SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Lily Tomlin, one of America's foremost comediennes, continues to venture across an ever-widening range of media, starring in television, theater, motion pictures, animation, and video. Throughout her extraordinary entertainment career, Tomlin has received numerous awards, including: six Emmys; a Tony for her one woman Broadway show, Appearing Nitely; a second Tony as Best Actress, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics’ Circle Award for her one woman performance in Jane Wagner’s The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe; a CableAce Award for Executive Producing the film adaptation of The Search; a Grammy for her comedy album, This is a Recording as well as nominations for her subsequent albums Modern Scream, And That's the Truth, and On Stage; and two Peabody Awards--the first for the ABC television special, Edith Ann’s Christmas: Just Say Noel and the second for narrating and executive producing the HBO film, The Celluloid Closet.

Tomlin was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of one of the city's most affluent areas. Although she claims she wasn't funny as a child, Tomlin admits she "knew who was and lifted all their material right off the TV screen." Her favorites included Lucille Ball, Bea Lillie, Imogene Coca, and Jean Carroll, one of the first female stand-ups on The Ed Sullivan Show. After high school, Tomlin enrolled at Wayne State University to study medicine, but her elective courses in theater arts compelled her to leave college to become a performer in local coffee houses. She moved to New York in 1965, where she soon built a strong following with her appearances at landmark clubs such as The Improvisation, Cafe Au Go Go, and the Upstairs at the Downstairs, where she later opened for the legendary Mabel Mercer in the Downstairs Room.

Tomlin made her television debut in 1966 on The Garry Moore Show and then made several memorable appearances on The Merv Griffin Show, which led to a move to California where she appeared as a regular on Music Scene. In December 1969, Tomlin joined the cast of the top-rated Laugh-In and immediately rose to national prominence with her characterizations of Ernestine, the irascible telephone operator, and Edith Ann, the devilish six year old. When Laugh-In left the air, Tomlin went on to co-write, with Jane Wagner, and star in six comedy television specials: The Lily Tomlin Show (1973), Lily (1973), Lily (1974), Lily Tomlin (1975), Lily: Sold Out (1981), and Lily for President? (1982), for which she won three Emmy Awards and a Writers Guild of America Award. Tomlin also starred in the HBO special about the AIDS epidemic, And the Band Played On (1993). She has guest starred on numerous television shows, such as Homicide and X-Files, and played the boss for two years on the popular CBS series, Murphy Brown.

Tomlin made her Broadway debut in the 1977 play, Appearing Nitely, written and directed by Jane Wagner. Appearing Nitely included such favorites as Ernestine, Edith Ann and Judith Beasley, the Calumet City housewife, and also introduced Trudy the bag lady, Crystal the hang-gliding quadriplegic, Rick the singles bar cruiser, Glenna as a child of the sixties, and Sister Boogie Woman, a 77-year-old blues revivalist. Appearing Nitely was later adapted as both an album and an HBO Special. Tomlin next appeared on Broadway in 1985 in a year long, SRO run of Jane Wagner’s critically-acclaimed play, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. The Broadway success was followed by a coast-to-coast, 14-city tour that spanned four and a half years. Tomlin extended this extraordinary theatrical career with a cross-country, 29-city tour of The Search, a new production of The Search on Broadway, a record-breaking, six month run of the production in San Francisco, and a six week run in Los Angeles.

On film, Tomlin made her debut as Linnea, a gospel singer and mother of two deaf children in Robert Altman's Nashville (1975); her memorable performance was nominated for an Academy Award, and both the New York Film Critics and National Society of Film Critics voted Lily Best Supporting Actress. She next starred opposite Art Carney as a would-be actress living on the fringes of Hollywood in Robert Benton's The Late Show (1977). She went on to star with John Travolta as a lonely housewife in Jane Wagner’s Moment By Moment (1978), and then teamed with Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton in the late Colin Higgins' comedy, 9 to 5 (1980). She starred as the happy homemaker who became The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), written by Jane Wagner, and the eccentric rich woman whose soul invades Steve Martin's body in Carl Reiner's popular All of Me (1984). She then teamed with Bette Midler for Big Business (1988).

