Jun 15 2023
New & Noted with Christian Cooper, Presented by Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures

New & Noted with Christian Cooper, Presented by Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures

Presented by Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures at Carnegie Lecture Hall

Presented with the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania

“Christian Cooper’s book is every bit as wondrous and captivating as the birds he so adores… a masterful account of a life full of song, full of heart, and fully lived.”

ED YONG, author of An Immense World

Central Park birder Christian Cooper takes us beyond the viral video that shocked a nation and into a world of avian adventures, global excursions, and the unexpected lessons you can learn from a life spent looking up.

Christian Cooper is a self-described “Blerd” (Black nerd), an avid comics fan, and expert birder who devotes every spring to gazing upon the migratory birds that stop in Central Park. While in the park one morning in May 2020, Cooper was engaged in his birdwatching ritual when what might have been a routine encounter with a dog walker exploded age-old racial tensions. Cooper’s viral video of the incident sent shock waves through the nation.

In Better Living Through Birding, Cooper tells the story of his extraordinary life leading up to the now-infamous incident in Central Park and shows how birding prepared him to be a gay, Black man in America today. Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and primer on the art of birding, this is Cooper’s story of learning to claim and defend space for himself and others like him, from introducing the first gay storylines at Marvel Comics to life-changing birding expeditions around the world. Better Living Through Birding recounts Cooper’s journey through the wonderful world of birds and what they can teach us about life, if only we would look and listen.

Christian Cooper is a science and comics writer and editor and the host and consulting producer of Extraordinary Birder on National Geographic. One of Marvel’s first openly gay writers and editors, Cooper introduced the first gay male character in Star Trek, in the Starfleet Academy series, which was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. He also introduced the first openly lesbian character for Marvel and created and authored Queer Nation: The Online Gay Comic. Based in New York City, he is on the board of directors for NYC Audubon.

Better Living Through Birding is available for pre-order from Mystery Lovers Bookshop.

Admission Info

$10

Phone: (412) 622-8866

Email: info@pittsburghlectures.org

Dates & Times

2023/06/15 - 2023/06/15

Location Info

Carnegie Lecture Hall

4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Parking Info

Pay Parking
Parking for the Carnegie Music Hall and the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall is available at the Carnegie Museums in Oakland.
The museum operates a six-level parking facility for cars and small vans. The entrance is located at the intersection of S. Craig Street and Forbes Avenue.
Parking for most events is $6 for the whole evening. Pay stations that take credit cards are located at the exit gates, in the Carnegie Museum of Art (near the Carnegie Cafe’s first floor restrooms), and in the Portal Entry.
For Ten Evenings the parking is cash-only, pay upon entry, to ease the traffic flow when leaving the lecture.
Free Parking
There is free street parking in the City of Pittsburgh after 6 p.m. Please note that this does not apply to private lots, such as the ones owned by CMU.
You can check the on-street parking meters to confirm that you are in a location where parking is free after 6 p.m.

Accessibility Info

ASL interpreter available upon request.