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• Please use the drop down menu to select a certain speaker. • Bob Baron • The Honorable Michael Hancock • Tony Perry • Andrew Romanoff • The Honorable Mark Udall • John Aloysius Farrell • Bill Lerach • Talmage Boston • US Senator Michael Bennet and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper • George Mitrovich • The Honorable Alan K. Simpson • Mike Moran • Mary Alice Williams • The Honorable Gary Hart • The Honorable Ed Perlmutter • The Honorable Jim Leach • Christine Brennan • Helen Thorpe • Jim Wallis • Richard Reeves • Doug Price • Steve Farber • James Hackett • Marty Meehan • T.R. Reid • The Honorable Michael Bennett • The Honorable Alan Bersin • Gretchen Peters • Lew Daly • Laura Flanders • Christine Brennan • Craig Mullaney • Dr. William E. Spriggs • Roy Blount Jr. • The Honorable Mitch Morrissey • The Honorable Ken Salazar • Dr. William R. Brody • A Special Luncheon Honoring Senator George McGovern for a Lifetime of Service to America • The Honorable Gary Hart • Red Cavaney • Dick Flavin • Fred Krupp • The Honorable Mary Peters • His Excellency Pierre Vimont • The Rt. Reverend John Bryson Chane • Walter Russell Mead • Branch Rickey III • Richard Reeves • Dick and Dottie Lamm • Tim Kurkjian • Naomi Wolf • The Honorable Diana DeGette • The Honorable Bill Ritter • Frank Deford • His Excellency Flavio Espinal • Dr. Marion Nestle • The Honorable Troy Eid • Dr. Harlan Kenneth Ullman • The Honorable Kathleen Kennedy Townsend • The Honorable Wellington Webb • James Quigley • John Hofmeister • The Honorable Ken Adelman • Ms. Lynn Sherr • The Honorable David Walker • Max Boot • Dr. J. Edward Hill • Kitty Dukakis • The Honorable Ben Barnes • James Fallows Wednesday, July 19, 2006 • Bonnie McElveen-Hunter Thursday, June 15, 2006 • 7th District Colorado Democratic Congressional Candidates Friday, May 19, 2006 • Rick Reilly Thursday, April 13, 2006 • The Honorable Robert S. Mueller III Wednesday, March 15, 2006 • Colonel Nathan Sassaman Thursday, February 23, 2006 • The Honorable George McGovern • Gary Smith Back to past speaker page... Thursday, January 26, 2012 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Mr. Robert Baron – Chairman of Fulcrum, One of America’s leading Book Publishers Speaking on: "The Future of The Book” 12-Noon Luncheon Sage Room – Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Denver Forum Members, $30, non-members, $45 Telephone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Email Reservations: TheDenverForum@gmail.com Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Bob Baron - Biographical Brief Bob Baron has more than 25 years experience in the computer and electronics industry as an entrepreneur and as an executive. For Computer Control Company, he was program manager for the Mariner II (Venus) and the Mariner IV (Mars) on-board space computers. He managed an integrated circuit laboratory that developed some of the industry`s first semiconductor logic. He was worldwide system`s manager for Honeywell`s minicomputer business. In 1971, he founded Prime Computer, which became one of the Fortune 500 largest American companies, and was its first president and chief executive officer, building a worldwide business. In 1984, he founded and is Chairman of Fulcrum, a book publishing company editing, producing and selling quality books to an international market. He also started 3rd Third, an organization for people over 55 who want to continue to learn and contribute in this important part of their life. He organized a weeklong conference in June 2009 on John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and edited a book on these two founders and their libraries. He is the author or editor of twenty-five books, including Pioneers and Plodders; The American Entrepreneurial Spirit. He has written more than one hundred papers and articles. Mr. Baron has been Chairman of the Board of the International Wilderness Leadership Foundation and the American Antiquarian Society, America’s oldest national library. He was President of the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, a trustee of the Lincoln Filene Center of Tufts University, a Director of the Rocky Mountain Women`s Institute, a Director of the Thoreau Society, and the Council of Overseers of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Tuesday, December 6, 2011 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Michael Hancock – Mayor of Denver Speaking on: "Facing Tomorrow” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsors: Bennett Wagner & Grody, Cap Logistics, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Lockheed Martin, Monarch Investments, Snell & Wilmer, Whipplewood CPAs, The Oxford Hotel, and Capital Value Advisors Michael Hancock – Biographical Brief From school-age kid to hard-working adult, Michael Hancock has always been a leader. Despite adversity and tragedy, he has always found a way to triumph. And with a passion for public service, Michael has always fought on behalf of the people and businesses of Denver. Michael grew up here. He and his wife are raising their family here. He served two terms as Denver City Council president and was the youngest CEO of an Urban League chapter anywhere in the country. He knows what it means to meet a payroll, manage a budget and inspire a workforce. He believes in bringing different groups together to find common-sense solutions to complicated challenges, and he believes that by working together we can build on our past and create a world-class city of tomorrow, because We are all Denver. Family Michael and his twin sister are the youngest of 10 kids from an Army family that moved frequently. Michael was born near Fort Hood in Texas, and he and his family came to Denver when he was just 10 months old. It was a tough childhood. Michael’s father drank and his parents divorced when he was 6. His dad returned to Texas and Michael’s mom moved the family into public housing. Michael remembers cold and hungry nights with no heat and no food. Tragically, one of Michael’s brothers died from AIDS in 1996 and Michael promised him he would always fight for justice and fairness and give voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless. Six years later, one of Michael’s sisters was killed by an estranged boyfriend, fueling Michael’s advocacy for victims and his drive to end family violence in our community. Today, at age 41, Michael is the proud father of three children — Alayna, Jordan and Janae — and he and his wife, Mary, have been married for 17 years after first meeting in middle school. Education A natural leader from a very young age, Michael attended six elementary schools before settling in at Cole Middle School, where his classmates elected him student body president. At Manual High School (Class of 1987), Michael served as class president his first three years, statewide student council president as a junior, and Manual Head Boy as a senior. Michael also played wide receiver and safety for the Manual Thunderbolts. A fun but little-known fact about Michael’s football career: He went to the Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos in 1987, though not as a player. Michael was the Broncos’ team mascot that season. After high school, Michael attended Hastings College in Nebraska (Class of 1991), coming home every summer and working in Mayor Federico Peña’s office. Michael earned his bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in communications. He later was selected for the college’s highest alumni honor, the Bronco Award. After college, Michael returned home and earned a master’s degree in public administration from CU-Denver in 1995. Career Michael started his career in the early 1990s, holding down two jobs at the Denver Housing Authority and the National Civic League — while also pursuing a master’s degree. At the Housing Authority, Michael designed, implemented and oversaw the first-ever athletic, cultural and leadership-training programs for 11,000 inner-city kids living in public housing. He also helped write a state law outlawing drug possession within 100 feet of public housing. With the National Civic League, Michael helped communities, nonprofits and other clients all over the country craft and enact strategic plans to solve economic and budget challenges, increase civic participation and improve governance. Michael joined Metro Denver’s Urban League affiliate in 1995 as program director at a time when the economic-empowerment and civil-rights organization was struggling – struggling so much that Michael’s very first paycheck bounced! Undaunted, Michael rose through the ranks, developing a strategic plan, overseeing day-to-day operations and leading fundraising efforts. He became executive vice president, interim president and then president in 1999. At 29 years old, Michael was the youngest leader of an Urban League chapter anywhere in America. He turned around an organization that lacked focus, relevance or a strategy. He developed a talented staff, created a nationally recognized and award-winning job-training program, and built private-sector partnerships with companies like Qwest, Comcast and AT&T. City Council After almost five years as president of the Urban League, Michael stepped down in 2003 when voters in northeast Denver’s District 11 elected him to the City Council. His council peers unanimously chose him to serve two terms as council President from 2006-08. He presided over the creation of the Denver Pre-School Initiative, strategies to fight foreclosures, and the implementation of the largest infrastructure improvement effort in city history. As a councilman, Michael is widely recognized as one of the most accessible, constituent-oriented elected officials anywhere. He is a leader on neighborhood issues, city finances, economic development and children’s issues. “Great neighborhoods start with great schools,” Michael says. As a City Councilman, Michael has: Led efforts to support businesses and expand economic opportunities downtown, at Denver International Airport and Stapleton. Fought to end the foreclosure crisis and mortgage fraud. Guided the Better Denver neighborhood improvement program – nearly 300 projects and thousands of jobs in every part of Denver! Helped initiate innovative-schools legislation. Strengthened neighborhoods by ensuring fair and equitable delivery of services and facilities such as libraries, rec centers, road repairs, police protection, street sweeping, trash collection and neighborhood inspections. On July 18, 2011, Michael B. Hancock was sworn in as the 45th Mayor of Denver. Wednesday, November 9, 2011 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Tony Perry – Los Angeles Times Correspondent Speaking on: "Iraq & Afghanistan: Worth the Cost?” 12-Noon Luncheon NOTE: VENUE CHANGE - Onyx Room of the Brown Palace 321 17th St., Denver Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Tony Perry - Biographical Brief Tony Perry, who heads the Los Angeles Times’ bureau in San Diego, is one of America’s finest reporters.  Time and again Mr. Perry has demonstrated his very great journalistic skills with incisive reporting – whether writing about the latest scrum in San Diego’s bizarre politics or the even more perplexing politics of California, he’s been right on target. But he’s not coming to Denver to talk to The Forum about San Diego or California. He’s coming to discuss his reporting on Iraq and Afghanistan. Few stateside journalists have spent more time in those two challenging places than Tony. And, out of those experiences, plus extensive time with members of the United States Marine Corps, both here and in those distant places, have resulted in a depth of knowledge equaled by few in his profession – as his remarks to The Forum November 9 will prove Mr. Perry has been the Times’ presence in San Diego for 24-years.  Before that he was with the San Diego Union Tribune.  He has been a frequent guest of The City Club, our sister organization in San Diego. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Mr. Perry’s wife, Ann, is the business writer for Intuit in San Diego.  The Perrys have two children. Tuesday, October 4, 2011 The Denver Forum and the City Club of Denver Proudly Present: Andrew Romanoff – Senior Advisor, International Development Enterprises (IDE) Speaking on: "International Development” 11:45 am Luncheon Brown Palace Hotel Members: $29 (registration required by Sept 29, at the door, $32) Non-Members, $35 Telephone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Email Reservations: TheDenverForum@gmail.com Event Sponsors: To register for this event please click here. Andrew Romanoff – Biographical Brief Andrew Romanoff is a senior advisor at IDE, an international development organization based in Colorado.  Over the last 30 years, IDE has equipped four million farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America with the technology and training they need to climb out of extreme poverty. Romanoff joined IDE after serving for eight years in the Colorado House of Representatives, including four years as the Speaker of the House.  He won national acclaim as one of the most effective legislative leaders in America, steering the Democrats to their first back-to-back victory — and their largest majority — in nearly half a century. In 2005, Romanoff authored the Colorado Economic Recovery Act (Referendum C) and helped build the broadest coalition in state history to pass it.  Among his other legislative achievements: the Sudan Divestment Act of 2007, which cut state ties to the regime responsible for the genocide in Darfur; and the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) Act of 2008, a billion-dollar plan to repair Colorado’s crumbling classrooms.  Romanoff also authored laws to protect the victims of domestic violence and child abuse, provide treatment for mental illness and substance abuse, and expand the supply of affordable housing. Romanoff has been honored by more than 50 state and national organizations.  The Council of State Governments, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the State Legislative Leaders Foundation present the William M. Bulger Award to the “legislative leader who has worked to preserve and build public trust in the institution of the state legislature and whose career embodies the highest principles of leadership — integrity, compassion, vision and courage.”  In 2006, Romanoff became the award’s youngest recipient.  Two years later, Governing Magazine named him as a “Public Official of the Year.” Before his election to the legislature in 2000, Romanoff worked as an education policy advisor to then-Governor Roy Romer.  He was previously an associate at the management consulting firm of Greenberg Baron Simon & Miller, Inc. Romanoff served as a Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Colorado’s School of Public Affairs.  He has also taught political science at the Community College of Aurora, Metropolitan State College of Denver, and Red Rocks Community College.  He began teaching in Central America and speaks fluent Spanish. Romanoff earned a bachelor’s degree with honors from Yale University, a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a juris doctorate from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law.  He is a member of the inaugural class of the Aspen Institute’s Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership. Friday, August 12, 2011 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Mark Udall – United States Senator, Colorado Speaking on: “The National Interest: Coming Together” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel - Ballroom (enter on Wazee) 1600 17th Street Members: $30, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsors: Bennett Wagner & Grody, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Cap Logistics, DMX-Direct, Lockheed Martin, Monarch Investment and Management, Snell & Wilmer, Whipplewood CPA, and Capital Value Advisor To register for this event please click here. Mark Udall – Biographical Brief The people of Colorado elected Mark Udall to the U.S. Senate in 2008. Prior to that, he represented the state’s 2nd Congressional District for five terms (from 1999-08). He also served one term in the Colorado State Legislature as a member of the General Assembly (1997-99), representing the 13th District, which encompassed the community of Longmont and parts of southern Boulder County.   In the U.S. Senate, Mark serves on four committees: Armed Services, Energy and Natural Resources, the select Committee on Intelligence and the Special Committee on Aging. Reinforcing his priority of protecting our Western lands, Mark chairs the National Parks Subcommittee of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Mark’s committee assignments give him a platform to address many issues important to Colorado, including national security, energy, the economy ,clean energy job , and natural resources. Mark is known for reaching across party lines to solve problems and for his willingness to work with people, including those with whom he has philosophical differences. In 2011, he drew national attention for calling on his colleagues to bridge the partisan divide by sitting together – rather than separated by party – at the President’s State of the Union address. Mark’s inclusive and bipartisan approach has also led to a number of legislative achievements, including bills to reduce wildfire risk and bark-beetle infestation; and legislation promoting the development of Colorado`s aerospace industry, and the clean energy and high technology sectors. Mark led efforts to successfully create the James Peak Wilderness and to pass legislation transforming the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons facility into a wildlife refuge. He`s also championed health care for workers and retirees from the nation`s nuclear weapons complex and consumer protections against abusive and predatory credit card companies. Mark doesn`t shy away from making difficult decisions in order to put our country’s fiscal house in order. He is an active proponent of smart budgeting tools like pay-as-you-go rules, a presidential line-item veto, a balanced budget amendment, and a ban on earmarks. Mark was one of a small group of senators who pushed for the creation of the president’s commission on reducing the national debt, and he now is helping lead the effort to hold an up-or-down vote on the commission’s recommendations. Regarded as a national leader on renewable energy, Mark worked to put Colorado at the forefront of sustainable energy development. In 2004, he successfully co-chaired the Amendment 37 campaign to pass Colorado’s first Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), which requires power companies to use more alternative energy sources. In 2007, the House of Representatives twice passed a national renewable electricity standard championed by Mark. He continues his work in the Senate to enact a national RES. Finally, Mark is also known for his efforts to develop a tough and smart national security strategy. He has led legislative action to strengthen the U.S military, improve national security and protect our service members by reducing the military’s reliance on fossil fuels. Moreover, he has consistently fought for programs to benefit our nation`s veterans, including extending TRICARE benefits to military children and fighting to improve access to health care in rural Colorado. Mark has received numerous accolades in the media. The Denver Post notes that he has a proven track record of bipartisan accomplishments. The Pueblo Chieftain expresses its appreciation for Mark`s stand for fiscal responsibility, writing, "At last, one Democrat in Congress is standing up for his country rather than his party`s liberal base." Similarly, The Colorado Springs Gazette notes that in these difficult economic times, "It is comforting to know that Colorado, at least, has a senator who is willing to avoid the partisan game playing that usually defines Washington." The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel calls him "conscientious," "highly capable" and "energetic." Al Lewis of the Dow Jones Newswires applauds Mark and his willingness to tackle America`s most difficult challenges alongside members of both parties. Mark was born on July 18, 1950, in Tucson, Arizona, but has spent his entire adult life in Colorado. After graduating from Williams College in 1972, he moved to Colorado`s Western Slope and began a long and successful career with the Colorado Outward Bound School as a course director and educator from 1975-85 and as the organization’s executive director from 1985-95. Mark is an avid mountaineer and has climbed or attempted some of the world’s most challenging peaks, including Mt. Everest. Mark’s family is no stranger to public service. His father, Morris “Mo” Udall, served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 years and ran for the Democratic nomination for President in 1976. His uncle, Stewart, was widely revered for his accomplishments while serving as Secretary of the Interior under U.S. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. In 2008, Mark’s cousin, Tom Udall, was elected to the Senate from New Mexico. Mark and his wife, prominent attorney and conservationist Maggie Fox, have two children: a son Jed and a daughter Tess. They live near Eldorado Springs in Boulder County. (Source: U.S. Senate Web site) Thursday, June 23, 2011 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: John Aloysius Farrell Author of and Speaking on: “Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: John Aloysius Farrell – Biographical Brief John Aloysius Farrell is the author of "Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century," and of an upcoming biography of Clarence Darrow, the great American defense lawyer. To research and write the book on Darrow, in mid-2007 Farrell left his job as Washington Bureau Chief and Assistant Managing Editor for The Denver Post, and MediaNews bureau chief in the nation’s capital. The MediaNews chain, based in Denver, contains 50 newspapers, represented by a dozen reporters and columnists in the Washington bureau. It was while working as White House correspondent, Washington editor and deputy bureau chief for The Boston Globe, that Farrell researched and wrote his book on Tip O’Neill. Jack was awarded a Dirksen Congressional Center research grant for his biography of O’Neill. It also won the D.B. Hardeman Prize in 2003 for the best writing on Congress from the University of Texas and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation. In 1996, Jack received the Gerald R. Ford prize and the Aldo Beckman Award from the White House Correspondents Association for coverage of the presidency, the first time anyone had captured both awards in a single year. He has also won the 2001 Raymond Clapper Memorial Award for distinguished Washington reporting, the 1990 Roy Howard Public Service Prize, and a George Polk Award in 1984. During his tenure as Washington editor for the Globe, members of the 10-person staff won a George Polk award, the Raymond Clapper prize and the Aldo Beckman award. As an investigative reporter, Farrell`s work spurred congressional investigations by the House Appropriations Committee on the exploitation and theft of Native American natural resources (1985) and on the failure of the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute rape and other felony cases on Indian Reservations (1986); by the House Energy and Commerce Committee (1984) on faulty medical devices, and by the House Government Operations Committee (1991) on the failures of the Patriot missile during the Gulf War. A 1989 investigation conducted by Jack and other members of the Globe "Spotlight" team probed the conduct of municipal judges in Massachusetts and led to the appointment of a special master, whose report resulted in the resignation of three judges, and other reforms. Jack was born on Long Island and attended Holy Family High School in Huntington, NY and Robert E. Peary High School in Montgomery County, MD. He graduated from the University of Virginia "with distinction" in 1975. In his newspaper career, he has worked on the Annapolis Evening Capital, the Baltimore News American, The Boston Globe and The Denver Post. He is married, and has two children and an Australian Shepherd named Charlie. Farrell has served as a guest lecturer for classes at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the United States Military Academy, Dartmouth College and American University. John Farrell`s Web site: http://www.jafarrell.com/ Friday, May 13, 2011 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Bill Lerach – Once One of the Nation’s Greatest Trial Lawyers Speaking on: "Wall Street Corruption & America’s Future" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Bill Lerach – Biographical Brief William Shannon Lerach (Bill Lerach) was born March 14, 1946, in the Ohio River Valley. He would become one of America’s most famous and, at the same time, infamous, trial lawyers. He specialized in class action lawsuits and had few equals. But that was all undone when he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges in 2007. His plea of guilty was widely hailed on Wall Street  and in America’s corporate board rooms – as their great tomentor has been brought down by his own hubris. But before that terrible day in life, Learch has piled up some of the greatest victories in the history of American law. The $7.12 billion he obtained in the case against Enron is currently the largest sum ever recovered in a group of securities class-action lawsuits in U.S. history.  