BY KAREN BOSSICK
Calling all zombie lovers—and zombies, too.
Zombie-lore expert Max Brooks, a former writer for “Saturday Night Live,” will talk about his work at 6 p.m. Monday, April 29, at the Wood River High School Performing Arts Theater at the Community Campus in Hailey.
Admission is free but tickets are required for admission. They will be available beginning Friday, April 12, at www.comlib.org.
And attendees are encouraged to show up as their favorite Zombie or Zombie Hunger. Anyone who comes dressed for the Zombie Apocalypse will receive a free raffle ticket to win an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet.
Brooks is the son of Hollywood legends Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. His father made his mark with “Blazing Saddles” and Young Frankenstein” and his Oscar-winning mother made her mark as the young teacher of Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker.” But young Brooks found his passion in the world of the fictional undead.
He helped propel zombie lore from niche subculture fascination to mainstream pop culture obsessions with three massively successful zombie-themed books—“The Zombie Survival Guide,” “World War Z” and “The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks.”
And he’s dedicated his life to challenging institutions to think outside the box and encourage mental agility and flexibility in problem solving. His work has gained the attention of many of the nation’s top leaders, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, those at the Naval War College and those at the Modern War Institute at West Point, where Brooks studies, writes about and lectures to cadets about today’s current conflicts.
Brooks will tackle such questions as: What are the threads that hold society together? And what’s at stake when those threads are stressed, loosed or torn? in his talk.
He will also meet with local students to discuss creativity, problem solving and how he overcame dyslexia to become a best-selling author and sought-after expert on post-apocalyptic survival strategies.
A book signing will follow his talk, with Iconoclast Books and gifts providing books for purchase.