andlars explore the impact norman mailer's account of the events. they also talk about visual artist activism and the .ewspapers of time northwestern university's medill school of journalism host of this event. it's one hour 45 minutes.

andlars explore the impact norman mailer's account of the events. they also talk about visual artist activism and the .ewspapers of time northwestern university's medill school of journalism host of this event. it's one hour 45 minutes. >> a professor at the middle school. journalism media integrated marketing and communication. 50 years out for newspaper editor during that we can make and eight which is stamped in chicago history. chicago media history. tonight is the third or four to explorer journey media in the 1968 democratic convention. wasughout our recent dean here and our current leader charles whitaker was here. he will be on a panel next month. organizing committee, some of whom are here, and medill staff have supported us. curtis,d off with bill a highly visual look. special about the convention will premiere on the decades network monday, august 6 and 8:00 p.m. central aired throughout august on decades.com . for our june session we have historians activists and workers talking about the perspectives behind the weeks conflicts and calle

all the great writers, you just mentioned jack kerouac and norman mailer. you basically locked horns. let's just play this soundbite that you had of norman and yourself. let's just play this. >> okay. >> i wouldn't hit any of the people here because they're smaller. [ laughter ] >> in what ways? >> intellectually smart. >> let me turn my chair and join these three. [ applause ] [ applause ] perhaps you'd like two more chairs to contain your giant intellect. [ applause ] >> i see mary just amazed by that and you just basking in it. that was a beautiful television moment. do you sort of miss those days when there were real giants who strode your stage? >> i have friends who say you're always talking about how things were better in various ways. well, the problem is they were. in that case, i think it's true. i don't know if you would cast a show now. i had another one with both johnnaa and john cheever and that was wonderful watching when chief are phrased his writing. >> i want to talk to you because it wasn't just tom wolf. he was a full-blown literary cele

anyway, my question is, i was listening to her talk on norman mailer some years ago, and he said that when it comes to writing fiction, the worst person you could have as a narrator is yourself. it should just be somebody you're comfortable with. my question would be, how much action that she think is really basically autobiographical writing in that kind of pain? thanks very much. >> host: thanks. >> guest: that is such an excellent question. people, especially if it done a good job people always do think that is really you, right? they think that it must be you. of course it is your job to make it seem that way, but, in fact, just as norman mailer said the worst possible thing you could ever do is write a book where you are the author, the narrator and it is your life. not interesting enough to be a novel. they are not structured like a novel, and more importantly the facts are often not as interesting as the facts told -- i will say that because they grew up with what seemed to be an underrepresented world, the world my father grew up in, it was not on the page. figures like me and

literary figures from norman mailer to allen ginsberg, the political and cultural collision. painting to protest papers, artists and media workers produced interpretations for required tear gas. i will introduce each speaker in turn starting with anthony decurtis. a longtime contributing editor for rolling stone where we knew each other. grammy award winner. lecturer in creative writing at the university of pennsylvania and a phd in american literature from indiana university and anthony is the author of "lou reed: a life." and co-writer of clive davis's autobiography, "the soundtrack of my life." a new york times bestseller. a list of books are available after the presentation. anthony will perhaps speak to its role today. >> thank you. nothing new here but there's a lot to talk about with 1968. hopefully we will get to most of it. i took a song lyric probably most of you know, a quote from "street fighting man" by the rolling stones. "what can a poor boy do except sing for a rock 'n roll band... just no place for street fighting man." after attending a vietnam protest in lo

you have, dare i say, there i quote, norman mailer. a magnificent piece. i am conflicted. you can tell me that his name should never be mentioned again. he wrote an extraordinary piece, i think. it was called the siege of chicago. is a great example. i will leave the music part for another time. and i will just say that john wrote a sentence that seems to be to summit up, the revolution in framing the issue and pushing profound major issues to the forefront of every part of american life. including at the convention. he said, this splendid collection in this book, testifies to the courage, endurance and swallowed anger of writers who by sharing the agony earned their right to report it. [applause] >> thank you bernadine. that we are going to hear from a completely different perspective of chicago's police from the story of frank bush -- who interviewed many for his book battleground chicago. in some ways the police had become as part of this story, a natural out growth of some of the violence, beyond the demonstrators. i will let frank do this justice. >> hello. i am reall

and you have dare i say, dare i quote norman mailer, magnificent piece, i'm conflicted about. so you can tell me that his name should never be mentioned again. but he wrote an extraordinary piece, i think, do you think? called "the siege of chicago." which is you know, a great example of reporting. so i'll leave the music part for your other time and just say that john le carre wrote this sentence, that seems to sum it up, the revolution in framing the issue and pushing profound major issues to the forefront of every part of american life. including at the convention. he said "the splendid collection referring to this book, testifies to the courage, endurance and swallowed anger of writers who by sharing the agony earned their write to report it." thanks. [ applause ] >>> thank you, bernadine. now we're going to hear a completely different perspective of the chicago, of chicago's police, from historian frank koosh who interviewed 80 officers for his book "battleground chicago." and his work gives this group a voice and he kind of makes them more than the caricature that in som

scholars explore the impact and norman mailer's account of the events. they also talk about visual artist activism and the newspapers of time. northwestern university's medill school of journalism hosted this event. it's one hour 45 minutes. >> joining us is abe peck, professor emeritus at the medill school of journalism, media, integrated marketing and communication. 50 years out, four newspaper editors during that weekend which is stamped in chicago history, chicago media history. tonight is the third of four stops on our journey to explore media in the 1968 democratic convention. throughout our recent stops, dean was here and our current leader charles whitaker was here. he will be on a panel next month. the organizing committee, some of whom are here, and medill staff have supported us. we kicked off with bill curtis, a highly visual look. bill's new tv special about the convention will premiere on the decades network monday, august 6 at 8:00 p.m. central, aired throughout august on decades.com. for our june session we have historians, activists and

david will trace norman mailer's literary contribution to the chronicling of late 1967 to 1968. david wrote to me, for all his despair over vietnam, the armies of the night, a literary journalism masterpiece is a hopeful book, but miami and the seas of chicago chronicles america turning fatally toward disaster. first the dread of defense of richard nixon at the republican convention and then the chaos of chicago with hubert humphrey long banked that went into the platitudes of lbj's helpless strategy for the war. the literary legacy survives. this is written with an impassioned power of observation and recreation that rivals whitman's poetry. here to tell us more about it, david denby. [ applause ] >> you sort of did it. i'll just -- i'm sort of involved in a personal effort to restoration of miller's reputation, at least for his nonfiction. now they have issued a lot of the '60s stuff, including this. i'll get to the reason why he's in such disrepute. it's pretty obvious. and those of you who have followed these things, this book has -- i've read twice in the last year. and it'

and you have dare i say, dare i quote norman mailer, magnificent piece, i'm conflicted about. so you can tell me that his name should never be mentioned again. but he wrote an extraordinary piece, i think, do you think? called "the siege of chicago." which is you know, a great example of reporting. so i'll leave the music part for your other time and just say that john le carre wrote this sentence, that seems to sum it up, the revolution in framing the issue and pushing profound major issues to the forefront of every part of american life. including at the convention. he said "the splendid collection referring to this book, testifies to the courage, endurance and swallowed anger of writers who by sharing the agony earned their write to report it." thanks. >>> thank you, bernadine. now we're going to hear a completely different perspective of the chicago, of chicago's police, from historian frank koosh who interviewed 80 officers for his book "battleground chicago." and his work gives this group a voice and he kind of makes them more than the caricature that in some ways they,