MSU awaits return of alumni authors

Thomas McGuane remembers talking with excitement to other young writers about literature as an MSU student during the early 1960s — but that’s not all he remembers. “It seemed like MSU always had a lot of beautiful girls,” the now acclaimed writer said. “That probably stands out more in my mind than anything else.”

McGuane, along with fellow MSU alumni authors Jim Harrison and Richard Ford, will hold an open panel discussion Thursday evening at Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre.

Between them, they have inspired several movie adaptations and won one Pulitzer Prize. The “Michigan Author Homecoming” is free to the public and seating is on a first come, first served basis. Doors open at 6:45 p.m., and the discussion, which includes an introduction by MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon, begins at 7:30 p.m.

A book signing will follow. The event, hosted by the Michigan Humanities Council, concludes the 2007-08 Great Michigan Read, a program designed to encourage Michigan to read and rediscover Michigan literature and authors.

Jim Harrison:

Novelist, poet, screenwriter

Harrison, 70, attended MSU from 1956 to 1962, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in comparative literature.

“If there are any young writers (at the discussion), they could get turned on (to writing),” he said. Some of Harrison’s most famous works, “Wolf: A False Memoir,” and “Legends of the Fall” published in 1971 and 1979 respectively, were adapted into movies, bringing him career and financial success. Living in Spartan Village, he worked for MSU’s horticulture farm and library, where he got first access to new books.

“I was lucky,” he said. “I had some really fabulous teachers and that makes all the difference.”

The protagonist in his next novel, “The English Major,” due this October, attended MSU, he said.

“It’s the high life is what it is,” he said. “It’s not nearly as interesting as trout fishing and deer hunting.”

Now, he said he spends most of his time in Montana with his wife.

Thomas McGuane:

Novelist, screenwriter, director

McGuane, 68, transferred from Olivet College to MSU in 1960, where he met lifelong friend Jim Harrison and graduated with a humanities degree.

“There were other young writers with talent and excitement about literature (at MSU),” said McGuane, who now lives in Montana.

“I was under some young writers and some very distinguished teachers who set me off in a direction I very well may still be on.”

After graduating in 1962, he earned his master’s degree at Yale University and then obtained a fellowship at Stanford University. McGuane wrote “The Sporting Club” in 1969, the short story collection “Gallatin Canyon” in 2006. “92 in the Shade,” a former finalist for the National Book Award in 1973, also was adapted into a movie, directed by McGuane.

“I’m anxious to see my two friends, Jim and Richard, and anxious to walk around the campus where I spent memorable days,” he said.

Richard Ford:

Novelist, short story writer

A Mississippi native, Ford, 64, was taking a pre-law curriculum at MSU when he took a creative writing class.

“I only took a writing course because I thought it would be easy,” he said. “That was probably the first time I’ve taken even halfway seriously the impulse to write.” Enrolled at MSU from 1962 to 1964, Ford eventually went on to get his master’s degree at the University of California, Irvine.

Ford’s career accomplishments include the novels “The Sportswriter” in 1986 and “Independence Day” in 1995, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize.

At MSU, Ford was a member of the MSU Sigma Chi fraternity, but did not meet Harrison or McGuane until after college.

“(Sigma Chi) probably provided me with a great deal of patience,” said Ford, who now resides in Maine. “I’m just really happy to be coming back to Michigan. I’m mostly interested in what’s going on now.”

Published on Tuesday, July 8, 2008