Wednesday, December 11, 2013

October and November were whirlwind months for Lester Brown as he was out and about promoting his autobiography, Breaking New Ground.

He started out with an event at Houston’s Progressive Forum on Sunday, October 6. Then, after a fun book party in DC, he headed to New York City where he spoke with Maggie Linton, host of Urban View, Sirius XM Radio and gave a luncheon address at the Friar’s Club sponsored by The Common Good. He also spoke at the Conrad Hilton Humanitarian symposium on peak water.

On October 24, Lester shared his life and vision at Rutgers University through a "fireside chat" with Joseph Seneca, Bloustein professor of environmental economics and policy.

He briefly touched down in the office before heading back on the road, this time stopping in Princeton, New Jersey, for an event sponsored by D&R Greenway. Our thanks to EPI board member Scott and Hella McVay for making this possible. Then he moved on to the Boston area where he gave presentations at the Cambridge Forum, Harvard University where he spoke on peak water, a breakfast hosted by the Environmental League of Massachusetts, and the Lexington Global Warming Action Coalition.

An interview with him has already been published in the Harvard Crimson.

At Harvard he had a chance to catch up with E.O. Wilson over lunch—and even tour Wilson’s famous ant collection. Our thanks to former EPI researcher Jignasha Rana for making this possible.

Next was a stop at some of the environmental hubs on the West Coast. First up was Vancouver, where Lester spoke to a rapt audience on the food situation at an event hosted by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Salt Spring Island was next, which was accessed by a float plane (see photo). Salt Spring Island is where EPI’s editor, Linda Starke, spends her summers and she helped organize the event at the Salt Spring Forum. The articulate and politically savvy audience pelted Lester with questions from GMOs to renewable energy to how to be a change-maker.

While on the island, Lester had a chance to catch up over lunch with Raffi Cavoukian, the children’s troubadour who also heads the Centre for Child Honoring. Raffi founded the Centre because he believes that when we truly honor our children, we will automatically make the right decisions for their future, which means providing an overall healthy environment now and for the future.

From there, Lester headed back to the States with an exceptionally well attended presentation at the Seattle Town Hall and equally enthusiastic audiences at talks sponsored by the World Affairs Councils of Portland and San Francisco.

One more talk remains for this year’s book tour. It will be Thursday, December 12 at the Free Library of Philadelphia beginning at 7:30 PM.

If you haven't already done so, Breaking New Ground, is a great read and is a terrific gift idea. We are offering the $24.95 book for $15.00. If you get your order in to us by December 20, you will have it in time for the holiday.

Cheers to all!

Reah Janise Kauffman