Music Journalist & Author Jim DeRogatis
Jim DeRogatis is the official biographer of gonzo music journalist and GC alumnus Walk-of-Famer Lester Bangs. An associate professor of English at Columbia College Chicago, DeRogatis is a freelance rock journalist and co-hosts Sound Opinions, the world’s only rock ’n’ roll talk show. Currently a drummer for the punk trio, Vortis, DeRogatis began in the early 1980s with indie-rock bands such as the Airlines, Speed the Plough, and the Ex-Lion Tamers. In addition to his fifteen years as pop music critic at The Chicago Sun-Times, DeRogatis has authored nearly a dozen books, including Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America’s Greatest Rock Critic; Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma’s Fabulous Flaming Lips; and, Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock. Jim DeRogatis’s recently released eleventh book, Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly, is a shocking compendium of the author’s investigative journalism spanning twenty years. DeRogatis was the first to break the scandal of R. Kelly’s sexual predation of young black girls. Jim DeRogatis will be available after the reading for Q&A and book signing. Selected books will be available for purchase at the venue. The event is free and will be in Building 26 Room 220. Contact: [email protected] for a free parking code.