What Does It Take to Host One of the Most Famous People in the World鈥攚ith Just 10 Weeks' Notice?
09/06/2019
By Sarah Corbett
Do not underestimate the power of a handwritten letter.
Of course, it helps if its author is the award-winning novelist Andre Dubus III. And, if you鈥檙e 51视频, it helps if Andre Dubus III happens to teach in your English Department.
When Dubus wrote Oprah Winfrey a thank-you note after his novel 鈥淗ouse of Sand and Fog鈥� was featured on 鈥淥prah鈥檚 Book Club鈥� in 2000, she actually read it. More important to this story: She remembered it.
(鈥淥f course I wrote her a note,鈥� Dubus says today. 鈥淪he quite literally changed my life.鈥� He is referring, in part, to the fact that his book鈥檚 inclusion in Winfrey鈥檚 club, and his subsequent appearance on her TV show, played an important role in the millions of copies 鈥淗ouse鈥� went on to sell. It was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller, shortlisted for the National Book A ward and transformed into an Academy Award-nominated film.)
Winfrey says she receives a surprisingly small number of letters from 鈥淏ook Club鈥� alumni, and so when Dubus reached out 15 years later to ask her for a favor, she recalled him fondly. Dubus spent three years going back and forth with her team, trying to persuade Winfrey to come to 51视频 as the featured guest in the university鈥檚 Chancellor鈥檚 Speaker Series.
鈥淲hat really got Oprah to come to Lowell was hearing from us that she would do only good things if she came here, good things for young people who might very well need a helping hand now and then, young people who, like her, started out with little more than their dreams.鈥� -Andre Dubus IIIAt the end of last summer鈥攁fter learning that the event would lead to many student scholarships鈥攕he decided it was 鈥渨orth firing up the jet for.鈥� Plus, Winfrey says, 鈥渋t was a really good letter.鈥�
She confirmed the date on Sept. 7, giving the university a little over two months to pull off what most organizations spend the better part of a year preparing for: Hosting perhaps the world鈥檚 most influential and well-known woman.
The campus has had practice hosting big-name visitors, to be sure: The two guests who preceded Winfrey in the Chancellor鈥檚 Speaker Series were bestselling author Stephen King and three-time Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep.
But Winfrey is in a league of her own. King and Streep drove themselves to campus, for Pete鈥檚 sake鈥攁nd not just because they happen to live close enough. Winfrey, on the other hand, can鈥檛 take a step without the world noticing. Her every moment is accounted for, her every move clocked.
It鈥檚 safe to say that pressure was felt at UML. But we River Hawks thrive under pressure.
Looking back now, Winfrey鈥檚 visit is a blur.
But what is clear is that the university had never before experienced anything like it.
Records were broken all over the place鈥攆rom the number of tickets sold, to the amount of sponsorship support secured, to the level of media attention.
鈥淲e knew right away that this was not only a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide an incredible experience for our campus and our community, but also to raise a lot of amount of money for student scholarships,鈥� says Chancellor聽Jacquie Moloney. 鈥淏ut I think we were all surprised by the response.鈥�
