Author Roy Blount, Jr. presented the 2008 Harry C. Howard, Jr. Lecture

Roy Blount, Jr.

Roy Blount, Jr., acclaimed author, humorist, and Vanderbilt alumnus (B.A. 1963) presented the 2008 Harry C. Howard, Jr. lecture at 4:10 p.m. on Thursday, October 30 in the Flynn Auditorium at Vanderbilt University's Law School (see video of the lecture).

His lecture was entitled "Through Is Thoroughly Throughsome, Go Is Wide Open, and Wince Makes You Wince: On the Non-Arbitrariness of Words". The topic was related to his recent book, Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts; With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory, published this fall by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

Blount is the author of twenty books that cover wide-ranging topics such as rambles in New Orleans, to the thoughts of barnyard animals, to hanging out with the Pittsburg Steelers. His career is as diverse as his subjects:. He is a contributing editor to The Atlantic Monthly; a regular guest on NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me”; a columnist for Oxford American; the president of the Authors Guild; a member of PEN and the Fellowship of Southern Authors; a New York Public Library Literary Lion; a Boston Public Library Literary Light; a usage consultant to the American Heritage Dictionary; and an original member of the Rock Bottom Remainders.

The Harry C. Howard, Jr. Lecture Series was established in 1994 through the endowment of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Nash, Jr., and Mr. and Mrs. George D. Renfro, all of Asheville, North Carolina. The lecture honors Harry C. Howard, Jr. (B.A. 1951) and allows the Warren Center to bring an outstanding scholar to Vanderbilt annually to deliver a lecture on a significant topic in the humanities.

Previous Harry C. Howard, Jr. Lectures

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Photo credits: Gerald Holly and Vanderbilt University Design & Publishing. Last Modified: Monday, September 8, 2008