W. Somerset Maugham Contemplates the Future of American Writers
Friday, November 16, 2012
In this 1950 speech given at a Books and Authors Luncheon, W. Somerset Maugham lays out his surprisingly detailed plan for a foreign academy to promote the growth of American literature.
Re-evaluating Soviet Power 50 Years After the Revolution
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
On November 12, 1967, in observance of the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the Overseas Press Club invites three distinguished speakers to reflect on the momentous event.
Ferdinand Marcos and John Lindsay Foster U.S.-Philippines Ties, 1966
Monday, November 12, 2012
Ferdinand Marcos, the newly elected president of the Philippines, and his wife, Imelda, are welcomed to New York by Mayor John Lindsay in a ceremony at City Hall.
Humorist Sam Levenson's Childhood: 'Poor, With Books'
Friday, November 09, 2012
Everything But Money is both the title of Sam Levenson's autobiography and the theme in this 1966 appearance at a Books and Authors Luncheon.
Before It Was Trendy, It Was Scandalous: Burlesque Star Gypsy Rose Lee, 1957
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Few writers begin their appearance at The Herald Tribune's prestigious Books and Authors Luncheon series by doing a striptease, but Gypsy Rose Lee feels it is expected of her.
Robert F. Kennedy Announces His Senate Candidacy, 1964
Monday, November 05, 2012
Nine months after his brother's death, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy enters the New York Senate race, appearing before the media to announce that "I have decided to make myself available for the nomination."
Inspiration Strikes After Tragedy: Alfred Kazin on His New Yorker Trilogy
Friday, November 02, 2012
Starting Out in the Thirties (1965), the second installment of Kazin's New Yorker Trilogy, had just been published when he gave this brief talk on the genesis of his artistic motivation at a 1965 Books and Authors Luncheon.
A Foreign Melody: Bel Kaufman Expounds on Pedagogical Concerns
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
"I feel like an impostor," the author and teacher Bel Kaufman confesses in this talk given at the Overseas Press Club in 1966, where the topics include her accent, poetry, and the classroom.
Garson Kanin on 'Remembering Mr. Maugham'
Monday, October 29, 2012
Garson Kanin's memoir of W. Somerset Maugham is the subject of his appearance at this 1967 Books and Authors Luncheon.
Herman Kahn on World Annihilation, 1965
Friday, October 26, 2012
Herman Kahn addresses the members of the Overseas Press Club about "The Likelihood of Nuclear War at Some Point in the 20th Century," proclaiming the outlook is safer and calmer than five years before.
Jane Jacobs Defends Urbanism in 1960s New York City Planning
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Jane Jacobs, in this 1962 appearance at a Books and Authors Luncheon, explains her current role as a community leader in the fight against what she views as the excesses and excrescences of the arrogant Modernist redesign of city neighborhoods.
The 'Anatomy' of Fannie Hurst, Memoirist and Romance Novelist
Monday, October 22, 2012
Largely forgotten today, Fannie Hurst was for many years one of the most highly paid and widely read novelists of her time. Anatomy of Me is Hurst's just-published autobiography, which she discusses at this 1958 Books and Authors Luncheon.
Dr Kranich, your piano's ready. I'm afraid it's not built by your dad.
Friday, October 19, 2012
On March 5, 1853 a German piano maker named Henry Steinway (né Steinweg) founded Steinway & Sons at 85 Varick Street in New York City, barely five blocks from the present-day WNYC studios. Less than three months later another, much younger German piano maker named Helmuth Kranich would arrive at these shores. Little did he suspect that one of his children would someday work at a competing form of entertainment: radio, specifically WNYC.
A Hero, Removed: A. E. Hotchner on Hemingway's Role as "Emissary of Other Men's Dreams"
Friday, October 19, 2012
A.E. Hotchner, a friend of Ernest Hemingway during the last 14 years of the writer's life, reminisces about their relationship in this Books and Authors Luncheon appearance promoting his memoir, Papa Hemingway (1966).
The Political Playwright Rolf Hochhuth Assails the Catholic Church for 'Immoral Inaction'
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Chaos rules at this rowdy 1964 meeting of the Overseas Press Club. The guest panel includes Catholic Church critic, Rolf Hochhuth, and a Catholic Church official.
The Civic Wit of Humorist Harry Hershfield
Monday, October 15, 2012
"New York City Mayors I Have Known" might be the better title for this 1954 installment of Campus Press Conference featuring guest Harry Hershfield -- columnist, cartoonist, and "Toastmaster Extraordinary."
Foreign Correspondent David Halberstam Analyzes Conflict in Vietnam
Friday, October 12, 2012
David Halberstam briefs this 1964 meeting of the Overseas Press Club on what he sees as a "sharp conflict" between America's official optimism and the reality experienced by reporters embedded in Vietnam.
John Gunther, Author of 'Inside' Travel Guides, Offers Glimpse of African Continent, 1955
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Formerly a foreign war correspondent, Chicagoan John Gunther drew on his background to write the 'Inside' travel series, which included Inside Europe (1936), Inside Asia (1939), Inside Latin America (1941), and here, Inside Africa.
The Extemporaneous Sir Alec Guinness: Shorter Than You Thought, and to the Point
Monday, October 08, 2012
"The Actor and Clichés In the Theater," is the subject Sir Alec Guinness chooses for this impromptu 1964 performance before the Overseas Press Club.
Günter Grass on American Vagaries: Boxing, Dancing, and Creating Art
Friday, October 05, 2012
In May 1965, the Overseas Press Club hosted the German novelist Günter Grass, who had arrived in New York to teach a seminar at Columbia University.