About 75 percent of the class action suits filed and led by Lerach involved insider trading, stock fraud and stock manipulation. Over the course of his legal career, Lerach recovered approximately $45 billion on behalf of defrauded shareholders. Lerach pled guilty to one count of obstruction of justice and began a two year prison sentence in 2007. He was disbarred in 2009. Lerach was a major Democratic donor for many years. For over 30 years, Bill Lerach was one of the leading securities lawyers in the United States. He headed up the prosecution of hundreds of securities class and stockholder derivative actions which resulted in billions of dollars of recoveries for defrauded shareholders of Wall Street banks, major accounting firms, corporations and insurance companies. Lerach was the subject of considerable media attention and a frequent commentator on economic and political matters and securities and corporate law. Lerach was involved in many of the largest and highest profile securities class action and corporate derivative suits in recent years, including Enron, Dynegy, Qwest, WorldCom, Citibank, Drexel Burnham, Tyco, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Disney, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse First Boston, Global Crossing, AT&T, Hewlett-Packard, Apple Computer, ExxonMobil, R.J. Reynolds, Arthur Andersen, and AOL Time Warner. For more than two decades, he and his then firm Milberg Weiss (called by many “the meanest law firm in the country”) threatened, shook down and sued top Fortune 500 companies, recovering more than $45 billion in ill-gotten gains from corporations and banks on behalf of shareholders defrauded at a time when wealth in America had reached unprecedented heights and corporate scandals involving fraud, deception and insider trading were running rampant. Lerach achieved enormous victories in suing some of the largest names in American business and was hot on the heels of Halliburton and its then CEO Dick Cheney, the Vice President of the United States, when he fell from grace, brought down by the same corrupt impulses of his enemies.  Lerach had turned his sights on Halliburton and Cheney, the former CEO. In Lerach`s lawsuit against Halliburton, his thinly veiled assertion was that Cheney had fled the company just ahead of the stock collapse, finding refuge in the White House. The attorney had maneuvered himself into a position to subpoena and demand public testimony from the vice president, and he doubted that Cheney would be able to successfully hide behind a claim of executive privilege. Lerach`s on-camera comments were prominently featured in the Oscar-nominated 2006 documentary about the monumental collapse of the 7th largest corporation in the U.S., “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.” For years he was listed among the “Best Lawyers in America.” Lerach frequently lectured on class and derivative actions, accountants’ liability, and attorneys’ fees, and has testified before Congressional committees. In addition, he has been a guest lecturer at Harvard Law School, Stanford Univ Law School, Univ of San Diego Law School, UCLA Law School, the Council of Institutional Investors and the International Corporate Governance Network. Lerach is married and lives in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Tuesday, April 5, 2011 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents Our 2011 Annual Baseball Luncheon Featuring: Talmage Boston – Texas "Super Lawyer" and Member, Texas Baseball Hall of Fame Author of and Speaking on, "Baseball and the Baby Boomer" 12-Noon Luncheon Sage Room – Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room $30 per person. Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Copies of Mr. Boston`s book, "Baseball and the Baby Boomer", will be sold at the event. Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Talmage Boston – Biographical Brief A shareholder and commercial litigator with the Dallas law firm of Winstead PC, Talmage Boston has six times been named a "Super Lawyer" by Texas Monthly magazine (2003-2008), and currently serves on the Texas State Bar Board of Directors. He and his wife, Claire, have two children and reside in Dallas. Both he and his wife are graduates of Texas Christian University (TCU). Talmage Boston has lectured on baseball history at: Princeton University the National Baseball Hall of Fame Houston`s Museum of Fine Arts SMU`s Cox School of Business Boston`s essays on baseball have appeared in: the Dallas Morning News Fort Worth Star Telegram the National Baseball Hall of Fame magazine the Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives SABR`s Baseball Research Journal Elysian Fields Quarterly the Dallas Business Journal And on the walls of the Nolan Ryan Center in Alvin, Texas In recognition of his work, the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Boston as a Media Member. In the civic arena, Talmage serves as a director for: the Society For American Baseball Research (Dallas / Fort Worth Chapter) the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation the SMU Athletic Forum What People Have Said About Boston’s Books: "That`s because Boston (author of the 2005 book 1939: Baseball`s Tipping Point) does a superb job of striking a chord with baseball fans of the last several decades by pushing the right buttons..." -- ALLEN BARRA, nationally renowned sportswriter "Talmage Boston, a trial lawyer and baseball historian, is at the top of his game in this terrific tome that has detailed essays and strong opinions..." --HARVEY FROMMER, author of sports books "A booming homer to right field, right where Maris would have put it." -- TOM HOFFARTH, LA Times, farther off the wall (April 17, 2009) "This is an enjoyable book that drips with the loving emotion of a lifetime baseball fan..." -- RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN (April 19, 2009) "Boston writes today with the same passion he had for the game when his thoughtful father guided him to Cooperstown while a senior in high school to avoid an embarrassing honeymoon." -- SID DORFMAN, New Jersey Sports ""Opening Boston`s book is a bit like wandering in on a good sports discussion in a bar. After you leave, you feel you`ve not only learned something, but also been honored to be in the company of those telling their tales." -- ROBERT FRANCIS, Fort Worth Business Press "But, it’s a well researched, somewhat uniquely constructed and a very pleasant reading experience - whether you’re a Baby Boomer or not. If you’re a baseball fan, and enjoy reading about it, I recommend that you consider checking out this book." -- STEVE LOMBARDI, WasWatching.com (March 15, 2009) "Different players are heroes to different people. Talmage`s selection of principals about whom he chose to write -- from Jackie Robinson to Bart Giamatti -- reveals what matters to him probably better than any traditional Rorschach test ever would. He seems to be at his most passionate -- and good for him -- in defending the feats of Roger Maris and Nolan Ryan from the ravages of the steroid era. But then it`s natural that we are invariably more impressed with the players of our youth. They seem to us to be bigger in every way then, and surely more indelible." -- FRANK DEFORD, from his Foreword, Six time National Sportswriter of the Year, Commentator, National Public Radio "When I opened Baseball and the Baby Boomer the first time, my expectations were high for another great baseball history book by Talmage. But more than just history, when I read it, I began to think I was reading a love story -- love of the game, love for its heroes, and love for te values and lessons the game has taught the Baby Boomer generation." --LOU BROCK, from his Preface, Baseball Hall of Famer "Talmage Boston`s new book is a powerful statement of what baseball has meant to America`s fans since World War II -- in the Civil Rights movement, the television era, the challenges to the game`s integrity, and the binding of one generation to the next." --TIM McCARVER, Fox television analyst, Former major league catcher "Baseball has brought great joy to the life of Talmage Boston, and that joy washed over me as I devoured his book. Baseball and the Baby Boomer perfectly evokes the shared memories of our generation, but speaks to all generations of fans who find pleasure and meaning in baseball." -- DAVID MARANISS, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Author, Clemente: the Passion and Grace of Baseball`s Last Hero "Talmage Boston really loves and cares about baseball, and it shows in every page of his new book. I was especially taken by his chapter on John Grisham." -- TIM KURKJIAN, ESPN baseball analyst, Author, Is This A Great Game, or What? "Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, Talmage Boston brings new life to our Grand Old Game in Baseball and the Baby Boomer" -- DAN SHAUGHNESSY, The Boston Globe sports columnist, Author, Senior Year: A Father, A Son, and High School Baseball "Talmage Boston is a passionate baseball fan and historian. In his book, Baseball and the Baby Boomer, Boston infuses the game of baseball with a strong dose of humanity, integrity, and personal insight. After reading the chapter on my father, I sent Talmage an email saying: "Superb!" -- SHARON ROBINSON, Vice Chairperson, Jackie Robinson Foundation, Author, Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America "Equal parts passionate fan and clear-eyed historian, Talmage Boston is perfectly equipped to guide us through baseball`s rollicking last half-century, as it has changed all the time yet somehow stayed the same." -- ROB NEYER, ESPN.com baseball columnist, Author, Rob Neyer`s Big Book of Baseball Legends Friday, March 4, 2011 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents U.S. Senator Mike Bennet, and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper On the Occasion of The Forum’s 25th Year Celebratory Event Speaking on: "Where We Are" 12-Noon Luncheon Grand Ballroom – Oxford Hotel - Please enter off Wazee Street 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members, $30; non-members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsors: To register for this event please click here. About Governor John W. Hickenlooper A small businessman who had never previously run for political office, John Hickenlooper was elected Mayor of Denver on June 3, 2003, and inaugurated on July 21, 2003. Since taking office, Mayor Hickenlooper passed a citywide charter reform initiative to modernize Denver’s personnel system, overcame a $70 million deficit to balance the City budget while averting major cuts in services and massive layoffs, reached deals with United, Frontier and Southwest Airlines enabling all carriers to grow at Denver International Airport, implemented the most sweeping set of police reforms in Denver’s history, built an unprecedented partnership with Denver Public Schools, launched efforts to create a more business-friendly environment in city government, initiated a citywide campaign to end homelessness, created Denver’s Sustainable Development Initiative, and ushered in a new era of bipartisan regional cooperation culminating in passage of the largest regional transit initiative in the history of the United States. In April 2005 – less than two years into his first term – TIME Magazine named Mayor Hickenlooper one of the top five “big-city” mayors in America, and in November 2005, he was the only mayor named by Governing Magazine as one of the top Public Officials of the Year. Hickenlooper’s passion for Denver began in 1981 when his career as an exploration geologist brought him to Buckhorn Petroleum, where he worked for five years. After the collapse of the oil industry, he found himself with a healthy severance check, no immediate job prospects, and time on his hands. Inspired by a visit to a northern California brewpub, he spent two years developing the Wynkoop Brewing Company, the first brewpub in the Rocky Mountains. The Wynkoop group grew to eventually include seven Denver restaurants and a brewpub in Colorado Springs. A respected entrepreneur, Hickenlooper was also involved with numerous downtown Denver renovation and development projects and is credited as one of the pioneers that helped revitalize Denver’s Lower Downtown historic district. In recognition of his efforts supporting preservation in Denver and downtowns across the country, Hickenlooper received a National Preservation Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1997. Long before he had ever considered public office, Hickenlooper was active in community affairs, serving on numerous civic boards including Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Denver Civic Ventures, Colorado Business Committee for the Arts, the Denver Art Museum, the Association of Brewers, and the Institute for Brewing Studies. In 1987, he co-founded the Chinook Fund, a local foundation that provides seed grants to community organizations that emphasize social change. He also co-founded CultureHaus, the Denver Art Museum`s 600-member young adult organization. Leading a grassroots campaign to preserve the “Mile High Stadium” name in 2000 planted the seeds for his 2003 mayoral bid. An unlikely candidate facing a half-dozen seasoned political veterans, Hickenlooper made Denver history with his nearly two-to-one margin of victory. Mayor Hickenlooper began his term by assembling the most diverse team of city leadership Denver has ever known. Maintaining a commitment to diversity and excellence, Hickenlooper recruited corporate executives, local nonprofit leaders and government innovators from around the country, resulting in a team that is more than half women and more than half Latino/African-American/Asian. In the two and a half years since his election, Mayor Hickenlooper has worked to increase civic engagement and participation throughout the city and Denver metro area, helping to bring all 32 metro mayors together to work on initiatives that benefit the entire region. His collaborative approach has built strong bonds and partnerships that transcend partisan and geographic lines. His integrity, honesty and sense of humor have renewed public faith and trust in City Hall, and his boundless energy and enthusiasm have generated tremendous optimism and confidence in Denver’s future. Mayor Hickenlooper graduated from Wesleyan University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English in 1974 and a master’s degree in geology in 1980. His wife, Helen Thorpe, is a writer whose work has been published in the New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, George, and Texas Monthly. They live in Lower Downtown Denver with their three-year-old son Teddy. A small businessman who had never previously run for political office, John Hickenlooper was elected Mayor of Denver on June 3, 2003, and inaugurated on July 21, 2003. Since taking office, Mayor Hickenlooper passed a citywide charter reform initiative to modernize Denver’s personnel system, overcame a $70 million deficit to balance the City budget while averting major cuts in services and massive layoffs, reached deals with United, Frontier and Southwest Airlines enabling all carriers to grow at Denver International Airport, implemented the most sweeping set of police reforms in Denver’s history, built an unprecedented partnership with Denver Public Schools, launched efforts to create a more business-friendly environment in city government, initiated a citywide campaign to end homelessness, created Denver’s Sustainable Development Initiative, and ushered in a new era of bipartisan regional cooperation culminating in passage of the largest regional transit initiative in the history of the United States. In April 2005 – less than two years into his first term – TIME Magazine named Mayor Hickenlooper one of the top five “big-city” mayors in America, and in November 2005, he was the only mayor named by Governing Magazine as one of the top Public Officials of the Year. Hickenlooper’s passion for Denver began in 1981 when his career as an exploration geologist brought him to Buckhorn Petroleum, where he worked for five years. After the collapse of the oil industry, he found himself with a healthy severance check, no immediate job prospects, and time on his hands. Inspired by a visit to a northern California brewpub, he spent two years developing the Wynkoop Brewing Company, the first brewpub in the Rocky Mountains. The Wynkoop group grew to eventually include seven Denver restaurants and a brewpub in Colorado Springs. A respected entrepreneur, Hickenlooper was also involved with numerous downtown Denver renovation and development projects and is credited as one of the pioneers that helped revitalize Denver’s Lower Downtown historic district. In recognition of his efforts supporting preservation in Denver and downtowns across the country, Hickenlooper received a National Preservation Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1997. Long before he had ever considered public office, Hickenlooper was active in community affairs, serving on numerous civic boards including Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Denver Civic Ventures, Colorado Business Committee for the Arts, the Denver Art Museum, the Association of Brewers, and the Institute for Brewing Studies. In 1987, he co-founded the Chinook Fund, a local foundation that provides seed grants to community organizations that emphasize social change. He also co-founded CultureHaus, the Denver Art Museum`s 600-member young adult organization. Leading a grassroots campaign to preserve the “Mile High Stadium” name in 2000 planted the seeds for his 2003 mayoral bid. An unlikely candidate facing a half-dozen seasoned political veterans, Hickenlooper made Denver history with his nearly two-to-one margin of victory. Mayor Hickenlooper began his term by assembling the most diverse team of city leadership Denver has ever known. Maintaining a commitment to diversity and excellence, Hickenlooper recruited corporate executives, local nonprofit leaders and government innovators from around the country, resulting in a team that is more than half women and more than half Latino/African-American/Asian. In the two and a half years since his election, Mayor Hickenlooper has worked to increase civic engagement and participation throughout the city and Denver metro area, helping to bring all 32 metro mayors together to work on initiatives that benefit the entire region. His collaborative approach has built strong bonds and partnerships that transcend partisan and geographic lines. His integrity, honesty and sense of humor have renewed public faith and trust in City Hall, and his boundless energy and enthusiasm have generated tremendous optimism and confidence in Denver’s future. Mayor Hickenlooper graduated from Wesleyan University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English in 1974 and a master’s degree in geology in 1980. His wife, Helen Thorpe, is a writer whose work has been published in the New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, George, and Texas Monthly. They live in Lower Downtown Denver with their three-year-old son Teddy. Michael Bennet – Biographical Brief Michael Bennet, the junior Senator from Colorado, has served most recently as the Superintendent of the Denver Public Schools. As a dedicated public servant with comprehensive experience as a businessman, Michael has a proven record of facing tough tasks at critical times. As Superintendent, Michael worked to improve student achievement and classroom performance, while also overseeing a halt to years of budgetary cuts in the Denver Public Schools. While serving as Chief of Staff to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Michael was credited with leading the way on balancing a historic budget deficit. Prior to his service to the city, Michael was a Managing Director at the Anschutz Investment Company, where he managed the restructuring of over $3 billion in corporate debt. Representing Colorado as our state’s next U.S. Senator, Michael will use his understanding and leadership on complex financial and economic issues to be a voice for Colorado’s working families. Almost four years ago, Michael inherited a School District whose achievement rates were flat and, where, for year after year, budgets were cut. With the help of Denver Public Schools’ principals and teachers, Michael has turned this around. Achievement and graduation rates are up, with Denver’s kids growing faster than all the kids in the state on every single test at every single grade level with the exception of one math test. As Superintendent, Michael worked hard to end the annual cycle of budget cuts at the Denver Public Schools. 