Author of 'The Soloist' to speak Sept. 29 as part of The Peay Read
Steve Lopez, author of "The Soloist," will be the keynote speaker for The Peay Read
at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29 at the Dunn Center. Photo credit: Gilles Mingasson
Steve Lopez, author of "The Soloist," will be the keynote speaker for The Peay Read
at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29 at the Dunn Center. Photo credit: Gilles Mingasson
In 2005, Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez strikes an unlikely friendship with Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless musician with schizophrenia who slept each night on one of skid row鈥檚 most dangerous streets.
Lopez learned Ayers had been a promising violinist, and that he had left the prestigious music program at the Juilliard School because of his struggle with mental illness. The journalist chronicled Ayers' struggle in several columns at the Los Angeles Times, inspiring readers to send instruments to Ayers through Lopez.
The friendship that Lopez formed with Ayers eventually helped the musician get off the street, settle into an apartment and find help for his schizophrenia.
This story since has inspired newspaper columns, a book titled 鈥淭he Soloist鈥 and a movie of the same name starring Robert Downey Jr. as Lopez and Jamie Foxx as Ayers.
Lopez will share his discovery of Ayers and how their relationship left a profound impact on the writer鈥檚 life at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29 in the Dunn Center at Austin Peay State University. The talk is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow his talk.
Lopez joined the staff of the Los Angeles Times in May 2001 after four years at Time Inc., where he wrote for Time, Sports Illustrated, Life and Entertainment Weekly.
Prior to Time Inc., Lopez was a columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune. His work has won numerous national journalism awards for column writing and magazine reporting. In addition to 鈥淭he Soloist,鈥 Lopez is the author of three novels.
Lopez鈥檚 book and Sept. 29 appearance are part of a reading initiative at APSU called The Peay Read, designed to provide a unifying experience and contribute to the academic experiences for freshmen students. However, the reading program also offers opportunities for sophomore, junior and senior students.
A committee reviewed several books and chose 鈥淭he Soloist鈥 as The Peay Read鈥檚 common reading book, with homelessness as the theme. Committee members also have worked with other academic departments to plan activities culminating in Lopez鈥檚 keynote address, all supporting the current theme of homelessness. For instance, student organizations have been encouraged to plan and implement campus-wide, theme-based programs related to homelessness. In addition, piggy banks have been distributed to all APSU 1000 First-Year Experience classes to raise money for organizations that support Clarksville鈥檚 homelessness population.
Other examples of The Peay Read student activities and memorabilia include the following:
-- T-shirts with 鈥淭he Soloist鈥 printed on them and given to freshmen students enrolled in the APSU 1000 First-Year Experience program, which is including the book in its classroom discussions.
-- Bookmarks with book quotations, which will be used in student discussion groups focused on those quotations.
-- Faculty-student class discussions, including how to help the homeless population and the issues that affect them.
-- Student book reviews, with authors of the 鈥渂est 10鈥 essays invited to a dinner with Lopez.
-- A showing of the movie 鈥淭he Soloist.鈥
A mobile app detailing all events and activities associated with The Peay Read has been developed and can be downloaded via Apple鈥檚 iTunes.
For more details about this year鈥檚 book reading selection or The Peay Read, visit /Read/ or visit Peay Read on Facebook.
For more information about Lopez鈥檚 upcoming talk, contact Dr. Dixie Dennis, chair of The Peay Read committee at APSU, by telephone at 931-221-7415 or by email at dennisdi@apsu.edu. -- Melony Shemberger