In the 90’s, Tomlin starred in the film adaptation of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life In the Universe (1991); appeared as part of an ensemble cast in Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog (1992); starred opposite Tom Waits in Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993); and portrayed Miss Jane Hathaway in the screen adaptation of the popular television series The Beverly Hillbillies (1993).

In 2002, Tomlin joined the cast of the hit NBC series, The West Wing, playing President Bartlett’s assistant, Debbie Fiderer--a role for which she received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series. In summer 2003, she began filming I Love Huckabee’s, a David O. Russell comedy with Dustin Hoffman, Jude Law, Naiomi Watts, and Mark Wahlberg. In the fall, she’ll return to the cast of West Wing and will also be honored as the 2003 recipient of the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in Washington DC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Born in the US to immigrant parents from China, Amy Tan rejected her mother’s expectations that she become a doctor and concert pianist. She chose to write fiction instead. Her novels are The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and Saving Fish from Drowning, all New York Times bestsellers and the recipient of various awards. She is also the author of a memoir, The Opposite of Fate, two children’s books, The Moon Lady and Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat and numerous articles for magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper’s Bazaar, and National Geographic. Her work has been translated into 35 languages, from Spanish, French, and Finnish to Chinese, Arabic, and Hebrew.

Ms. Tan served as Co-producer and Co-screenwriter with Ron Bass for the film adaptation of The Joy Luck Club. She was the Creative Consultant for Sagwa, the Emmy-nominated PBS television series for children, which has aired worldwide, including in the UK, Latin America, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and Singapore. Her story in the New Yorker, “Immortal Heart,” was performed on stages throughout the US and in France. Her essays and stories are found in hundreds of anthologies and textbooks, and they are assigned as “required reading” in many high schools and universities. She appeared as herself in the animated series “The Simpsons.” She performed as narrator with the San Francisco Symphony and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra playing an original score for “Sagwa” by composer Nathan Wang.

Ms. Tan has lectured internationally at universities, including Stanford, Oxford, Jagellonium, Beijing, and Georgetown both in Washington, DC and Doha, Qatar. The National Endowment for the Arts has chosen The Joy Luck Club for its 2007 “Big Read” program. Ms Tan also served as the Literary Editor for the Los Angeles Times magazine, West.

Her current work includes writing a new novel and creating the libretto for The Bonesetter’s Daughter, which will have its world premiere in September 2008 with the San Francisco Opera. Ms Tan’s other musical work for the stage is limited to serving as lead rhythm dominatrix, backup singer, and second tambourine with the literary garage band, the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose members include Stephen King, Dave Barry, and Scott Turow. In spite of their dubious talent, their yearly gigs have managed to raise over a million dollars for literacy programs.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Bernstein is best known for his coverage of Watergate for the Washington Post. Bernstein is also recognized for many other investigative writings such as his 1991 Time cover story that told of the secret alliance between Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II that kept Solidarity alive in Poland (despite the imposition of martial law), and hastened the end of communism in Eastern Europe and the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Bernstein's cover story for the New Republic, entitled “The Idiot Culture,” assessed the evolution of the post-Watergate media. This article has since become a subject of heated discussions at universities and international forums, and has garnered a high level of attention within the media itself. His detailed accounts of Saddam Hussein's diminishing support among Iraqi people also received worldwide attention.

Bernstein began his career at the age of 16, when he went to work as a copyboy for the Washington Star. His experience has since included every facet of reporting for newspapers, magazines and network television. After leaving the Washington Post, Bernstein served as Washington Bureau chief and senior correspondent for ABC-TV and as a correspondent for Time Magazine.

The author of three best-selling books: All the President's Men; The Final Days; and Loyalties: A Son's Memoir, Bernstein has received virtually every major journalism award in the United States.

