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Author of ‘The Soloist’ to speak
Johnson County Community College
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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Steve Lopez, author of The Soloist, will speak at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, in Polsky Theatre at Johnson County Community College, as part of the JCCC Scholar in Residence program. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Lopez, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, chronicled the life of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a homeless Juillard-trained musician with schizophrenia who sleeps each night on one of skid row's most dangerous streets, in a series of newspaper columns. The columns subsequently became a nonfiction book and later a movie released this summer starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
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, San Jose Mercury News and Oakland Tribune. His work has won numerous national journalism awards for column writing and magazine reporting. In addition to his nonfiction book, Lopez is the author of three novels.
The Soloist is the selection for the 2009 community-wide initiative United We Read, sponsored by the Kansas City Library and Information Network.
The book touches on themes of homelessness, mental illness, racism and music. Ayers was trained on the double bass but taught himself to play the violin and has an obsession with the cello.
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In conjunction with Lopez’s presentation, Student Activities will be showing The Soloist (PG-13) at noon and 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, in the Craig Community Auditorium, and the fall 2009 Ruel Joyce and Jazz series include three recitals featuring bass and cello players (complete schedule at www.jccc.edu/home/site.php/welcome/news/recitals).
JCCC’s Scholar in Residence program is designed to bring visiting scholars to students, faculty and the public. Lopez’s residency is sponsored by the English and Journalism division, Honors Program, Billington Library and Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. For more information about Lopez’s residency, contact Pat Decker, program facilitator, honors program, at 913-469-8500, ext. 2512, or pdecker5@jccc.edu.
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