Warner Free Lecture

10/19/2024

“I did another “Backstage & Beyond” reading at the Harvard Public Library last night – in Harvard the bucolic town, not Harvard the university – and read parts of chapters on David Bowie, the Police, Tina Turner and Pete Townshend. A nice crowd of 50 or so – including friend and former Boston Globe colleague Emily Sweeney - with some great questions in the following Q/A, including best and worst feedback from stories. Worst: When some neo-Nazi sent death threat letters to me (and other critics) at the Globe. Best: Bono in a note from Montreal after a Foxboro U2 review. A dozen or so books sold. Some people bought ‘em as Christmas gifts for friends, reminding me that, yes, these books do have a timeless quality about them and make spiffy presents for the rocker in the family. www.trouserpressbooks.com
Thanks to Jeff Boudreau and Mike Kilian for making it happen.”

-Jim Sullivan

📷 Jeff Boudreau

10/13/2024

Thanks to The Harvard Media Cooperative for their video recording of our September lecture.

10/05/2024

View a video of Jimmy Tingle interviewing the Warner Free Lecture’s next guest, Jim Sullivan. Lecture details on the WFL page under “events.”

“This week I sat down with Jim Sullivan to discuss his new book, Backstage and Beyond Vol. 2: 45 Years of Classic Rock Chats & Rants.

Jim Sullivan spent 26 years writing for the Boston Globe and two decades more writing for national publications. He has interviewed and reviewed countless musicians, many of them multiple times.

Access to such A-list stars is hard to come by in the first place, but Sullivan got to know many of them well enough to engage on a far more intimate level than journalists usually can or do.

The first volume of his music-writing anthology focuses on artists who came to prominence in the 1950s and ’60s. Twenty-one of them are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rather than simply collect up previously published articles as they originally appeared, Sullivan combed through his archive to find everything he wrote about each artist and worked them together into a more expansive time-passages view that chronicles their changing situations, outlooks and experiences.

Over the course of 350 pages, Backstage & Beyond Volume 1 includes fascinating, entertaining and occasionally hair-raising profiles of Jerry Lee Lewis, Ian Hunter & Mott the Hoople, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Nico, Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music, Robert Fripp & King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Warren Zevon, Pete Townshend, Ray Davies & the Kinks, Dave Davies, Ginger Baker, Leonard Cohen, Marianne Faithfull, John Fogerty, Tina Turner, Neil Young, Richard Thompson, Darlene Love, Alice Cooper, Peter Wolf & the J. Geils Band, Joe Perry & Aerosmith, Lemmy & Motörhead, George Clinton, Tangerine Dream, Joan Baez, k.d lang and Roy Orbison.

In the preface, Sullivan writes, “My hope is that the recollections contained here … trigger some memories, bring you back to where you wanted to be — backstage and beyond, as it were. And if you weren’t around then, I hope this transports you back to several golden ages of rock and roll.”

https://youtu.be/wrNhQpoBcsI?si=RVqYFvkcJKF_WKDn

This week I sat down with Jim Sullivan to discuss his new book, Backstage and Beyond Vol. 2: 45 Years of Classic Rock Chats & Rants.Jim Sullivan spent 26 yea...

09/17/2024

The Harvard Press

The Warner Free Lecture begins its new season with a talk by journalist Emily Sweeney Friday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. in Volunteers Hall at the library. Sweeney’s topic, and subject of her third book, is John “Dropkick” Murphy—the man, the doctor, the professional wrestler, the founder of a sanitarium and fitness center in Acton, and the namesake of the Dropkick Murphys band.

https://www.harvardpress.com/Features/Feature-Articles/author-and-globe-reporter-sweeney160to-talk-about-dropkick-murphy

Photo caption: John “Dropkick” Murphy—the man, the doctor, the professional wrestler, the founder of a sanitarium and fitness center in Acton, and the namesake of the Dropkick Murphys band. (Courtesy photo).

09/14/2024

REMINDER. Emily Sweeney will be presenting "Dropkick Murphy: A Legendary Life" on Friday, September 20 at 7PM at the Harvard Public Library. See https://www.warnerfreelecture.org for more information.

As always, Warner Free Lectures are free. Refreshments will be served following the talk. Emily's book will also be for sale.

This lecture is being presented in cooperation with the Harvard Historical Society.

08/24/2024

The Warner Free Lectures opens its 2024-2025 season with Emily Sweeney presenting "Dropkick Murphy: A Legendary Life" on September 20, at 7PM in Volunteers Hall at the Harvard Public Library.

Emily Sweeney chronicles the unbelievable life of Dropkick Murphy, a professional wrestler who put himself through medical school during the Great Depression and then opened Bellows Farm, a one-of-a-kind institution that served as both a facility where elite athletes could train as well as a secluded place where down-on-their-luck alcoholics could go to sober up discreetly.
Many celebrities who frequented Dropkick Murphy’s farm, and numerous professional athletes went there to focus on their training and work out in his state-of-the-art gymnasium. As a result, Bellows Farm featured an unrivaled and revolving cast of colorful characters who brought it to life. Drawing on years of research and interviews, author Emily Sweeney goes behind the scenes to reveal the untold story of Murphy’s life, his farm, and the legendary events that unfolded there.

Emily Sweeney covers local news and writes "Blotter Tales," (https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/crime-courts/blotter/) a weekly column that appears in the Boston Globe Metro section every Sunday, and "Cold Case Files," a new series and newsletter about unsolved crimes.

Doors open at 6:30. Q&A follows the lecture as well as refreshments. As with all Warner Lectures, admission is free.

Visit https://www.warnerfreelecture.org for more details about this and all the lectures in our new season.

04/18/2024

Dudley Laufman: Celebrating Old-Time New England Country Dance, captured by Harvard Cable TV.

04/10/2024

“4/9/2024 Annual Town Election Results”
Congratulations to William Salter and Steve Peisch for running successful write-in campaigns.

https://www.harvard-ma.gov/home/news/492024-annual-town-election-results

03/22/2024

Warner Free Lecture Trustees
Agenda for March 26, 2024, 6:15pm
Location: Harvard Public Library 2nd floor.
4 Pond Road – Harvard, MA 01451
1. Review and approve minutes from February 20.
2. Review Barbara Berenson
3. Need receipt for Suzanne Buell – completing grant reimbursement
4. Status of next year's speakers – No replacement for J. Dennis Robinson yet.
5. Review of Roles & Responsibilities
6. Schedule next meeting – propose 4/16/2024