‘Fast Food Nation’ author to speak at Powers Auditorium
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
Eric Schlosser, investigative journalist and author of “Fast Food Nation” and “Reefer Madness,” will speak at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Edward W. Powers Auditorium in downtown Youngstown as part of the Youngstown State University Skeggs Lecture Series.
The lecture is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.
Tickets are available until 8 p.m. today at the Information and PC Lab in Kilcawley Center at YSU. For more information, call the YSU Office of Alumni and Events Management at 330-941-3497.
“Fast Food Nation,” published in 2001, helped start a revolution in how Americans think about what they eat. It has been translated into more than 20 languages and remained on the New York Times best-seller list for two years. The book was made into a feature film in 2006.
“Reefer Madness,” published in 2003, examined America’s thriving underground-marijuana economy.
“Chew on This,’’ published in 2006 and co-written by Charles Wilson, introduced young readers to the health effects of fast food and the workings of industrial agriculture. Schlosser has for almost a decade been researching a book on the American prison system.
His next book, “Command and Control,” is about nuclear weapons.
He previously was a playwright and worked for an independent film company. He was executive producer of the film “There Will Be Blood” and co-producer of the award-winning documentary, “Food Inc.”
Two of his plays have been staged in London – “Americans” (2003) and “We the People” (2007).
The lecture series was established in 1966 to honor the late Leonard T. Skeggs Sr., who came to Youngstown in 1919 as educational secretary of the YMCA. In 1924, he became general secretary, a position he held until his death in 1933. He played a central role in establishing what would become Youngstown College, later Youngstown University and YSU.