VIDEO: Brown to discuss ‘The Boys in the Boat’ Oct. 22

Submitted by admin on Tue, 10/07/2014 - 4:00pm

Daniel James Brown, author of “The Boys in the Boat,” will present the story behind his most recent book at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at the Viking Union Multi-purpose Room on the Western Washington University Campus.

This presentation is provided free of charge and doors open at 3:30 p.m.

“The Boys in the Boat” is this year’s Western Reads selection, a campus-wide reading program designed to promote intellectual engagement, community and conversation among new students. A complimentary copy of the book is given to incoming freshman and transfer students at Western.

“The Boys in the Boat” shares an incredible story of grit and persistence as the University of Washington’s 1936 crew team overcomes incredible odds on its quest for an Olympic gold medal in Berlin, Germany during Hitler’s rise to power.

The team defeated the elite teams in the United States and went on to the Olympics where they bested the Italian, English, and German crews. The story details the journey these nine working-class young men took to row their way to Olympic gold, drawing on the boys’ journals and memories.

Before writing narrative non-fiction books, Brown taught writing at San Jose State University and Stanford University. He then became a technical writer and editor in Silicon Valley and later at Microsoft. Brown now writes narrative non-fiction books full-time and lives outside of Seattle.

For more information on the presentation by Daniel James Brown or the Western Reads program, contact Dawn Dietrich at Western.Reads@wwu.edu