The Betty Intagliata Lecture Series - Les Standiford

Battle for the Big Top: The Death-Defying Saga of the American Circus

Les Standiford is the author of 25 critically acclaimed books, including 10 novels and the New York Times best-selling non-fiction Last Train to Paradise, now in its 40th printing.  His novel Spill and his non-fiction work The Man Who Invented Christmas, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, were made into feature films.  The latter starred Christopher Plummer and Dan Stevens and was reviewed on MSNBC in 2024 as “the most underrated Christmas film of the 21st Century,” and has been listed by numerous publications, including Good Housekeeping and The San Francisco Chronicle, as among the Top Ten Christmas films of all time.

He is a Distinguished University Professor of English and Founding Director of the Creative Writing Program at FIU, and holds the MA and PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Utah.  In Spring 2024 he was named a “Florida Icon” by Florida Trend magazine, an honor awarded to individuals such as H. Wayne Huizenga, Janet Reno, Bobby Bowden, and Stetson Kennedy.  His book Battle for the Big Top, which examines the cultural influence of the American Circus, received the 2022 Gold Medal for General Interest Non-Fiction from the Florida Book Awards.