2008 was the first in five years that the district did not have to cut its budget, and this year Denver was able to invest an additional $18 million in its schools and classrooms to enrich the academic environment for children. As a result, programs such as comprehensive Early Childhood Education have been enacted allowing over 2,000 four year olds to now have a full day Early Childhood Education. Additionally, for the first time in Denver’s history, over 90% of five year olds have access to full-day kindergarten. These improvements are closing the achievement gap suffered by low-income children. Michael, working with the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, revolutionized Procomp, a system of differentiated pay that pays teachers more for driving student achievement, serving in a high poverty school, or bringing a special set of talents, like the teaching of math or special education. Although the changes proposed were controversial, nearly 80% of Denver’s teachers voted for the new proposal. Prior to serving as Superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, Michael served for two years as Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s Chief of Staff. Michael oversaw the balancing of an historic budget deficit, the renegotiation of several collective bargaining agreements, and a complete redesign of the police oversight function. Michael, along with the Mayor, was widely credited with putting together a first rate, diverse team to lead the City through unprecedented fiscal challenges. Before joining Mayor Hickenlooper’s administration, Michael was a Managing Director of the Anschutz Investment Company, where he had direct responsibility for the investment of over $500 million. He led the reorganization of four distressed companies including Forcenergy (which later merged with Denver-based Forest Oil), Regal Cinemas, United Artists, and Edwards Theaters, which together required the restructuring of over $3 billion in debt. Michael also managed, on behalf of Anschutz, the consolidation of the three theater chains into Regal Entertainment Group, the largest motion picture exhibitor in the world. Prior to moving to Denver, Michael served as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice during the Clinton Administration. Michael earned his bachelor’s degree with honors from Wesleyan University and his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was Editor-in-Chief of The Yale Law Journal. Michael married Susan Daggett, a successful natural resources lawyer, in 1997. Michael and Susan are the proud parents of three daughters, Caroline (9), Halina (7), and Anne (4). Tuesday, February 8, 2011 The City Club of Denver and the Denver Forum Proudly Present: George Mitrovich - President of the City Club of San Diego and The Denver Forum Speaking on: "Civil Dialogue - the Future of Democracy" 11:45 am Luncheon Brown Palace Hotel $15 per person Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsors: George Mitrovich - Biographical Brief George Mitrovich is president of two leading American public forums, The City Club of San Diego and The Denver Forum. In addition, he chairs for the Boston Red Sox The Great Fenway Park Writers Series, as well as chairing the team’s annual birthday tribute to Jackie Robinson. A writer and contributor to leading North American newspapers, he is also a public speaker of note, with four speeches published in Vital Speeches of the Day – a distinction held by few Americans. Mr. Mitrovich has also been the guest preacher at some of the nation’s leading churches, including the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, and Denver’s Trinity United Methodist Church. Long active in San Diego civic affairs as well as the faith community, he served as president of the San Diego County Ecumenical Council, an organization of 125 Christian churches. Mr. Mitrovich was a press aide to Senator Robert F. Kennedy in the presidential campaign of 1968 He later served as press secretary to senators Charles E. Goodell of New York and Harold Hughes of Iowa. He has an extensive history in local, state and national politics. He is married to La Verle Ann Sutherland Mitrovich. They have three children, Carolyn, Mark, and Tim, and three grandchildren, Matthew, Jessica, and Juliette Mitrovich. Wednesday, January 12, 2011 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Alan Simpson – Co-Chairman, National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Speaking on: "Budgets, Deficits & The Future" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $35, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsors: Alan K. Simpson - Biographical Brief Former United States Senator from Wyoming; born in Denver, Denver County, Colo., September 2, 1931; attended Cody, Wyo. public schools; graduated, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo., 1954; graduated, University of Wyoming Law School 1958; admitted to the Wyoming bar in 1958 and commenced practice in Cody; served in the United States Army, Infantry 1954-1956; assistant attorney general of Wyoming 1958-1959; city attorney, Cody, Wyo.; United States Commissioner 1959-1969; member, and the Wyoming house of representatives 1964-1977. He was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate, November 7, 1978, for the six-year term commencing January 3, 1979; subsequently appointed by the Governor, January 1, 1979, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Clifford P. Hansen for the term ending January 3, 1979; reelected in 1984 and 1990 and served from January 1, 1979, to January 3, 1997; and did not stand for reelection in 1996; Senator Simpson served as Republican whip (1985-1995); chairman, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (One Hundred Fourth Congress); visiting lecturer, Kennedy School of Government, Shorenstein Center, and Director of the Institute of Politics 1997-2000. Mr. Simpson serves on the Commission for Continuity in Government. He also served as co-chair of Americans for Campaign Reform with former Senate colleagues Bill Bradley of New Jersey, Warren Rudman of New Hampshire and Bob Kerrey of Nebraska. He is active with the National Commission on Writing, the Advisory Board of Common Good (a legal reform coalition), and is a former member of the American Battle Monuments Commission. Alan Simpson has been an outspoken advocate for access to abortion stating it is a horrible situation but a deeply intimate and personal decision and should not be a political issue in a party that believes in "government out of our lives" and "the right to be left alone" and "the precious right of privacy". He supports gay and lesbian rights, and equality for all persons regardless of race, color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. In an article in the Washington Post, the former senator wrote an article criticizing the "Don`t ask, don`t tell" policy stating "`Gay` is an artificial category that says little about a person. Our differences and prejudices pale next to our historic challenge." In 2001, Mr. Simpson became Honorary Chairman of the Republican Unity Coalition (RUC), a gay/straight alliance within the Republican Party. In this capacity, Simpson personally recruited President Gerald R. Ford to serve on the RUC`s Advisory Board. Mr. Simpson is an Honorary Board Member of the humanitarian organization Wings of Hope, and served in 2006 as one of ten member contributors to the Iraq Study Group Report. The former senator and his wife, Ann, live in Cody, Wyoming. Thursday, December 2, 2010 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Mike Moran – National Leader in American Sports Speaking on: "Great Moments in U.S. Olympic History 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Mike Moran – Biographical Brief Mike Moran enjoys his 43rd year in the sports media and public relations field, now in his sixth year as a professional consultant, continuing a career that has earned him the respect of reporters and broadcasters across the United States and internationally. He is the Senior Media Consultant for the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation, an organization which stages the annual Rocky Mountain State Games, the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame, sports luncheons and events, and promotes the activities of area sports entities including the U.S. Olympic Committee, the USOC national governing bodies, area colleges and universities, the Sky Sox, the Mountain West and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conferences, and events like the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and this summer’s 2009 State Games of America. From February 1, 2003 until August 1, 2005, Moran served as the Senior Communications Counselor for NYC2012, the organization that led the bid by New York City to host the 2012 Olympic Games. In his role with the bid committee, he served as spokesman, media and public relations strategist, and coordinator of media programs and national outreach. London won the right to host the 2012 Games on July 6, 2005, and Moran returned to Colorado Springs. Moran served as Senior Media Consultant to the United States Olympic Committee through 2004 after retiring on January 31, 2003, as Chief Communications Officer and the USOC’s principal spokesman for nearly 25 years. The native of Omaha, Nebraska, joined the United States Olympic Committee on February 9, 1979, and handled the difficult role of directing the USOC’s public relations and media efforts, becoming one of the most visible sports public relations executives in the nation for a quarter century. He served two four-year terms as a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Press Commission. The USOC honored Moran with its highest award, the General Douglas MacArthur Award, on November 3, 2002. Other recipients of the award include Nobel Peace Prize Winner and former U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger, former USOC President and Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon, USOC President Emeritus William J. Hybl, New York Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner, former USOC President William Martin, and 1936 Olympic sprinter Marty Glickman. He was inducted into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame in October, 2005, and also received the 2006 Distinguished Service Award from the United States Sports Academy. Past winners of the award include Dean Smith, Bobby Allison, Don Shula, Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova, Mario Lemieux, Bud Selig, Al McGuire, George Steinbrenner and Eddie Robinson. Moran coordinated the USOC’s strategies, responses and programs that dealt with the news media and the American public through 13 Olympic Games, two Olympic boycotts, and numerous controversies and crises related to the world’s most visible sporting event. His efforts helped to produce unprecedented coverage of America’s Olympic athletes, the USOC, and the Olympic Games. During his long career with the USOC, he served ten Presidents and eleven Executive Directors or Chief Executive Officers, the most durable executive stint in USOC history. Much in demand as a speaker and master of ceremonies, Moran has occupied the podium for more than 1,500 press conferences, Olympic dinners, sponsor banquets, college graduation ceremonies, sports award banquets, and community and national events. His experiences with America’s greatest athletes, the Games, and the news media are extensive and often moving and humorous for event audiences. He created the USOC’s first media training program for Olympic athletes and created similar programs for Athens-bound American Olympic stars in 2004. Moran grew up in Omaha and graduated in 1960 from the city’s Westside High School and in 1966 from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, then known as Omaha University, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Journalism. He opened his collegiate basketball career at the school with an old-school hook shot for a basket against St. Benedict’s College in 1963. Moran is a member of Westside High’s Hall of Fame, inducted in 1994 along with former University of Nebraska and Washington Redskins football star Pat Fischer and Broadway and Hollywood actor Terry Kiser. At Westside, Moran was a forward on three varsity basketball teams and a 1958-59 teammate of versatile actor Nick Nolte for the Warriors. UNO honored Moran with its Distinguished Journalism Alumni Award in 1980 and with its Distinguished Alumni Award in 1988. He was named as one of the University’s 40 most notable graduates in the first 100 years of the institution in 1998 in a university publication entitled “Profiles”. Before joining the USOC in 1979, Moran served as the Sports Information Director at the University of Colorado from 1968-78 and in the same capacity at his collegiate alma mater from 1966 to 1968. CU awarded him an Honorary “C” athletic letter in 2005 for his commitment and contributions to the Buffaloes, and he was named to the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Hall of Fame on May 23, 2002. Moran began his sports career in 1963 as a sports reporter and photographer at KMTV, Omaha’s then NBC affiliate, where he worked with veteran NBC Nightly News icon Tom Brokaw. He left the post in 1966 to become the Sports Information Director at the University of Omaha and the launch of his public and media relations journey. Mike Moran enjoys his 43rd year in the sports media and public relations field, now in his sixth year as a professional consultant, continuing a career that has earned him the respect of reporters and broadcasters across the United States and internationally. What People Say About Mike Moran: Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist, ABC News/ESPN commentator, best-selling author of Inside Edge and Best Seat in the House: Mike Moran is one of the best speakers I`ve ever heard. He is an excellent emcee and witty speaker with hundreds of interesting stories to tell. For years, Mike was the voice of the U.S. Olympic Committee at banquets, press conferences and events around the world. He is an entertaining storyteller, a poised and articulate speaker and a very funny guy. I recommend him highly to any group. George Vecsey – Sports Columnist, The New York Times: I`ve seen Mike represent organizations in tough public situations and manage to achieve his goals while being humorous and dignified and accurate. He is also a gifted speaker in more informal or friendly gatherings, telling stories that can be poignant or funny, or both. He has great confidence and knowledge and diversity of experience, and would be an asset in any number of events. Philip Hersh, Chicago Tribune Olympic Writer: In my 27 years covering the Olympic movement and the United States Olympic Committee, I have heard Mike Moran deliver formal speeches, introductions at press conferences and hundreds - perhaps thousands -- of incisive and witty comments, many ad-libbed. Mike brings an encyclopedic memory, an apparently limitless supply of anecdotes, passion and point of view to his speaking. He is able to blend entertainment and enlightenment seamlessly, a rare quality. Never did I leave an interaction with Mike feeling that I had not been informed and amused. Never did I underestimate his ability to get his opinion across. My only regret over the few years since Mike left the USOC is that I hear him much less frequently. Alan Abrahamson, NBC Sports: I`ve been a sportswriter for many years now; I was at the LA Times for 17 years, the final eight covering the Olympic movement. (I left last August to go to the dotcom world -- still doing the sportswriting thing.) I thus have seen Mike any number of times, innumerable times, behind a lectern or commanding a stage. He is among the very best in the entire United States -- whether delivering a speech by himself, moderating a panel or emceeing an event. Here`s why: Mike has an incredible depth and breadth of knowledge -- not just about the Olympics but about the progression of sports in our country over the past 30 years. He is able to talk about all that he knows because, to a remarkable degree, he lived it. To hear Mike tell the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan stories from the 1994 Olympics is one of life`s great treats. Beyond that, Mike has that "it" quality -- he has presence, he has an obvious passion for the subject, he never gets rattled and he has that great deep voice. Here is my bottom line. If I were casting about for someone to come to my town to deliver a speech, I`d pick Mike. Everyone is interested in the Olympics, and that interest will only grow keener over the next 18 months, as we get ready for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, which are likely to prove a watershed event in the lives of everyone in this country (I am not overstating the matter). Mike figures to be much in demand, and whoever is in charge of his schedule figures to be busy indeed. Dick Celeste – President, Colorado College: I want to take a minute to tell you what a terrific job Mike Moran does as both as a public speaker and as an MC. Mike understands the power of words and images. He knows how to use the microphone and how to read a crowd. I have probably now heard him in a dozen different settings here in Colorado and he has never failed to connect in an entertaining and thoughtful way. As someone who has done a lot of public speaking (Governor of Ohio for eight years, Ambassador to India and now President of Colorado College) I have listened to more boring speakers than I care to remember. Mike Moran is just the opposite: he conveys a thoughtful message with grace and good humor. I strongly commend him to you. Craig Thompson -- Commissioner, The Mountain West Conference: I must first admit my bias, however. I’ve known and worked with Mike since the late 70’s and feel honored to have watched him advance through all phases of his professional career. From Sweden to Sam’s Bar and Grill, he has and will always be the consummate professional communicator. Whether handling an international Olympic press conference or a local event here in Colorado in front of eight people, he handles the duty with equal aplomb and respect. Ironically, just last week he was the emcee of a baseball luncheon that I attended and during the course of his usual remarkable effort, I turned to a tablemate and commented “Mike seems to have been born to do this.” Whether the event is solemn or light, he knows just the right attitude to bring to the podium. He is one of the best to effectively move the event along, be the keynote speaker or just add to the festivity with great stories and pertinent remembrances. Please write if I can add any detail to my perspective. Cynthia E. Stinger – Manager UNITED STATES OLYMPIANS ASSOCIATION; Olympian `84, `88, `92, United States Olympic Committee: As a three time Olympian and 20-year employee of the United States Olympic Committee, I have had the pleasure, honor, and good fortune to see and hear Mike keynote, MC, and lead many a gathering. From the White House to a Golf Tournament, from the Congressional Dinner to a briefing with Olympic Athletes, from a Board Meeting to an Awards Banquet, from an Employee Meeting to a Hall of Fame Induction, from a Memorial Service to a Retirement Celebration, Domestic or International, Large or Small, English or close to English, Mike captures and conveys the moment and the message better than any I have seen, and as I mentioned above as a three time Olympian I have seen a few that compare. From the news breaking controversies to the joys of victory I have witnessed Mike rise to the occasion and deliver the best, time and time again! Mike is entertaining, brings a sense of humor to and feel good about the occasion! He understands his role and has the ability to enlighten and inspire, and has a real podium/event presence! What sets Mike apart from the rest is his research, preparation, humor, and understanding of the occasion. When it is all said and done - Mike delivers! Mike has a unique ability to capture the moment and make all those involved feel connected to the occasion! But perhaps the highest endorsement and compliment that I can give Mike is that I have tried to improve my public speaking by emulating his preparations and delivery! On a scale of 1-10, Mike is an 11! Thursday, October 7, 2010 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Mary Alice Williams Speaking on: "A New Dynamic for American Democracy" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Mary Alice Williams - Biographical Brief Mary Alice Williams is one of the most prestigious names in network television. She is a highly acclaimed broadcast journalist whose investigative work on such topics as foreign policy, ethics, technology, and healthcare have made her a respected authority and recognized voice for public information. Williams` preeminent stature as a news anchor, programmer, and radio and television personality extends to public and cable television, as well as the corporate business world and interactive media. Since 2003, Williams has brought her impressive history in broadcast journalism to her roles as writer at CBS Evening News, special reporter for WCBS Radio and host of Discovery Health Channel`s Daily Rounds, a program that takes and in-depth look at - and helps to make sense of - the often confusing and persistent health and medical headlines in the media. A published author, Williams adapted a weekly interview program for the Hallmark Channel about strategies for overcoming life`s toughest challenges into a book, Quiet Triumphs, published by Harper Collins. Both the series and the book featured the real life stories of celebrities who have overcome adversity at different points throughout their life and career. Williams built a career breaking new ground in communications and media. She came to national attention as one of the founding anchors and designers of the first worldwide television network, CNN. She was later named vice president and stood as one of the highest ranking female executives in American television. At NBC she became the first woman to win an Emmy Award for anchoring an evening newscast, NBC Nightly News. She continues to blaze new trails, keeping up with the latest technology that is redefining how the world does business and how we live our lives. Previously she served as corporate spokesperson for NYNEX as the company expanded from the premier provider of telephone service in the northeastern United States to a global telecommunications giant. In this role, Williams earned a reputation as one of the nation`s leading experts on new technologies, while her television advertising campaign, NYNEX Right Now, garnered an Effy Award for advertising effectiveness. In addition to pioneering new telecommunications areas and continuing a distinguished journalism career, Williams is hard at work proving that the modern "super woman" doesn`t have to be a myth. She has produced and hosted programming for next generation platforms including interactive television and broadband. For INEXTV.com, she developed an interactive show about business and finance in the entrepreneurial spirit and a business series called Amazing Women. For Centerseat.com she developed a multimedia program in conjunction with Borders Books on reading, writing and literacy. At the lecture podium, Williams is equally adept at addressing the myths and realities of the information age; the struggles facing women balancing career, marriage, and motherhood; and the changing role and ethics of modern broadcast journalism. Her wit, experience, and charm make her one of today`s most engaging women. From 1989 to 1993, Williams was a correspondent and anchor for NBC News programs including Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Sunday Today (which she co-anchored with Garrick Utley), NBC News Special Reports, NBC`s extended coverage of Operation Desert Storm, and NBC Nightly News. Before her tenure at NBC News, Williams was prime-time anchor and vice president in charge of the New York bureau of CNN. She anchored Newswatch, Inside Politics, and Primenews, and was a member of CNN`s political anchor team from 1980 through 1988. She joined CNN in 1979, as part of the original project design team, and played a major role in the network`s development and globalization. As the New York bureau chief, she oversaw the planning and organization of CNN`s second largest bureau. Williams has received numerous awards, including an Emmy Award, top honors from American Women in Radio and Television, and the prestigious Woman of the Year Award from Women in Cable. She has served as broadcast chair for Women in Communications and mass media chair for the National Council of Women. She is the recipient of 14 honorary doctorates. Williams received a BA degree in English and Mass Communications from Creighton University. Williams was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She received a B.A. in English and Mass Communications from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. She is the mother of three daughters; Alice Ann born 1990 and twins Sara Mary and Laura Abigail born 1992. She resides in New Jersey with her family. Tuesday, September 21, 2010 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Gary Hart – Former U.S. Senator and Co-Chairman of the U.S. Commission on National Security, and Scholar in Residence, Colorado University Speaking about His Life and His Book of Memoirs: ”The Thunder and the Sunshine: Four Acts in a Burnished Life” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Sage Room 1600 17th Street Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Gary Hart – Biographical Brief “Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with me— That ever with a frolic welcome took The thunder and the sunshine…” —Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses” For almost four decades, from his role in the 1972 McGovern campaign to his years as a visionary senator, from his leadership on national security matters before and after 9/11 to his contributions as a respected statesman on various issues, Gary Hart has been and continues to be one of America’s great public servants. In this insightful, humble, and often humorous account of his political and public life, Hart shares his journey through the sometimes rough seas of American politics. Through this journey, Hart conveys the lessons he has learned along the way, including the importance of public service, the continued relevance of the ideals of our nation’s founders, and the role of the American republic in the world. More than a personal memoir, The Thunder and the Sunshine is an important contribution to understanding the history of our nation since the 1960s, including firsthand accounts of the