The Dempsey College of Liberal and Performing Arts will host the Emerson-Thomas-Crone Lecturer Matt Birkbeck on March 2, 2023, from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. in the Reynolds Center Grand Hall.
Matt Birkbeck is an award-winning investigative journalist, bestselling author, and the executive producer of the hit Netflix film Girl in the Picture, which was the #1 movie on Netflix in July 2022 and has been viewed by nearly 100 million people worldwide.
As an investigative journalist, Matt won a prestigious Investigative Reporters and Editors award in 2002 for his multi-part series on mortgage fraud, which led to multiple law enforcement investigations and Congressional hearings in 2004. The series was a precursor to the 2008 financial crisis. He was also cited for his work from 2006 to 2010 uncovering a massive conspiracy involving Pennsylvania’s leaders, including its Supreme Court, to approve a casino license to a powerful businessman with longstanding ties to the Bufalino Crime Family. Matt’s reporting led to his book The Quiet Don, which tells the story of Russell Bufalino, who was among the most powerful leaders of the Mafia during the latter half of the 20th Century and suspected of participating in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa in 1975.
Before that he was a correspondent for PEOPLE magazine and covered mostly human interest and crime stories, including the tragic death of John F. Kennedy, Jr., the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and Robert Durst. His reporting on Durst led to his book A Deadly Secret.
Matt has also written for Reader’s Digest, Playboy, The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Magazine and others. His next book, The Life We Chose, will be published in July.
His books include A Beautiful Child and its sequel Finding Sharon, which follows the tragic story of a brilliant young woman known by many names who was raised by a man she called her father, Franklin Floyd. After the publication of A Beautiful Child in 2004, Matt spent ten years searching for her identity, and with the help of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the FBI, her true identity was uncovered in 2014.
Deconstructing Sammy (2008) tells the story of entertainment legend Sammy Davis, Jr., and the herculean efforts to restore his legacy and bankrupt estate. The book was optioned by Byron Allen and his Entertainment Studios and is currently in production.
A Deadly Secret (2002/2015) traces the story of Robert Durst, a member of a powerful New York real estate family who killed three people, including his wife Kathie, and is now believed to be among the nation’s most prolific serial killers. The book was adapted in 2017 for the Lifetime TV film The Lost Wife of Robert Durst, which starred Katherine McPhee and Daniel Gillies, and is currently being adapted by NBC for a multi-part documentary.
The event is free to the public.
