Former CIA director: Politicians should put country ahead of party, self
Former CIA director John Brennan kicks off 2018 Ringling College Library Association’s Town Hall Lecture Series SARASOTA — Former CIA director John Brennan drew enthusiastic applause at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall Monday morning for advocating competency tests for politicians running for high office. “I am concerned that too much is riding on the […]
Robin Roberts: ‘Dreaming big, but focusing small’
SARASOTA — When Robin Roberts realized she couldn’t quite make it as a professional basketball player, she switched to the next best thing — sports journalism. To a packed audience Monday morning at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, the co-anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America” described the intersections of her professional career as a […]
Neil deGrasse Tyson informs, entertains Sarasota audience
The science superstar addressed a near-capacity crowd at Van Wezel BY MARTY CLEAR SARASOTA — He had about an hour to tell people all about the entire universe. And that’s what superstar astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson did as he delivered a entertaining and energetic lecture Tuesday to a near-capacity crowd at the Van Wezel Performing […]
Dan Buettner tells Sarasota audience about effortlessness longevity
Dan Buettner — a National Geographic writer who stumbled across his life’s work when seeking the key to spectacular longevity — has found a common theme in communities where people thrive in old age: effortlessness. “If you look at the cultures around the world where people are living the longest, it’s never because individuals are […]
Huntsman: ‘We have no eyes on China’
SARASOTA – In 1971, as the son of a Nixon White House associate cabinet administrator, young Jon Huntsman was informally introduced to a man with a German accent named Henry Kissinger. On his way out the door, the future secretary of state shared a secret with the inquisitive 11-year-old who would one day serve five […]
RCLA Town Hall 2015 Lecture Series Speakers to Offer Diverse Perspectives on the Future
Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke Among Six Noted Lecturers SARASOTA, FL – Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, will be one of six distinguished speakers to appear at the 2015 Ringling Town Hall Lecture Series. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, an expert on U.S.-China relations, an acclaimed astrophysicist, a longevity expert and a Somali […]
Put ShelterBox on Your Holiday Gift List Give Help and Hope to Families in Need
Sarasota, FL — ShelterBox, the international disaster relief organization, urges holiday shoppers to think globally this season and give a gift that will provide help and hope to those in crisis. While a mosquito net and a filter to access clean water are not likely on most gift lists, these emergency essentials, along with much-needed […]
Swim For Your Health
We’ve all heard about the lifelong health benefits of swimming and we got to talk with two guys who know a thing or two about it: one of the most familiar faces in American swimming,Olympic gold medalist and NBC Olympic commentator Rowdy Gaines, and Tiger Holmes who, at age 93, broke a masters world relay […]
‘The Other Wes Moore’ writer talks of choices and expectations
While Wes Moore was being awarded a Rhodes scholarship to study in England, another Wes Moore, who had grown up under the same circumstances in Baltimore, was being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in an armed robbery that took the life of a police officer. The choices […]
Photographer’s work instantly recognizable
Many in the audience at Tuesday’s Town Hall Lecture Series didn’t know the speaker, but they sure knew his work. “Who is this guy?” they whispered before photographer Platon (just one name) bounded onto the Van Wezel stage, a mix of sharp (trim gray suit) and casual (tan suede slip-ons) armed with a remote to […]