end of the Cold War, the presidential elections of 1984 and beyond, America’s initial forays into alternative energy, and the landmark work of the Church Committee. Drawing on the same keen intellect and foresight that shaped his political achievements and prolific writings, Hart provides a lucid critique of our past, present, and future. At a time when political leadership is often questioned and civil discourse is on the decline, this book provides insight to where we have been as a country, and where we must go in the twenty-first century. August 27, 2010 The Denver Forum and the Denver Press Club Proudly Present: The Honorable Ed Perlmutter – United States House of Representatives Speaking on: "The View From Here" 12-Noon Luncheon Sage Room – Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Ed Perlmutter – Biographical Brief With a moderate image burnished as a state legislator, Ed Perlmutter reflects the centrism of his suburban Denver district. His constituents are an almost equal mix of Republicans, Democrats and Independents, so his legislative agenda aims for the middle ground. First and foremost, Ed is a family man. He has three daughters. His eldest daughter, Alexis, has epilepsy. This personal connection has led him to be an outspoken champion for stem cell research. His most ambitious goals are found in his staunch support of renewable energy, an issue he has championed throughout his political career. Ed sees energy independence as a national goal akin to John F. Kennedy’s challenge to land a man on the moon and supports the creation of an “Apollo Project” government research program to meet this goal. This proposal will likely involve his district’s National Renewable Energy Lab, the nation`s premier renewable-energy research facility. Ed has deep roots in the 7th Congressional District. His grandfather and then father, ran a concrete business (in what is now the 7th district) for decades. Ed attended Jefferson County public schools and then worked with his father during the summers while in law school at the University of Colorado. He chose to raise his family in the district where his three daughters also attended Jefferson County Public Schools. In 1994, Ed was elected to the Colorado State Senate as the first Democrat elected to the seat in nearly 30 years. He served two terms, and eventually became President Pro Tempore before being term limited. Colorado has a two-term, four years per term, limit in the State Senate. In the Senate he garnered the reputation as a bipartisan bridge-builder and a champion of renewable energy and smart growth policies. In 2006, Ed was first elected to represent the 7th Congressional District in Congress and is currently serving in his second term. In the 111th Congress, Ed is proud to be assigned to the exclusive Financial Services Committee and the influential Rules Committee which sets the parameters for debating and voting for legislation on the House floor. Additionally, Perlmutter will serve on the following Financial Services subcommittees: 1) Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises; and 2) Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. Thursday, August 5, 2010 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Jim Leach – Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities Speaking on: "Civility in a Fractured Society" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Grand Ballroom (enter of Wazee) Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Jim Leach – Biographical Brief Jim Leach is the ninth Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Nominated by President Barack Obama on July 9, 2009, and confirmed by the Senate in early August, Leach began his four-year term as NEH Chairman on August 12, 2009. Leach previously served 30 years representing southeastern Iowa in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he chaired the Banking and Financial Services Committee, the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and founded and co-chaired the Congressional Humanities Caucus. After leaving Congress in 2007, Leach joined the faculty at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, where he was the John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs until his confirmation as NEH chairman. In September 2007, Leach took a year’s leave of absence from Princeton to serve as interim director of the Institute of Politics and lecturer at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Leach graduated from Princeton University, received a Master of Arts degree in Soviet politics from the School of Advanced International Studies at The John Hopkins University, and did additional graduate studies at the London School of Economics. Leach holds eight honorary degrees and has received numerous awards, including the Sidney R. Yates Award for Distinguished Public Service to the Humanities from the National Humanities Alliance; the Woodrow Wilson Award from The Johns Hopkins University; the Adlai Stevenson Award from the United Nations Association; the Edgar Wayburn Award from the Sierra Club; the Wayne Morse Integrity in Politics Award; the Norman Borlaug Award for Public Service; and the Wesley Award for Service to Humanity. A three-sport athlete in college, Leach was elected to the Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and the International Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa. Leach resides in Iowa City and the Washington, D.C., area with his wife Elisabeth (Deba), son Gallagher, and daughter Jenny. Wednesday, June 23, 2010 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Christine Brennan – USA Today Columnist and ABC-Sports/ESPN Commentator Author of and Speaking on: "Best Seat in the House" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Christine Brennan - Biographical Brief Journalist Christine Brennan - USA Today sports columnist and ABC/ESPN television sports analyst - is a leading voice on the Olympics, international sports, women’s sports and other sports issues. Brennan, a staff writer at The Washington Post from 1984-96, was an on-air commentator for ABC News and ESPN television during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, breaking the news of the pairs figure skating scandal at the Games. She also worked for ABC News during the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Brennan has appeared on a variety of network and cable shows over the past decade, including ESPN`s SportsCenter, Nightline, Good Morning America, World News Tonight and NBC`s Today show. A commentator on National Public Radio`s Morning Edition, Brennan appears regularly on ESPN Radio and WMAL Radio in Washington, D.C. Her sports commentaries appear on-line at usatoday.com. Brennan, who joined USA Today as a columnist in 1997, became the first woman to cover the Washington Redskins in 1985 as a staff writer at The Washington Post. At the Post, she covered the Olympics and international sports, reporting from many nations, including Cuba and the former Soviet Union. Brennan has covered every Olympics since the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Prior to joining the Post, Brennan was the first woman sports writer at The Miami Herald, where she worked from 1981-84. The author of four books, Brennan has won the Women`s Sports Foundation`s journalism award four times, and her work has been featured in various sports anthologies. Her 1998 book "Edge of Glory" won an Ohioana Library Association book award. In 1993, she was named the Capital Press Women`s "Woman of Achievement." She recently was named one of the top 10 sports columnists in the category of the nation`s largest newspapers by the Associated Press Sports Editors for 2001. A native of Toledo, Ohio, Brennan was inducted into the Ohio Women`s Hall of Fame in 1995. She graduated from Ottawa Hills High School in 1976. In 1988, Brennan was elected the first president of the Association for Women in Sports Media. As president of the nationwide organization, she initiated a scholarship-internship program for college-age women that now honors six students annually. Brennan received undergraduate and master`s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University in 1980 and 1981, respectively. She lives in Washington, D.C. Thursday, April 22, 2010 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Helen Thorpe Author of and Speaking on: “Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Helen Thorpe – Biographical Brief Helen Thorpe is a freelance journalist whose magazine stories have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, New York , George, Westword, and 5280. Born in London, she grew up in Medford, New Jersey. She has worked as a staff writer for The New York Observer; The New Yorker, where she wrote “Talk of the Town” stories; and Texas Monthly. She has also produced radio stories that have aired on This American Life and Soundprint. Thorpe is married to John Hickenlooper, the mayor of Denver, and they have one son. She currently serves on the boards of two non-profit organizations that focus on ensuring the success of all children, particularly those who are growing up in poverty (the Clayton Foundation and the Colorado Children’s Campaign). Just Like Us is her first book. What People Have Said about Just Like Us: “Just Like Us beautifully and powerfully reminds us of the individuals whose lives lie at the center of the chaos that is our approach to immigration. Helen Thorpe has taken policy and turned it into literature.” — Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers “With a gaze that is tender and ever-alert, Helen Thorpe follows the lives of four young women—Mexican and American—so alike in their coming-of-age, but separated by the ironies of geography, the border that cuts through the heart.” — Richard Rodriguez, author of Hunger of Memory, Days of Obligation, and Brown: The Last Discovery of America “This is a penetrating, fair, and refreshingly personal examination of the passions that fuel the immigration controversy in this country. Helen Thorpe measures the arguments on both sides of this national debate against the actual human costs imposed by the status quo. This book will find a central place in this debate.” — Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, as well as Noriega, Twins, Remembering Satan, Saints & Sinners, In the New World, and City Children, Country Summer “With a perfect combination of narrative and reflection, empathy and analysis, Helen Thorpe tells both a particular story of four irresistibly engaging young women, and a universal story of the struggle between human aspiration and intractable obstacles. If this book gets widely read, our national conversation on immigration could make a shift from ‘shrill and draining’ to ‘thoughtful and productive.’ In this book, the force and power of journalism reach their peak.” — Patricia Nelson Limerick, author of The Legacy of Conquest and Something in the Soil Reviews of Helen Thorpe’s Just Like Us The Atlantic Monthly In this, her first book, Thorpe, an accomplished journalist, vividly chronicles the coming-of-age of four Mexican American teenagers in Colorado. The young women struggle to reconcile an elusive American dream with the irony of their situations—only two of them have immigration papers, an invisible distinction that sets them at odds with one another and with the nation they consider home. The author, drawn into the tumultuous world of the girls and their families, sees her relationship with her subjects complicated when an illegal immigrant murders a local police officer, ensnaring Thorpe’s husband, who is the mayor of Denver, in a political maelstrom. Thorpe’s dual vantage point affords her insight into the loyalties—familial, cultural, financial—that color American perspectives on immigration, and she presents them here with measured compassion. By casting the girls’ experiences, and her own, against the larger policy debate, Thorpe personalizes an often generalized problem, and delves into questions of opportunity and identity to examine the “intersection between the terrible mystery of our being” and the “inevitably flawed fashion” in which we govern ourselves. The New Yorker Over the course of several years, Thorpe shadowed a group of four friends from immigrant families in Denver. Two of the girls hold legal documents, two do not. Against the odds, each finds her way into a good college, but the hurdles only mount from there. Student loans are not an option when you don’t have a Social Security number, and if your parents face deportation your siblings may be moving into the dorm. Like her subjects, Thorpe straddles two worlds: she is both a journalist and the wife of Denver’s mayor. Despite the occasional lapse into bland civic boosterism, she is meticulously observant, always attuned to the poignant ironies of her topic. One undocumented mother, a sometime housecleaner, confides that she wants her “children always to be behind a desk.” Even as Thorpe cheers the young women’s academic triumphs, she begins to wonder whether education (or, indeed, any individual accomplishment) can offer a panacea for the “state of irresolution” that they inhabit. The Washington Post Helen Thorpe, a veteran reporter, brings a journalist’s eye to her story. Her narrative is quick-paced and full of incident and clamor. Like her predecessors, she goes across the border to bang around in trucks and cough in the dust clouds. Yet her attention to ambience and detail lends a vibe that is enriched by her empathy. “We . . . lurched back onto the smooth blacktop that led to Durango,” she writes. “Despair lurked back at the dusty crossroads . . . but why should we linger there, when the sun flared in the endless sky and crops flourished all around?” Both the journey and the destination haunt the book, and the United States can seem as alien as the distant landscapes from which the immigrants have come. Rather than finding this whole scene enervating, Thorpe finds it exhilarating…. These are the stories of the new America. I say, Sí.” Denver Post Somewhere in this very city, four Mexican-American women are living their lives, struggling with the same passions, worries and ambitions as any young women finding their place in the world. In Helen Thorpe’s first book, the longtime writer (and wife of Hizzoner John Hickenlooper) demonstrates her mettle as a storyteller by weaving their stories through an insightful meditation on the issue of immigration, legal and illegal, in America. In an instance where names truly have been changed to protect the innocent, Thorpe uses pseudonyms for the quartet, whom we first meet on the eve of their high school prom. Two of the girls, Marisela Benavídez and Yadira Vargas, are the children of illegal immigrants, raised here, yet so estranged from their peers they joke about forming a club called “Girls Like Us.” Clara Luz is a legal resident and Elissa Ramírez a naturalized citizen, so their documentation grants privileges, as simple as the right to park in the school parking lot, that other students take for granted. All four are fascinating and unique. Elissa approaches life as if it were a sport while Clara is a cipher who blends in with her Anglo peers and Yadira is so ambitious, she secures private funding to go to college despite her unofficial status. But none is more intriguing than Marisela, a spirited activist with a foot in two worlds whose loyalties are forever divided. Thorpe captures them at a critical moment in their lives, as well, as they begin finding their voices at the University of Denver. “Actually, I did not believe that illegal immigration should be encouraged,” Thorpe writes. “I thought that the phenomenon damaged this country, not to mention those people who entered it the wrong way. If spending time with Yadira and Marisela had taught me anything, it had shown me that their opportunities were curtailed by a lack of documents; their illegality perpetually threatened to stunt their potential. Now that the political climate was darkening, their futures looked even more precarious.” Had Thorpe done nothing more than to put a face to the issue of immigration, she would have accomplished a lot. But the book takes a dramatic twist in 2005 when the story is rocked by the murder of police officer Donald Young by Raúl Gómez García, who famously worked as a busboy at a restaurant owned by, among others, her husband. Where she could have detached herself, Thorpe candidly conveys the murder’s stormy effects on herself, her husband, Young’s widow Kelly, the community at large and her four young friends. While Thorpe’s reportage is moving, it’s also thorough. The author gamely visits the city’s Mexican clubs, attends García’s trial and visits Yadira’s mother in Durango, Mexico, to experience the heartbreaking chasm between families on both sides of the border. Politics also makes for strange bedfellows as Thorpe jousts with Republican former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, making a laudable attempt to see things his way. There is political fodder here for those who come looking for it, but by no means is it most pivotal to the story at hand. By positioning herself not as an apologist, but as both journalist and participant in events, Thorpe — a naturalized citizen originally from London — raises huge questions while simultaneously offering an uncommon insider’s look at the ramifications of citizenship for communities coping with the issue. Not to confess her presence would be a violation not only of journalistic ethics but of her friendship with these women; the book is better for the honesty. “All of us had acquired labels that were not of our own choosing, because of actions committed by people we loved,” Thorpe writes. “Their parents had decided to cross the border without the right documentation, and consequently the world labeled them illegal aliens. My husband had chosen to run for office, and now the public saw me as the mayor’s wife. “I still saw myself as a journalist, and could never accept that I would be defined by the actions of my spouse, just as the girls could never accept that they would be defined by the actions of their parents. The girls had to contend with a label that was toxic, while if anything the label I wore was insufferably positive. Yet both kinds of labels served to hide, rather than reveal.” By the time the book ends, it’s easy to feel as though we know these four women, which may cause even the most uncompromising opponents of immigration reform to reconsider their outlook. And that, after all, was probably the point in the first place. Wednesday, February 17, 2010 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Jim Wallis of Sojourners – One of America’s Great Prophetic Voices Author of and speaking on: “Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street – A Moral Compass for the New Economy” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Grand Ballroom (enter on Wazee) Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Jim Wallis – Biographical Brief Jim Wallis is a bestselling author, public theologian, speaker, preacher, and international commentator on religion and public life, faith and politics. His latest book is "Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street – A Moral Compass for the New Economy.” The previous book was “The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post–Religious Right America.” Before that he wrote, “God`s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn`t Get It”, which was on The New York Times bestseller list for 4 months. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Sojourners; where he is editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine, whose combined print and electronic media have a readership of more than 250,000 people. Wallis speaks at more than 200 events a year and his columns appear in major newspapers, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and both Time and Newsweek online. He regularly appears on radio and television, including shows like Meet the Press, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the O`Reilly Factor, and is a frequent guest on the news programs of CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and National Public Radio. He has taught at Harvard`s Divinity School and Kennedy School of Government on "Faith, Politics, and Society." He has written eight books, including: “Faith Works”, “The Soul of Politics”, “Who Speaks for God?” and “The Call to Conversion.” Jim Wallis was raised in a Midwest evangelical family. As a teenager, his questioning of the racial segregation in his church and community led him to the black churches and neighborhoods of inner-city Detroit. He spent his student years involved in the civil rights and antiwar movements at Michigan State University. While at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, Jim and several other students started a small magazine and community with a Christian commitment to social justice which has now grown into a national faith-based organization. In 1979, Time magazine named Wallis one of the "50 Faces for America`s Future." Jim lives in inner-city Washington, D.C. with his wife, Joy Carroll, one of the first women ordained in the Church of England and author of "Beneath the Cassock: The Real-life Vicar of Dibley" and their sons, Luke (9) and Jack (4). He is a Little League baseball coach. Visit Jim Wallis and Sojourners at their website www.Sojo.net and read his daily blog at www.GodsPolitics.com. Thursday, January 7, 2010 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Richard Reeves – Journalist and Historian of Acclaim Speaking on: “Daring Young Men: The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift – June 1948-May 1949” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: About Richard Reeves Richard Reeves, Senior Lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, is an author and syndicated columnist whose column has appeared in more than 100 newspapers since 1979. A new column also appears on Yahoo! News each Friday. He has received dozens of awards for his work in print, television and film. Educated as a mechanical engineer, Richard Reeves began his career in journalism at the age of 23, founding the Phillipsburg Free Press in Phillipsburg, N.J. He has been a correspondent for the Newark Evening News and the New York Herald Tribune and was the Chief Political Correspondent of The New York Times. He has also written for numerous other publications, becoming National Editor and Columnist for Esquire and New York Magazine along the way. Named a "literary lion" by the New York Public Library, Reeves has won a number of print journalism awards and has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist and juror. In 1975, Reeves published his first book, "A Ford, not a Lincoln." His "President Kennedy: Profile of Power" is now considered the authoritative work on the 35th president, has won several national awards and was named the Best Non-Fiction Book of 1993 by Time and Book of the Year by Washington Monthly. Reeves has also worked extensively on television and in film. He was Chief Correspondent on "Frontline". He has made six television films and won all of television`s major documentary awards: the Emmy for "Lights, Camera . . . Politics!" for ABC News; the Columbia-DuPont Award for "Struggle for Birmingham" for PBS; and the George Foster Peabody Award for "Red Star over Khyber" for PBS. He has also appeared in two feature films, "Dave" and "Seabiscuit". In 1998, he won the Carey McWilliams Award of the American Political Science Association for distinguished contributions to the understanding of American politics. He was the Goldman Lecturer on American Civilization and Government at the Library of Congress that year; the lectures were published by Harvard University Press under the title "What the People Know: Freedom and the Press." In 2007, W.W. Norton will publish his biography — and re-creation of the experiments — of Ernest Rutherford, the Nobel prizewinning physicist, who was born on the frontier of New Zealand in 1871 and went on to become the greatest experimental scientist of his time, discovering the unimagined subatomic world we now know and then splitting the atom he first envisioned. He is currently working in the United States and Europe on a history of the Berlin Airlift, scheduled for publication in 2008.experimental scientist of