Clark Miller | Author

Master Storyteller Richard Russo

May 19, 2018

 

Richard Russo, Pulitzer prize-winning author of a dozen widely read novels and eight screenplays, comes to the National Writers Series stage at City Opera House on Friday, June 8, with his first book of essays in hand. In “The Destiny Thief,” Russo discusses how... Read More >>

Killers of the Flower Moon

April 28, 2018

Prize-winning non-fiction author David Grann has emerged after five years of research with one of American history’s strangest tales in hand — one full of sweeping (and true) conspiracies, unsolved murders, and tremendous wealth won and stolen.

Grann appears at the Nat... Read More >>

Author Eileen McNamara

April 20, 2018

Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1921–2009) never held elected office, avoided the spotlight, and focused on a single cause her entire life: the welfare of the intellectually and physically disabled.

This complex, driven woman is the subject of new biography by Pulitzer-prize winning... Read More >>

“A $500 House in Detroit”

March 31, 2018

 

It’s 2009, and Drew Philp is about to graduate from the University of Michigan. He has no interest in a corporate gig. He sets his sights instead on something more tangible – moving to inner city Detroit and doing his small part to make life better there. He is ... Read More >>

Columnist-Turned-Novelist Anna Quindlen Visits National Writers Series Stage

March 17, 2018

In 1995, having decided the world had enough instant internet pundits, Pulitzer prize-winning New York Times columnist Anna Quindlen charted a new path for herself as a writer of fiction and non-fiction books. It was a move she’d often considered.

Quindlen appears a... Read More >>

St. Patrick’s: The One Day When Everyone’s Blood Runs Green

March 10, 2018

May misfortune follow you the rest of your life, but never catch up. — Irish toast

No one likes a buzzkill. So this St. Patrick’s Day, let there be rivers of green beer, a parade through Traverse City, and enough revelers of real (or imagined) Irish ancestry t... Read More >>

Hair o’ the Dog

Dec. 30, 2017

 

It’s New Year’s Day. Remember last night? You single-handily emptied your neighborhood bar of Scotch, gin, or that high school favorite, peach schnaps.

You’ve awakened, possibly in some random apartment, head exploding, eyes welded shut, with rumbl... Read More >>

National Writers Series Brings Two Renowned War Writers to Traverse City

Nov. 11, 2017

 

Why do so many returning soldiers now fall into depression when they return from war?

Bestselling authors Sebastian Junger and Philip Caputo tackle this question when they appear on stage together this Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 7 pm at City Opera House as part of the N... Read More >>

Mr. Hockey’s Softer Side

Nov. 4, 2017

 

Gordie Howe (1928–2016) had a storied athletic career. Considered by many to be the most complete hockey player ever, the ambidextrous Canadian spent 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and was a 23-time All Star. Loved by fans but feared by opponents, “Mr. Ho... Read More >>

The Guy Can Actually Write

Oct. 7, 2017

Journalist, photographer, novelist and, above all, editor extraordinaire Terry McDonell has lived large with some big names.

He paddled the Montana backwaters with naturalist Peter Matthiessen (of Snow Leopard fame). He edited and hung out for years with authors like Jim Harrison,... Read More >>

Chef Alice Waters: Cooking as an Act of Love and Defiance

Sept. 16, 2017

Chef Alice Waters, who is coming to Traverse City this week, believes that eating well is an act of love — and defiance. 

The love came naturally. A child of the 1960s, Waters stumbled upon her life’s mission, fine cooking, during a college exchange semester. She ... Read More >>

Vietnam: A View From the Front Lines

Sept. 9, 2017

The fighting stopped five decades ago, but the legacy of Vietnam War remains unclear. Perhaps Richard Nixon got one thing right: “No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now.”

Gradually, ... Read More >>

Cast-off food finds a different fate in northern Michigan

Aug. 12, 2017

With little mention, countless rescues are taking place every week across the Grand Traverse area. None involve boating accidents or even a stubborn cat up a tree. Those rescued are vegetables, dairy products, and other goods diverted from dumpsters and destined instead to feed hungry peo... Read More >>

Traverse City National Writers Series Announces Season Lineup

Aug. 5, 2017

Whether you’re a fan of nonfiction, novels, film, poetry or all the above, the just-announced National Writers Series lineup offers plenty of genres and intriguing topics to keep your mind stimulated this fall.

There will be onstage conversations and then question-answer ses... Read More >>

The Cooks’ House Chefs Take Amateurs to School

July 15, 2017

Interested in updating your home cooking chops? Two veteran Traverse City chefs are willing to start you down that path. Jennifer (Jen) Blakeslee and Eric Patterson, co-owners of the innovative The Cooks’ House restaurant, are offering Saturday morning cooking lessons.

It al... Read More >>

Mise en Scéne

June 10, 2017

In Julie Buntin’s well-received debut novel, “Marlena” — a coming-of-age tale about two vastly different teens irrevocably bonded by their outsider status — northern Michigan rises to the level of a key character. Credit the author’s own history: Buntin... Read More >>

Mary Roach

June 3, 2017

With her latest bestseller, "Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War," author Mary Roach has combined science and humor to dissect the simple, stubborn annoyances of military life — the struggle to get a good night’s rest on a cramped submarine, survive the mind-numbing he... Read More >>

The Story Of An Anxious Mind

May 13, 2017

By many important measures, reporter Andrea Petersen has a good life — an understanding husband, a young daughter she adores, and an enviable career with The Wall Street Journal.

There is another, unexpected side to her story.

Petersen will appear at the National Wri... Read More >>

Prisoners in the War on Terror: A National Writers Series Event

April 15, 2017

In the age of global terror, should we care how our military treats its prisoners? That question forms the backdrop for a discussion between author Eric Fair and retired Marine Major General Michael Lehnert at the National Writers Series at Traverse City’s City Opera House on Fri., ... Read More >>

Autism Is For Life

Feb. 4, 2017

Autism strikes children, often with little or no warning. There is no cure, and despite all efforts, no one knows for sure what causes it.

As award-winning journalists John Donvan and Caren Zucker point out, autism is for life.

Donvan and Zucker will discuss their research... Read More >>