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Arts & Entertainment

Join in the Discussion With The Newsmakers

Some of the leading figures in politics, media, the arts and sports are coming to Walnut Creek this fall as part of the Lesher Speakers Series. Walnut Creek Patch will cover the lectures and give you a forum for continuing the dialogue.

Attention Bay Area Thinkers: If you've always wanted to be part of the Newsmakers Lesher Speaker Series, you're in luck. 

Patch will be covering the sold-out lectures; expanding the dialogue beyond a one-night affair and allowing the impact of what these national and world figures have to say reverberate throughout the community.

Dean Lesher, the late publisher of the Contra Costa Times, was inspired to start the series by the 19th and 20th century summer educational camps known as the Chautauqua Lectures.  He dreamed of recreating those talks in Walnut Creek; bringing national and international world leaders from the fields of politics, media, sports and entertainment to the theater. Past seasons have presented Colin Powell, Woodward and Bernstein, Candace Bushnell, Dr. Sally Ride, Jay Leno, Steve Young, and Jehan Sadat.

Find out what's happening in Walnut Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The talks feature not only a guest speaker, but a question and answer session that usually leads to a lively exchange between the audience and the lecturer. Each lecture also benefits a local nonprofit. This fall, two speakers and one performance group will be featured.  Tom Brokaw, Christopher Hitchens, Dinesh D'Souza, Dr. Jane Goodall, and F.W. de Klerk wrap up the season in 2011.

Here are the speakers, bringing a range of ideas and experiences to the Lesher Center this fall: 

Find out what's happening in Walnut Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Peter Greenberg, travel editor for CBS News, will open the series Wednesday. A winning investigative reporter, producer, travel author and radio broadcaster, Greenberg's career in journalism began while reporting major West Coast stories for Newsweek, including articles on Patty Hearst, Howard Hughes and organized crime. His New York Times best-selling book, Don't Go There! The Travel Detective's Essential Guide to the Must-Miss Places of the World, hit the sweet spot with readers.  His ideas on traveling during tough economic times will likely be the subject of the Q and A. The non-profit paired with Greenberg is Loaves & Fishes of Contra Costa.

Capitol Steps is a satirical performance group sometimes referred to as "equal opportunity offenders." Started in 1981 by a group of Senate employees, the cast includes staffers from Democratic, Republican and fence-straddling parties.  They have recorded 26 albums, appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS, and spun their special brand of humor into political commentary in front of five U.S. Presidents.  The Lesher Center for the Arts is the non-profit lined up for their October 7 appearance.

Returning to her own backyard, Soledad O'Brien is the third and final Lesher speaker this fall. O'Brien was a local reporter and bureau chief for KRON in San Francisco for three years. She anchored an MSNBC technology program and contributed extensively to the NBC Nightly News and the Today Show before moving on to CNN. O'Brien is the recipient of awards and special recognition for her significant coverage on CNN of Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Martin Luther King and Black America, and the tsunami in Phuket, Thailand.  The Women's Initiative is the non-profit selected to partner with O'Brien on November 15th.

Although the series is sold-out, there are several ways people can participate in Newsmakers.

First, questions for the speakers can be submitted online, prior to the talks, to the Lesher Newsmakers series website. Dean Lesher was devoted to promoting opportunities for community discourse, and audience questions are a vital part of each program, says his grandson Steve Lesher, who produces the series. 

Second, while the subscription series is often sold out, there are often individual tickets available for each lecture on the night of the event. Visit or call the Lesher Center box office before the start of each program, 1601 Civic Drive, 925-943-SHOW (7469), www.lesherartscenter.org.

Third, producer Steve Lesher maintains an informative blog about the series and the speakers. He offers behind-the-scenes accounts of the speakers and their visit to Walnut Creek and keeps you up to date on these newsmakers whenever they are in the news. You can also comment on Lesher's producer's blog. 

Finally, Patch will publish an account of the night's event, with suggested resources for further investigation or provocative questions, posed for continued public conversation. Patch readers will be invited to comment, post new questions, make suggestions, and invigorate the existing dialogue with their wide-ranging points of view and cultural diversity.

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