No, it’s not Kurt Vonnegut back from the dead. Mary Schmich, Trib columnist and award-winning novelist, penned the famous essay “Advice, like youth, is wasted on the young” (aka “Wear Sunscreen”) in ’97, and an Internet hoax made it a pop-culture phenomenon. Baz Luhrmann even got a hit single out of it: “Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen),” which sets the “commencement speech” over a lite electronica track.
Tonight Schmich will be presenting some of her recent work in a joint reading with Sefi Atta, a visiting writer at Northwestern, and several graduate students in creative writing. The event takes place at The Center on Halsted (3656 N. Halsted, 3rd Fl.) at 7 PM. There’ll be free drinks and appetizers. RSVP to rsvpscs@northwestern.edu to attend.