Carlin to Headline BEA Benefit
by Steven Zeitchik -- Publishers Weekly, 1/26/2004
BookExpo America has announced that comedian George Carlin will host the annual American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression/Get Caught Reading benefit at this year's convention in Chicago. The event will take place June 5 at the Navy Pier Grand Ballroom. Carlin will be in Chicago promoting his latest book from Hyperion, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, which will be released in the fall.
ABFFE's Chris Finan pointed out that Carlin's appearance at an event for free expression was especially appropriate because the FCC once "fined radio station WBAI for broadcasting a performance in which Carlin discussed the words that some people believed shouldn't be discussed in public." The Supreme Court eventually ruled that "the FCC had the power to ban the broadcast of seven of the words that Carlin had used in his performance."
