Joe Klein to Show His Colors

All Joe Klein has to do next Monday afternoon in his 2014 Harrelson Lecture is show signs of sanity in an era of political consultants, talk radio, cable news and the blogosphere. So says the title of the presentation that he will give 3 p.m. Monday in the new Talley Student Union ballroom.

That may be a tough assignment for even Klein, Time magazine’s premier political columnist and one of America’s most influential voices in national and international affairs.

Klein, author the best-selling anonymous novel “Primary Colors,” has been with Time since 2003, writing his “In The Arena” column and contributing to the time.com political blog, “Swampland.” He is a veteran of 10 presidential campaigns who has covered elections for the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Newsweek and New York magazine.

Klein’s most famous work was a fictionalize account of the 1992 presidential campaign. It spent 25 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, including nine at No. 1. He added a follow-up called “The Running Mate.” His most recent book is “Politics Lost: How American Democracy Was Trivialized by People Who Think You Are Stupid.”

Klein has twice received the National Headliner Award for best magazine column. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in American civilization. He is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and a former Guggenheim fellow.

The Harrelson Lecture was established in 1961 with a bequest by the late Col. John Harrelson, NC State’s first chancellor and seventh chief executive. Two-time presidential nominee and U.N. ambassador Adlai Stevenson gave the first Harrelson Lecture on March 7, 1962. Other prominent lecturers include former President Bill Clinton (2009), civil rights activist Julian Bond (1999) and composer Aaron Copland (1976).

Admission to the lecture is free and is open to the public.