EUGENE, Ore. – (Feb. 18, 2013) – Oil: When Americans aren’t burning it, buying it or defending it, we are talking about how to reduce our dependence on it.
Author Lisa Margonelli takes up that conversation with her book “Oil on the Brain: Adventures from the Pump to the Pipeline.” Margonelli will offer a public reading Saturday, Feb. 23, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Knight Library Browsing Room, 1501 Kincaid St., Eugene.
The reading serves as the conclusion of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication’s Annual PageTurners class. PageTurners is facilitated by Peter Laufer, SOJC professor and James Wallace Chair in Journalism. The seminar encourages students to engage in a close reading of text and a rare opportunity to have a focused, intimate conversation with writers about their creative writing experience.
Margonelli’s book examines the people, pipelines and politics that bring us energy. Covering the path of oil took Margonelli on a 100,000-mile journey across the globe. She spent time in a gas station, with truckers; in a refinery, on a drilling rig and at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the New York Mercantile Exchange to see the economy of oil through the eyes of people who work with it.
Lisa Margonelli is currently an Irvine Fellow at the New America Foundation. Her resume includes writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, Business 2.0, Discover and Jane. She earned a Sundance Institute Fellowship and an excellence in journalism award from the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists.
About the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication
The University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication produces outstanding writers, editors, digital media makers, strategists and critical thinkers by providing a program grounded in ethics, innovation, action and social responsibility. Students hone their skills while participating in award-winning student media such as Flux, OR Magazine, Mosaic and Oregon News, and more than 10 student groups including Allen Hall Advertising, Allen Hall Public Relations and the National Broadcasters Association. The SOJC hosts the annual Ancil Payne Awards for Ethics in Journalism, the Hulteng Conversations in Ethics and the annual Johnston and Ruhl Lectures. The school counts nine Pulitzer Prize winners among its more than 9,000 graduates (journalism.uoregon.edu).
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
MEDIA CONTACT: Kellee Weinhold, UO School of Journalism and Communication, 541-346-2897, kelleew@uoregon.edu
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