Tracy Kidder looks like a very serious writer, but as soon as he starts speaking, it is delightfully clear he doesn’t take himself seriously.
Kidder was in Seattle for the Seattle Arts & Lectures series and held forth discussing his writing, followed by audience questions, moderated by Dr. Ed Taylor of the University of Washington’s Educational and Leadership Policy Studies.
Kidder’s talk titled Another Set of Eyes centered on his nearly 40-year relationship with editor, Richard Todd, who he met early in his career at The Atlantic Monthly. Todd is reported to have incidentally suggested the topic for Kidder’s 1981 Pulitzer Prize winning book The Soul of a New Machine. Many readers know Kidder from his remarkable books, The New York Times bestseller Strength in What Remains (2009) and Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003).