CHF to Close Spring Season with Judy Blume & Judd Apatow

The Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) will close out its Spring 2015 season with two literary events in June, featuring writers Judy Blume and Judd Apatow. On Wednesday, June 17 at 7 p.m. at Francis W. Parker School, CHF and the Chicago Tribune will welcome literary icon and number one New York Times bestselling author Judy Blume to talk about her new novel, In the Unlikely Event (June 2, 2015), with Chicago Tribune columnist Heidi Stevens. The next day, Thursday, June 18 at 12:30 p.m. at the Art Institute of Chicago Rubloff Auditorium (230 S Columbus Dr), Hollywood film writer (Knocked Up, This is 40), producer (Bridesmaids), and director (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) Judd Apatow will speak about his new book, Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy (June 16, 2015). Tickets are on sale now at chicagohumanities.org or by calling 312-494-9509.

In the Unlikely Event creates a richly textured and moving story of three generations of families, friends and strangers, whose lives are profoundly changed by unexpected events. In 1987, Miri Ammerman returns to her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, to attend a commemoration of the worst year of her life. Thirty-five years earlier, when Miri was fifteen, and in love for the first time, a succession of airplanes fell from the sky, leaving a community reeling. Against this backdrop of actual events that Blume experienced in the early 1950s, when airline travel was new and exciting and everyone dreamed of going somewhere, she paints a vivid portrait of a particular time and place--Nat King Cole singing "Unforgettable," Elizabeth Taylor haircuts, young (and not-so-young) love, explosive friendships, A-bomb hysteria, rumors of Communist threat. And a young journalist who makes his name reporting tragedy. Through it all, one generation reminds another that life goes on.

Judy Blume is one of America's most well-known authors. Her 28 titles include Blubber, Just as Long as We're Together, and the five book series about the irrepressible Fudge. Together, her books have sold more than 85 million copies in 32 languages. She is a champion of intellectual freedom, working with the National Coalition Against Censorship to support teachers, librarians, and students who fight to keep challenged books on their shelves. In 2004, Blume was awarded the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. She lives in Key West, Florida, with her husband.

Blume will be in conversation on June 17 with journalist Heidi Stevens. Stevens is a lifestyles reporter at the Chicago Tribune, where she reports on books, relationships, parenting and health. She grew up in the northwest suburbs and studied journalism and political science at Eastern Illinois University. Her daily column runs Monday through Friday on chicagotribune.com and Sundays in the Tribune's Life & Style section.

Sick in the Head gathers his most memorable and revealing conversations into one hilarious, wide-ranging, and incredibly candid collection that spans not only his career, but his entire adult life. Here are the comedy legends who inspired and shaped him, from Mel Brooks to Steve Martin. Here are the contemporaries he grew up with in Hollywood, from Spike Jonze to Sarah Silverman. And here, finally, are the brightest stars in comedy today, many of whom Apatow has been fortunate to work with, from Seth Rogen to Amy Schumer. And along the way, something kind of magical happens: What started as a lifetime's worth of conversations about comedy becomes something else entirely. It becomes an exploration of creativity, ambition, neediness, generosity, spirituality, and the joy that comes from making people laugh.

Judd Apatow is one of the most important comic minds of his generation. He wrote and directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (co-written with Steve Carell), Knocked Up, Funny People, and This Is 40, and his producing credits include Superbad, Bridesmaids, and Anchorman. Apatow is the executive producer of HBO's Girls. He was also the executive producer of Freaks and Geeks, created Undeclared, and co-created the Emmy Award-winning television program The Ben Stiller Show. His latest film is Trainwreck, starring Amy Schumer. Apatow was also the editor of the collection I Found This Funny.

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