Walter Isaacson is a Council favorite. He's been described as an "important thinker" and "one of America's most important biographers."
He's written books about Albert Einstein, Henry Kissinger, Steve Jobs, Ben Franklin and others. And now, the veteran Council guest speaker has turned his attention to a genius among geniuses, Leonard Da Vinci (1452-1519), the artist, sculptor, inventor, scientist, architect, etc.
Though he was a complicated polymath, the book is simply titled Leonardo Da Vinci. The eye-catching promotional line reads, "He was history's most creative genius. What secrets can he teach us?"
Isaacson’s book explores the man who "produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology." Da Vinci also studied everything from botany and biology to flying machines and optics. More than all that, too.
In the hands of skilled biographer Isaacson, Da Vinci's life becomes, indeed, "an open book."
Isaacson has been CEO of the Aspen Institute since 2003 and previously was editor of TIME Magazine and CEO of CNN.
In March, Tulane University announced that the veteran journalist/author would become a member of the university's' history department with the title of University Professor. Tulane is in his hometown, New Orleans. In 2005, he was appointed vice chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority after Hurricane Katrina.
Isaacson is a 1974 Harvard University graduate with an A.B. cum laude in history and literature. As a Rhodes Scholar at Pembroke College of Oxford University, he graduated with first class honors after studying philosophy, politics and economics.
All along the way he's been writing biographies of people who've led fascinating lives of achievement. And perhaps his most notable comment about them all is this: "When you write biographies, whether it's about Ben Franklin or Einstein, you discover something amazing: They are human."
Price
- $45-$90
Box Office
- (214) 965-8400
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