Contact: Caroline Jenkins
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417
AMHERST, Mass.—Marcy Wheeler, well-known political blogger and a 1990 graduate of Amherst College, will discuss her work as a print and Web journalist Thursday, Oct. 18, in Pruyne Lecture Hall (Fayerweather 115) at her alma mater. The talk, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Blogging under the pseudonym “emptywheel,” Wheeler wrote must-read commentary about national politics and the media on the renowned Websites Daily Kos, Firedoglake and The Huffington Post, among others, before starting her own blog titled The Next Hurrah. During the trial of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, she gained fame for blogging case testimony live from the courtroom alongside other regular press-accredited bloggers and reporters. This January she went on to publish “Anatomy of Deceit,” a short primer on The United States v. Libby, as well as the U.S. government’s justification for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the Iraq war. Since its publication, the book has been cited in several articles about the Libby scandal and has even been praised by former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, the husband of Valerie E. Wilson (Valerie Plame).
Wheeler currently lives in Michigan, where she works as a business consultant and continues to write for her own blog and many others. In addition to her degree from Amherst, she holds a doctorate from University of Michigan in comparative literature.
Wheeler’s talk is being sponsored by Amherst’s English Department and the Creative Writing Center.