Author and former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw will speak on Monday, April 21, 2008. at 6 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 101. The lecture, sponsored by the Office of the President, is free and open to the public. At 5 p.m., prior to the lecture, Brokaw will sign copies of his books Boom! and The Greatest Generation in Sayles Hall.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — News anchor and author Tom Brokaw will speak at Brown University on Monday, April 21, 2008. The lecture, titled “The Call of Citizenship,” begins at 6 p.m. in Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 101, with a simulcast in Salomon 001.

Sponsored by the Office of the President, the event is free and open to the public.

Brokaw will review the legacy of the 1960s and the “greatest generation” of World War II veterans, placing that legacy in the context of today’s political climate and challenges: How do the consequences of the ’60s and its attitude toward public service relate to modern times? A question and answer period will follow the lecture.

Prior to the talk, at 5 p.m. in Sayles Hall, Brokaw will sign copies of his most recent book, Boom!: Voices of the Sixties – Personal Reflections on the ’60s and Today, published in 2007, as well as copies of his 2001 book The Greatest Generation.

In Boom!, Brokaw’s fifth best seller, the newsman reflects on his experiences during the 1960s. He also profiles more than 50 people, from famous figures – artists, politicians, business leaders, journalists – to everyday people such as Vietnam veterans, civil rights activists, health care pioneers, environmentalists. Brown President Ruth J. Simmons is among those profiled.

Of the ’60s, Brokaw writes:

In 1968, America was deeply divided by a war in Southeast Asia and it was preparing to vote in a presidential election in which the choices were starkly different. The country was in the midst of a cultural upheaval unlike anything experienced since the Roaring Twenties. Everyone wondered whether America could regain its balance.

Forty years later, another war, this one in the Middle East, was deeply dividing the United States. Republican and Democratic candidates for president were laying out starkly different scenarios for the country’s future. The place of America in the world was hotly debated. The popular culture was again an issue.

The eve of 2008 was not exactly the Sixties all over again, but we still have a lot to learn from that memorable, stimulating, dangerous, and maddening time in American life forty years ago.

Tom Brokaw

A native of South Dakota, Brokaw began his journalism career in 1962 at KMTV in Omaha, Neb. He anchored the late evening news on Atlanta’s WSB-TV in 1965 before joining KNBC-TV in Los Angeles.

Hired by NBC News in 1966, Brokaw anchored NBC News’ Today from 1976 to 1981. On December 1, 2004, Brokaw stepped down after 21 years as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News.

As a special correspondent for NBC News, Brokaw continues to report and produce long-form documentaries and provide expertise during breaking news events. He has earned countless journalism awards and written five best-selling books.

Editors: Photos of Brokaw are available through the Office of Media Relations. Brown University has a fiber link television studio available for domestic and international live and taped interviews and maintains an ISDN line for radio interviews. For more information, call the Office of Media Relations at (401) 863-2476.

######