Internet history · 1997
The Myth Behind the “Wear Sunscreen” Speech
It was never a Kurt Vonnegut commencement address at MIT. Here is how Mary Schmich’s newspaper column became one of the early internet’s most enduring misattributions.
Editorial recreation; not a photograph of MIT’s 1997 commencement.
The short answer
Who wrote the “Wear Sunscreen” speech?
Mary Schmich wrote it. Kurt Vonnegut did not deliver it at MIT. Schmich’s essay, “Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young,” appeared in the Chicago Tribune on June 1, 1997 as an imagined commencement address. A viral email later credited it to Vonnegut and turned the mistake into an enduring internet myth.
Kurt Vonnegut gave the speech at MIT.
The attribution spread through forwarded email, but Vonnegut was not MIT’s 1997 commencement speaker.
Mary Schmich wrote a newspaper column.
Her hypothetical address was published before MIT’s ceremony and later became the basis of a hit recording.
The origin
A column, not a commencement address
Schmich conceived the piece as the graduation speech she might give if asked. Its most memorable instruction—
Wear sunscreen.
—was the one piece of advice she said was supported by science; the rest drew from experience.
The distinction matters: the words are Schmich’s work, and the MIT/Vonnegut story is part of the essay’s later history—not its origin.
How the story traveled
From newspaper column to cultural touchstone
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June 1, 1997
Schmich’s essay is published
The Chicago Tribune runs her hypothetical commencement address.
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June 6, 1997
MIT holds its ceremony
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan—not Kurt Vonnegut—delivers the commencement address.
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Summer 1997
The email myth goes viral
Forwarded copies recast the column as a Vonnegut speech at MIT.
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1997–1999
The words become a song
Baz Luhrmann’s spoken-word adaptation, voiced by Lee Perry, reaches audiences around the world.
What happened at MIT
The real 1997 commencement speaker was Kofi Annan
MIT’s ceremony took place five days after Schmich’s column appeared. Kofi Annan delivered the actual address. Contemporary reporting also documented that Vonnegut had never given a commencement address at MIT.
If you use a commencement image here, label any generated or staged visual as an editorial recreation. Do not present it as documentary photography.
View the MIT source
The line that endured
“Wear sunscreen.”
— Mary Schmich
A brief quotation is used here for commentary and attribution. The full essay is not reproduced.
The song
How Baz Luhrmann helped the words travel farther
After encountering the misattributed text, filmmaker Baz Luhrmann and his collaborators adapted Schmich’s words into Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen). Voice artist Lee Perry delivered the narration. The recording became an international hit and introduced the essay to a new audience.
Frequently asked questions
The “Wear Sunscreen” speech, explained
Who wrote the “Wear Sunscreen” speech?
Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich wrote the text as a hypothetical commencement address. It was published on June 1, 1997.
Did Kurt Vonnegut give the speech at MIT?
No. A viral email falsely attributed the essay to Vonnegut and described it as an MIT commencement address.
Who spoke at MIT’s 1997 commencement?
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan delivered MIT’s commencement address on June 6, 1997.
Who narrates “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)”?
Voice artist Lee Perry narrates the best-known Baz Luhrmann recording.
Why is the essay connected to sunscreen?
Schmich framed sunscreen as her one piece of advice with long-term benefits supported by science, then used it to introduce broader reflections on life.
Sources and editorial note
- Mary Schmich’s original Chicago Tribune column, June 1, 1997
- MIT record concerning the 1997 commencement
- The Guardian oral history of the recording
This independent editorial page is provided for education and commentary. SunSkinLab is not affiliated with or endorsed by Mary Schmich, Kurt Vonnegut, Kofi Annan, MIT, the Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, Baz Luhrmann, Lee Perry, or Apple Music.
Editorial review: September 2026