Doris Kearns Goodwin
Tuesday,
January 16, 2007
The Lacerte Family Lecture
Doris Kearns Goodwin is a renowned historian and author. The subjects of her best-selling books range from American presidents to baseball. Her latest book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, won the 2006 Lincoln Prize, and Steven Spielberg is developing a feature film based on the book. Goodwin's previous political books include Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream; The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys; and No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The American Homefront During World War II, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1995. Also an expert on baseball, she described her childhood years as a Brooklyn Dodgers fan in Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir.
Goodwin earned her B.A. degree from Colby College and a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University, where she later taught. She served as a special assistant to President Johnson in the White House and, after his retirement, assisted him in preparing his memoir, The Vantage Point. She has been a consultant and commentator for PBS documentaries on Johnson, the Kennedy family, and Franklin Roosevelt, and for Ken Burns' History of Baseball. Goodwin continues to be a regular political commentator for television and radio. She lives in Concord, Massachusetts.