UCSB Arts & Lectures presents bestselling author and commentator J.D. Vance talking about Hillbilly Elegy: A Culture in Crisis at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, at The Granada Theatre, 1214 State St. Pre-signed books will be available for purchase at the event.
Author of the memoir Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, Vance became “the voice of the Rust Belt” (The Washington Post) when his book exploded into the national political conversation during the last presidential election campaign.
A proud product of Ohio, Vance made his way from the Marines to Yale Law School and into the Bay Area tech world.
With an insider’s perspective from an often forgotten corner of the country, Vance examines how social policies and other factors affect some of the poorest communities in the U.S., providing a picture of the loss of the American dream and insight into how downward mobility really feels.
A No. 1 New York Times best seller, Hillbilly Elegy is described by the National Review as a “brilliant book” and by The Economist as “one of the most important” reads of 2016.
Ron Howard and Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment have announced plans to produce a movie based on the book.
Raised by his working-class grandparents in Middletown, Ohio, Vance graduated from Middletown High School in 2003, then immediately enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. During his time in the Marines, he deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
When he finished his four-year enlistment, Vance enrolled at Ohio State University, where he studied political science and philosophy and helped coordinate the university’s bipartisan voter education drive in 2008.
After graduating from college, he studied at Yale Law School, where he worked at Yale’s Veterans Legal Services Clinic, providing free legal counsel to veterans of our nation’s wars in Vietnam and Iraq. Vance earned his law degree in 2013.
After a stint at a large corporate law firm, Vance moved to San Francisco to work in the technology industry. He serves as a principal at the leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm Mithril Capital, co-founded by Peter Thiel and Ajay Royan.
As an investor, Vance has taken a special interest in the biotechnology industry and other transformative sectors of the economy.
In early 2017, Vance joined as a partner in AOL founder Steve Case’s venture capital company, Revolution LLC, which concentrates on bolstering entrepreneurship and disruptive, high-growth companies outside of the sphere of Silicon Valley.
He also returne to Ohiod to found Our Ohio Renewal, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the state’s opioid crisis and bringing high-quality employment and educational opportunities to Ohioans.
Vance regularly has appeared on ABC, CBS and FOX News and currently serves as a contributor on CNN.
Tickets to see Vance are $20-$35 for the general public, and $10 for students with valid student ID. A Granada facility fee will be added to each ticket price.
For tickets and more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures, 893-3535, or visit www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu, or contact The Granada Theatre, 899-2222 or granadasb.org.