Compelling and Impressive the 20th Annual Witte Lectures
The 20th annual Witte Lectures, a high profile series from the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation (NBPLF), will be continue on February 16 at 7 p.m., with the 'Looking Through Orange-Colored Glasses' series. Other renowned speakers on a variety of compelling topics will include Joe Nocera, Dr. Wade Davis and Isabel Wilkerson appearing through April 2017.
The lineup includes three Pulitzer-Prize winners, a respected columnist from The New York Times and a hailed ‘Explorer of the Millennium’.
The NBPLF encourages you to reserve your seat for a chance to hear from the following renowned speakers:
On February 16 at 7 p.m., Charles Martin of Mont Pelerin Capital will discuss his sweeping chronicle of those individuals who have shaped Orange County and created the economic powerhouse it is today. This series features Local Entrepreneurs on Wealth, Wisdom and The History of OC. Martin is well known in the Business and Arts community in OC and was on the board at OCMA for years.
On March 3 at 7 p.m. and March 4 at 2 p.m. the third speaker of The Witte Lectures will go live! Joe Nocera will speak on 'Inside the NCAA'. Nocera, the op-ed columnist for The New York Times, has written numerous columns about the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its corruption. Nocera examines the massive following and media draw of the world of college sports - a world that makes millionaires of coaches, athletic directors, and conference commissioners, while the players themselves receive only scholarships for their talents (scholarships that don't necessarily guarantee an education or a diploma). Nocera's latest book is Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA.
On April 7 at 7 p.m. and April 8 at 2 p.m. the fourth speaker of The Witte Lectures will go live! Dr. Wade Davis was named by the national Geographic Society as one of the Explorers for the Millennium, and has been described as “a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet and passionate defender of all of life’s diversity.” His lecture “The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World” will explore the world’s indigenous cultures to answer a fundamental question: What does it mean to be human and alive? Dr. Davis is Professor of Anthropology and the BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia. Between 1999 and 2013 he served as Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society and is currently a member of the NGS Explorers Council. Author of 19 books, including The Serpent and the Rainbow, One River, The Wayfinders and The Sacred Headwaters, he holds degrees in anthropology and biology and received his Ph.D. in ethnobotany, all from Harvard University.
On April 28 at 7 p.m. and April 29 at 2 p.m. the last speaker of The Witte Lectures will go live! Isabel Wilkerson will address the persistence of racial injustice as a national challenge and what history can teach us as we work to resolve it in her timely lecture “Our Racial Moment of Truth”. Wilkerson won the Pulitzer Prize for her work as Chicago Bureau Chief of The New York Times, making her the first black woman in the history of American journalism to win a Pulitzer Prize and the first African-American to win for individual reporting. Most recently, she appeared at the White House to receive the 2015 National Humanities Medal from President Obama. She has also appeared on national programs such as CBS’ 60 Minutes, NPR’s Fresh Air and PBS’ NewsHour and Charlie Rose Show.
For information on tickets visit here, or contact events@nbplfoundation.org or 949.548.2411.
