2016 - PJ O’Rourke

Best-selling author and noted political satirist P.J. O’Rourke entertained the audience as the keynote speaker at the 2016 Speaker Series event. O’Rourke made his mark in the 1970s as an early contributor to The National Lampoon magazine, where he became editor-in-chief and co-creator of the legendary 1964 High School Yearbook parody. After a stint as a foreign correspondent in the 1980s, O’Rourke returned to his roots as a humorist. As a result, he has more citations in The Penguin Dictionary of Humorous Quotations than any living writer. He’s written 15 books, including his latest, Thrown Under the Omnibus. O’Rourke’s byline has appeared in such diverse publications as The Wall Street Journal, Car and Driver, Forbes, House and Garden and Rolling Stone. Both TIME and The Wall Street Journal label him “the funniest writer in America.”

O’Rourke shared his views on the current political environment and some of the key issues of the day, combining his sensible Midwest values (he was born in Ohio) with the perspective of a worldly sophisticate who has a grasp of how the game is played in the circles of power. His comments combined his satirical spin (à la a modern-day Will Rogers) with serious observations about the geopolitical environment.