Richard Ford, Jim Harrison, and Tom McGuane return to Michigan for July 10 event
(LANSING)-----On July 10, 2008, the Michigan Humanities Council hosted a Michigan Author Homecoming with critically acclaimed authors Richard Ford, Jim Harrison, and Thomas McGuane at the Wharton Center at Michigan State University (MSU). The three authors, icons of contemporary American literature, are also MSU alumni and met together in public for the first time. The event was a moderated discussion among the literary giants, and audio from the event can be heard here. It commemorated the conclusion of the 2007-08 Great Michigan Read. It was free and open to the public. Both Harrison and McGuane grew up in Michigan and became acquainted while attending MSU, where they earned degrees in the 1960s. Ford was raised in Jackson, Miss. and also graduated from MSU in the 1960s, but never crossed paths with the other authors while on campus. Ford met Harrison in 1977 and McGuane in 1983. Biographies that list their works and accomplishments can be found by clicking here and scrolling down. "There's a way in which I - and probably any of us - carry those formative experiences around with us every minute, think about them all the time, are never really away from them," Ford said. "For me, that's how I 'commune' with Michigan - in my imagination. All of it entirely in the present tense." "This is an historic event," said Jan Fedewa, executive director of the Michigan Humanities Council. "It's the first time all three will appear on stage together, in public. It's a remarkable opportunity to celebrate and explore their Michigan connections."