Calvin Trillin
Calvin Trillin is the ideal speaker, full of fresh, wry observations delivered in his ironic hilarious style (which we can frequently enjoy with his guest appearances on "The Tonight Show" and "Late Night with David Letterman"), he makes us see our culture in whole new ways.
Trillin knows where all the old chicken a la king has gone: stored in silos in Kansas right next to the ones filled with old Nehru jackets. He personally has revised the mottoes that appear on state automobile license plates: Nebraska, for example is "a long way across," and Arkansas on his first try was a little verbose: "Not As Bad As You Might Imagine."
And his zest for food, especially Chinese food, is legendary. He has been hailed as a "classic American humorist." In whatever sort of writing and speaking he does, he has an unadorned point of view that is deeply rooted in a Midwestern upbringing. He was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, and he has never stopped writing about his hometown. His father, who ran a well known restaurant there, was the subject of Trillin's wonderful family memoir: MESSAGES FROM MY FATHER (1996). His latest book is FAMILY MAN (1998), full of stories and "advise" in that Trillin way. "Getting advice on the best way to bring up children is like getting advice on the best way to breathe; sooner or later, you're probably going to forget it and go back to your regular old in-and-out."
A long time staff writer for The New Yorker, especially remembered for a highly praised series of articles called "U.S. Journal," he has also written and presented two one-man shows at the American Place Theatre in New York - both of them critically acclaimed and both sell-outs. In reviewing "Words, No Music," The New York Times theatre critic called Trillin "the Buster Keaton of performance humorists."
His many columns for The Nation, writing what USA Today called "simply the funniest regular column in journalism," and also his weekly column for Time produced five collections:
UNCIVIL LIBERTIES
WITH ALL DISRESPECT
IF YOU CAN'T SAY SOMETHING NICE
ENOUGH'S ENOUGH
TOO SOON TO TELL
Then, too, there are his three antic books on eating, now compiled into one volume as THE TUMMY TRILOGY: AMERICAN FRIED; ALICE, LET'S EAT and THIRD HELPINGS.
Trillin lives in New York with his daughters. He was a trustee of Yale University, and currently is a trustee of the New York Public Library.
Calvin Trillin is the ideal speaker, full of fresh, wry observations delivered in his ironic hilarious style (which we can frequently enjoy with his guest appearances on "The Tonight Show" and "Late Night with David Letterman"), he makes us see our culture in whole new ways.
Trillin knows where all the old chicken a la king has gone: stored in silos in Kansas right next to the ones filled with old Nehru jackets. He personally has revised the mottoes that appear on state automobile license plates: Nebraska, for example is "a long way across," and Arkansas on his first try was a little verbose: "Not As Bad As You Might Imagine."
And his zest for food, especially Chinese food, is legendary. He has been hailed as a "classic American humorist." In whatever sort of writing and speaking he does, he has an unadorned point of view that is deeply rooted in a Midwestern upbringing. He was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, and he has never stopped writing about his hometown. His father, who ran a well known restaurant there, was the subject of Trillin's wonderful family memoir: MESSAGES FROM MY FATHER (1996). His latest book is FAMILY MAN (1998), full of stories and "advise" in that Trillin way. "Getting advice on the best way to bring up children is like getting advice on the best way to breathe; sooner or later, you're probably going to forget it and go back to your regular old in-and-out."
A long time staff writer for The New Yorker, especially remembered for a highly praised series of articles called "U.S. Journal," he has also written and presented two one-man shows at the American Place Theatre in New York - both of them critically acclaimed and both sell-outs. In reviewing "Words, No Music," The New York Times theatre critic called Trillin "the Buster Keaton of performance humorists."
His many columns for The Nation, writing what USA Today called "simply the funniest regular column in journalism," and also his weekly column for Time produced five collections:
UNCIVIL LIBERTIES
WITH ALL DISRESPECT
IF YOU CAN'T SAY SOMETHING NICE
ENOUGH'S ENOUGH
TOO SOON TO TELL
Then, too, there are his three antic books on eating, now compiled into one volume as THE TUMMY TRILOGY: AMERICAN FRIED; ALICE, LET'S EAT and THIRD HELPINGS.
Trillin lives in New York with his daughters. He was a trustee of Yale University, and currently is a trustee of the New York Public Library.
