"Beggars and Choosers" Author to Open Milner Library Lecture Series

Historian and author Rickie Solinger will present a lecture titled "Nine Ways of Looking at a Poor Woman" on Thursday, Feb. 11, to open the Milner Library Lecture Series for the spring semester at Illinois State University.  Solinger will speak at 3:30 p.m. on the main floor in Milner.  Admission to all Milner Library Speaker Series lectures is free and open to the public.

The University Galleries at Illinois State has an exhibition running until Feb. 11 based on Solinger's book, "Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion, and Welfare in the United States," published in 2001.  The exhibition is titled "Beggars and Choosers: Motherhood Is Not a Class Privilege in America" and exposes the difficulties facing young, poor, disabled, single or imprisoned mothers.

Author Candace Fleming returns to campus at 2 p.m. Feb. 23 to speak on "The Stupendous, Tremendous P.T. Barnum."  Her most recent book is "The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T.  Barnum."  Fleming is the author of numerous books for children, including "Ben Franklin's Almanac," an ALA Notable Book and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.  She also wrote "Muncha!  Muncha!  Muncha!  Gabriella's Song" and "When Agnes Caws," both ALA Notable Books. 

Michael Cart will present the 17th annual Lois Lenski Children's Literature Lecture at 7 p.m. March 22 in Schroeder Hall room 130.  Cart is a young adult literature champion and a library advocate.  He is a frequent "Booklist" contributor and recently published "Passions and Pleasures: Essays and Speeches About Literature and Libraries."  Cart is the founding editor of the literary journal, "Rush Hour," and is a recipient of the Grolier Foundation Award for distinguished contributions to young people and literature.

On March 31, LaVerne Council will speak on "Own Your Future - Realizing that the Dream Doesn't Just Happen" at 2 p.m. in Braden Auditorium.  Council, the College of Business Week keynote speaker, is corporate vice president and chief information officer of Johnson & Johnson's global information technology group.  She is responsible for managing information technology and related systems for Johnson & Johnson worldwide enterprise.

Frank Warren was a small-business owner who founded and is curator of the PostSecret Project as a community art project.  It is a collection of more than 200,000 highly personal and artfully decorated postcards mailed anonymously from around the world, displaying the soulful secrets we never voice.  Warren will speak about the project at 7 p.m. April 7 in Braden Auditorium.  He also will appear at a question-and-answer session at 4 p.m. in Milner Library.  One of Warren's PostSecret books, "PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death and God," reached No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list.

Poet and children's author Janice Harrington will speak at 7 p.m. April 13 in the Old Main Room of Bone Student Center.  Her topic will be "The Story Behind the Words," discussing her work including her book of poetry, "Even the Hollow My Body Made is Gone," which won the A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize from BOA Editions, an award honoring a poet's first book.  Harrington is a former librarian and professional storyteller who currently teaches creative writing at the University of Illinois

Actor and activist Ed Begley Jr., possibly the greenest man in Hollywood since the Incredible Hulk, will speak on "Live Simply So That Others Can Simply Live" at 7 p.m. April 14 in Braden Auditorium.  He also will participate in a question-and-answer session at 3 p.m. In Milner Library.  Begley serves on the boards of several environmental organizations and is co-star of the Planet Green series, "Living with Ed," a look at the day-to-day realities of living green with his not-so-environmentalist wife, Rachelle Carson.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reporter Scott Carlson will speak on "Libraries and the Future: A Conversation with Scott Carlson" at 3 p.m. May 4 in the Old Main Room of Bone Student Center.  His talk is the Bryant Jackson Lecture sponsored by Milner Library.  Carlson writes about facilities, energy, architecture and sustainability.  He co-directs the Building and Grounds blog and assembles the annual architecture issue.  Carlson won first prize for beat reporting from the National Education Writers Association for his article on muckraking journalist Jack Anderson.   The article led to national coverage and U.S. Senate hearings.