Lecture: "The Girls from Ames"

Date/Time:	Thursday, 23 Apr 2009 at 8:00 pm
Location:	Sun Room, Memorial Union
Cost:	Free
Contact:
Phone:	515-294-9934
Channel:	Lecture Series
Categories:	Lectures
Actions:	Download iCal/vCal | Email Reminder

"The Girls from Ames," author Jeffrey Zaslow. The story of 11 women and a 40-year friendship that started in Ames, Iowa. Now scattered across the country, these women share an unbreakable bond of friendship that includes constant contact and annual reunions. The book began as a response to his Wall Street Journal column on the enduring bonds of women's friendships.

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Jeffrey Zaslow is a senior writer and columnist for The Wall Street Journal. His column, "Moving On," appears in the new Personal Journal section, and focuses on life transitions -- whether losing a loved one, changing jobs, getting married, moving into retirement, or handling success or failure. In that column, he wrote about attending the last lecture - "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" - by Carnegie Mellon computer science professor Randy Pausch who had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Zaslow then coauthored the international bestseller "The Last Lecture."

In 2003, Mr. Zaslow's "Moving On" column was named best general interest column among newspapers with more than 100,000 circulation in a contest sponsored by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Mr. Zaslow had previously worked at the Journal from 1983 to 1987, when he wrote a front-page feature about a competition to replace Ann Landers at the Chicago Sun-Times. He entered to get an angle for his story, and won the job over 12,000 other applicants. He then worked as a columnist at the Sun-Times[/] from 1987 to 2001.

In 2000, Mr. Zaslow received the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award, given to a newspaper columnist who exemplifies the ideals and public service work of the noted humorist and columnist. He was honored for using his column to run programs that benefited 47,000 disadvantaged Chicago children, and for raising millions of dollars for Chicago charities. Also, his annual singles party for charity, "Zazz Bash," drew 7,000 readers a year and resulted in 78 marriages.

From 1994 to 2002, Mr. Zaslow was also a columnist for USA Weekend, the Sunday supplement in 550 newspapers. His family columns have appeared in TIME magazine, and his many TV appearances have included "The Tonight Show," "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Larry King Live" and "The Today Show.