Pulitzer winners change perceptions

When Idaho Humanities Council local board member Nancy Flagan requested a column about the two Pulitzer Prize-winning speakers on IHC's list of distinguished lecturers at their annual dinner (coming up Sept. 22), I couldn't say no. IHC is an oft-undervalued nonprofit which creates an undercurrent of positive community impact.

But the count was off. When I looked up each of IHC's speakers in Coeur d'Alene since 2004, I learned that not two, but six either won a Pulitzer or were finalists.

With that kind of quality (including those who've won other prestigious awards), "bored" simply doesn't happen. They speak about issues and in a manner that somehow relates to what we all can feel. That's the humanities - the "human" side of every equation. Exploring, diving deep, understanding, emoting.

The humanities help us uncover the "why" of every "what" and "when." Like the Pulitzer Prize, the IHC supports and encourages those who examine man's motivations, purposes, and perspectives using programs and educational grants to connect people with ideas. And each year they share inspiration from distinguished speakers, always so down-to-earth, yet as brilliant as the human heart.

Great literature doesn't just pass the time, fading alongside it. Great literature stays with us, lingering as experience even as details dissipate. These are the books which teach, which reach, which change the way we see the world and ourselves.

This year's winning speaker is Harvard University fellow, journalist, and civil rights historian Diane McWhorter, who grew up in Alabama. "Carry Me Home," her book about the turning point in America's civil rights struggle, won the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction. Just this spring, IHC's 2012 lecturer Anthony Doerr won the latest Pulitzer for fiction for "All the Light We Cannot See," a story of two children (one blind) whose paths cross in occupied France.

Two past lecturers and authors from the Pacific Northwest, historian Timothy Egan (2009) and novelist Jess Walter (2014), were journalists who once contributed to series earning Pulitzer recognition. Egan contributed to "How Race is Lived in America," which gained The New York Times a Pulitzer for National Reporting. When Walter (nicknamed "Old Triple Digit" for his 100-column inch stories) wrote for the Spokesman-Review, he was part of a team whose coverage of Ruby Ridge made Pulitzer's list of finalists in reporting. He didn't miss anything; his bestselling book on Ruby Ridge became a TV miniseries.

Another of IHC's Pulitzer-caliber speakers was presidential historian Robert Dallek (2004). His book "Nixon and Kissinger" was a Pulitzer finalist for nonfiction. Last, but hardly least, is Princeton professor and Civil War historian James McPherson (2011), who won a Pulitzer in nonfiction for "Battle Cry of Freedom."

For more information about 2015 Northern Idaho Distinguished Humanities Lecture and Dinner Sept. 22 at 7 p.m., see Idahohumanities.org or call (888) 345-5346. Tickets are $50, but benefactors are also needed. Please join the Coeur d'Alene Press, Idaho Forest Group, Idaho Public Television, and University of Idaho in supporting IHC.

Next time: the story of Pulitzer, and his prizes.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.