Actor and University alum Nick Offerman will refresh his collegiate roots in early March for a fundraising event at the Universityʼs Philanthropy Center.
The event, sponsored by Japan House, will also feature Alison Davis, Emmy Award-winning documentarian and professor in Media. Davis will interview Offerman in an “intimate gathering” and highlight “his musings and reflections on life and his own personal history.”
“Offerman is really a renaissance man!” Davis told The Daily Illini via email. “He is such a talented artist who seems to always be challenging himself and diversifying his roles. I have also enjoyed his writing — it is very funny as well as educational.”
After the interview, a performance will be held, followed by the book signing portion of the event. Offerman, a New York Times bestselling author, will sign copies of “Where the Deer and the Antelope Play.” His 2021 book details his quests to American lands and explores the physical landscape and the people who inhabit it.
Davis said she thinks Offerman’s upbringing in the midwest “deeply impacted” who he is today. Offerman, the son of a schoolteacher and a nurse, credits his parents as role models of hard work and using humor to “lighten the load,” according to Davis.
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“He has written fondly of his time on family fishing trips and how thankful he is that his father taught him how to use tools and ‘fix things,’” Davis said. “I think, like many of us who grew up here, he is proud of his midwestern roots.”
The University provided Offerman with an environment where he could explore new artistic opportunities and broaden his perspectives beyond his upbringing, said Davis. Offerman is originally from Minooka, Ill., a village of less than 15,000 people in the Chicago metropolitan area.
“He left a conservative small town (to come to) this campus, which gave him a chance to experience art in many forms,” Davis said. “Like most college students, these years are a chance to experiment and discover who you are. I think this was also true for him.”
Offerman, a self-described humorist and woodworker, is familiar with the University landscape, especially that of Japan House. Two decades after graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, Offerman designed and built a gazebo to honor one of his mentors.
Professor Emeritus Shozo Sato taught the Kabuki theater class Offerman took in his sophomore year. On display at Japan House, the gazebo represents everything Offerman learned from Sato.
“We are so very lucky in this small midwestern community to experience Japanese culture,” Davis said. “Offerman credits his experience with Professor Sato, who founded Japan House, as life-changing and (he) is very generously giving his time to support this gem so that it will continue to serve the entire campus community and beyond.”
While people may know him as Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation or for his “deeply moving” Emmy Award-winning performance as Bill in The Last of Us, Davis believes his books contain “great wisdom” that she thinks is “especially important right now.”
“He encourages us to appreciate our national parks, to say please and thank you, to live life with gumption and frankly to be better people,” Davis said.
The standard ticket price for the event is $200. For those who wish to attend the event’s book signing portion, tickets will cost an additional $25.
Doors to the event will open on March 8 at 11 a.m. Japan House and Michaels’ Catering will serve a Japanese bento lunch alongside desserts from Suzu’s Bakery.
The performance will begin at noon, and Offerman’s book signing will start at 1:30 p.m. to close the event.
