Sheri Fink

Libby Lewis Photography

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Literary Arts

Sheri Fink

Past Event: Tuesday, February 10, 2015

At Town Hall Seattle—The Great Hall

Sheri Fink has written an unforgettable story. Five Days at Memorial is social reporting of the first rank.

— New York Times

Fink’s book is essential reading for anyone who cares about New Orleans, the breakdown of order in disaster zones, and medical dilemmas under crisis circumstances.

— Boston Globe

Sheri Fink is a journalist, author, and winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. She has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and an M.D. from Stanford University.

Her medical degree is what led her to humanitarian aid work in disaster and war zones, and eventually to journalism. Her book, Five Days at Memorial, which expands upon her Pulitzer Prize-winning article about a hospital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction and the Los Angeles Times Book prize for Current Interest. Fink is currently a staff reporter for the New York Times.

Fink’s Patron Reception will have nibbles generously donated by Ethan Stowell Restaurants.

 

Selected Works:

Books
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital (2013)
War Hospital: A True Story of Surgery and Survival (2003)

Articles
“Citing Urgent Need, U.S. Calls on Hospitals to Hone Disaster Plans” (New York Times, 2012)
“Beyond Hurricane Heroics” (Stanford Medical Magazine, 2013)
“A Queens High-Rise Where Fear, Death and Myth Collided” (New York Times, 2012)
“Doctors Face Ethical Decisions in Haiti” (PRI’s The World, 2010)
“Life and Death Choices as South Africans Ration Dialysis Care” (Propublica, 2010)
“The Deadly Choices at Memorial” (New York Times Magazine, 2009)

Links

The New York Times: The Deadly Choices at Memorial
NPR: During Katrina, ‘Memorial’ Doctors Chose Who Lived, Who Died
Sheri Fink on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Salon: “Five Days at Memorial”: A hospital becomes hell
The New York Times: Harrowing Questions, and Ethics, During Katrina
The Boston Globe: Book Review: ‘Five Days at Memorial’ by Sheri Fink

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 boxoffice@lectures.org 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 boxoffice@lectures.org 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 boxoffice@lectures.org 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 boxoffice@lectures.org, or Tuesday-Friday, from 12 noon–5 p.m., 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