Be inspired at NSBA’s Conference
01/09—Three outstanding speakers have been lined up so far for General Sessions at NSBA’s Annual Conference, April 4-7 in San Diego.
World-renowned author Toni Morrison will speak on Sunday, April 5. Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 for her collected works.
Her novels are notable for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed African-American characters. Beloved received a Pulitzer Prize in 1988, and Song of Solomon won the National Book Critics Award in 1977.
Her most recent novel, A Mercy, published in late 2008, evokes the agonies of slavery experienced by women in the earliest years of the Virginia colony.
Morrison was appointed the Roberrt F. Goheen Professor in the Council of the Humanities at Princeton University in 1989 and was named the Jefferson Lecturer by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the highest honor given by the United States for achievement in the humanities.
The Monday General Session features acclaimed actress and singer Julie Andrews. After starting her career in the theater, rising to prominence in such Broadway favorites as “My Fair Lady” and “Camelot,” Andrews went on to star in some of the most beloved movies of all time.
She won an Academy Award in 1964 for her starring role in “Mary Poppins,” Golden Globe awards for “The Sound of Music” in 1965 and “Victor/Victoria” in 1982, and a Tony for the musical production of “Victor/Victoria” on Broadway.
Andrews received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2007 and was a Kennedy Center honoree in 2001.
More recently, she appeared in “The Princess Diaries,” “Royal Engagement,” and the “Shrek” animated films. Andrews also has written several children’s books and published an autobiography, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years, in 2008.
The final general session, on Tuesday, April 7, features Greg Mortenson, co-founder of the nonprofit Central Asia Institute and Pennies for Peace.
After his sister died from epilepsy in 1992 on the eve of a visit to the Iowa field where “Field of Dreams” was filmed, Mortensen climbed K2, the world’s second highest mountain, in her memory.
During that trip, in Pakistan, he met some children who were using sticks to write in the dirt and made a promise to help them build a school. That led to a remarkable humanitarian campaign aimed at promoting education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Mortenson has established more than 61 schools, despite many challenges, including a harrowing escape from kidnappers. He documents his experiences in the best-seller Three Cups of Tea.
NBC newscaster Tom Brokaw called Mortenson “one ordinary person with the right combination of character and determination who is really changing the world.”
For more information about the NSBA Annual Conference, or to register online, visit www.nsba.org/conference.
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