Lecturing throughout the world on the press and politics, Bernstein's commentary is frequently sought by television networks in the United States and abroad. He lives in New York with his two sons.

Called the most famous investigative reporter in America by the New York Times, Bob Woodward is an assistant managing editor of The Washington Post where he has worked since 1971. He has won nearly every American journalism award including the Pulitzer for his report on the Watergate scandal. He earned a second Pulitzer as lead reporter for the team that reported on the aftermath of September 11th.

The New York Times has said, "Bob Woodward is the most famous investigative reporter in America." Newsweek has excerpted five of his books in headline-making cover stories, 60 Minutes has featured three of his books, and three of Bob Woodward's books have been made into movies.

In his most recent book, State of Denial: Bush at War Part III, Woodward provides his inside story of a war-torn White House, and how the Bush administration avoided telling the truth about Iraq to the public, to Congress, and often to themselves.

Woodward has co-authored or authored more #1 national best-selling nonfiction books than any contemporary American writer. Some of which include:All the President’s Men (1974) and The Final Days (1976), both Watergate books, co authored with Bernstein The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court (1979), co-authored with Scott Armstrong Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi (1984) Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987 (1987) The Commanders (1991) on the First Bush administration and the Gulf War The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House (1994) Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate (1999) Bush at War (2002) Plan of Attack (2004)

Woodward was born March 26, 1943 in Illinois. He graduated from Yale University in 1965 and served five years as a communications officer in the U.S. Navy before beginning his journalism career at the Montgomery County (Maryland) Sentinel, where he was a reporter for one year before joining the Post. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Elsa Walsh, an author and writer for the New Yorker. He has two daughters, Tali and Diana.


Dr. Dean Edell is a pioneer in syndicated radio, launching in 1986 one of the first successful nation-wide programs ever. As the first physician whose radio and television programs were syndicated cross country, Dr. Dean Edell finds on-air counseling to millions of listeners extremely satisfying – far more than practicing eye surgery, his chosen field.
Early in his career, Dr. Dean found teaching and communicating with patients the most gratifying aspects of his career, so radio was a ready-made classroom for him, though he happened on it by accident. Edell so impressed a co-worker that he introduced the young doctor to a radio programmer. And the rest is history.

In 1979, San Francisco Bay Area powerhouse KGO, put Dr. Dean on the air to address questions on just about any health-related topic coming down the phone lines. Since his debut, his show has consistently been the top-rated program on San Francisco’s number one station. Over the years the show has focused more and more on lifestyle issues as Americans have become more conscious of disease prevention, and entire industries have risen around a national preoccupation with beauty and longevity.

Dr. Dean earned his M.D. at Cornell University and was Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at U.C. San Diego.
“Because I don’t have a private practice, I have time to do the research required to intelligently instruct listeners as to how and where they might find help to improve their health, and at the same time, alert them to fraudulent products and treatments that may
even prove harmful,” he says.

Dr. Dean regularly follows more than 50 medical journals in a wide variety of medical specialties. He is the author of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Healthiness and the best-selling Eat, Drink & Be Merry. He hosted KGO-TV’s “House Calls” and served as the station’s medical reporter for 27 years.

He has received many awards from organizations such as the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association, as well as an Emmy for his television broadcast and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Journalism.

An avid antiques collector and professional artist, Dr. Dean lives with his wife in Mendocino County, California.


 

Cokie Roberts has covered Congress, politics and public policy for nearly 20 years at ABC News. She also serves as Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio, where she was the Congressional Correspondent for more than ten years. From 1996-2002 she and Sam Donaldson co-anchored the weekly ABC interview program This Week.

In her more than forty years in broadcasting, Ms. Roberts has won countless awards, including three Emmys. She has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, and was cited by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the fifty greatest women in the history of broadcasting. In addition to her appearances on the airwaves, Ms. Roberts, along with her husband, Steven V. Roberts, writes a weekly column syndicated in newspapers around the country by United Media. The Roberts are also contributing editors to USA Magazine.

