Isaac Fitzgerald has been an altar boy, a barback, a smuggler and a celebrated memoirist who made it onto both The New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists -- and will appear on campus at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 6, in the Marano Campus Center auditorium (room 132).
He appears frequently on NBC's "Today" show and has written children’s books, books on tattoos and pieces for The Atlantic, Esquire, The Guardian, and other established publications. Yet he will still make time to read, sign books and answer our questions in a campus event that is free and open to all.
Fitzgerald’s memoir, "Dirtbag, Massachusetts," starts with a perilous childhood and sneaks its message of hope through gritty, traumatic experiences just as Fitzgerald once snuck medical supplies past armed guards into Burma. Rolling Stone called it “a bighearted read infused with candor, sharp humor and the hope that comes from discovering saints can be found in all sorts of places.”
Yet Fitzgerald never claims to be perfect, Living Writers Series organizer Soma Mei Sheng Frazier observed.
“In fact,” Frazier said, “he rails against claims of perfection and limited visions of masculinity, asserting that once we label ourselves or our ideals unassailable, our development is stunted. We stagnate that way.”
Living Writers Series events are free and open to both campus and community. Other authors who will appear this fall include Gish Jen, Vuk Lungulov-Klotz and Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, author of the beloved "Series of Unfortunate Events" books.
The Living Writers Series is made possible by ARTSwego and the Student Arts Fee, as well as numerous other series partners including SUNY PRODiG, Penfield Library and Library of America.
For more information on the Living Writers Series, follow the series on the SUNY Oswego events calendar.
-- Submitted by the Living Writers Series