Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is one of America’s most celebrated authors, humorists, and journalists, acclaimed across remarkably diverse fields of writing over a career spanning more than six decades. A longtime staff writer for The New Yorker, he has been called perhaps the finest reporter in America and a classic American humorist in equal measure.

Six Decades of Unforgettable American Writing

Trillin graduated from Yale in 1957, joined Time magazine, and became a staff writer for The New Yorker in 1963. From 1967 to 1982, he produced the legendary U.S. Journal series, filing 3,000-word pieces every three weeks from locations across America on subjects ranging from small-town mysteries to the history of Louisiana restaurants. He wrote the Uncivil Liberties column, which USA Today called the funniest regular column in journalism. His books span reported nonfiction, comic novels, short stories, food writing, and verse, and he has been a regular guest on late-night television.

Wit, Wisdom, and Distinctly American Storytelling

Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Trillin has never lost the unadorned, deeply rooted Midwestern perspective that makes his writing and speaking so distinctive. He has written and presented two critically acclaimed one-man shows in New York, with The New York Times calling him the Buster Keaton of performance humorists. His speaking engagements bring the same wit, intelligence, and storytelling mastery that have made him a national treasure for audiences seeking humor and insight rooted in the American experience.

A Conversation with Calvin Trillin