Wisconsin Idols
Presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Science Festival.
Wisconsin Idols: 100 Heroes Who Changed the State, the World, and Me is an essay collection that offers a unique perspective on transformative figures with often surprising connections to Wisconsin, including the Beatles, Georgia O’Keeffe, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Harrison Ford, Joni Mitchell, Abraham Lincoln, Oprah Winfrey, Bob Dylan, Jackie Robinson, Orson Welles, and many more. Author Dean Robbins puts a personal spin on these stories, based on interviews, intensive research, and lifelong obsessions. Readers tag along to every corner of Wisconsin as Robbins relates astonishing examples of courage and integrity, providing inspiration for an age desperately in need of heroic role models. With revelatory anecdotes, humorous details, and poignant storytelling, the book establishes Wisconsin as a notably influential place: a crossroads for people who changed the world. NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar calls it “insightful and entertaining: a passionate and poetic homage.”
Dean Robbins
Dean Robbins is a journalist who has contributed to USA Today, The New York Daily News, GRAMMY magazine, and other national media outlets, as well as serving as editor in chief of Isthmus and On Wisconsin magazine. He is also an award-winning children’s author whose books have appeared on many best-of-the-year lists, earning praise in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal.