AUTHOR JAMES HOWARD KUNSTLER TO SPEAK AT PITT

PITTSBURGH, October 5 -- James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere and Home From Nowhere, will present a talk entitled, "Can America Survive Suburbia?", from 3 to 5 p.m., Monday, October 16, in

Room 2K56 of Posvar Hall on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.

Kunstler's appearance is sponsored by Pitt's University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) and the Graduate School for Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) along with Sustainable Pittsburgh. His presentation is free and open to the public.

A graduate of the State University of New York (Brockport campus), Kunstler is a regular contributor to the New York Times Sunday Magazine and Op-Ed page, where he has written on environmental and economic issues. After working for a number of newspapers and as a staff writer for Rolling Stone Magazine, Kunstler became a full time book author and has written eight novels to date. He has been invited to speak by many universities, colleges, and professional organizations.

Asked what inspired him to write The Geography of Nowhere, Kunstler said, "I believe a lot of people share my feelings about the tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up the everyday environment where most Americans live and work. A land full of places that are not worth caring about will soon be a nation and a way of life that is not worth defending."

Home From Nowhere is a continuation of that discussion with an emphasis on the remedies.

Kunstler lives in Saratoga Springs in upstate New York with his wife, children's book author Jennifer Armstrong.

For more information, call 412-624-6614.

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Note to the Media: Mr. Kunstler is available for phone interviews prior to his appearance at the University of Pittsburgh. His office phone number is 518-581-1876.