Event:: Six-time “U.S. Sportswriter of the Year” winner Frank Deford will discuss the cultural trends he’s seen over 50 years of covering sports as an author and commentator. The Deford speech is free and open to the public. There will be a question-and-answer period after the speech.
When: 4 p.m., April 1.
Where: The Texas Union Ballroom on The University of Texas at Austin campus. A map is available online.
Background: Called one of the most versatile writers in America, Deford began writing for Sports Illustrated in 1962, and has been a correspondent for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” since 1995 and a weekly commentator for National Public Radio since 1980. He is the author of 15 books, including the novel “Everybody’s All-American,” which was named one of Sports Illustrated’s Top 25 Sports Books of All Time and was later made into a movie. His most recent book, “The Entitled,” a novel about celebrity, sex and baseball, has been called one of the best baseball novels ever.
An initiative of the Texas Program in Sports and Media, the McGarr Symposium brings to life a robust and interactive conversation about the role of sports and media and its impact on American culture.