The Fresno State Jewish Studies Program will host a poetry reading by author Henry Schipper at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, at the Library, Room 3212.
Schipper will read from and discuss his recent publication, “The Ball Dreams of the Sky.” His first book of poetry also serves as a memoir, written in the language of baseball, that interweaves his experiences growing up with parents who were Holocaust survivors and who rebuilt their lives in the United States.
A reception will be held at noon before the event.
Enjoying baseball by following major league teams and playing in youth leagues served as a respite for the struggles the author faced as he grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He once threw consecutive no-hitters in the Wisconsin Babe Ruth League, and continues to play sports today in his seventies as a member of the Culver City Softball League.
He has also had a long career as an award-winning Los Angeles-based filmmaker, having written and produced over 125 primetime documentaries for Netflix, History Channel and National Geographic, on subjects as diverse as Marilyn Monroe, 9/11, Sigmund Freud and the history of disco.
Schipper is the author of ”Broken Record,” a social and cultural history of the Grammy Awards, and has written extensively on culture and the arts for The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety, Rolling Stone, Ms. Magazine, Mother Jones, USA Today and other publications.
Info: Dr. Jill Fields, jfields@mail.fresnostate.edu.
