Doris Kearns Goodwin is 2021 Stern Lecture speaker 

The Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library is pleased to announce that Doris Kearns Goodwin is speaking Tuesday, Oct. 5, as part of the annual Mary S. Stern Lecture series. Goodwin is a presidential historian, international keynote speaker, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times bestselling author. Her talk features her latest book, “Leadership in Turbulent Times.” 

The book focuses on presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson to show how they first recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized by others as leaders. It seeks to answer questions such as: Are leaders born or made? Where does ambition come from? And, does the man make the times, or do the times make the man? 

“On behalf of the Mary S. Stern Lecture Committee, I am pleased to announce Doris Kearns Goodwin as the second speaker in the Mary S. Stern Lecture Series. Offering the public access to such a phenomenal speaker is exactly why my mom endowed this series. Ms. Goodwin is respected internationally for her work and we couldn't be more excited to bring her to the residents of Hamilton County," said Peter J. Stern, M.D., chair of the Mary S. Stern Lecture Committee and Library Foundation board member.

ABOUT DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN  

Ms. Goodwin is the author of seven critically acclaimed and New York Times bestselling books, including No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II, for which she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Well known for her appearances and commentary on television, she is seen frequently in documentaries and on television news, cable networks, and late-night talk shows, including Ken Burns’ “The History Baseball” and “The Roosevelts.” She is an executive producer of miniseries and has served as a consultant on programs on the U.S. presidents, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, the Kennedy family, and Lyndon Johnson in HBO Films’ “All the Way” starring Bryan Cranston. Her Team of Rivals was the basis for Steven Spielberg’s award-winning film “Lincoln” for which Daniel Day-Lewis earned an Academy Award. She played herself as Lisa Simpson’s teacher on “The Simpsons” and a historian on “American Horror Story.” Ms. Goodwin is a magna cum laude Colby College graduate and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Government from Harvard University, where she taught Government, including a course on the American presidency. For more information on this speaker, visit doriskearnsgoodwin.com.  

ABOUT THE MARY S. STERN LECTURE  

The late Mary S. Stern endowed an annual lecture series for the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library through The Library Foundation to support bringing internationally renowned thought leaders to our community. The Stern Lecture selection committee (Sandy and Peter Stern, Betsy and Paul Sittenfeld, and Vicky and Rick Reynolds) was formed in 2018 to select and invite lecturers who can honor Stern’s legacy by advancing the Library’s mission to connect our community with a world of ideas and information. The committee is committed to making the topic and speaker accessible to the community physically and financially.