his time, discovering the unimagined subatomic world we now know and then splitting the atom he first envisioned. He is currently working in the United States and Europe on a history of the Berlin Airlift, scheduled for publication in 2008. Positions Chief Correspondent, Frontline, PBS, 1981-1984. Panelist, We Interrupt This Week, PBS, 1978 National Editor and Columnist, Esquire, 1976-1980. National Editor and Columnist, New York Magazine, 1971-1976. Chief Political Correspondent, The New York Times, 1966-1971. Correspondent, The New York Herald Tribune, 1965-66. Correspondent, The Newark Evening News, 1963-65. Editor, Phillipsburg (N.J.) Free Press, 1961-63. Engineer, Ingersoll-Rand Co., 1960-61. Publications President Nixon: Alone in the White House, Simon and Schuster, 2001 What The People Know: Freedom and the Press, Harvard University, 1998 Do the Media Govern?, Sage, 1997 (with Shanto Iyengar) Family Travels: Around the World in 30 Days, Andrews and McMeel, 1997 Character Above All, Vol. 4, Simon and Schuster Audio, 1996 Running in Place, Andrews and McMeel, 1996 President Kennedy: Profile of Power, Simon and Schuster, 1993 The Reagan Detour, Simon and Schuster, 1984 Passage to Peshawar, Simon and Schuster, 1983 American Journey; Travelling with Tocqueville, Simon and Schuster, 1982 Jet Lag, Andrews and McMeel, 1981 Convention, Harcourt Brace, 1977 Old Faces of 1976, Harper and Row, 1976 A Ford, not a Lincoln, Harcourt Brace, 1975 Hundreds of magazine articles on public affairs for most major American magazines, including particularly New York Magazine, The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine. Films "Plowing Up a Storm", PBS, 1986 "Red Star Over Afghanistan", PBS, 1984 "Struggle for Birmingham", PBS, 1984 "American Journey", PBS, 1983 Lights, Camera . . . Politics", ABC, 1980 "TV on Trial", PBS, 1978 Awards Carey McWilliams Award of the American Political Science Association, 1998 Goldman Lecturer, Library of Congress, 1997 PEN Non-Fiction Book of the Year, 1993 Washington Monthly Book of the Year, 1993 Christophers Book of the Year, 1983 Columbia-Peabody Award, 1984 George Foster Peabody Award, 1984 Christopher Award, 1982 National Emmy, 1980 Silver Gavel, American Bar Association, 1978 Literary Lion, New York Public Library Lifetime Achievement Award, National Society of Newspaper Columnists Honorary Degrees: Stevens Institute of Technology; Drew University; St. Joseph`s College Thursday, December 10, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Doug Price – President and CEO of Rocky Mountain PBS Speaking on: "Public Television and a Changing Media World" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Doug Price – Biographical Brief Doug Price became president and chief executive officer of Rocky Mountain PBS in January 2009. Prior to that, Price had a highly successful career in banking with FirstBank Holding Company of Colorado. A 1978 graduate of the University of Colorado, he became president of the FirstBank of Boulder in 1982. Price was promoted to president of FirstBank of Denver in 1988 and retired in 1999 as president of FirstBank of Colorado, the lead bank in the then $4 billion FirstBank Holding Company. In 1995, Price became the founding chairman of Qualistar Early Learning, a nonprofit organization in Denver. Qualistar developed a standardized quality rating system for childcare facilities that is being emulated in more than 40 states. He continued to serve Qualistar until 2006. During this time, Price also served on the U.S. Treasury`s Working Group on Childcare under the Clinton administration. He was also active with the University of Colorado`s Student Leadership Institute for 20 years and currently sits on the Executive Committee of the French American Foundation, which is tasked with improving relations between France and the United States. Price earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado with magna cum laude honors and attended the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington. Thursday, November 19, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Steve Farber – An American Patriot & Denver Civic Leader Author of and Speaking on: “On the List” Joined by Co-Author Harlan Abrahams 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. What people are saying about Steve Farber’s book: “A gripping and compelling tale of courage and compassion in the face of disease, despair and death.” · Bill Owens, former Governor of Colorado “What an amazing book of a life’s journey. From the heartache of Farber’s sons hearing that he might not live, to the brave and courageous decision that one of his sons makes by agreeing to be his donor and lifeline, this book is beyond inspirational.” · Robert Shapiro, attorney and co-author of The Search for Justice “On the List lucidly describes the real-life battle confronting thousands of American families because of complications in the medical and legal systems for managing organ transplants.” · John Chirban, PhD, thD, Harvard Medical School. “A life or death struggle wrapped in a compelling ethical dilemma. Mesmerizing.” · Richard D. Lamm, former three-term governor of Colorado, co-director of the institute for Public Policy studies at the University of Denver, and co-author of Condition Critical: A New Moral Vision for Health Care “A bare-knuckled look at a disturbing health care reality and what needs to be done about it.” · Edward A. Dauer, dean emeritus and professor emeritus of law, University of Denver; and executive director, Colorado Patient Safety Coalition Biographical Brief – Steve Farber A founding partner of Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber & Schreck, a law firm with offices nationwide, where Steve Farber has represented the Denver Broncos and the Denver Nuggets. He has served as commissioner of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, co-chair of the Host Committee for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and member of the board of directors for the University of Colorado Hospital Foundation. Mr. Farber also founded the American Transplant Foundation, which seeks to eliminate the shortage of human transplant organs in the United States. He lives in Denver. Biographical Brief -- Harlan Abrahams Mr. Abrahams is a lawyer, writer, and educator. Formerly a tenured professor of constitutional and administrative law, he is a frequent lecturer on public policy. He lives in Denver. Wednesday, November 4, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: James T. Hackett – Chairman, President & CEO of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Author of and Speaking on: “Oil, Energy & America’s Future” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: James Hackett – Biographical Brief James Hackett was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in December 2003, and Chairman of the Board of the Company in January 2006. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Hackett was the President and Chief Operating Officer of Devon Energy Corporation from April 2003 to December 2003, following Devon`s merger with Ocean Energy, Inc. Mr. Hackett was Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Energy, Inc. from March 1999 to April 2003 and was Chairman of the Board from January 2000 to April 2003. He served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Seagull Energy Corporation from September 1998 until March 1999 and as Chairman of the Board from January 1999 to March 1999 prior to its merger with Ocean Energy. He is a director of Fluor Corporation and Halliburton Company and serves as Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He is the former Chairman of Houston Grand Opera, Campaign Chairman and a member of the Board, and serves as Vice Chairman of the Board (and as Finance Chairman) of the Baylor College of Medicine, and on the Boards of the Business Roundtable, and the Trilateral Commission. He is an Adjunct Professor at Rice University. Friday, October 9, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Marty Meehan – Chancellor, University of Massachusetts, Lowell Speaking on: “American Higher Education in Peril” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Biographical Brief -- Marty Meehan Marty Meehan is the second chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the fourteenth leader of the institution and its predecessor schools, founded in the 1890s. “Higher education is the foundation of this region. It will determine the region’s future,” says Meehan. “What we do now, today, at this university, will decide who will leave and who will stay. Now—there has never been a more critical time than now.” “This place gave me a chance when there weren’t a lot of other opportunities,” Meehan adds. “I feel passionately about this university. Fundamentally, I can tell you it gave me the basis to do whatever I’ve been able to do with my life.” Commenting on the unanimous decision by the University of Massachusetts Trustees to appoint Meehan as chancellor, President Jack Wilson said, “Marty Meehan is a leader, an innovator, and has a demonstrated passion for higher education in general and UMass Lowell in particular.” He assumed the chancellorship on July 1, 2007. A UMass Lowell alumnus, Meehan graduated cum laude in 1978, having studied education and political science. He received a master’s degree in public administration from Suffolk University in 1981 and a juris doctor from Suffolk University Law School in 1986. He holds honorary degrees from Suffolk and Green Mountain College in Vermont. Meehan served as an adjunct faculty member in political science at UMass Lowell in the late 1980s. A resident of Lowell, Meehan represented the fifth congressional district of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2007. He served on the House Armed Services and Judiciary committees. Widely respected as a reformer, he established a national reputation for his legislative leadership in reforming campaign finance laws and protecting people against the health risks in tobacco use. Among his priorities were maintaining a balanced federal budget, preserving Medicare and Social Security, supporting and strengthening the military, and supporting economic growth that is worker- and environment-friendly. Meehan served as Massachusetts deputy secretary of state for securities and corporations from 1986 to 1990. The Boston Globe reported, "During Meehan`s four years as deputy secretary, the Securities Division [went] from being a frequent embarrassment to gaining a national reputation as hard-hitting and activist." In the early 1990s, Meehan was the first assistant district attorney of Middlesex County, supervising more than 150 people, including 80 prosecutors, in an office admired for aggressive prosecution of child abuse, domestic violence and other violent crimes. Meehan is married to Ellen T. Murphy, a health-care consultant and former vice president at Lawrence General Hospital. Ellen received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986 from Simmons College, where she majored in international relations and French. She received a master’s in business administration in 1992 from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. Marty and Ellen are the parents of Robert Francis Meehan, born in 1999, and Daniel Martin Meehan, born in 2002. Friday, September 18, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: T.R. Reid – Foreign Correspondent for The Washington Post & Commentator for National Public Radio (NPR) Author of and Speaking on: “The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Biographical Brief -- T.R. Reid Tom Reid is an American foreign correspondent for The Washington Post and author of nine books, and his tenth entitled, "The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care", will be published in August. A frequent guest on National Public Radio`s Morning Edition, he is married to Denver attorney Margaret M. McMahon with whom he has three children (Denver is home to the Reids). A Classics major at Princeton University, T.R. served as a naval officer, taught and held various positions before working for the Post. T.R. is the author of five books in English and two in Japanese. Through his reporting for The Washington Post, his syndicated weekly column, and his light-hearted commentary from around the world for National Public Radio (NPR), he has become one of America’s best-known foreign correspondents. His 2008 PBS Frontline documentary, "Sick Around the World," under the premise that the US health care system is a failure, looked at the national health care systems of five wealthy countries around the world. The first two countries visited were the U.K. and Japan, both places where Reid has lived while serving as the Washington Post bureau chief and has had doctors. They were followed by Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland. Frontline asked T.R. Reid to follow-up with a companion documentary, "Sick Around America" which aired March 31, 2009, on PBS. But when it appeared, Reid was nowhere to be seen, and his conclusion, "You can`t allow a profit to be made on the basic package of health insurance", was completely absent from the program. As quoted by Russell Mokhiber of Single Payer Action and The Corporate Crime Reporter, Reid said "...mandating for-profit insurance is not the lesson from other countries in the world. I said I`m not going to be in a film that contradicts my previous film and my book." T.R. has been a frequent and highly treasured guest of The Forum. Friday, August 21, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Michael Bennett - United States Senator, Colorado Speaking on: “The Way Ahead for Colorado and America” Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper will introduce Senator Bennett 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Michael Bennet – Biograhical Brief Michael Bennet, the junior Senator from Colorado, has served most recently as the Superintendent of the Denver Public Schools. As a dedicated public servant with comprehensive experience as a businessman, Michael has a proven record of facing tough tasks at critical times. As Superintendent, Michael worked to improve student achievement and classroom performance, while also overseeing a halt to years of budgetary cuts in the Denver Public Schools. While serving as Chief of Staff to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Michael was credited with leading the way on balancing a historic budget deficit. Prior to his service to the city, Michael was a Managing Director at the Anschutz Investment Company, where he managed the restructuring of over $3 billion in corporate debt. Representing Colorado as our state’s next U.S. Senator, Michael will use his understanding and leadership on complex financial and economic issues to be a voice for Colorado’s working families. Almost four years ago, Michael inherited a School District whose achievement rates were flat and, where, for year after year, budgets were cut. With the help of Denver Public Schools’ principals and teachers, Michael has turned this around. Achievement and graduation rates are up, with Denver’s kids growing faster than all the kids in the state on every single test at every single grade level with the exception of one math test. As Superintendent, Michael worked hard to end the annual cycle of budget cuts at the Denver Public Schools. 2008 was the first in five years that the district did not have to cut its budget, and this year Denver was able to invest an additional $18 million in its schools and classrooms to enrich the academic environment for children. As a result, programs such as comprehensive Early Childhood Education have been enacted allowing over 2,000 four year olds to now have a full day Early Childhood Education. Additionally, for the first time in Denver’s history, over 90% of five year olds have access to full-day kindergarten. These improvements are closing the achievement gap suffered by low-income children. Michael, working with the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, revolutionized Procomp, a system of differentiated pay that pays teachers more for driving student achievement, serving in a high poverty school, or bringing a special set of talents, like the teaching of math or special education. Although the changes proposed were controversial, nearly 80% of Denver’s teachers voted for the new proposal. Prior to serving as Superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, Michael served for two years as Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s Chief of Staff. Michael oversaw the balancing of an historic budget deficit, the renegotiation of several collective bargaining agreements, and a complete redesign of the police oversight function. Michael, along with the Mayor, was widely credited with putting together a first rate, diverse team to lead the City through unprecedented fiscal challenges. Before joining Mayor Hickenlooper’s administration, Michael was a Managing Director of the Anschutz Investment Company, where he had direct responsibility for the investment of over $500 million. He led the reorganization of four distressed companies including Forcenergy (which later merged with Denver-based Forest Oil), Regal Cinemas, United Artists, and Edwards Theaters, which together required the restructuring of over $3 billion in debt. Michael also managed, on behalf of Anschutz, the consolidation of the three theater chains into Regal Entertainment Group, the largest motion picture exhibitor in the world. Prior to moving to Denver, Michael served as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice during the Clinton Administration. Michael earned his bachelor’s degree with honors from Wesleyan University and his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was Editor-in-Chief of The Yale Law Journal. Michael married Susan Daggett, a successful natural resources lawyer, in 1997. Michael and Susan are the proud parents of three daughters, Caroline (9), Halina (7), and Anne (4). Wednesday, August 12, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Alan Bersin – Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs, United States Department of Homeland Security Speaking on: “The Border in Crisis” 6:30 PM Dinner Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $35, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: News Release on Secretary Bersin’s Appointment U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano visited El Paso, Texas, today to highlight major DHS efforts to crackdown on illegal immigration and cross-border trafficking, which resulted in more than one million apprehensions of illegal aliens in fiscal year 2008—including nearly 800,000 along the Southwest border. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed 369,000 illegal immigrants from the United States during the same time period, a 27 percent increase from fiscal year 2007. "The Department of Homeland Security has taken strong action to put the right resources in key places along the Southwest border," said Secretary Napolitano. "Thanks to additional technology and personnel along the border, we are getting better intelligence leading to drug and weapons seizures and better identification of illegal and criminal aliens." Secretary Napolitano also announced the appointment of Alan Bersin as DHS Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs. Bersin previously served as U.S. Department of Justice Southwest Border Representative. "Alan brings years of vital experience working with local, state and international partners to help us meet the challenges we face at our borders," said Secretary Napolitano. "He will lead the effort to make our borders safe while working to promote commerce and trade." Secretary Napolitano visited El Paso as part of a three-stop tour of the Southwest border, which will also include visits to Columbus, N.M., and Nogales, Ariz. Secretary Napolitano will then travel to Mexico City to meet President Obama. Bersin’s responsibilities at DHS will include improving relationships with the Department`s partners in the international community, as well as those at the state and local level including elected officials, law enforcement, community organizations and religious leaders. He will lead the Department’s efforts to crack down on violence along the Southwest border highlighted in Secretary Napolitano’s March 24 announcement including the deployment of additional personnel and enhanced technology to help Mexico target illegal guns, drugs and cash. Mr. Bersin will report directly to the Secretary’s office, and begins immediately. Following the announcement in El Paso, Texas, Bersin will travel to the border communities of Del Rio, Laredo, Hidalgo, McAllen, and Brownsville where he will meet with local law enforcement to discuss coordination across the border and with federal, state and local authorities. Bersin brings unique experience to the post, as a law enforcement official, educator, and civil servant. Bersin was appointed in 1995 by former Attorney General Janet Reno as Special Representative for the Southwest Border with responsibility to coordinate border law enforcement from South Texas to Southern California. Bersin advised the Attorney General on improvements in immigration law enforcement along the Southwest border in addition to overseeing anti drug and human trafficking programs. Bersin also worked with the Mexican government and local partners on important trans-national issues such as cross-border commerce and immigration. From 1993 to 1998, Bersin served as the U.S. Attorney for California`s Southern District where he tripled felony prosecutions, resulting in the heaviest federal criminal caseload in the country. These prosecutions involved a full range of federal criminal violations, including immigration and narcotics offenses, in addition to violent and white collar crime. Most recently, Bersin was the Board Chairman of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. Prior to that position, Bersin served as California’s Secretary of Education and the Superintendent of the San Diego Public Schools. He holds a B.A. from Harvard College, a J.D. from Yale University, and was also a Rhodes Scholar. Thursday, July 16, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Gretchen Peters – Former ABC News Correspondent Author of and Speaking on: “Seeds of Terror: How Heroin Is Bankrolling the Taliban and al Qaeda” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Gretchen Peters – Biographical Brief Gretchen Peters covered Pakistan and Afghanistan for more than a decade, first for The Associated Press and later as a reporter for ABC News. A Harvard graduate, Ms. Peters was nominated for an Emmy for her coverage of the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister, and won the SAJA Journalism Award for a Nightline segment on the former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf. Ms. Peters` work has appeared in leading media outlets including The Christian Science Monitor, The New Republic and The National Geographic Channel, and she has been a regular Gretchen Peters` Speeches: The Myth of the Ideological War on Terror: A Look at Criminal Groups Backing the Taliban and al Qaeda, told from the first-hand perspective of a reporter on the ground. How Drugs Have Shaped the Afghan Conflict from the 1980`s to the Present: Gretchen discusses the history of modern Afghanistan and the roots of the rise of the Taliban and fundamentalist Islam in the region. A Global Look at the Links Between Insurgency and Crime: Gretchen draws on her vast experience as a journalist in this compelling look at the links between insurgency and criminal activity. Raising Children in a Nation on the Brink: Getchen`s tale of her three years as a mother and ABC News reporter in Pakistan. Friday, June 26, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Lew Daly Author of and Speaking on: “Unjust Deserts: How the Rich Are Taking Our Common Inheritance and Why We Should Take It Back” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Grand Ballroom (enter off Wazee) Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Biographical Brief -- Lew Daly Lew Daly is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Fellows Program at Demos. A writer on religion, political development, and economic thought, Daly`s recent books include "Godless Economy" (University of Chicago