Vidal to get lifetime award

PEN USA, the center for International PEN on the West Coast, will honor the distinguished American writer Gore Vidal with a Lifetime Achievement Award tonight.

Playwright David Mamet will present the award to Vidal, whose books, including 1948’s “The City and the Pillar” and 1968’s “Myra Breckinridge,” established him as well ahead of his time.

-- Anne-Marie O’Connor