P.J. O’Rourke, UWF Writer-in-Residence

Press Release: UWF NAMES P.J. O’ROURKE AS THE FIRST WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE; O’ROURKE TO SPEAK AT UWF SEPT. 8

PENSACOLA – The University of West Florida has named P.J. O’Rourke as the university’s first writer-in-residence.

The noted author and satirist will be working with writing students and speaking in several English, Communication Arts and Government classes between Sept. 6 and 10. He also will deliver a community address open to the public Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in UWF Center for Fine and Performing Art Mainstage Theatre on the main Pensacola campus.

This will be O’Rourke’s second visit to UWF; he was a lecturer in the UWF Jerry Maygarden Lecture Series in October 2009.

“After the event was over last year, I got feedback that he was quite taken with our students; he thought they asked exceptional questions and was impressed by their civility,” said Jane Halonen, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “He wrote me a wonderful personal thank you note suggesting that we could teach Harvard a thing or two.”

Subsequently, O’Rourke’s agent told Halonen that the UWF visit had led the author to contemplate the benefits of spending more time teaching on a college campus. Soon UWF officials began looking for ways to offer a more immersed role for the author here in Pensacola.

“Part of what made me so enthusiastic about bringing P.J. back, besides the pure pleasure of being in his witty presence, was derived from watching him be so engaged with our students following his public lecture last year,” said Halonen. “He was so engaged that it genuinely moved me. I have never met anyone who so genuinely resonates with the excitement associated with working with college students. That made it easy to come up with the concept and work to make it happen. Fortunately, everyone saw this as a win in all directions.”

O’Rourke’s new book, “Don’t Vote: It Just Encourages the Bastards,” will be available in early October.