MICHAEL DOLAN SPEAKS…

…about porches…

…about America…

…about the architecture and cultural heritage we share.

A skilled writer and award-winning filmmaker, author MICHAEL DOLAN is a vibrant speaker who delivers an entertaining, informative presentation on the porch in America…and in your community.

At a very affordable rate, your institution, company, or organization can enliven a gathering and enlighten an audience with a unique experience by hiring MICHAEL DOLAN to speak on the topic that earned him coverage by TIME and other media outlets, including interviews on “Weekend Edition” and “CBS Sunday Morning”: the porch.

Using material from his popular book, The American Porch: An Informal History of an Informal Place (Lyons Press; 2002; $24.95 hardback/$16.95 paper) and an illustrated volume underway, MICHAEL DOLAN presents insightful perspectives on the surprising story of the porch…

…its origins and influences…

…its long rise to popularity…

…its startling fall from grace..

…and its re-emergence as an icon of American values, memories, and hopes.

MICHAEL DOLAN accompanies his lecture with a crowd-pleasing slideshow of thousands of vintage photos from the legendary Historic American Buildings Survey.

Along with skill as a lecturer, MICHAEL DOLAN is known for deft extemporaneous exchanges after his formal remarks. As an additional feature, he can sign copies of The American Porch that guests present or buy on-site from him or a local bookseller.

MICHAEL DOLAN has lectured at the National Building Museum, Skidmore College, and to many civic groups. In November 2005 he will give the Ryan Lecture in Indianapolis, Indiana. In May 2006, he will speak as part of the Moses Greeley Parker series sponsored by the Pollard Library in Lowell, Massachusetts.

To read the text of MICHAEL DOLAN’S March 2005 keynote speech to the Saratoga Springs, New York, Historic Preservation Society, see this site’s home page.

For information on booking MICHAEL DOLAN to come to your town and talk about the American porch and its multiple meanings, write to mikedolan@mac.com.

For more about MICHAEL DOLAN, see home page for biographical sections.