American Masters Lecture is a special presentation of the Lackawanna County Library System’s Library Lecture Series. It is the result of collaboration between the Library System and a group of community-minded individuals who desire to nurture and preserve the tradition of bringing important speakers to our community. Through their hard work and generosity, grants and gifts were secured to make this evening’s special presentation possible.
Doris Kearns Goodwin, world-renowned presidential historian, public speaker, and Pulitzer Prizewinning, New York Times #1 best-selling author will be the speaker for the Lackawanna County Library System’s 2023 American Masters Lecture, Wednesday, September 13, at 7 p.m. in the Scranton Cultural Center
Free tickets to the event will be available beginning Tuesday, August 1 at Lackawanna County libraries and online at Eventbrite.com.
Goodwin is the author of seven books. Her most recent is Leadership in Turbulent Times, which incorporates her five decades of scholarship studying Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. It was published to critical acclaim and became an instant New York Times bestseller.
Since 2020, she has served as Executive Producer for the History Channel’s miniseries events, Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, with more to come.
Goodwin is well known for her appearances and commentary on television and is frequently seen in documentaries, on television, and on news programs. She played herself as a teacher on The Simpsons and a historian on American Horror Story.
She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in history for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.
Her book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, served as the basis for Steven Spielberg’s hit film, Lincoln, and was awarded the prestigious Lincoln Prize, the inaugural Book Prize for American History, and the Lincoln Leadership Prize.
Her first book, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, became a national bestseller and achieved critical acclaim. It was re-released in 2019 with a new foreword highlighting LBJ’s accomplishments in domestic affairs that have stood the test of time.
Another book, The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, was adapted into an award-winning five-part television miniseries. Her sixth book, The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism, won the Carnegie Medal and is being developed into a film.
Goodwin’s memoir, Wait Till Next Year, is a heartwarming story of growing up loving her family and baseball. She is a devoted fan of the World Series-winning Boston Red Sox and was the first woman to enter the team’s locker room in 1979.
“We are extremely proud to be hosting Doris Kearns Goodwin for this year’s lecture,” said Mary Garm, Executive Director of the Lackawanna County Library System. “We anticipate great interest in her appearance and a large turnout for her lecture.”
The event is supported by grants and donations from area foundations, businesses, and individuals.
Previous American Masters Lecture speakers have included historians Michael Beschloss, Douglas Brinkley, David McCullough, and James McPherson; theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku; undersea explorer and Titanic discoverer Robert Ballard; legendary Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith; and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Colson Whitehead.
2022’s speaker was humorist, commentator, and author David Sedaris.
Since 2005, the Lackawanna County Library System has strived to bring exciting and informative speakers to our community via our Lecture Series.
The Lackawanna County Library System’s Library Lecture Series is the result of collaboration between the Library System and a group of community-minded individuals who desire to nurture and preserve the tradition of bringing important speakers to our community. Through your generosity and gifts we are able to make this event possible
For his contributions to the American Masters Lecture
An enthusiastic supporter of the American Masters Lecture, Jim Vipond has been involved with the Library Lecture Series in one way or another since its earliest days. In his role as Executive Director of the Everhart Museum, Jim was instrumental in conceiving the lectures as collaborative events to build on and promote the cultural riches of Lackawanna County. As a founding member of the lecture’s speaker selection committee, Jim’s wisdom and guidance were essential to the growth and development of the series over many years.
An architect and planner by profession, Jim Vipond brought his love of beauty and his acute appreciation of detail to all of his community service activities. He was an extremely sincere, caring, and optimistic person who chose to spend his life making the world and the people around him better. In recognition of his dedication to the American Masters Lecture and its mission of bringing world-class speakers to the citizens of Lackawanna County, the County Library Board is proud to name him the 2023 William W. Scranton Library Laureate and to dedicate tonight’s lecture to his memory.
David Sedaris - 2022
David Sedaris - 2021
Colson Whitehead - 2019
Derek Thompson - 2017
Douglas Brinkley - 2016
James McPherson - 2015
Emmitt Smith - 2014
Sebastian Junger - 2013
Fran Lebowitz - 2012
Michio Kaku - 2011
Robert Ballard - 2010
Charlie Wilson - 2009
Michael Beschloss - 2008
David McCullough - 2006
Henry Winkler - 2005
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