Cara writes: I live near Scranton, Pa and saw this advertisment for a Tolkien Lecturer who will speak at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania on November 12th at 7PM.
Tolkien: Man and Myth
JOSEPH PEARCE
Author and Lecturer
November 12, 2003, 7 p.m.
Crystal Room, Nazareth Student Center
Free and open to the public
J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings took first place in a recent national poll to find the greatest book of the 20th century. While popular, Tolkien is often misunderstood. Mr Pearce’s study of Tolkien’s life, his character, and his work reveals the facts and confronts the myths, while exploring the backround of the man and the culture in which he wrote. Mr. Pearce enters the world created by Tolkien in the seven books published during his lifetime. He explores the significance of Middle Earth and what it represented in Tolkien’s thinking. Myth, to him, was not a leap from reality but a leap into reality. Other aspects of his fascinating life troubled Tolkien greatly. The impact of his great notoriety, his relationship with material possessions, and his traditional religious faith are all explored, making it possible to understand both the man and the myth he created.
Mr. Pearce is the author of numerous acclaimed biographies of major Catholic literary figures. A fulltime writer from Norfolk, England, he is currently the Writer in Residence and Professor of Literature at Ave Maria College, Ypsilanti, Michigan. Mr. Pearce also serves as Editor-in-Cheif of Ave Maria University Communications and Sapientia Press, as well as Co-Editor of the St. Austin Review (or StAR), an international review of Christian culture, literture, and ideas published in England by the Saint Austin Press. Mr. Pearce regularly speaks at a wide variety of religious, cultural, and literary events.