Experts
Calvin Trillin
Author / Journalist
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Nobody ever thought there'd be a rich reporter, Trillin says. Read More
December 14, 2007 | In Media & Internet
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The worst thing that could happen to a Midwesterner, Trillin says, is to have someone tell your mother at the supermarket that you'd gotten too big for your britches. Read More
December 14, 2007 | In History, Politics & Policy
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Canadians believe that recycling will make them pure, Trillin says. Maybe Americans can learn a thing or two from that. Read More
December 14, 2007 | In Environment, Inspiration & Wisdom
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Trillin is optimistic about his own life, but says the world will have to worry about itself. Read More
December 14, 2007 | In Future
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The American government still spends too much money on defense, Trillin says. Read More
December 14, 2007 | In Politics & Policy, World
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Fifty years ago, Trillin would have never thought that religion would become so prominent in American public life. Read More
December 14, 2007 | In Belief, History, Politics & Policy
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Trillin believes in not having a personal philosophy. Read More
December 14, 2007 | In Belief
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Trillin doesn't get up in the morning thinking, "Today, I'm going to write the great American story about parking." Read More
December 14, 2007 | In Inspiration & Wisdom, Media & Internet
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Trillin would settle for making someone smile after a hard day's work. Read More
December 14, 2007 | In Arts & Culture, Media & Internet
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According to his late wife, Trillin is more a writer than a reporter. Read More
December 14, 2007 | In Arts & Culture, Media & Internet
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Trillin wasn't the sensitive lad hanging off to the side composing things while the other boys frolicked. Read More
December 14, 2007 | In Arts & Culture, History, Media & Internet
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Think. Read More
December 14, 2007 | In Inspiration & Wisdom
Calvin Trillin is a journalist, humorist and novelist. Best known for his humorous writing about food and eating, he is also the author of several books of fiction, nonfiction essays, comic verse and plenty of more serious journalism.
Trillin was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1935. He received his BA from Yale University, where he was chair of the Yale Daily News, in 1957. In 1963, after a serving in the U.S. Army and then working at Time magazine for a short time, Trillin joined the staff of The New Yorker magazine, where his reporting on racial integration at the University of Georgia eventually developed into his first book, An Education in Georgia: Charlayne Hunter, Hamilton Holmes and the Integration of the University of Georgia. Trillin's 1967-1982 column "U.S. Journal" for The New Yorker documented events throughout the nation, both funny and serious; since 1984, he has written a series of longer, narrative pieces under the title "American Chronicles."
Trillin is also a longtime contributor to The Nation magazine - is, in fact, the single most prolific contributor to that magazine to date. From 1978-1980 he penned a column called "Variation"; from 1984-1990 another called "Uncivil Liberties"; and from 1990 to the present a weekly one called "Deadline Poem" consisting of humorous poems about current events.
Calvin Trillin's most recent novel is Deciding the Next Decider: The 2008 Presidential Race in Rhyme (Nov. 2008)
