Tom Wolfe is renowned for his incisive observations of American life and his penchant for white suits. When he speaks to graduating seniors this spring, he may have to trade in his suits for a commencement gown, but students will still not miss his flare.
An award-winning author and journalist, Wolfe will deliver the commencement address May 12 to the Class of 2002, President Nan Keohane announced yesterday.
"In addition to being an accomplished writer and reporter, Tom Wolfe has a well justified reputation as one of the most perceptive chroniclers of American culture," Keohane said in a statement. "I am very pleased that he will be sharing his insights with our graduates and their families as this year's commencement speaker."
Wolfe brings a wealth of experience examining culture through his decades as an author, reporter and commentator, producing such best-selling works as The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987) and A Man in Full (1998). He is widely known for his sharp criticism on such issues as race and economic inequality. He said students have that same sense of critical thought.
"I like the questions students ask, because as you get older, you are less likely to ask fundamental questions for fear of looking mockish, naive or innocent," Wolfe said. "Students will ask those questions because they're not afraid."
Wolfe said his admiration for the University has grown over the past four years, mainly through the experience of his daughter, Alexandra, a senior and Chronicle columnist.
"I've become such a fan of Duke that to me this is just a fabulous invitation and a great opportunity," Wolfe said. "Duke has a warmth. Aside from being a gorgeous college, it has a spirit that is really rare among elite universities. There are people in great programs, but without the brittle competitive feeling you sometimes run into at other schools."
Josie Witte, vice president of the Class of 2002, said Wolfe should give a lot of insight to students as they move on to work or other study.
"I'm excited. I think he's such an astute observer of life, but also having that personal tie-in with having a daughter graduating, I think he'll do a good job relating to the senior class," she said.
A 1951 graduate of Washington and Lee University, Wolfe received a Ph.D. in American Studies in 1957 from Yale University. He worked for the Springfield Union newspaper in Springfield, Mass., before moving to The Washington Post and winning an award for his coverage of Cuba in 1960, just months after the rise of dictator Fidel Castro.
"I was only chosen because they saw I had four years of Spanish. I didn't really want to tell them that I couldn't speak a word!" Wolfe laughed, recollecting that he needed some time to adjust to Cuban society.
"I think it's great to be put in some kind of position where you do things you don't want to do, because that's what forces your imagination to work, forces you to be creative, forces you to think in bigger ways about an experience," he said.
In 1965, Wolfe completed his first book, a bestseller that compiled articles on the 1960s that he had written for New York and Esquire magazines. Over the next several years he continued his rise as a leading examiner of American life with a series of articles and books. His first novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, describing greed in the 1980s, was published in serial form every two weeks throughout 1984 and 1985 in magazine. It was ultimately published as a book in 1987, becoming another bestseller.
Wolfe is currently working on another novel, this one about college life, and continues to be a widely heard voice on the direction of popular society. Through it all, he said, he's kept his flare, including his white suits.
"I will defer to academic robes, but I might have one underneath it. I wouldn't put it past me," he said.
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