Cokie Roberts is also a highly acclaimed bestselling author. In a follow up to her most recent bestselling book Founding Mothers (2005), Cokie Roberts examines the lives and times of the incredible women who have helped shape America, in her new book Ladies of Liberty. Drawing on personal correspondence, private journals and other primary sources, and peppered with entertaining gossip from the early days of the capital, this second installment captures the great shift that occurred in American history as the country continued its expansion. Throughout, Ms. Roberts captures the heart and soul of the American spirit and offers new insights on the women who have helped make our nation great.

Other bestsellers include, From this Day Forward (2001), a book she co-authored with her husband Steve Roberts, about their more than 40-year marriage and other marriages in American history and We Are Our Mothers’ Daughters (1998), an account of women’s roles and relationships throughout American history.

Cokie Roberts also serves on the boards of several non-profit institutions and this year was appointed to the newly formed President’s Commission on Service and Civic Participation. She is the mother of two and grandmother of six.


 

Dave Barry was born in Armonk, New York in 1947, and has been steadily growing older ever since without ever actually reaching maturity. He attended public schools, where he distinguished himself by not getting in nearly as much trouble as he would have if the authorities had been aware of everything. He is proud to have been elected “Class Clown” by the 1965 Pleasantville High School Class.

Barry went to Haverford College, where he was an English major and wrote lengthy scholarly papers filled with sentences that even he did not understand. He graduated in 1969 and eventually got a job with a newspaper named—this is a real name—The Daily Local News, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he covered a series of incredibly dull municipal meetings, some of which are still going on.

In 1975, Barry joined Burger Associates, a consulting firm that teaches effective writing to business people. He spent nearly eight years trying to get his students to stop writing things like “Enclosed please find the enclosed enclosures,” but he eventually realized that it was hopeless. So in 1983, he took a job at the Miami Herald, and he has been there ever since, although he never answers the phone. In 1988, he won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary, pending a recount. His column appears in several hundred newspapers, yet another indication of the worsening drug crisis.

In 1996, Barry married Michelle Kaufman, a sportswriter for the Miami Herald. He has a son, Robert, who recently got his driver’s license, which should make everybody nervous.

Barry has written a number of short but harmful books including, Babies and Other Hazards of Sex; and Dave Barry Slept Here: A Short of History of the United States. His most recent books include Dave Barry Is NOT Making This Up; Dave Barry’s Gift Guide to End All Gift Guides; Dave Barry Does Japan; Dave Barry Turns 40; Dave Barry’s Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need; and Dave Barry Talks Back. They have been hailed by the critics as “containing a tremendous amount of white space.”
The CBS television series Dave’s World is based on two of Barry’s books.

Also, he owns a guitar that was once played by Bruce Springsteen.

(Dave Barry wrote this bio.)
Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is a regular commentator for NPR's Marketplace and Middle East Analyst for CBS News.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Santa Clara University, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University, a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from the University of Iowa, and is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Sociology of Religions at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

He has served as a legislative assistant for the Friends' Committee on National Legislation in Washington D.C., and was elected president of Harvard's Chapter of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, a United Nations Organization committed to solving religious conflicts throughout the world. He is a member of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities and serves on advisory boards of both the Council of Foreign Relations and the Ploughshares Fund, which distributes grants to further peace and diplomacy throughout the world.

Until recently, he was both Visiting Assistant Professor of Islamic and Middle East Studies at the University of Iowa and the Truman Capote Fellow in Fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

He has written for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Slate, Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the Guardian, Chicago Tribune, the Nation, and others, and has appeared on Meet The Press, Hardball, The Daily Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Colbert Report, Anderson Cooper, and Nightline.

His first book, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam has been translated into half a dozen languages, was short-listed for the Guardian (UK) First Book Award, and nominated for a PEN USA award for research Non-Fiction.

Born in Iran, he now lives in Santa Monica, Ca, where he is a Research Associate at the University of Southern California's Center on Public Diplomacy.