Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Madeleine Blais will be speaking
at Bucks’ Newtown Campus
on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.
Blais will speak at the Fireside
Lounge, which is located in the
Rollins Student Center.
Author of “Uphill Walker,” “In
These Girls, Hope is a Muscle,”
and “The Heart is an Instrument,”
Blais will be reading with memoirist
Hayden Saunier.
Blais graduated with a bachelor’s
degree from the College of
New Rochelle in 1969 and a master’s
from the School of Journalism
at Columbia University in
1970. She worked as a reporter for
the Boston Globe, the Trenton
Times, and Tropic Magazine of
the Miami Herald.
She has also written for the
Washington Post, Chicago Tribune,
Northeast Magazine in the
Hartford Courant, Philadelphia Inquirer,
Newsday, Nieman Reports,
Detroit Free Press, Boston Globe
and San Jose Mercury News.
Blais coordinates the honors
journalism program at The University
of Massachusetts-
Amherst. She teaches several
courses at the university. Her
courses include “The Art of the
Profile,” “Literature and Film in
the Documentary Tradition,” and
“Diaries, Memoirs and Journals.”
Blais has tried to encourage students
to stick with journalism
even in tough economic times.
“Even if you have to live at
home and work at Planet Fitness
to create cash flow, you can volunteer
to do a newsletter for an organization
you admire, coach a
sport you might want to write
about, create programs or videos
for a charity event you supportsomething,
anything to stay in the
game,” wrote Blais in a Boston
Globe column addressing journalism
students.
Blais overcame a lot of personal
challenges in her own life.
“One of her most famous stories
is “Uphill Walkers,” about how
Blais and her family pulled together
to survive as her father
died, leaving his pregnant wife
and their five young children,
alone, according to a review on
the Barnes and Noble web site.
“Blais was inspired by her
mother, who expected much, but
gave even more for her children,
as a single-parent,” said the description
of her book on the web
site.
Bucks students are very excited
about Blais’ visit to the Newtown
campus.
“I am a great fan of her stories.
My favorite is ‘The Heart is an instrument.’
The story is inspiring
to me and gives me hope,” said
Dan Coleman, 22.
“The Heart is an Instrument”
was a finalist for the National
Book Critics Circle Award for
nonfiction.
The event is sponsored by the
Bucks CulturalAffairs Committee
and Department of Language and
Literature. It is free and open to
the campus and community.