The distinguished journalist and author will receive the prestigious award from SMU at Tables of Content, presented by Friends of the SMU Libraries in support of its annual grants program.
Tables of Content opens with a cocktail reception featuring this year’s Top 10 Haute Young Authors at 6 p.m. and is followed by the award presentation and dinner with table hosts leading fascinating conversations on a variety of topics. Reservations and more information are available here.
The Literati Award honors individuals who have used the written word to advance the ideals of creativity, conviction, innovation and scholarship and who have had a significant impact on culture and the community through their work. This award was created by the Friends of the SMU Libraries/Colophon in 2010 and was established in honor of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the organization to celebrate the power of the written word and to recognize significant achievements in creativity.
Lehrer came to Washington with PBS in 1972, teaming with Robert MacNeil in 1973 to cover the Senate Watergate hearings. They began in 1975 what became The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, and, in 1983, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, the first 60-minute evening news program on television. When MacNeil retired in 1995, the program was renamed The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Lehrer has been honored with numerous awards for journalism, including a presidential National Humanities Medal in 1999, the News & Documentary Emmy’s Chairman’s Award in 2010 and in October 2011 he received the Fourth Estate Award from the National Press Club.
With proceeds from the evening, the Friends of the SMU Libraries’ grant program funds the purchase of books, periodicals, electronic resources and other much-needed equipment and materials for all SMU libraries.