Author Walter Mosley Headlines JSC Alumni Weekend

September 15, 2017

Acclaimed author and Johnson State College graduate Walter Mosley will receive an alumni award and give a reading Sept. 16 as part of JSC’s Alumni Reunion and Family Weekend.

The event will feature readings by JSC faculty members who are authors, including Bachelor of Fine Arts program director Liz Powell and Tyrone Shaw and Jensen Beach, who teach in the Writing & Literature Department.

Mosley, of New York, has written more than 40 books, including the best-selling Easy Rawlins mystery series. He received the O. Henry Award for short fiction and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award for literature, among others. The author, a 1977 political science major, will be the second person to receive the college’s Distinguished Career Award.

He “has made huge contributions to the dialogue on race and society in the United States. He has received the Anisfield-Wolf Award for works that increase the appreciation and understanding of race in America and was recently named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. I would love to think that his political science degree helped to contribute to his unique voice as a social commentator,” says Elaine Collins, president of Johnson and Lyndon state colleges.

“Mr. Mosley’s contributions to social awareness, inclusion and freedom of expression are profound and are tightly aligned with the values and ideals of our college,” Collins says.

The following reunion events on the college quad are free and open to the public:

• 12-5 p.m., Fun on the Quad with crafts projects, lawn games, a photo booth, JSC Dance Club activities and more
• 2:30 p.m., Distinguished Career Award presented
• 3-4 p.m., readings and book signings by Mosley and JSC authors
• 4 p.m., ice cream social

For more information about Mosley, visit http://www.waltermosley.com/

On July 1, 2018, Johnson State College and Lyndon State College will become Northern Vermont University, a two-campus institution of higher education that combines the best of both colleges’ nationally recognized liberal arts and professional programs under a single administration. Driven by a mission to provide a high-quality, accessible, inclusive education for students in the state, the region, the nation and online, NVU will begin recruiting in fall 2017 for its first class starting in fall 2018. Learn more at NorthernVermont.edu