Age Group:
Adults- Registration is required for this event.
- Registration will close on May 20, 2026 @ 6:30pm.
Program Description
Event Details
A conversation with professor and author Robert M. Dowling, who will discuss his biography, Coyote: The Dramatic Lives of Sam Shepard, the story the theater and film icon. Catherine Shen, host of Where We Live, Connecticut Public's flagship talk show, will moderate the conversation.
In Coyote, we learn about Shepard, who became an embodiment of the fierce independence and wild freedom of the American West. Taking us from the creative explosion of downtown New York City in the 1960s to Bob Dylan’s legendary Rolling Thunder Revue tour, from Hollywood backlots and film shoots in the Mojave Desert to the horse ranches where Shepard went to escape it all, Robert M. Dowling’s biography reveals this playwright, actor and filmmaker as we’ve never known him before.
The first 50 registrants will received a complimentary copy of Coyote: The Dramatic Lives of Sam Shepard by Robert M. Dowling.
Pre-Reception from 5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.
Book sale and signing by Elm Street Books.
Registration required.
Robert M. Dowling, professor of English at Central Connecticut State University, is the author of Slumming in New York: From the Waterfront to Mythic Harlem and the biography Eugene O’Neill: A Life in Four Acts, which was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist for biography in 2015. He also co-edited the 2021 compendium of interviews Conversations with Sam Shepard. As an authority on American drama, he has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Boston Globe, among other outlets. He serves on the editorial board of The Eugene O’Neill Review and is an elected board member of the Eugene O’Neill Society, where he also served as president from 2018 to 2021.
Where We Live features in-depth conversations and stories beyond news headlines. As a moderator for this event, Shen brings a trusted voice, a passion for literature, and a statewide audience.
Inspired by many author conversations hosted on the show, the Where We Live team recently launched Where We Read, a community-focused initiative for avid readers and the literary curious, featuring author events, reader meet-ups, and a monthly newsletter highlighting author interviews and literary conversations from across Connecticut Public.
Presented in partnership with CT Public Media as part of their recently launched Where We Read series.
The event is made possible by a grant from the Rotary Club of Stamford.