Friends of the Loyola Libraries Speaker Series welcomes

Jay R. Tunney

Shaw vs Tunney

Tuesday, March 21, 2017 • 6:30 p.m.
Regents Hall, 16th Floor, Lewis Towers
Loyola University Chicago • Water Tower Campus
111 E. Pearson Street • Chicago, Illinois

Entrepreneur, writer, and lecturer Jay R. Tunney brings to life the “odd couple” friendship between his father, world heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney, and the Nobel laureate playwright George Bernard Shaw. The evening will include an introduction by Elliott J. Gorn, PhD, Joseph A. Gagliano Chair in American Urban History, Loyola University Chicago. Following the program, Mr. Tunney will sign copies of his book, The Prizefighter and the Playwright: Gene Tunney and Bernard Shaw.

Light refreshments will be served and are courtesy of Loyola Alumni Relations. 

This program is presented in collaboration with The Clare.

Following his graduation from Stanford University in 1962, Jay R. Tunney had two careers: as an entrepreneur businessman in Asia where he explored for oil in Burma, owned a cargo ship in Hong Kong, plus founding the first premium ice cream chain of restaurants in South Korea. Through writing articles for the Asian Wall Street Journal, the New York Times Business Magazine and a dozen other Asian and U.S. publications, Jay was able to describe for readers his unique pioneering experiences in Asia.

His second career was as a writer and lecturer of his father, heavyweight boxing champion, Gene Tunney (1926-1928). In 2000 he co-wrote and presented a BBC worldwide radio program describing the friendship between his father and Nobel laureate playwright, George Bernard Shaw that aired to millions of people. This was followed by the publication of Tunney’s book, The Prizefighter and the Playwright, Gene Tunney and Bernard Shaw which received excellent reviews internationally, notably from The Times (of London) Literary Supplement, The New York Times, The Irish Times, the Associated Press and Amazon.

Book cover image courtesy of the Associated Press. Tunney photo courtesy of Teressa R. Tunney.