Richard Russo spoke about academic novels at the University of Toledo Oct. 22

A Pulitzer Prize-winning author, novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and teacher discussed his 1997 book, Straight Man, with attendees on Oct. 22 in Doermann Theater.

Richard Russo began the lecture speaking about academic novels and how they can sometimes be ambitious and deeply personal, along with being good for everything else in life.

Kelly Moore, interim dean of the Jesup Scott Honors College, said it was a good opportunity to bring students, faculty members and community members together.

“We offer these lectures as a kind of showcase of what honors college stands for,” Moore said. “Each one of the speakers we invite comes from different backgrounds, they embody the pursuit of excellence that the honors college believes in. In the case of Russo, he is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, he has pursued his vocation and he’s proven to be quite excellent at it.”

The lecture came to a close with Russo answering attendees’ questions and giving some pieces of advice to students who want to write, telling them they have to adopt reading as a habit as well as writing every day, even if it is not the most romantic thing they can do. He added that he doubts he will write another academic novel.

Erin Peterson, a community member who was attending the event said she has been participating in the Jesup Scott Distinguished Lecture Series for the past three years and she likes the diversity of thoughts that are presented through various people from different fields.

Peterson also added that discipline is one of the useful things to be learned from Russo’s lecture.

“He puts lots of it into writing to accomplish what he wants,” Peterson said.

Moore added students should also attend these lectures to be exposed to different perspectives of people — such as Russo — who have excelled in their chosen fields.

“Although I may have come to college to study many number of things, going to this type of lecture and exposing myself to brilliant minds allowed me to develop my thinking further and that’s why I think going to these lectures is very important,” Moore said.

The third lecture in the series will be on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. The speaker will be Travis T. Tygart, a lawyer and CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).