AJC Columnist to Speak at UWG and League of Women Voters Events

The League of Women Voters Carrollton - Carroll County invites the community to their third and final event in their Summer Writers Series. Jay Bookman, editorial writer, will speak on August 30, Monday, 6-8 pm at the Neva Lomason Library in Carrollton. Co-sponsored by Neva Lomason Library and Horton’s Books and Gifts, this series has hosted writers of political and historic importance.

Jay Bookman is a columnist and blogger at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, specializing in foreign relations, environmental and technology-related issues and state and local politics. He has won two national awards for outstanding editorial writing, the National Headliner Award and the Scripps-Howard National Journalism Award.

“What we are looking at in this Summer Writers Series is the past, present and future through the eyes and words of writers.” according to Robin Collins, president of the League, “Our work focuses on educating the public through engaging individuals and partnering with other organizations to stimulate informed, active participation and civil discourse.”

Prior to the League event, Mr. Bookman will visit the UWG campus to talk to Dr. Thomas Hunter’s Parties and Elections class. He will attend a reception in his honor in the Political Science Department Lounge. Sponsored by the Murphy Center for Public Service and the UWG Political Science Club, the reception is for the campus community.

Student, Chris Hardnett, UWG Political Science student remarked, "Such a powerful voice in media carries much influence and we are excited to know Mr. Bookman will be in town to share his thoughts and knowledge."

In addition, his work on environmental issues, Bookman has been recognized with the Aldo Leopold Award, granted by the Wilderness Society, and the American Conservation Award, by the National Wildlife Federation. He is an eight-time winner of the Best of Cox Newspapers Awards for columns and editorials.

In 2008, he became the only two-time winner of the $75,000 Eugene Pulliam Fellowship for editorial writing, sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists. He is using the fellowship to study the role of media in modern information warfare.

Bookman is also the author of “Caught in the Current: Searching for Simplicity in the Technological Age,” published by St. Martin’s Press in July, 2004, about the social impact of technology.

Collins describes the book, “In this thoughtful autobiographical story, Bookman and four friends go on their yearly trek down the Deschutes River in Oregon, leaving all technological communication devices behind. Seemingly isolated from the world, the four friends find the slow and easy flow of communication that always accompanies them on their annual guy trip as they fish and float and talk on the river.”

Bookman is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University with degrees in history and journalism. He has lived in Atlanta since 1990, and previously worked for newspapers in Washington state, Nevada and Massachusetts. He is married with two daughters.