Press, 2009), a comparative study of church-state law and welfare governance in Europe and the United States. He is also the author of "God and the Welfare State" (The MIT Press, 2006), and has published articles, reviews, and commentary in many publications, including Dissent, The Boston Review, Theoria, The Journal of Markets & Morality, Sightings, and Church & Society. Daly was previously a fellow of the Schumann Center for Media & Democracy, where he worked closely with then-president Bill Moyers on special projects. He formerly worked as a research consultant with the Democracy Collaborative of the University of Maryland, and as a researcher and strategist on religious advocacy. In the mid-1990s, Daly did pastoral work in a federal prison as well as community organizing on labor issues. With a B.A. degree from Oberlin College, he holds advanced degrees from Brown University, the University at Buffalo, and Union Theological Seminary. ------------ The viewpoint presented in this important and provocative book by Alperovitz and Daly should alter the current public discourse on income distribution. —Kenneth J. Arrow, Nobel laureate in Economic Sciences Rarely do the facts of the matter so illuminate a moral truth as they do in Unjust Deserts. Quite simply, this book changes the fundamental terms of reference for future debates about inequality. It convincingly demonstrates that knowledge is the primary source of our national wealth, with or without the elites at the top who claim the lion’s share. In a surprising yet persuasive way, Alperovitz and Daly help us understand what this reality means, and the values at stake, in a nation growing more unequal with each passing day. This book opens an extraordinary new vista on the moral bankruptcy of our second Gilded Age. —Bill Moyers Tuesday, May 5, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Laura Flanders Author of & Speaking on: “Blue Grit: Making Impossible, Improbable, and Inspirational Change in America” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Biographical Brief -- Laura Flanders Laura Flanders is the host of "GRITtv" the new, daily, news-discussion and take action program seen on Free Speech TV (Dish Network ch. 9415) and online at the popular blog site Firedoglake.com as well as at GRITtv.org. She also serves as the host of RadioNation, the nationally-syndicated weekly radio program of the Nation Magazine. In election year, 2008, she hosted a five-part series of live, town-hall events in five different states in the run up to the General Election. Live from Main Street with Laura Flanders is produced by the Media Consortium with GRITtv. Flanders is also the author of "Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians" (Penguin Books, 2007), an investigation into what people at the grassroots know that Democratic party leaders could learn, and "BUSHWOMEN: Tales of a Cynical Species" (Verso, 2004), an expose of women in George W. Bush`s Cabinet. Publisher`s Weekly called Flanders` New York Times best-seller, "fierce, funny and intelligent." She wrote on Hillary Clinton in "The Contenders" (Seven Stories Press, 2007) and edited "The W Effect: Sexual Politics in the Age of Bush," in 2004 for the Feminist Press. Before joining Air America when it launched in March 2004, Laura hosted the award-winning " Your Call," Monday-Friday, on public radio, KALW, 91.7 fm in San Francisco. Flanders` TV appearances include "Lou Dobbs Tonight" and " Larry King Live " on CNN as well as "The O`Reilly Factor," and "Hannity and Colmes," (FOX News) "Washington Journal," "Donahue," "Good Morning America" and the CBC news discussion program, "CounterSpin." Her writing appears in The Nation, Alternet, Ms. Magazine, and elsewhere and her op-ed pieces have appeared in papers including The San Francisco Chronicle. Flanders was founding director of the Women`s Desk at the media watch group, FAIR and for more than ten years she produced and hosted CounterSpin, FAIR`s nationally-syndicated radio program. She is also the author of "Real Majority, Media Minority; the Cost of Sidelining Women in Reporting" (Common Courage Press, 1997) about which Susan Faludi wrote, "If only there were a hundred of her." Katha Pollitt called it "Funny, angry, fact filled and brilliant." *For more information and to contribute video to GRIT TV go to http://.grittv.org. Friday, April 17, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Christine Brennan – USA Today Columnist and ABC-Sports/ESPN Commentator Author of and Speaking on: "Best Seat in the House" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 THIS EVENT CANCELLED - WILL BE RESCHEDULED Event Sponsor: Christine Brennan - Biographical Brief Journalist Christine Brennan - USA Today sports columnist and ABC/ESPN television sports analyst - is a leading voice on the Olympics, international sports, women’s sports and other sports issues. Brennan, a staff writer at The Washington Post from 1984-96, was an on-air commentator for ABC News and ESPN television during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, breaking the news of the pairs figure skating scandal at the Games. She also worked for ABC News during the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Brennan has appeared on a variety of network and cable shows over the past decade, including ESPN`s SportsCenter, Nightline, Good Morning America, World News Tonight and NBC`s Today show. A commentator on National Public Radio`s Morning Edition, Brennan appears regularly on ESPN Radio and WMAL Radio in Washington, D.C. Her sports commentaries appear on-line at usatoday.com. Brennan, who joined USA Today as a columnist in 1997, became the first woman to cover the Washington Redskins in 1985 as a staff writer at The Washington Post. At the Post, she covered the Olympics and international sports, reporting from many nations, including Cuba and the former Soviet Union. Brennan has covered every Olympics since the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Prior to joining the Post, Brennan was the first woman sports writer at The Miami Herald, where she worked from 1981-84. The author of four books, Brennan has won the Women`s Sports Foundation`s journalism award four times, and her work has been featured in various sports anthologies. Her 1998 book "Edge of Glory" won an Ohioana Library Association book award. In 1993, she was named the Capital Press Women`s "Woman of Achievement." She recently was named one of the top 10 sports columnists in the category of the nation`s largest newspapers by the Associated Press Sports Editors for 2001. A native of Toledo, Ohio, Brennan was inducted into the Ohio Women`s Hall of Fame in 1995. She graduated from Ottawa Hills High School in 1976. In 1988, Brennan was elected the first president of the Association for Women in Sports Media. As president of the nationwide organization, she initiated a scholarship-internship program for college-age women that now honors six students annually. Brennan received undergraduate and master`s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University in 1980 and 1981, respectively. She lives in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, March 4, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Craig Mullaney – A National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama Author of & Speaking on: “The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier’s Education” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Notes on Craig Mullaney Each choice an officer makes in the heat of combat affects the lives of the soldiers under his or her command. In The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier’s Education, U.S. Army Captain Craig Mullaney shares his compelling story of personal evolution from a blue-collar upbringing in Rhode Island to Bronze Star recipient, Army Ranger to West Point and Oxford educated officer, naïve teenager to experienced veteran facing daily challenges on the front lines of Afghanistan. Join Mullaney as he offers a rare and honest meditation on the intellectual and physical discipline and the emotional compassion required of an officer leading soldiers in war, as well as a unique coming-of age story filled with life lessons, humor, and historical significance. Advance Praise for The Unforgiving Minute “The Unforgiving Minute is a wonderful, beautifully written story of the education and development of a young soldier-scholar, the coming of age of an infantry officer, and the exercise of a small unit leader`s responsibilities in a tough, complex, and frustrating situation in Afghanistan. It captures particularly eloquently and movingly the relationships among those who walk point for our nation as part of that most elite of fraternities, the brotherhood of the close fight.” — General David Petraeus, Commander, U.S. Central Command “Craig Mullaney`s memoir is a story of our time, from West Point to combat in Afghanistan and back. This is a thoughtful, introspective work reminiscent of the great British memoirs of World War I. A thousand years from now, historians wanting to know about life in America after 9/11 would do well to look at this book. Equally important, it is an enjoyable and honest book. Read it.” — Thomas E. Ricks, author, FIASCO: The American Military Adventure in Iraq and senior military correspondent, The Washington Post “The Unforgiving Minute is the poignant true story of a young man’s unusual education from the classrooms of West Point and Oxford University to his development as a leader, son, brother, husband and friend. In this powerful book, we share in the remarkable experiences of a Rhodes Scholar, and the heartache and pride of a soldier. I admire Craig Mullaney’s courage, and thank him for his service.” — Senator Richard Lugar, former Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee “Mullaney writes a great story—a true privilege to read. Entertaining, balanced, and graceful, The Unforgiving Minute is a powerful narrative of purpose, responsibility, courage, and personal growth. Mullaney offers unique insights into war, the art of tactical leadership, and the hearts of his soldiers. Every young man and woman in America should read this book, and aspire to his standard of public service. We could do no better as a nation.” — General (Ret.) Wesley Clark Wednesday, February 11, 2009 The Denver Forum and The Black Colorado Chamber of Commerce Proudly Present: Dr. William E. Spriggs – Chairman, Department of Economics, Howard University Speaking on: “The Economy in 2009 & Beyond” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Oxford Theater (enter off Wazee) Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Dr. William E. Spriggs – Biographical Brief Dr. William E. Spriggs became Chair of the Department, and a professor, of Economics at Howard University in Washington, DC in December 2005. In Fall 2008, he served on the Agency Review Team for the Department of Labor for the transition efforts of President Obama. In the spring of 2008, with Steven Pitts, he co-authored “Beyond the Mountaintop: King’s Prescription for Poverty,” for the Rosenberg Foundation, to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Starting in July 2006 he served as chair of the Independent Health Care Trust for UAW Retirees of Ford Motor Company, and is on the board of the Retiree Health Administration Corporation, which administers the health care trusts for UAW retirees of Ford and General Motors. Beginning in January 2007 he was a senior fellow with the Community Service Society of New York, where he helped with Working for Change, a public policy forum held on the problems of young low-income workers and their families. Beginning in August 2008 he became chair of the UAW Retirees of the Dana Corporation Health and Welfare Trust, which administers the health and disability trusts for UAW retirees of the Dana Corporation. He serves as vice chair of the Board of the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute. In 2008 he also served on the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Union National Commission on ICE Misconduct and Violations of 4th Amendment Rights chaired by UFCW president Joe Hansen and which included former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack. Dr. Spriggs, a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, currently serves on the joint National Academy of Sciences and NAPA Committee on the Fiscal Future of the United States: Analysis and Policy Options. As a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, he was the co-chair of the 2003 NASI conference that produced the volume, Strengthening Community: Social Insurance in a Diverse America. Before going to Howard, Dr. Spriggs was at the Economic Policy Institute as a senior fellow, having returned there in 2004. From 1988 to 2004, he was Executive Director of the National Urban League’s Institute for Opportunity and Equality, where among other duties he was editor of the State of Black America 1999, and led research on pay equity that won the NUL the 2001 Winn Newman Award from the National Committee on Pay Equity. He represented the NUL on various boards including the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Black Leadership Forum and the National Coalition for Black Civic Participation. In 2004, with several of his Washington-based civil rights advocate colleagues; he was awarded the Congressional Black Caucus Chairman’s Award by then CBC Chair Elijah Cummings. On behalf of the NUL he gave congressional testimony on how various policies affect Black and low-income communities, and participated in the UN World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance, where he contributed language adopted in the Programme of Action relating to documenting racial disparities and incorporating closing racial disparities within efforts to achieve the Copenhagen goals for World Social Development. Before working at the National Urban League, Dr. Spriggs held various positions in government service during the Clinton Administration: in 1993 and 1994 he led the staff of the National Commission for Employment Policy, and in 1997 and 1998 he worked at the Department of Commerce, where he worked on the federal response to the Adarand v. Pena decision, crafting the guidelines for the federal Small Disadvantage Business program that successfully addressed the Courts’ concerns in the Adarand case, and at the Small Business Administration. He served as a senior economist for the Democratic staff of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress from 1994 to 1997, where, among other things, he worked on the passage of the increase in the minimum wage and to prevent legislative efforts to roll back affirmative action in federal procurement. Dr. Spriggs is a past-board member and President of the National Economic Association – the professional organization of Black economists, currently serves on the policy board of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, and is a Board member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. In 2006 he was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He serves on the boards of the National Employment Law Project, the National Committee for the Preservation of Social Security and Medicare, and the National Advisory Council of Corporate Voices for Working Families. He is a member of the Black Enterprise Magazine Board of Economists, and served on the 2002 Time Magazine Board of Economists. He taught six years at Norfolk State University in Virginia, where he also headed the Honors Program for non-science students, and two years at North Carolina A & T State University (in Greensboro). He did graduate and undergraduate student internships with the United Nations Development Program in New York and the Africa Bureau of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington, DC. He has presented economic papers at conferences in Brazil, Chile, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland, and has published in both academic and popular journals, as well as appearing on various television and radio news programs. Dr. Spriggs holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA from Williams College, graduating cum laude in 1977. Thursday, January 15, 2009 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Roy Blount Jr. – One of America’s Most Acclaimed Writers Author of & Speaking on: “Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, ... With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Roy Blount Jr. SELF-PROMOTIONAL BIO, IN THIRD PERSON Roy Blount Jr. is the author of twenty-one books, about a wide range of things, from the first woman president of the United States to what barnyard animals are thinking. The most recent, "Alphabet Juice" (Farrar, Straus), is just out in hardback and audiobook form. The next most recent, "Long Time Leaving: Dispatches From Up South" (Knopf), won the 2007 nonfiction award from the New England Independent Booksellers Association; and AudioFile chose the audio version (HighBridge) as one of the year`s top five books read by their authors. The book before that one, "Feet on the Street: Rambles Around New Orleans," "delivers the goods," according to the New York Times: "a wild, unpredictable ramble through a wild, unpredictable town." He is a panelist on NPR`s Wait, Wait...Don`t Tell Me, a columnist for The Oxford American, the president of the Authors Guild, a member of PEN and the Fellowship of Southern Authors, a New York Public Library Literary Lion, a Boston Public Library Literary Light, a usage consultant to the American Heritage Dictionary, and an original member of the Rock Bottom Remainders. He comes from Decatur, Georgia and lives in western Massachusetts. His first book, about hanging out with the Pittsburgh Steelers, "About Three Bricks Shy...And the Load Filled Up," now available from the University of Pittsburgh Press, was named one of the ten best sports books ever by Jonathan Yardley of The Washington Post --and just recently called, by Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker, "the best of all books about pro football. Norman Mailer said of his second book, "Crackers," "Page for page, Roy Blount is as funny as anyone I`ve read in a long time," and Time placed Blount "in the tradition of the great curmudgeons like H.L. Mencken and W.C. Fields." Garrison Keillor said in The Paris Review, "Blount is the best. He can be literate, uncouth and soulful all in one sentence." Playboy said he was "known to the critics as our next Mark Twain." Whether, on the one hand, it is his place to quote these plaudits and whether, on the other hand, he feels that they are adequate, are questions not for him to answer at this time. His one-man show at the American Place Theatre was described by The New Yorker as "the most humorous and engaging fifty minutes in town"--which, when you stop to think how many fifty minutes there are in New York at any given time, is something. In l988 he expanded that show into Roy Blount`s Happy Hour and a Half. He has performed for Folk Tree Concerts and at Chet Atkins` Celebrity Golf Tournament, and introduced Chet in Carnegie Hall. He has appeared on A Prarie Home Companion frequently and on CBS Morning Show, Tonight Show, David Letterman Show, Good Morning America, Today Show, Larry King, Politically Incorrect, and in a series of TV spots for the NBA starring Bill Murray, which he helped Murray create. A contributing editor of The Atlantic Monthly, he writes a regular column ("Gone Off Up North") for The Oxford American, and has done so in the past for Esquire, The New York Times, Atlanta Magazine, Inside Sports, The Soho News, Men`s Journal, Conde Nast Traveller, The San Francisco Examiner, Spy and The Atlanta Journal. His essays, articles, stories, verses and even drawings have appeared in 166 different periodicals including The New Yorker, Gourmet, Playboy, Vanity Fair, GQ, Life, TV Guide, Vogue, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, Antaeus, Smithsonian and Organic Gardening; and in 174 books, including The Best of Modern Humor, The Oxford Book of American Light Verse, The Norton Book of Light Verse, The Ultimate Baseball Book, Classic Southern Humor, Sudden Fiction, The Elvis Reader, Russell Baker`s Book of American Humor, Baseball: A Literary Anthology, The Sophisticated Cat, The F-Word, and Best American Essays l997. This work has taken him to China, Uganda, Iceland and all but two states. He has written introductions to books by Erskine Caldwell, A.J.Liebling, Ernie Bushmiller Jr.and Phil Rizzuto, and to four different books by Mark Twain--in particular extensive foreword and afterword accompanying first book-form publication of Twain`s story A Murder, a Mystery and a Marriage (2001). For Sports Illustrated, where he was a staff writer and editor l968-75, he has rafted the Amazon (attacked by piranha), played baseball with the 1969 Chicago Cubs (hit a ball 350 feet), become all but athletically a virtual member of the dynasty-years Pittsburgh Steelers, and hung out with Wilt Chamberlain, Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson and the world`s oldest then-living lifeguard. (Though not all at once.) He has written the screenplay of Larger Than Life starring Bill Murray, the lyrics of a song Andie MacDowell sings in Michael, and an HBO fairy tale, The Frog Princess. Of his two one-act plays produced at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, one became part of an Off-Broadway review. In films he has portrayed a reporter, an outraged grocery shopper and a partygoer dressed as Truman Capote; on TV, a dim-witted talk-show caller and a Cuban soldier; on radio, the Prodigal Son, Orpheus, a ship`s captain named Blauggh, a foolish virgin, Millard Fillmore and Thoreau. He has read or lectured at colleges from Harvard to Clemson to Washington State; at the 92nd Street Y, Symphony Space, Manhattan Theatre Club, Theatre for a New Audience, San Francisco`s City Arts and Lecture Series, the City Club of San Diego Forum, The Denver Forum, and the Mark Twain House. Journeyed down the Mississippi River for the documentary The Main Stream, aired by PBS in December `02. He covered the l992 Democratic and Republican conventions and Presidential election night by commenting, live and instantaneously, from a Barcalounger, on Comedy Central. Via various media he has reported on the Civil Rights Movement, the Ku Klux Klan, Saturday Night Live in its prime, Elvis`s funeral, an Olympics and several World Series and Super Bowls, and interviewed Martin Luther King, Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, Satchell Paige, Joe Dimaggio, Willie Mays, Loretta Lynn, Eudora Welty, Billy Carter, Gilda Radner, Casey Stengel, Jonathan Demme, Rep. Dick Armey, Cool Papa Bell and Sally Rand. He has publicly expressed his misgivings about every president since John F. Kennedy, with the exception, for some reason, of Gerald Ford. He has jumped out of a plane, graduated (conditionally) from race-car driving school, scuba-dived with sharks, sung on stage (as a member of the authors` rock band Rock Bottom Remainders) with Bruce Springsteen and Stephen King, hit a game-winning Texas Leaguer (and had limes thrown at him) in Venezuela, caught catfish with his bare hands in Illinois; and ridden a camel in Kenya, a dolphin in the Florida Keys, an elephant in L.A. Born l94l to Southern parents in Indianapolis. Grew up in Decatur, Georgia. Vanderbilt B.A. `63, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude; Harvard M.A. `64. U.S. Army l964-66. Reporter and columnist for Atlanta Journal and part-time English instructor at Georgia State College, l966-68. Free-lance since leaving SI in l975. Husband of painter Joan Griswold, father of social worker daughter Ennis and director-writer-actor-songwriter son Kirven (with whom he wrote and appeared in a five-minute film on extreme sports for ESPN), grandfather of of Jesse, Noah and Elsie. No pets at present, but previously dogs, cats, horse, rooster, snake, turtle, hamster, monitor lizard, parakeet and hens. Thursday, November 20, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Mitch Morrissey – District Attorney of Denver Speaking on: “Use of DNA in Solving Current and Cold Case Crimes” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $35, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Mitch Morrissey – Biographical Brief Mitchell R. Morrissey was elected District Attorney of Denver in November 2004 and was sworn into office on January 11, 2005. He is responsible for the prosecution of more than 6,000 felony and 15,000 misdemeanor criminal cases every year. He is nationally known for his expertise in DNA technology, applying that technology in criminal prosecutions and working to ensure that DNA science is admissible in our courtrooms. As the chief prosecutor for the Second Judicial District, Mitch is an aggressive prosecutor and an advocate of prevention and intervention initiatives. He makes victims a priority and is dedicated to providing victims a strong voice in the justice system through a number of efforts. Mitch leads a strong (and award-winning) team of Victim Advocates who work closely with victims of crime. He understands the impact of crime on people and supports the work of programs like the Victim Services Network. This important work coordinates different services for victims, especially those in under-served areas and communities. An important tool in solving and prosecuting many crimes is DNA technology. Mitch recognized the potential of DNA science early on and prosecuted the first trial in Denver to utilize DNA. His DNA Resource section on this web site has become an international resource for other prosecutors. Morrissey is featured in an October 2006 profile article in Denver’s premier magazine, 5280. The article, by senior editor Amanda M. Faison, takes a closer look at Morrissey, his history and his passion about DNA: A Model Organism. There are 68 attorneys and approximately 194 staff working under Mitch`s direction. They prosecute criminals, work on behalf of victims, teach public school students about the law, promote crime prevention, and many other things that all relate to the overall mission of the Denver District Attorney`s Office: to do justice. This is accomplished through prosecution units including our County Court and District Court divisions as well as specialized units such as the Economic Crime Unit, Family Violence Unit and the Gang/Gun Unit. Mitch has worked hard with the newly formed Denver Crime Control Commission and the City to bring back Drug Court in Denver. Mitch has worked on behalf of the citizens of Denver for more than 20 years as an attorney in the Denver DA`s Office; more than half of those years he has served as a Chief Deputy. He has assisted the U.S. Attorney`s Office as a Special Assistant in prosecuting federal cases involving DNA evidence, was selected Prosecutor of the Year in 2001 by the Colorado District Attorneys` Council, and has taught on a variety of subjects for the Council and the Denver Police Department including demonstrative evidence, rules of evidence, gang prosecutions, violent crime and DNA. Mitch has served on the board of the Denver Sexual Assault Interagency Council and is a member of the Advisory Council for National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Council for the Rocky Mountain Region. He is a Denver native, a graduate of the University of Denver College of Law, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Mullen High School. Friday, October 17, 2008 The Denver Forum & Colorado Preservation, Inc. Proudly Present: The Honorable Ken Salazar – United States Senator Speaking on: “America: Where Do We Go From Here?” