Jon Lewis, University Distinguished Professor of Film Studies and a University Honors College Eminent Professor, has been in a lot of interesting rooms across his nearly forty-year career. That includes a green room at the LA Festival of Books back in 2017, where he found himself killing time with Tom McGuane, George Saunders, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and John Lewis the congressman. He’s been invited back this year to mark the publication of his latest book Road Trip to Nowhere: Hollywood Encounters the Counterculture, which explores the tension between countercultural forces of the sixties and the Hollywood establishment between 1967 and 1976. The book has been getting a lot of positive press, including from the Los Angeles Review of Books, which called it a “necessary addition to the discussion of late-’60s and early-’70s Hollywood cinema” that “tackles bumpy terrain and does not disappoint.” The book was officially launched at the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival in April, featuring an introduction by Jane Fonda and performances by Cynthia Henderson. Expect a feature on Jon, on this important book, and on his innovative teaching in next year’s newsletter.
