I’ll show you someone you really, really don’t want at your Super Bowl party.

— Frank Bruni

I suppose there are people who can pass up free guacamole, but they’re either allergic to avocado or too joyless to live.

— Frank Bruni

Born Round is as addictive as Chinese sesame noodles and as satisfying as Grandma Bruni’s lasagna.

— Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food

Frank Bruni was named an Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times in June 2011. Before that, he was the paper’s chief restaurant critic for five and a half years. Since joining the Times in 1995, he has also been the Rome bureau chief, a White House correspondent, the lead reporter covering George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, a staff writer for The New York Times Sunday Magazine, and a cocktails columnist.

His restaurant-related articles for the Times and elsewhere have appeared in five consecutive editions of Best Food Writing in America. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing for his work before the Times at the Detroit Free Press. His new book, Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be will be published in March 2015. Read a sneak preview here.

Bruni lives in New York City.

Bruni’s Patron Reception will have nibbles generously donated by Maria Hines Restaurants.

 

Selected Works

Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be, (March 2015)
Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater, (2009)
Ambling Into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush, (2002)
A Gospel of Shame: Children, Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church, (1993 with Elinor Burkett)

Links

Key West Literary Seminar: Subtle Big Things: talking with Frank Bruni
The Atlantic: Lessons Learned as New York Times Food Critic
The New York Times: Bergdahl and Our Distance from the Battlefield
The New York Times: Our Crazy College Crossroads
The New York Times: Class, Cost and College
The New York Times: A Savory Sea of Mussels

Event Details

Town Hall Seattle—The Great Hall

1119 8th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101

View directions.

Transportation & Parking

Town Hall Seattle is centrally located at 1119 8th Ave, on the corner of 8th and Seneca. Their venue is served by frequent bus routes, is near access to light rail stations, and close to a number of parking options nearby. Please see their website for more details.

Accessibility

Open Captioning is an option for people who have hearing losses, where a captioning screen displaying the words that are spoken or sung is placed on stage. To make a request for open captioning, please contact us at [email protected] or 206.621.2230×10. Please note: for in-person events at Town Hall Seattle, we appreciate a two-week advance notice to allow us time to secure captioning services. 

Closed Captioning is an option for people who have hearing loss, where captioning displays the words that are spoken or sung at the bottom of the video for online events. Captioning is available for all online events; click the “CC” button to view captions during the event.

Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are devices that people with hearing loss use in conjunction with their hearing device (hearing aids or cochlear implants). Town Hall Seattle has a hearing loop system, so you can switch your T-coil hearing aid to telecoil to have the stage’s microphones transmitted directly to your hearing aids. To pick up a headset, check in with any Town Hall usher when you arrive.

Sign Language Interpretation is available upon request for Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard of hearing individuals. To make a request for interpretation, please contact us at [email protected] or 206.621.2230×10, or select “Sign Language Interpretation” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process and we will contact you to confirm details. Please note: we appreciate a two-week advance notice to allow us time to secure interpretation.

Wheelchair Accessible Seating and Accessible Restrooms are available in all sections at Town Hall Seattle, which is fully accessible to ticket holders with physical mobility concerns. Town Hall Seattle recommends that visitors use the 8th Avenue Entrance for events in the Great Hall, and elevators with Braille signage go to all levels within the Hall. The venue has all-gender, ADA-accessible restrooms on the lobby and Forum level. To reserve seating for a specific mobility concern, please contact us at [email protected] or 206.621.2230×10, or select “Wheelchair Accessible or Alternative Seating Options” during ticket checkout, and we will contact you to confirm details. For more details on accessibility features at Town Hall, click here.

Guide and service dogs are welcome.

All-gender restrooms are available.

We are pleased to offer these accessibility services at our venues, and they are provided at no additional cost to ticket holders. Please contact us with any questions and feedback about how we can be more accessible and inclusive. Our Patron Services Manager is available at [email protected], or Monday-Friday from 10:00am – 5:00pm at 206.621.2230×10.

For more accessibility information, please head to lectures.org/accessibility. If you would like to make accessibility arrangements you do not see listed here, please contact our box office or select “Other Accommodations” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process, and we will contact you to confirm details.

Seating Chart