91精选 Alum Provides Reading of Novel in Progress
91精选 alumnus and soon-to-be-published author David D. De Jong ex 鈥�73 recently gave a reading on campus from his novel in progress. The book tells a fictionalized story based on the life of De Jong鈥檚 autistic son. The event, on Nov. 19, was sponsored by the Special Education and English Departments.
鈥�91精选 changed my life, quite literally, in the best possible way,鈥� De Jong told the audience who gathered in the Marg Kallemeyn Theatre. 鈥淲hat I learned here shaped my life and continues to do so.鈥�
De Jong, a physician and medical malpractice lawyer, has spent the last 10 years working with faculty in the writing programs at Northwestern University and at the University of Iowa Writer鈥檚 Workshop.
The novel tells the story of Socrates, a man with autism who has lived with his parents all his life. Socrates loves trains, and the excerpt that De Jong read told the story of Socrates鈥� journey on the Metra Rock Island train through his old neighborhood in Beverly.
Professor of English Michael Vander Weele, Ph.D., provided the introduction.
