Posted on Thursday, February 5, 2004
Three Westminster College professors presented papers on author John Irving at the Far West Popular Culture Conference in Las Vegas.
Dorita Bolger, associate librarian, presented her paper "Lightning Rod: Popular Response to the Work of John Irving." Her presentation examined how the reviews in popular publications such as the major news magazines and newspapers have shaped the public's reaction to, and the reception of, Irving's work
Bolger, who has been with Westminster College since 1981, earned her undergraduate degree from the Pennsylvania State University, and her master's from Clarion. She can be contacted at (724) 946-7325 or e-mail dbolger@westminster.edu.
Dr. Richard Sprow, professor of English, presented "Against the Rules: John Irving's Movie Career." This paper focuses on the issues of film adaptation in general, with an emphasis on The Cider House Rules, for which Irving wrote the Academy Award-winning screenplay. Sprow's work examines Irving's own struggle with adaptation in his memoir, My Movie Business, where he compared the novel to the film.
Sprow, who has been with Westminster College since 1976, earned his undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University, and his master's and Ph.D. from Purdue University. He can be contacted at (724) 946-7346 or e-mail rsprow@westminster.edu.
Dr. Virginia Tomlinson, associate professor of sociology, paper is titled, "Images of Childhood: Adoption and Family in John Irving's The Cider House Rules." This work focuses on the images of adoption and family in the film version of The Cider House Rules. Written during the Reagan administration, filmed during Clinton's term and set in the Franklin Roosevelt era, Cider House Rules provides an opportunity for examining the social and political context of family and adoption over a significant period of American history. Evidence of a cultural bias against adoption and the influence of pro-adoption policies during Clinton's term is a key thesis of this paper.
Tomlinson, who has been with Westminster College since 1996, earned her undergraduate degree from Birmingham Southern College, her master's from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. She can be contacted at
(724)-946-6033 or e-mail tomlinvm@westminster.edu.
