This video is of a presentation that appeared on C-SPAN2's About Books program (better known today as BookTV) in honor of J. Anthony Lukas and his book Big Trouble. It took place in 1998 at a Barnes & Noble bookstore. At the time, various authors and writers were doing a tribute tour and promoting Big Trouble since Lukas was not around to do so. Tony had committed suicide on 6/5/1997 shortly before the books publication. The tribute tour, though certainly helpful and appreciated, was of rather short duration. Big Trouble sales no doubt suffered from not having Lukas available to promote his own book and to allow questions about his phenomenal years of research. He even traveled to Kingman, AZ to meet with my mother Brenda Steunenberg Richards. The program was recently posted to YouTube.
Related:
From GoodReads: Big Trouble - A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America (1998) by J. Anthony Lukas
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Blue Genes by Christopher Lukas
You may or may not know that depression and bipolar disorder permeated the Lukas family. Tony's mother had committed suicide when he and his brother Christopher were very young. You can read more about the Lukas family battle with these disorders in Blue Genes:A Memoir of Loss and Survival by his brother Christoper Lukas. The book is a quick read (compared to Big Trouble) and provides a great deal of insight into their personal struggles. Unfortunately, it cannot offer any easy solutions as sometimes even the best treatment cannot prevent a downward spiral from ending in tragedy.
From Second Read: Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families by J. Anthony Lukas.
Just this morning (12/28/2014), while watching Meet the Press, I was surprised but pleased to hear New York Police Commissioner William Bratton reference the book Common Ground by Anthony Lukas. Common Ground is a typical Lukas dissection of the issues of race relations and forced school busing in Boston during the 1960's/70s. Bratton's point was the book could just as well be applied to New York City (and other cities) today. In true Lukas fashion, it is a big, detailed, exhaustively researched look at the still challenging topic of race. A copy of Common Ground remains on my book shelf and, yes, it may be time for a "second read."
Monday, June 22, 2009
Next-up in the terrorist-battle™/James Carafano/ Washington Examiner
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Ready for Anti-Corporate Politics?
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