While many journalists are content to report the what and the where, New York Times best-selling author and veteran reporter Kim Cross is more concerned with the how and the who. To round out the Spring Skeptics series, Blair will welcome Ms. Cross on Tuesday, April 28, to discuss her work for notable magazines such as Outside and Garden & Gun and her methodology for how she finds the details of a crisis that numbers alone will not tell.

One of Ms. Cross’ most beloved novels is New York Times bestseller What Stands in a Storm, which chronicles the devastating 2011 series of tornado outbreaks across the southeastern United States. In writing it, she went beyond weather patterns, incorporating cinematic scenes and “time-stamped recorded dialogue.” By focusing on the narrowest details, such as the sound of the wind through a specific cellar door or the exact minute a phone call was cut off, she was able to reconstruct a massive natural disaster as a deeply personal human drama.

Ms. Cross often describes herself as being obsessed with story structure. In her workshops and writing, she encourages young creators to embrace their own obsessions. Her career suggests that narrow interests—like the specific physics of a storm or the technicalities of an interview—are actually the fundamentals for building a broader worldview.

As she prepares for her visit to the hilltop, she hopes to show students who have felt that their hobbies or passions were too narrow that, if  followed far enough, they can lead you to the New York Times bestseller list. And more importantly, to a deeper understanding of what holds us together when the world falls apart.

All are welcome to hear Ms. Cross speak in the forum of the Chiang-Elghanayan Center for Innovation and Collaboration next Tuesday at 7 p.m.

History of Skeptics
 
The Society of Skeptics was established as a forum for students and faculty to discuss and debate important global issues; it has grown to become one of the premier high school lecture series in the United States. Each week, speakers from the political, social, scientific, economic and literary arenas share their unique perspectives with students, who are encouraged to engage with presenters, asking questions and debating points of view.

The program, which is funded in part by the Class of 1968 Society of Skeptics Endowment Fund, is an outgrowth of the Blair International Society, begun in 1937. Forty years later, former history department chair Elliott Trommald, PhD, Hon. ’65, established the modern Skeptics program as a regular forum for student discussion and debate; history teacher Martin Miller, PhD, took over in the mid-1980s and molded the program into a weekly lecture series, one that has since continued without interruption. Under the tutelage of Dr. Miller and his successor, history department chair Jason Beck, Skeptics has featured a wide variety of speakers who are thought-provoking, engaging, accomplished in their respective fields and often controversial. For a listing of upcoming Skeptics programs, please visit Blair’s website.