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Northland College brings writer, activist to Ashland

November 6, 2008

Environmental writer and activist Bill McKibben will speak in Ashland on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 as part of Northland College's Van Evera Lecture Series. He will give a free public presentation at 7:00 p.m. in the Presbyterian Congregational Church located at 214 Vaughn Avenue in Ashland. The title for his presentation is "The Global and the Local-Figuring out a Path Forward." No reservations are required.

Copies of McKibben's bestselling books will be available for sale and signing by the author. Local musical group Take 3 will also perform original, acoustic music preceding the presentation.

A native of Lexington, Massachusetts, McKibben frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering. Beginning in the summer of 2006, he led the national Step It Up campaign, the largest number of demonstrations against global warming in American history. His first book, "The End of Nature," was published in 1989 by Random House after being serialized in "The New Yorker." It is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change and has been printed in more than 20 languages. A prolific writer, McKibben has published ten volumes, including "The Age of Missing Information," "Deep Economy," and "The Bill McKibben Reader."

McKibben has been awarded Guggenheim and Lyndhurst Fellowships and received the Lannan Prize for nonfiction writing in 2000. He holds honorary degrees from Green Mountain College, Unity College, Lebanon Valley College, and Sterling College. He currently lives with his wife, writer Sue Halpern, and daughter, Sophie, in Ripton, Vermont, and serves as a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College.

The William P. Van Evera Endowed Lectureship Fund was created so that every year Northland College could host an eminent authority to give a public lecture and to lead a seminar to engage students, Chequamegon Bay area citizens, and appropriate faculty. Designed to bring these groups together around a particular environmental issue, the Van Evera Lecture and Seminar was established "to bridge teaching and research with application and action." For more information about this event, please contact the Van Evera Lecture Coordinator by calling (715) 682-1489.