Simon to Visit U of L

The Kentucky Author Forum

welcomes

Neil Simon

Monday, November 25, 1996

Floyd Theatre, Student Activities Center, W308

10 a.m.: Open question and answer session

11 a.m.: Book signing by Simon

This event is free and open to U of L faculty and students. Seating is first-come-first-served.

Kentucky Center for the Arts

5 p.m.: Book sale and wine and cheese reception
6 p.m.: Author forum and question and answer session
7 p.m.: Book signing by Simon

Admission: $15. Call the Kentucky Center for the Arts at 584-7777 (800-775-7777) or visit Hawley-Cooke Booksellers at any of their three locations.

Contemporary American theater's most beloved and prolific playwright, Neil Simon, will be the guest of the Kentucky Author Forum on November 25, 1996, with his first book, Rewrites (Simon and Schuster, $25). Simon, who has written 30 plays, 27 of which have become films, is the recipient of three Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for Lost in Yonkers.

Rewrites traces the anguish of Simon's childhood, his steady rise from his teenage years teaming with his older brother to write material for comics, and his earliest jobs writing television scripts for Sid Caesar and Phil Silvers. The book also recalls his development as a serious playwright, scoring big hits such as The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park, The Goodbye Girl, The Sunshine Boys, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and many more.

Simon will be interviewed by Jon Jory, who is in his 28th year as producing director of Actors Theatre of Louisville.

The 6 p.m. Kentucky Author Forum event with Simon will be covered on Kentucky Educational Television (KET) and the Public Radio Partnership for future broadcast. The event will also be carried on closed-circuit television at the St. Matthews/Eline Branch Public Library, located at 3940 Grandview Avenue, at 6 p.m. on November 25. A limited number of free tickets are available at the library and must be picked up in advance.

A private dinner with Simon, hosted by University of Louisville President John Shumaker and his wife, Lucy, follows the event, and costs an additional $85. A dinner package for $100 may purchased through the Kentucky Center for the Arts.

The Kentucky Author Forum is a non-profit cultural project in cooperation with the Kentucky Center for the Arts and Hawley-Cooke Booksellers. The series features major authors in an interview setting. An upcoming forum will feature John Updike, with his new book Golf Dreams, on February 25. Two more Kentucky Author Forum events will be announced in the future.