Distinguished Lecturer Biographies
2006 Distinguished Lecturer
Annie Proulx
"No Duty to Retreat from Red Desert Outlaws"
"Annie Proulx thinks, lives, and works in the Western Territory of Paradox, a land that the rest of us only visit from time to time, traveling on limited visas. Her view of the West and Westerners is at one and the same time wholeheartedly irrevrent, shining a spotlight on human pretense and inconsistency, and deeply respectful, paying tribute to the never-completed pursuit of dignity and meaning. Reading her work will turn the tide for people laboring under the belief that the West is either a happy, mythic locale quarantined from sorrow and consequence, or a melancholy region steeped in despair and defeat. Annie Proulx reminds us, in a prose as artful as it is direct, that the West's complication and complexity are inseparable from its glory" - Patty Limerick
On Wednesday, November 29, 2006 Pulitzer prize winning Author, Annie Proulx explored the notion of what it means to be an outlaw by tracing the legal history of self-defense, noting that outlaws extended the notion of self-defense to issues of land use and economic development. Afterwards, she signed books for audience members, chatting with them on a variety of topics, from the film "Brokeback Mountain," to the life of Butch Cassidy, revealing again and again the multifaceted aspect of western identity.
2005 Distinguished Lecturer
Nick Forster
"100 Years with the King of Western Swing: How Bob Wills Connected the Dots of American Music"
Hometown host and co-executive producer Nick Forster has long been a central figure in the world of western music. Nick and his wife Helen came up with the idea of a new approach to radio, etown, the popular weekly radio variety show now heard coast-coast. Nick's illustrious career as a professional musician spans 25 years, including performances for audiences world wide with the Boulder based, Grammy-nominated bluegrass band, Hot Rize. He has appeared on countless radio and television programs, including numerous appearances on A Prarie Home Companion and Austin City Limits. Rolling Stone Magazine calls Nick "an exceptional songwriter...unquestionably a virtuoso." His quick warm wit, stellar guitar playing, and strong vocals are hallmarks of etown.
On Tuesday, March 29th, Forster spoke about the musical achievements of the legendary Bob Wills, who began his 45-year career in 1915. Merle Haggard once called Wills "the best damn fiddle player in the world." Wills's music continues to influence American songwriting today, especially in country music.
2002 Distinguished Lecturer
Alan and Pete Simpson
"High Plains Politics: A Dialogue with the Simpson Brothers of Wyoming"
The Simpson brothers critique the concept of political identity for the Center of the American West Distinguished Lecture. For the past three years they have team-taught a course at the University of Wyoming, challenging their students and themselves to define a Western American political outlook. Today, the class is one of the most popular courses at UW. Dr. Pete Simpson explains, "It involves coming to grips with the cultural and historical roots of political behavior in Wyoming, and the dialogue approach has led not only to some energetic discussions, but significant discoveries as well." Combined, the Simpsons have an insider's view of regional and national politics, along with an academic background in history and political science. With audience help, the brothers propose to identify some commonalities between Wyoming and Colorado and discuss their impact on contemporary political behavior in the Rocky Mountain West.
2001 Distinguished Lecturer
Jimmy Santiago-Baca
"An 'Immigrant' in His Own Land: Who Belongs in the 'American' West"
When he was twenty-one, Jimmy Santiago Baca was imprisoned, illiterate, and in great trouble. Five years later, he emerged from prison with a passion for reading and writing poetry. Beginning in tough circumstances, Baca has achieved the status of nationally known and celebrated author and filmmaker. But his is not a "Horatio Alger story; his experiences ask us to think hard about the injustices and inequalities of American Society. His own success has not distracted Baca's attention from the struggles of the working class and the poor, his writings carry an urgent message of concern for those who have not escaped trouble and hardship. Drawing on his own experiences, Baca explores the ways in which Westerners and Americans decide who belongs and who does not.
2000 Distinguished Lecturer
Terry Tempest Williams
"Homework: The Art of Inhabitation"
Terry Tempest Williams is, perhaps best known for her book "Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place". This book is now regarded as a classic in American Nature Writing, a testament to loss and the earth's healing grace. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "There has never been a book like Refuge...utterly original." She has served on the Governing Council of the Wilderness Society and was a member of the western team for the President's Council for Sustainable Development. She has also served on the advisory board of the National Parks and Conservation Association, The Nature Conservancy, and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
1999 Distinguished Lecturer
Alison Hawthorne Deming
"Forty Acres and a Rattlsnake: Living in the New Wild West"
Alison Deming presents how the power of the West as it lives in our imaginations-wild, magnificent, spacious and free-is challenged by our awareness of the West's wounds-careless development, degraded habitats, toxic waste, and social inequity. Deming is the director of the Arizona Poetry Center and an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Arizona. She is also the author of such books as: The Edges of the Civilized World: A Journey in Nature and Culture, Poetry of the American West, and Temporary Homelands.
1998 Distinguished Lecturer
Teresa Jordon and Hal Cannon
"The Stories that Shape Us"
Teresa Jordan and Hal Cannon told stories, recited poems, and sang songs of the West from the 19th and 20th centuries in order to explore their influence on past, present, and future American culture. Teresa Jordan is an unparalleled writing teacher and the author of the memoir, Riding the White Horse Home: A Western Family Album, and Cowgirls: Women of the American West, as well as the editor of two anthologies on Western women's writing. Hal Cannon, founding director of the Western Folklife Center and the Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering, has compiled over a dozen books and recordings on the folk arts of the American West.
1997 Distinguished Lecturer
Sherman Alexie
"Killing Indians: Myths, Lies, and Exaggerations"
Award-winning author Sherman Alexie takes a serious, and often humorous, look at the use and misuse of Indian imagery in television, movies, literature, and the media. Alexie explores how old stereotypes have transcended social constraints to where the "savage" has now become the political activist, the environmental master, and the gentle healer. Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d' Alene Indian, is the author of several books including INDIAN KILLER, RESERVATION BLUES, and THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN. His most recent book is a collection of poems entitled, THE SUMMER OF BLACK WIDOWS. Alexie also wrote and co-produced the new film, "Smoke Signals" the first film to be entirely written, directed, and produced by Indians.
1996 Distinguished Lecturer
Ivan Doig
"Makings: Trying to Put the West Together"
Doig explores the ways by which writers about the West are looking at the region's historical makings to find ingredients for their art, in the spirit of William Stafford's line of poetry, "they call it regional, this relevance." He has authored eight books including the award-winning THIS HOUSE OF SKY, HEART EARTH, WINTER BROTHERS, THE SEA RUNNERS, and a Montana trilogy: ENGLISH CREEK, DANCING AT THE RASCAL FAIR, and RIDE WITH ME, MARIAH MONTANA. His most recent novel is BUCKING THE SUN.
1995 Distinguished Lecturer
Richard Rodriguez
"Gone West: The Exhaustion of an American Metaphor"
Americans traditionally have regarded the West as synonymous with possibility and new beginnings. "Go West, young man!" Journalist-essayist Richard Rodriguez reflects on the recent loss of faith in this optimistic notion of the West. In a far-ranging discussion, he considers such things as NAFTA; the Mexican dream of 'El Norte'; the overcrowding of Orange County, California; the meaning of Vancouver; coffee in Seattle; and the significance of the Pacific Northwest in the skinhead imagination. Rodriguez is the award-winning author of DAYS OF OBLIGATION and HUNGER OF MEMORY. He is also Contributing Editor for Harper's and the Sunday Los Angeles Times Editorial Page, and Associate Editor of Pacific News Service.