Whitfield Speaker 2012

• Gene Weingarten was Collegiate School's 2012 Whitfield English speaker, and he visited Collegiate and addressing the Upper School on Wednesday, November 14, 2012. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who writes a syndicated column and feature articles for The Washington Post. LinksGene's wikipedia page

• His twitter feed

  • His syndicated weekly humor column in The Washington Post Magazine, "Below the Beltway."

  • "Barney & Clyde" - the comic strip he co-writes with his son Dan (artwork by Dan Clark)

  • "How Do You Explain Gene Weingarten?" A Washingtonian Magazine profile

Gene Weingarten as drawn by Eric Shansby

Books

• • The Fiddler in the Subway - a collection of Gene's feature articles from The Post.

  • Old Dogs: Are The Best Dogs - A collection of poignant photographs of and essays about old dogs, created with photographer Michael S. Williamson.

  • I'm With Stupid - a humorous treatise on gender differences, co-written with Gina Barreca.

  • The Hypochondriac's Guide to Life. And Death - Gene deals with his own hypochondria and disease in general with his usual wit and humor.

Feature Stories (many of which appear in The Fiddler in the Subway)

• • "Pearls Before Breakfast" - The story that won Gene his first Pulitzer for feature writing. World-famous violinist Joshua Bell plays for change in the DC Metro. Does anyone notice?

  • "Fatal Distraction" - The second Pulitzer Prize winner. When a child dies after being accidentally left in a hot car, is it a crime?

  • "Fear Itself" - Gene rides the bus. In Jerusalem. During one of the most dangerous periods of suicide bombings in the city's history.

  • "Doonesbury's War" - Gene interviews notable recluse and Pulitzer Prize-winning comic strip creator Garry Trudeau. He follows Trudeau as the brilliant satirist spends time with veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and translates their experiences into a comic strip which transcends its genre.

  • "Snowbound" - Gene visits a remote Alaskan village on a lark and ends up finding a society steeped in tragedy.

  • "Why Not The Worst?" - Gene anoints Battle Mountain, Nevada, as the armpit of America.

  • "The Peekaboo Paradox" - A gifted children's entertainer struggles in his personal life. Of all of his work, this is Gene's favorite story.

  • "None of the Above" - Gene profiles one of those rare creatures in politics these days: the undecided voter (from 2004).

Student Workshop Application