DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Announces the 2008-2009 SEASON

The 2008-2009 Season Of The Distinguished Speaker Series Of Southern
California Is Now Available For Sale. Click Here To Order.

THOMAS FRIEDMAN – Pulitzer Prize-winning Foreign Affairs Columnist and Best-Selling Author
Mon. October 27, 2008 at Redondo Beach 8:00 pm 
Tues. October 28, 2008 at Thousand Oaks 8:00 pm
Wed. October 29, 2008 at Pasadena 8:00 pm
This three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner is one of the world’s preeminent commentators on international affairs.  When events in this nation and abroad seem too menacing to comprehend, the American public looks to him for the straight talk and reliable information we need.  Friedman has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles reporting the Middle East conflict, the end of the cold war, U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy, international economics, and the impact of the worldwide terrorist threat. His foreign affairs column, which appears twice a week in the New York Times, is syndicated to seven hundred newspapers worldwide. His best selling books include: Jerusalem, Thee, Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11, and The World Is Flat.

BOB NEWHART – Comedian, Actor, TV Personality
Mon. November 17, 2008 at Pasadena 8:00 pm
Tues. November 18, 2008 at Thousand Oaks 8:00 pm
Wed. November 19, 2008 at Redondo Beach 8:00 pm
Bob Newhart has a comedy style that has crossed all generational lines and media, from his 1961 Grammy Award-winning Album of the Year, The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart, the Peabody Award-winning and Emmy nominated TV network series The Bob Newhart Show, to the motion picture, Elf, in which he co-stars with Will Ferrell. He has guest hosted The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 87 times, and has hosted Saturday Night Live twice. With Bob Newhart’s trademark button-down style, ordinary demeanor and his uncanny ability to observe humor in everything, expect an evening of laughter and insight to the human psychic.

TONY SNOW – Former White House Press Secretary and Political Commentator
Mon. January 19, 2009 at Redondo Beach 8:00 pm
Tues. January 20, 2009 at Thousand Oaks 8:00 pm
Wed. January 21, 2009 at Pasadena 8:00 pm
In his role as White House Press Secretary for the past couple of years, he faced the White House Press Corp with grace and wit - even while battling cancer. He brought a remarkably human touch to the discussion of public policy. This long-time political observer has a longstanding news background. For 10 years, beginning in 1996, he appeared on Fox News Channel as the host of Fox News Sunday, Weekend Live with Tony Snow and others. Before joining Fox, he served as a substitute co-host for CNN's Crossfire. He has also been a newspaper writer, radio host and columnist, and a speech writer in the first President Bush’s administration. Tony Snow has recently joined CNN as a conservative commentator.

ANDERSON COOPER - Emmy Award-Winning Broadcast Journalist
Sunday, February 15, 2009 –Thousand Oaks
Monday, February 16, 2009 – Redondo Beach
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 – Pasadena
A new breed of broadcast journalist, Anderson Cooper anchors Anderson Cooper 360°, an unconventional, wide-ranging CNN news program. Showcasing compelling stories from around the globe, he taps into the global pulse, reliving and rethinking the people, places and events that matter most. He also moderated a Democratic presidential debate for CNN’s “America Votes 2004.”  Before joining CNN, he anchored ABC's live, interactive, overnight news and interview program, World News Now as well as providing reports for World News Tonight, 20/20 and 20/20 Downtown. He has won several awards for his work, including an Emmy Award for his coverage of Princess Diana's funeral. Cooper is the author of the best-selling memoir Dispatches from the Edge, based in part on his coverage of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

KEN BURNS – Award-Winning Documentary Filmmaker
Mon. March 16, 2009 at Redondo Beach 8:00 pm
Tues. March 17, 2009 at Thousand Oaks 8:00 pm
Wed.  March 18, 2009 at Pasadena 8:00 pm 
An award-winning documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns has been making film s for over thirty years. He is the creator of such beloved PBS film projects such as The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, The West, and 2005's hit Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. His highly anticipated new series, The War, aired in September 2007 on PBS. The late Ambrose said "more Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source," while the New York Times has called Burns "his generation's greatest filmmaker." One of the greatest speakers of our time, his electrifying and unusually moving words remind us of the timeless lessons of history and the enduring greatness and importance of the United States in the course of human events.
 

ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF – First Female President of Liberia
Mon. April 6, 2009 at Redondo Beach 8:00 pm
Tues. April 7, 2009 at Thousand Oaks 8:00 pm
Wed. April 8, 2009 at Pasadena 8:00 pm
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, fondly called the "Iron Lady" by her supporters, has been leading, healing, and rebuilding Liberia as its president since 2005. From her service as a Liberian Cabinet Minister in the 1970s, senior United Nations administrator in the 1990s and now Liberia's President, this Harvard educated woman, has never stopped working for democracy for her country.  When she opposed the military rule of Samuel Doe, she was imprisoned before eventually fleeing Liberia. Her years in exile afforded her valuable international experience. As Africa’s first elected female leader she is bold and courageous, unfazed by the enormous challenges she faces, and surprisingly optimistic about her chances for success. In 2007, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor bestowed by an U.S. president.
 

GREG MORTENSON – Mountaineer, Best-Selling Author & Humanitarian
Monday, May 4, 2009 – Redondo Beach
Tuesday, May 5, 2009 – Thousand Oaks
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - Pasadena
In 1993, this mountaineer drifted into an impoverished Pakistan mountain village after a failed attempt to climb K2. Moved by their kindness, he promised to return and build a school. Over the next decade he has built over sixty schools. As a result, over 25,000 children, especially girls have been educated, in the forbidding terrain that gave birth to the Taliban. He is a living hero to rural communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he has gained the trust of Islamic leaders, elders, commanders and tribal chiefs for his tireless efforts. He is one of few foreigners who has worked extensively (over 60 months) in the front lines of the war on terror.  His book Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time was a NY Times best sellers list.  This brilliant storyteller is a real-life Indiana Jones and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit.

Subscribers will have the opportunity to enjoy seven candid and relaxed evenings with world leaders, Pulitzer Prize winners, best-selling authors, explorers and celebrated personalities offering profound insights and lively discussion.

Audiences throughout the greater Los Angeles area have three locations to experience the series: the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center and the Fred Kavli Theatre, located in the Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center.

Don’t miss the ultimate in cultural entertainment! You’ll be moved. You’ll be challenged. You’ll leave inspired.

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