Terry Teachout to speak December 16 at Maryville University

Writer Terry Teachout, who spurred considerable controversy in certain circles this summer with a Wall Street Journal article about declining audiences for jazz, is coming to St. Louis on Wednesday, December 16 to speak at Maryville University about his latest book.

From the news release:

"Author, blogger and critic Terry Teachout discusses his latest book, Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, at 7 p.m. on Dec. 16, in Buder Commons on the main campus of Maryville University. Teachout is speaking as part of Maryville's 2009 Medart Lecture Series, held in conjunction with Left Bank Books.

Teachout is drama critic for The Wall Street Journal, culture critic for Commentary and the author of "Sightings," a column about the arts in America that appears biweekly in the Saturday Wall Street Journal. The author of numerous books, Teachout's work also appears in National Review and other magazines.

The event will feature a reading by Teachout, who will also play and discuss music from a CD. A question-and-answer period will follow his presentation. Publishers Weekly chose Pops as one of the best books of 2009 and Amazon.com chose it as one of the five best biographies of 2009.

Admission is free and open to the public; a reception precedes the lecture. Teachout will sign books following the event; books will be available for purchase from Left Bank Books."

For more on the controversy over Teachout's "death of jazz" piece, scroll to the bottom of these two previous "Notes from the Net" posts.