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Grand Ballroom – Oxford Hotel (enter off Wazee) Members: $35, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Ken Salazar – Biographical Brief In November 2004, Coloradans elected Ken Salazar to serve as Colorado`s thirty-fifth United States Senator. A fifth generation Coloradan, Senator Salazar`s life reflects the American dream. His family settled in the American West before the United States was a country. After helping found the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1598, they planted roots in Colorado`s San Luis Valley, where they have farmed and ranched the same land for five generations. Senator Salazar`s parents served in World War II - his mother in the War Department in Washington D.C. and his father as a staff sergeant in the United States Army. After the war, they returned to the San Luis Valley to farm, ranch, and raise a family. On a remote ranch without electricity or telephone, Senator Salazar`s parents taught their eight children the values of hard work, family, and faith. Thanks to their lessons, Senator Salazar and his seven brothers and sisters all became first generation college graduates. A farmer for more than thirty years, Senator Salazar helped form the El Rancho Salazar partnership in 1981. He and his wife have owned and operated small businesses, including a Dairy Queen and radio stations in Pueblo and Denver. He practiced water and environmental law in the private sector for eleven years. And he has served the people of Colorado as Attorney General, as a member of the Governor`s cabinet, and now in the United States Senate. As a United States Senator, Ken Salazar has exercised a leadership role in bringing people together to address the most important issues of the 21st century. Senator Salazar has championed a new defense and foreign policy that restores American security and influence around the world. He has pressed for a change in mission in Iraq to better advance America`s national security interests and has worked to strengthen our military to ensure that we are able to confront emerging threats. Senator Salazar has been a key leader in creating a clean and renewable energy economy that is less dependent on foreign oil. He has helped lead every bipartisan effort on energy since 2005, including the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007, which has been signed into law. He has tackled the challenge of providing affordable health care by fighting to broaden the Children`s Health Insurance Program and by working to improve health care for older Americans. Senator Salazar has been a champion for Colorado`s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities, ensuring that the 2007 Farm Bill and our energy policy create food and fuel security for America. He has worked to help veterans in rural communities get better access to health care by creating the Office of Rural Health within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and by pressing the VA to open new rural outreach clinics in Colorado. Senator Salazar serves on the powerful Finance Committee, which oversees the nation`s tax, trade, social security, and health care systems. He also serves on the Agriculture, Energy and Natural Resources, Ethics, and Aging Committees. From 1999 to 2004, Ken Salazar served as Colorado`s thirty-sixth Attorney General, winning statewide elections in 1998 and 2002. He served as chairman of the Conference of Western Attorneys General and received the "Profiles in Courage" award from his fellow state attorneys general for his dedication to preserving and promoting the rule of law. As Colorado`s top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Salazar led efforts to make Colorado communities safer, fight crime, strengthen the state`s sex offender laws, address youth and family violence, enhance and enforce Colorado`s consumer protection laws, combat fraud against the elderly, and protect Colorado`s environment. He established the first ever Colorado Attorney General Fugitive Prosecutions Unit to apprehend and prosecute fugitive murderers, the first ever Attorney General Gang Prosecution Unit, and an Environmental Crimes Unit. From 1987 to 1994 Ken Salazar served in the Cabinet of Governor Roy Romer as chief legal counsel and executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Ken crafted reforms for oil, mining, and gas operations to better protect the environment and the public. He fought to uphold Colorado`s interstate water compacts, created the Youth in Natural Resources program to educate thousands of young people about Colorado`s natural resources, and authored the Colorado constitutional amendment creating Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO). He then served as the first chairman of GOCO, helping make it one of the most successful land conservation efforts in the United States. Ken graduated from Centauri High School in Conejos County in 1973, attended St. Francis Seminary, received a political science degree from Colorado College in 1977, and graduated with a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1981. Salazar also received honorary doctorates of law from Colorado College in 1993 and the University of Denver in 1999. Ken and his wife, Hope, have two daughters, Melinda and Andrea, and one granddaughter, Mireya. Ken`s older brother, John Salazar, was elected to the United States Congress in November 2004 from Colorado`s 3rd Congressional District. Thursday, September 4, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Dr. William Brody – President, The Johns Hopkins University Speaking on “Health Care Reform” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $35, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Biographical Brief -- William R. Brody William R. Brody became the 13th president of The Johns Hopkins University on Sept. 1, 1996. Immediately prior to assuming the position, Dr. Brody was the provost of the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota. From 1987 to 1994, he was the Martin Donner Professor and director of the Department of Radiology, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins, and radiologist- in-chief of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. A native of Stockton, Calif., Dr. Brody received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his M.D. and Ph.D., also in electrical engineering, from Stanford University. Following post-graduate training in cardiovascular surgery and radiology at Stanford, the National Institutes of Health and the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Brody was professor of radiology and electrical engineering at Stanford University (1977-1986). He has been a co-founder of three medical device companies, and served as the president and chief executive officer of Resonex Inc. from 1984 to 1987. He has over 100 publications and one U.S. patent in the field of medical imaging and has made contributions in medical acoustics, computed tomography, digital radiography and magnetic resonance imaging. Dr. Brody serves as a trustee of The Commonwealth Fund and of the Baltimore Community Foundation. He serves on the board of directors of IBM. He is a member of the executive committee of the Council on Competitiveness, the International Academic Advisory Committee, Singapore, and the FBI`s National Security Higher Education Advisory Board. He formerly served on the President`s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, on the board of the Minnesota Orchestra Association and on the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Brody is a member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the American College of Radiology, the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, the American Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Brody is a private pilot holding airline transport pilot and flight instructor ratings. Dr. Brody and his wife, Wendy, have two grown children and reside at Nichols House on the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. Wednesday, August 27, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents during the Democratic National Convention: A Special Luncheon Honoring Senator George McGovern for a Lifetime of Service to America Featuring – Tom Daschle, Mike Dukakis, Gary Hart, Walter Mondale, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend SOLD OUT 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Grand Ballroom (enter off Wazee) Members: $50, Non-Members, $75 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: George McGovern – Biographical Brief One of the most significant figures in America today, George McGovern has earned the respect of countless individuals from all political viewpoints and all walks of life. From his days as a student at Dakota Wesleyan University throughout his long and distinguished career in public service, George McGovern has never forgotten his roots. He was born in Avon, South Dakota, on July 19, 1922, the son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister. The family moved to Mitchell, South Dakota, in 1928, and George graduated from Mitchell High School in 1940. He was an outstanding student, and his proficiency in debate won him a scholarship at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, where he enrolled in the fall of 1940. There he met fellow student Eleanor Stegeberg of Woonsocket, South Dakota. George and Eleanor were married on October 31, 1943, and their five children were all born in Mitchell. As a college student, McGovern was twice elected class president and won the state oratorical contest with the topic "My Brother`s Keeper," an avowal of his belief in one`s responsibility to humankind. World War II interrupted McGovern`s education in 1943. He flew 35 combat missions as a B-24 bomber pilot in Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he returned to Dakota Wesleyan University, graduating in 1946. McGovern then attended Garrett Seminary for one year before enrolling at Northwestern University in Chicago, where he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in American history and government. McGovern returned to Dakota Wesleyan University in 1950 as a professor of history and political science, where he became a beloved and respected faculty member. He left the university in 1955 to reorganize and revitalize the South Dakota Democratic Party, from which his illustrious political career was launched. He was elected to Congress in 1956 and reelected in 1958. As a congressman, he was an advocate for the American farmer and represented the nation`s heartland with distinction. After McGovern lost his first bid for the U.S. Senate in 1960, President John F. Kennedy named him the first director of the Food for Peace Program and Special Assistant to the President. In this position he oversaw the donation of millions of tons of food to developing nations. McGovern was then elected to the Senate in 1962 and reelected in 1968 and 1974. As a member of the Senate committees on agriculture, nutrition, forestry and foreign relations, and the Joint Economic Committee, he led the way in expanding key nutrition programs. In 1972, Senator McGovern was selected as the Democratic Party nominee for president, the only South Dakotan so honored by any major political party. In 1976, President Gerald Ford named McGovern a United Nations delegate to the General Assembly, and, in 1978, President Jimmy Carter named him a United Nations delegate for the Special Session on Disarmament. After leaving the Senate in 1980, McGovern was a visiting professor at numerous institutions, including Columbia University, Northwestern University, Cornell University, American University and the University of Berlin. He served as the president of the Middle East Policy Council from 1991 to 1998, when President Clinton appointed him ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. In 2001 he was appointed the first United Nations global ambassador on hunger. In this position, McGovern continues his leadership in the battle against world hunger. A prolific author, McGovern has lectured at more than 1,000 colleges and universities around the world. He has also received many honorary degrees and distinguished awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States` highest civilian honor, which was bestowed upon him by President Bill Clinton on August 9, 2000. A war hero, 22-year U.S. Congressman and 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, George McGovern will long be remembered for his courage in speaking out against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, his friendship and respect for the common man, and his work on behalf of American farmers and hungry children throughout the world. Wednesday, June 11, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Gary Hart – former United States Senator & Co-Chairman of the United States Commission on National Security Author of and Speaking on “Under the Eagle’s Wing: A National Security Strategy of the United States for 2009 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Sage Room Members: $35, Non-Members, $50 (price includes an autographed copy of Senator Hart`s book) Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Gary Hart – Biographical Note Gary Hart "I see an America too young to quit, too courageous to turn back, with a passion for justice and a program for opportunity, an America with unmet dreams that will not die." -- Gary Hart In an era of career politicians, Gary Hart has chosen a road less travelled, devoting himself first and foremost to public service and the good of his country. A prolific author, lecturer, teacher, scholar, and attorney, America`s newest "elder" statesman is a man on a mission who shows no signs of slowing down. Prior to his election as a United States senator from Colorado in 1974, he had never before sought public office. In 1984, he was the runner-up candidate for the Democratic Party`s nomination for president. During 1970-1972, Hart managed Senator George McGovern`s insurgent campaign for the presidency. He has also served as an appellate attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice, a special assistant at the U.S. Department of the Interior, and senior counsel to one of America`s oldest international law firms, Coudert Brothers, where he helped pioneer the development of joint business ventures in Russia and in Central Europe. Most recently, Hart co-chaired both the U.S. Commission on National Security/ 21st Century, which issued three public reports forecasting the age of terrorism and outlined a new, post-Cold War national security policy, as well as the Council on Foreign Relations task force on homeland security, which recently released its report "America—Still Unprepared, Still in Danger". As a senator, Hart established a reputation as a political reformer. He founded the Military Reform Caucus in the Congress, a bipartisan effort that contributed substantially to contemporary defense policy. While serving on the Senate Select Committee to Investigate the Intelligence Agencies of the U.S. Government (the Church Committee), he successfully advocated sweeping measures to make our intelligence agencies more accountable. He also introduced a collection of environmental measures to make America energy independent. As a presidential candidate, Hart proposed a "strategic investment initiative" that included new measures to create a more expansive—and more just—national economy. On the foreign policy front, he called for "enlightened engagement" and introduced a series of proposals designed to reform and modernize America`s defenses. Many of these defense plans are today being adopted by the Bush administration. Never shy about committing his thoughts and ideas to paper, Hart is the author of more than a dozen books, including three novels (one co-authored with former Secretary of Defense William Cohen). In 2001, he earned a doctor of philosophy degree from Oxford University. His thesis, "Thomas Jefferson`s Ideal of the Republic in 21st Century America", culminated a decade-long exploration of the idea of restoring the republican ideals of civic virtue and citizen duty. When published in book form in 2002, Restoration of the Republic completed a trilogy of works that began with The Patriot in 1996 and continued with The Minuteman in 1998. Throughout the trilogy, Hart stresses the theme of republican restoration concurrent with a new definition of security that includes not only traditional national and homeland security, but also security of livelihood, security of community, and security of the natural environment. Many of the issues Hart presciently raised and discussed in the 1970s and 1980sóincluding military reform, intelligence reform, energy independence, and a number of othersóhave now begun to re-enter the arena of national debate. In the late 1990s, Hart`s mastery of security issues and grasp of foreign policy led him to make multiple and tragically unheeded predictions—one as late as September 5, 2001—that America would be attacked by terrorists using weapons of mass destruction. No longer a "prophet without honor" in the wake of 9-11, Gary Hart believes the United States is still woefully unprepared to intercept and respond to attacks on American territory. Like a latter-day Paul Revere, he is continuing to provide direction to both his party and his country in an age marred by terrorism. In early 2003, he will deliver a series of policy speeches in which he will argue forcefully that Democrats can only emerge from their status as an opposition party if they offer more attractive ideals and visions than laissez-faire economics and preemptive attacks on other nations. These speeches will be made available on his website. A native of Kansas, Hart has spent his adult life in Colorado with his wife of forty-four years, Lee. They have two children; Andrea Hart, a policy analyst, and John Hart, a lawyer and financial analyst; and one granddaughter, Tatum. Hart holds law and divinity degrees from Yale University and completed his undergraduate studies, with emphasis in theology and philosophy, at Southern Nazarene University. Friday, May 2, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Red Cavaney – President and Chief Executive Officer, American Petroleum Institute (API) 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Red Cavaney– Biographical Brief Prior to joining API in 1997, Cavaney was involved in association management for fourteen years as president and CEO of three other trade associations: the American Plastics Council (APC), the American Forest and Paper Association (AFPA), and the American Paper Institute (API). Earlier, he served as president and CEO of Irvine, CA-based Ericson Yachts, a major U.S. yacht manufacturer, and as a senior member of the White House staffs of U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon. Cavaney is a director of API, The United States Energy Association, Rebuilding Together, Strategic Partnerships LLC, and Buckeye Technologies, Inc. (NYSE). He is also a former director of the boards of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), among others. He has served as chairman of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), the Associations Division of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the NAM Council of Manufacturing Associations. Cavaney also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation and the Center for Excellence in Education. Cavaney has earned a Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation, was named 1997 Association Executive of the Year by Association Trends magazine, and is the recipient of the 2005 Bryce Harlow Foundation Business-Government Relations Award and the 2006 ASAE Key Award. He is a 1964 NROTC graduate in Economics and History from the University of Southern California, served three tours of combat duty in Vietnam, and was honorably discharged with the rank of U.S. Navy Lieutenant in 1969. He resides in Alexandria, Virginia. Friday, April 18, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Dick Flavin – The Great Raconteur & Poet Laureate of Baseball Speaking on: “Is There Life After Baseball?” