From Dr. Seuss to Truman Capote:
Bennett Cerf, the publisher who changed American literature, forever
Bennett Cerf shaped American literary culture, championing writers from Dr. Seuss to Truman Capote. William Faulkner to Ayn Rand, turing a scrappy upstart into one of the world’s most storied publishing houses.
Author
Gayle Feldman has brought his remarkable life and legacy to the page in
Nothing Random,
Bennett Cerf and the Publishing House He Built, a biography as compelling Cerf himself.
Join us on March 18, for a fascinating luncheon with Feldman in conversation with Kai Bird, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of American Prometheus, the biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Two master storytellers, one unforgettable afternoon. Reserve your seat today.
Bye-bye Big Bird? How public media will survive
With public money drained from public media, can the system that created The News Hour, Sesame Street, Nature, and brought us Ken Burns' America stay alive?
WNET’s CEO Neal Shapiro says “Yes!” His retirement just announced, this former NBC News President, who strengthened and expanded the entire PBS system during his years at WNET, is coming to tell us WHY Public Media WILL Survive! Join us Wednesday Feb. 18 for an intriguing, insightful conversation moderated by past Silurians president Betsy Ashton, a board member of the Friends of Thirteen/WNET for three decades.
News Media News
About Silurians, by Silurians
The Irrefutable power of Community Reporting
By Adam Stone
On July 12, 2025, The New York Times published a front-page story “UnitedHealth’s Campaign to Quiet Critics,” which included an account of the insurer’s apparent attempt to chill my Westchester County-based investigative reporting....This mega-corporation wanted to silence my local watchdog news outlet—emphasis on local.
Reporter’s Tenacity Unravels – and Helps Chronicle – Her Family’s Wartime Secrets
By Karen A. Frenkel
My training is as a science writer and technology journalist and producer.... I transitioned to narrative nonfiction with the Family Treasures Lost and Found project, which includes my recently published memoir and tie-in documentary. .Both chronicle my investigative quest to fill gaps in the survival stories of my Polish Jewish parents and sole surviving grandfather.
This Optimistic ʻSilurian Newbieʼ Is Grooming The Next Generation of Journalists
By Cathi Steele
I’m a Silurian newcomer, relatively speaking, as I was accepted into this esteemed press club in July 2025. Like you, I’m concerned about—and sometimes downright distraught over—the perilous climate in which journalists and media find themselves.
And yet, I see a future of possibilities.
Your first career was just the lede. Now we want the rest of the story. Whether you’re publishing a book, article, Substack, stepping back into the classroom, or taking on new challenges, share your recent endeavors with your fellow Silurians.
Journalism and AI
Love it or fear it, Artificial Intelligence is rapidly being integrated in newsrooms around the world in a variety of ways, even as the technology upends and challenges online news business models. Here you will find links to articles, clips and videos that will be updated from time to time to help better understand this accelerating trend.
The Silurian Archives
Silurians YouTube channel — 120+ videos of speakers and events.
