Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Connie Schultz will discuss her debut novel The Daughters of Erietown in an exclusive conversation for The College of Communication and Information at Kent State University.
The event will take place 7:00 p.m. on August 18, 2020 in an online discussion with Professor Jacqueline Marino. To register for the event, please fill out this form.
Register for the Virtual Event.
The conversation will center on Schultz’s New York Times bestselling debut novel, The Daughters of Erietown, writing careers and her advice for students and alumni. Fellow professor and author Jacqueline Marino will moderate the conversation. The talk will take place on the Zoom platform, and registrants will receive a link to participate via email the afternoon of Aug. 18.
Described as "a masterful debut," (1) "an impressive first novel with a big heart" (2) and a "big, deep, warm and moving story of unforgettable women who make and shape their families," (3) The Daughters of Erietown tells the story of Ellie and Brick McGinty, their dreams for the future and how those dreams can change in an instant. At the novel's center is the evolution of women's lives during the second half of the 20th century and how we are shaped by history and how we shape it as well. And any history of America at that time would be incomplete without mentioning Kent State University.
“My father had a rule: you’re going to Kent State,” Schultz said. “I was the first in my family to go to college. I got lucky. And it has always been in my heart because going to Kent State, majoring in journalism there, working on the Daily Kent Stater, having faculty so invested in my success changed the trajectory of my life. So it is a tribute, in its way. I love what it did for me and I’m going to be grateful to Kent State for the rest of my life.”
Editor of the Daily Kent Stater student newspaper her senior year, Schultz graduated in 1979 and began her career as a freelancer for the Chicago Tribune, Cosmopolitan and the New York Times. From 1993 until 2011, she was a reporter and columnist for the Plain Dealer, earning the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2005. Schultz also earned such prestigious awards as the National Headliner Award for Commentary, the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for Commentary, the Batten Medal, the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice Reporting and more.
In 2016, Schultz joined the Kent State College of Communication and Information and teaches in the newly named School of Media and Journalism. Currently, she is a nationally syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate and teaches courses in the journalism sequence. She is the author of two previous nonfiction books, a collection of her columns, Life Happens: And Other Unavoidable Truths and the memoir … and His Lovely Wife documenting her time campaigning with her husband, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.
1. Kirkus Reviews (https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/connie-schultz/the-daughters…)
2. BookPage (https://bookpage.com/reviews/25143-connie-schultz-daughters-erietown-fi…)
3. Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of White Houses