C-SPAN’S AMERICAN WRITERS LOOKS AT THE WAR IN VIETNAM WITH NOTED AUTHORS DAVID HALBERSTAM AND NEIL SHEEHAN, JULY 7, 2002
Series Finale on Location at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the Nation’s Capital

(Washington D.C.) On Sunday, July 7, C-SPAN’s final program of its historical series, American Writers II: The 20th Century will be on location at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC at 3 PM ET for a two-hour program looking at the history of the Vietnam War. Special guests for the American Writers II finale, are David Halberstam, author of The Best and the Brightest, and Neil Sheehan, author of A Bright Shinning Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam.

Both writers have won the Pulitzer for their work on Vietnam. Mr. Halberstam in 1964 for his War reporting for The New York Times, and Mr. Sheehan in 1989 for his book A Bright Shining Lie.

Viewers can join the conversation with David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan and the war in Vietnam by calling 202-585-3890 (Eastern/Central), 202-585-3891 (Mountain/Pacific) or 202-585-3892 (Veterans line). C-SPAN’s Brian Lamb is the host of Sunday’s program.

The Halberstam-Sheehan program is the last installment of C-SPAN’s special historical series, American Writers II: The 20th Century. For 15 weeks, from March 31 through July 7, C-SPAN looked at 20th century U.S. history through the lives and works of featured writers with a live program on Sundays at 3 pm ET. The series finale, on July 7, looks at the Vietnam War through the writing of noted reporters David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan in a program that airs live from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

American Writers II will examine American history through the lives and works of 18 selected writers—from the literary to the political, from war correspondents to social critics. Selected writers represent the Progressive Era (1901-1929), Depression and War (1929-45), the Early Cold War (1945-1961) and end with the Social Transformation to Vietnam (1961-75). American Writers II considers how America forged its role in the world during this past century and how authors offer insight into the nation it is today.

An earlier series, American Writers: A Journey Through History, debuted on March 19, 2001, and aired through September 10th. American Writers focused on the early history of the country, beginning with the Mayflower Compact through the end of the 19th century and the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt—producing more than 140 hours of original programming.

A full listing of the writers and sites included in the series can be found at: www.americanwriters.org where interested viewers can also purchase all works featured in the series through a partnership with the online subsidiary of Borders Group, Inc., Borders.com. This is the fourth historical series produced by C-SPAN.

The classroom portion of the American Writers web site earned a Beacon Award in March 2002 recognizing excellence in public affairs throughout the cable industry. Click on www.americanwriters.org/classroom.