December 15, 2005

Quang X. Pham, author of A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey, will kick off the Patrons of the Library’s 2006 lecture series, “Fiction, Friction and Flight” Jan. 22. The talks are open to the public and will be held in Room 130 of the Pollak Library.

Pham wrote A Sense of Duty about his life as a Vietnamese refugee who eventually becomes an American citizen. A former U.S. Marine who flew a helicopter during the Gulf War and in Somalia, the author contrasts his life to that of his father, who served in the South Vietnamese Army and was imprisoned following the fall of Saigon.

Pham’s talk will be followed on Feb. 26 with a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the publication of Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon.”

Hammett, who served on and off as a Pinkerton detective before becoming a writer, authored five novels and more than 60 stories before his death in 1961. Guest speakers for the February program will be Josephine Hammett Marshall and Julie Rivett, the author’s daughter and granddaughter, respectively.

Wrapping up the series March 26 will be Titan alumnus Michael Shermer (M.A. psychology ’78). Shermer is author of several books, including Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown, published this year; The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat and Lie, Share and Care and Follow the Golden Rule and In Darwin’s Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace. He also is founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, a public speaker and producer.

All lectures begin at 2 p.m. Cost is $15 per session or $35 for the series. For more information, call 870-7208.

« back to News Front