Tuesday August 4, 2026
HARVARD CONNECTION: Blair Kamin, "The Gates of Harvard Yard"
In conversation with Ann Marie Lipinski
HARVARD CONNECTION
Blair Kamin
Blair Kamin, American Journalist and Architecture Critic
Former Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for criticism and numerous other awards, including the Order of Lincoln, Illinois’ highest civilian honor. Born in Red Bank, N.J., he is a graduate of Amherst College and the Yale School of Architecture. During a Nieman journalism fellowship at Harvard during the 2012-13 academic year, Kamin became fascinated by the 25 gates that enclose Harvard Yard and co-taught a class about them during Harvard’s January term. The eight-day class led to a thirteen-year journey that has culminated in a new clothbound edition of the widely-praised guidebook “Gates of Harvard Yard.” Previously issued in paperback, the book reveals the beauty, history, lore and legacy of Harvard’s often-overlooked sentries. Kamin edited the book, which is published by Harvard University Press and includes a foreword by Pulitzer winner Ann Marie Lipinski, formerly editor of the Chicago Tribune and curator of Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism.
Blair Kamin is Editor of Gates of Harvard Yard
Precedent-setting portals: How Chicago-connected gates helped change the face of Harvard and American campuses
This May, Harvard University Press published a new clothbound edition of “Gates of Harvard Yard,” a guide to the beauty, history, and legacy of the 25 gates that enclose the Yard. One of these, of course, is Harvard’s main gate, Johnston Gate, a gift of Samuel Johnston of Chicago.
Ann Marie Lipinski is former Chicago Tribune editor and Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard curator. Ann Marie is both a Pulitzer winner and a former co-chair of the Pulitzer board.
EVENT DETAILS:
Date: Tuesday August 4, 2026
Time: 6:00-7:30pm
6:00 Presentation/Conversation
7:00 Book signing
Location: Bookends & Beginnings
1620 Orrington Ave. Evanston, IL 60201
Registration: At Bookends & Beginnings