Bestselling Author and Bexley Native Bob Greene to Read from New Book about Lifelong Friendship

Greene to Appear at Wexner Center May 7 for Exclusive Reading and Reminiscence in Honor of Jack Roth

“Emphasizes the value and rarity of...longstanding friendships.”— Library Journal, on And You Know You Should Be Glad

New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and Bexley native Bob Greene has been called "one of the great contemporary chroniclers of American life" (Orlando Sentinel) and "a virtuoso of the things that bring journalism alive" (Tom Wolfe). His work has been widely praised for its emotional depth, precise observations, and pitch-perfect connection with readers’ lives. Greene’s extraordinary ability to capture the essence of the human spirit is fully realized in his latest book, And You Know You Should Be Glad (William Morrow/An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; Publication Date: May 2, 2006; ISBN: 00600881933; $24.95 US). In this deeply moving true story, Greene recounts his friendship with four men he has known since his Bexley childhood as they come together at a time of great crisis when one of those friends, Jack Roth, was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The Wexner Center presents Greene in an exclusive reading and reminiscence in honor of Jack Roth, a longtime patron of the Wexner Center. The program will be held Sunday, May 7 from 10 am to noon at the Wexner Center, 1871 N. High St. A free brunch will last from 10 to 11 in the center’s lower lobby, with Greene’s reading/remarks at 11 am in the Film/Video Theater, followed by a booksigning in the Wexner Center Store. The event is free and open to the public (public information: wexarts.org or 614 292-3535).

Growing up in Bexley, Bob Greene and his four closest friends—Allen, Chuck, Dan, and Jack—were inseparable. Of the four, Jack was Bob’s best friend, and had been virtually from the moment they met when they were 5. They grew up together, got in trouble together, and learned about life together. As the years went by, even as the miles between them grew, Bob, Jack, and the others remained close, holding on to the friendship that had formed so long ago. Then, in 2004, the call came: Jack was dying. He had been the linchpin of the group. Now all of them would come together once more, to see him through to the end.

One of Jack’s wishes was to try to again experience bits of everything that had been momentous and memorable for the friends over their lifetime. Greene chronicles the journey, as they revisit the spots in Bexley that composed the backdrop for their childhood and growing-up years: from such favorite haunts as the Toddle House, where problems were solved at midnight over cheeseburgers and Cokes, to Rubino’s Pizzeria (still a Bexley icon), to the tiny hill they had named in honor of World War II combat hero Audie Murphy. Together, the five friends had faced a lifetime of challenges; now, together again, they would prepare for one of the hardest.

The Library Journal wrote that the book is “a memoir about the value of friendship, memory, and the desire to live one's life to the fullest in the face of adversity. . . Readers who enjoyed Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking will find Greene's writing to be more wistful and plainspoken but similarly rewarding.”

And You Know You Should Be Glad will be adapted for the screen by Richard Friedenberg, screenwriter of the Academy Award-winning A River Runs Through It.

About the Author

Bob Greene is a New York Times bestselling author and an award-winning journalist whose books include Fraternity: A Journey in Search of Five Presidents; Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen; Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War; Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael Jordan; Be True to Your School (about growing up in Bexley); and, with his sister, D.G. Fulford, To Our Children’s Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come. As a magazine writer he has been lead columnist for Life and Esquire; as a broadcast journalist he has served as contributing correspondent for ABC News Nightline. For 31 years he wrote a syndicated newspaper column based in Chicago, first for the Sun-Times and later for the Tribune. He is a contributor to the New York Times Op-Ed page.

The Jack Roth Fund

The Jack Roth Fund has been established to support research and treatment for lung cancer through the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State, and for the support of the Masorti Movement, the organization in Israel advocating for religious freedom and tolerance. The Jack Roth 5k Rock’n'Run/Walk to support these organizations is scheduled for June 4 in Bexley: www.jackrothfund.org to register and further information.