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel Sage Room 1600 17th Street Members, $30, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Dick Flavin – Biographical Brief Dick Flavin is a Boston legend. He first established his fame during a 22-year run as one of Beantown’s most popular television news people. He also became a greatly in demand speaker on the national lecture circuit. Among many other skills, he’s a gifted poet and playwright (his play about the great Tip O’Neill, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, is now playing in Boston). Among the benefits of my involvement with the Boston Red Sox, chairing The Great Fenway Park Writers Series and the team’s annual birthday tribute to Jackie Robinson, is my friendship with Dick Flavin. I quickly realized that he’s one special person, and his ability with poetry struck me as quite remarkable. Thus, in a sweeping degree I made him the Poet Laureate of The Great Fenway Park Writers Series. Now, it’s always possible at one of the Writers Series events the speaker may strike-out, but one thing is certain, Dick Flavin will save the occasion with his wit and poetry. Now, most of you reading this, most of you who attend Forum events, are, quite properly, Colorado Rockies’ fans, but Flavin’s status rises above any one team – Red Sox or Rockies – and embraces the whole of America’s greatest sport – baseball. When he comes on the 17th of April to speak I guarantee you one great luncheon. This is not an event you should miss. Below I have included one of Flavin’s poems, about the greatest hitter who ever lived (by general consensus), Theodore Samuel Williams. He will perform – and “perform” is the right word – his tribute to the legendary Williams when he addresses The Forum. This event, unlike most of what The Denver Forum does, won’t focus on national or global crises, but it will be a swell time – talking about baseball, poetry, and laughing our heads off – because Dick Flavin is that good. Don’t miss it! George Mitrovich President The Denver Forum TEDDY AT THE BAT (With apologies to Ernest Lawrence Thayer) The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Red Sox nine that day, The score stood four to two with but one inning left to play. So when Stephens died at first and Tebbetts did the same A pallor wreathed the features of the patrons of the game. A straggling few got up to go, leaving there the rest With he hope that springs eternal within the human breast. They thought if only Teddy could get a whack at that – They’d put even money now with Teddy at the bat. But Dom preceded Teddy and Pesky was on deck. The first of them was in a slump. The other was a wreck. So on that stricken multitude a deathlike silence sat, For there seemed but little chance of Teddy’s getting to the bat. But Dom let drive a single, to the wonderment of all, And Pesky, of all people, tore the cover off the ball. When the dust had lifted, and they saw what had occurred, There was Johnny safe on second and Dominic on third. Then from that gladdened multitude went up a joyous yell, It rumbled in the mountains and rattled in the dell. It struck upon the hillside and rebounded on the flat, For Teddy, Teddy Ballgame, was advancing to the bat. There was ease in Teddy’s manner as he stepped into his place, There was pride in Teddy’s bearing and a smile on Teddy’s face. And when, responding to the cheers he lightly doffed his hat, (I’m making that part up) No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Teddy at the bat. Ten thousand eyes were on him as he wiped his hands with dirt, Five thousand tongues applauded as he wiped them on his shirt. Then when the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip, Defiance gleamed in Teddy’s eyes, a sneer curled Teddy’s lip. And now the leather covered sphere came hurtling through the air, And Teddy stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there. Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped. “That ain’t my style,” said Teddy. “Strike one!” the umpire said. From the benches black with people went up a muffled roar, Like the beating of the storm waves on the stern and distant shore. “Kill him! Kill the umpire!” someone shouted on the stand, And it’s likely they’d have killed him had not Teddy raised his hand. With a smile of Christian charity great Teddy’s visage shown. He stilled the rising tumult and bade the game go on. He signaled the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew. But Teddy still ignored it, and the umpire said, “Strike two!” “Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and the echo answered fraud. But one scornful look from Teddy and the audience was awed. They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain, And they knew that Teddy wouldn’t let that ball go by again. The sneer is gone from Teddy’s lip; his teeth are clenched in hate. He pounds with cruel vengeance his bat upon the plate. And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go, And now the air is shattered by the force of Teddy’s blow. Oh, somewhere in this land of ours the sun is shining bright, The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout. And they’re going wild at Fenway Park ‘cause Teddy hit one out! Monday, March 31, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Fred Krupp – President of Environmental Defense Author of and Speaking on “EARTH: The Sequel – the Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $35, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Biographical Brief -- Fred Krupp Fred Krupp is president of Environmental Defense, a national nonprofit organization that links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. Fred Krupp has written a riveting new book with author Miriam Horn. Called Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming, it turns "the doom and gloom of global warming on its head," said Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City. It`s a not-to-miss story of how America`s smartest minds are transforming the energy sector. Krupp and Environmental Defense have been influential in developing market-based solutions such as the acid rain reduction plan in the 1990 Clean Air Act and the U.S. proposal to achieve least-cost greenhouse gas reductions in the global climate treaty. Krupp often headed the Environmental Defense delegation in international climate change negotiations and has led the organization in a series of corporate partnerships with McDonald`s, BP, FedEx and others. He spearheaded the successful effort to convince chemical manufacturers to speed the health screening of their most widely produced chemicals and was quick to make use of the Internet to advance environmental protection, most notably by providing convenient public access to information on pollution sources and health effects by zip code. Krupp leads Environmental Defense`s teams of scientists, economists and attorneys in developing solution-oriented approaches to four main goals: Stabilizing the Earth`s climate Preserving species and habitat Protecting human health Safeguarding oceans and marine life Since Krupp joined Environmental Defense in 1984, its annual budget has increased from $3 million to $71.8 million, full-time staff increased from 50 to nearly 300, membership expanded from 40,000 to more than 500,000 and new offices opened in Raleigh, Austin, Boston, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Beijing. Background Krupp serves on the board of the Kennedy School Environment Council and the Leadership Council of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where a fellowship has been established in his honor. He recently chaired the Green Group, the national coalition of 30 leading environmental organizations. Krupp has served on the President`s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations in the George W. Bush and Clinton administrations and served on the commissions on the environment established by Presidents Clinton and George H.W. Bush. He served on the board of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment. He is the recipient of the 1999 Keystone Leadership in Environment Award and the 2002 Champion Award from the Women`s Council on Energy and the Environment. Krupp is a graduate of Yale with a law degree from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Environmental Defense, Krupp spent several years in private law practice in New Haven and helped found the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, a leading state environmental group. He lives in Connecticut with his family. Tuesday, March 25, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Mary Peters – Secretary of Transportation of the United States Speaking on: "Transportation in Transition" 5:00 - 6:15pm Wine & Cheese Reception Law Offices of Snell & Wilmer 1200 17th St. Suite 1900 Members: $10, Non-members: $20 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Mary Peters – Biographical Note Mary E. Peters was nominated by President George W. Bush on September 5, 2006, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 15th Secretary of Transportation on September 30, 2006, after spending more than two decades crafting solutions to our nation`s toughest transportation challenges. Secretary Peters brings a unique perspective to her role as the nation’s transportation chief, having spent her career working on transportation issues in the private and public sectors, including leading both federal and state transportation agencies. This hands-on experience allows her to understand and appreciate the real-life aspects of planning, building and operating transportation systems on local, regional and state levels. Over her 20-plus years in transportation, Secretary Peters has earned a solid reputation as an innovative problem solver, a force for safety and a strong advocate for effective use of taxpayer dollars. As Secretary of Transportation, she intends to use these same skills to tackle today’s most pressing challenges including fighting congestion across all modes of transportation, improving safety and addressing strains on traditional sources of transportation funding. She is responsible for maintaining a safe, reliable and efficient transportation system, while leading an agency with almost 60,000 employees and a $70.3 billion budget that oversees air, maritime and surface transportation missions. Prior to joining President Bush’s Cabinet, Peters worked in Phoenix, AZ, as the national director for transportation policy and consulting at HDR, Inc., a major engineering firm. She was responsible for building a management consulting practice and formulating public policy initiatives for the firm`s transportation program. In 2001, the President asked Peters to lead the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). As FHWA Administrator from 2001 to 2005, she placed special emphasis on finding new ways to invest in road and bridge construction, including innovative public-private partnerships that help build roads faster and at less expense. She also was a strong advocate for using new technology to reduce construction time, saving taxpayer money and resulting in safer, longer-lasting roads and highways. From 1985 to 2001, she served in the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). During her tenure, Peters worked her way up through the ranks as a contract administrator, deputy director for administration, and deputy director. In 1998, then-Governor Jane Hull appointed her director of the agency. While in office, she was recognized as the Most Influential Person in Arizona Transportation by the Arizona Business Journal. Secretary Peters received the 2004 National Woman of the Year Award from the Women’s Transportation Seminar, a national organization of transportation professionals. She chaired the Standing Committee on Planning and the Asset Management Task Force for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and was a member of the AASHTO 2001 Reauthorization Steering Committee. A fourth-generation Arizonan and an avid motorcyclist, Secretary Peters holds a bachelor`s degree from the University of Phoenix and attended Harvard University`s John F. Kennedy School of Government Program for State and Local Government Executives. She and her husband, Terry, have three grown children, and five grandchildren. Wednesday, March 19, 2008 The Denver Forum & The World Affairs Council Proudly Present: His Excellency Pierre Vimont – Ambassador of France to the United States Speaking on: “France & America: A New Era for Old Friends” THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel – Grand Ballroom 1600 17th Street – Enter off Wazee (2nd Floor) Members: $35, Non-Members, $50 Event Sponsor: Biographical Brief – His Excellency Pierre Vimont Ambassador Pierre Vimont was appointed Ambassador of France to the United States by President Nicolas Sarkozy on August 1, 2007. Prior to his present appointment, Mr. Vimont was chief of staff to the minister of foreign affairs, a position he had held since 2002. He was previously ambassador and permanent representative of France to the European Union from 1999 to 2002. Pierre Vimont joined the Foreign Service in 1977. He was first posted to London where he was first secretary from 1978 to 1981. He then spent the next four years with the Press and Information Office at the Quai d’Orsay. From 1985 to 1986 he was seconded to the Institute for East-West Security in New York. Returning to Europe, he served as second counselor with the Permanent Representation of France to the European Communities in Brussels (1986-1990), and was subsequently chief of staff to the minister delegate for European affairs from 1990 to 1993. He went on to serve as director for development and scientific, technical and educational cooperation and then for cultural, scientific and technical relations. He was deputy director general of the entire Cultural, Scientific and Technical Relations Department from 1996 to 1997 and then director of European Cooperation from 1997 to 1999. Born in 1949, Pierre Vimont holds a degree in law and is a graduate of the Institute of Political Studies and the National School of Administration (ENA). Friday, March 14, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane – Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC Speaking on “The Problem of Religion & Politics” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Biography of Bishop John Bryson Chane Eighth Bishop of Washington The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane, D.D., 61, was consecrated as the Eighth Bishop of Washington on June 1, 2002. As Bishop of Washington, Bishop Chane serves 93 congregations and 45,000 members in the District of Columbia, and in the Counties of Prince George`s, Montgomery, Charles and Saint Mary`s in Maryland. He serves as the President and CEO of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, which governs Saint Alban`s School for Boys, The National Cathedral School for Girls, Beauvoir Primary School, the Cathedral College and the National Cathedral all of which are located on the 53-acre Cathedral Close. He served as Interim Dean of the Washington National Cathedral for eighteen months. Bishop Chane was named by the Washingtonian Magazine as one of the 150 most influential leaders in the District of Columbia. He recently traveled to Iran on two occasions at the invitation of former Iranian President Khatami and has spoken with numerous religious leaders and at numerous cultural events as well as at seminaries and universities in the cities of Tehran and Qom. In 2007, he was invited to Geneva, Switzerland, to engage in closed talks with the former Ambassador of Iran to the United Nations to discuss the need for continued dialogue between Iran and the United States. He then traveled to Oslo, Norway, as a guest of the Club de Madrid, the Norwegian Government and the Foundation for Civilizations to speak on the theme, "Religion, Politics and Terrorism." Bishop Chane traveled in 2007 to Cuba to meet with bishops and Episcopal Church officials to discuss the rapid growth of the Cuban Episcopal Church and the church’s humanitarian concerns that are the result of the continuing sanctions against the country by the United States government. In 2006 he was invited to be the weekly preacher in residence at the Chautauqua Institution in New York and has been invited to return again in 2008. He was recently invited by the Council on Foreign Relations to participate in a two-day conference, "Religion and Terrorism," and continues to be involved in the Council’s ongoing work in the area of religion and foreign affairs. He has been a speaker at the National Defense University on the subject of Religion and Global Terrorism and has also spoken at the U.S. State Department’s Secretary’s Open Forum and at the Pentagon. Since arriving in Washington he has appeared on ABC`s Good Morning America, National Public Radio`s All Things Considered and Weekend All Things Considered, the independent radio program Interfaith Voices, the Public Broadcasting System`s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly and has been profiled in The Washington Post and Washingtonian magazine. He has also appeared on the BBC, CNN, Fox News, local ABC, CBS, NBC, ENS and Fox affiliates, All Africa News and Television, International Public Radio, FaithWorks, CSPAN, and was featured in the PBS television special "Three Faiths, One Goal." He has participated in two international affairs panels hosted by the Washington Press Club, and is the author of numerous published articles on the Church and Secular Society, Global Terrorism and The Episcopal Church and Human Sexuality. Bishop Chane was recently honored for his ongoing work in Abrahamic Dialogue by the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington and was a recipient of the InterFaith Bridge Builders` Award. He is an active member of many boards and advisory committees including the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, The University Council Committee on Religious and Spiritual Life at Yale University, The Episcopal Church Publishing Company, The Virginia Theological Seminary, The Ambassador Board of the Boys & Girls Clubs of National City, and Collington Retirement Center, Saint Anna`s Home and Saint Mary`s Home. In addition Bishop Chane serves as Co-Chair of the "Bishops Working For A Just Society" Coalition and on the Episcopal Church`s Committee On National Affairs. He was recently appointed to serve on a Global Anglican Task Force investigating human rights violations in the Kingdom of Swaziland , Africa and his diocese has established a partnership with The Anglican Church of the Province of Southern Africa. Thursday, February 14, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Walter Russell Mead – The Council on Foreign Relations Author of and Speaking on: "God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Walter Russell Mead– Biographical Note Walter Russell Mead is the Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and one of the country’s leading students of American foreign policy. His book, "Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World" (Alfred A. Knopf, 2004), was widely hailed by reviewers, historians, and diplomats as an important study that will change the way Americans and others think about American foreign policy. Among several honors and prizes, "Special Providence" received the Lionel Gelber Award for the best book in English on international relations in 2002. The Italian translation won the Premio Acqui Storia, awarded to the most important historical book published in Italian. His most recent book, "God and Gold: Britain, America and the Making of the Modern World" (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007), is a major study of 400 years of conflict between Anglophone powers and rivals ranging from absolute monarchies like Spain and France through Communist and Fascist enemies in the twentieth century to al-Qaeda today. Mr. Mead writes regularly on international affairs for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Washington Post, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, New Yorker, Atlantic, Harper’s, and Esquire. He serves as a regular reviewer of books for Foreign Affairs and frequently appears on national and international radio and television programs. In 1997, he was a finalist for the National Magazine Award in the category of essays and criticism. Mr. Mead’s chief intellectual interests involve the rise and development of a liberal, capitalist world order based on the economic, social, and military power of the United States and its closest allies. He is interested in the implications of this evolving world order for American foreign policy and for American and international society. He is an honors graduate of Groton and Yale, where he received prizes for history, debate, and the translation of New Testament Greek. He has traveled widely in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America, and often speaks at conferences in the United States and abroad. He is a founding board member of the New America Foundation. He is a native of South Carolina and lives in Jackson Heights, New York. Tuesday, January 29, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: A Special Birthday Tribute to the Life & Memory of Jackie Robinson Featuring: Branch Rickey III – President, the Pacific Coast League 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Branch B. Rickey III–Biographical Brief Branch B. Rickey is President of the Pacific Coast League, having served as a Triple-A president for 16 years. During his leadership, the PCL has enjoyed unparalleled success. In seven of the last nine years, the league has broken not only its own attendance records, but also the all-time records for any minor league. He began his professional career in the Appalachian (Rookie) League at the age of 17 when he became Business Manager of a team in Kingsport, Tennessee. He continued his summer involvement in baseball while pursuing a degree in Philosophy at Ohio Wesleyan University. Following graduation from OWU, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Venezuela for two years and as a recruiter afterwards for several more. Prior to his election league president, Branch had spent over twenty years at the major league level, progressing from scout to Director of Player Development for the Pittsburgh Pirates and subsequently for the Cincinnati Reds. His father and grandfather were executives with the Cardinals, Dodgers and Pirates. His grandfather is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame and, generally, best remembered for signing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers and for founding what the Major Leagues refer to as the "farm system." Branch III, as he is often labeled, was a four year letterman in college soccer and co-captain his senior year. After earning first place medals in each year of college intra-murals, he advanced to officiating amateur wrestling, International Freestyle and Greco-Roman competition, culminating in working as a judge and referee in the Olympic Games. He presently serves on the Board of Directors of the Delta Society ("Improving human health through service and therapy animals) and the Board of the Negro League Baseball Museum. He and his wife, Diane, make their home in Colorado Springs. A Tribute to Jackie Robinson By Larry Schwartz Special to ESPN.com It`s not often that the essence of a man, especially a complicated man, can be summed up in one sentence. But then again, there haven`t been many people like Jackie Robinson. "A life is not important," he said, "except in the impact it has on other lives." By that standard, few people -- and no athlete -- this century has impacted more lives. Robinson lit the torch and passed it on to several generations of African-American athletes. While the Brooklyn Dodgers infielder didn`t make a nation color blind, he at least made it more color friendly. And he accomplished this feat by going against his natural instincts. He was an aggressive man, outraged at injustice, and quick to stand up for his rights. He had the guts to say no when ordered to the back of the bus in the army, and was court-martialed for his courage. His instinct wasn`t to turn the other cheek, but to face problems head on. He was more prone to fighting back than holding back. That`s what Robinson had to do when Dodgers president Branch Rickey selected him to become the first African-American to play in the majors this century. Rickey wanted a man who could restrain himself from responding to the ugliness of the racial hatred that was certain to come. A shorthand version of their fateful conversation in August 1945: Rickey: "I know you`re a good ballplayer. What I don`t know is whether you have the guts." Robinson: "Mr. Rickey, are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?" Rickey, exploding: "Robinson, I`m looking for a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back." This unwritten pact between two men would change the course of a country. Baseball might only be a game, but in the area of black and white, it often is a leader. Robinson`s debut for the Dodgers in 1947 came a year before President Harry Truman desegregated the military and seven years before the Supreme Court ruled desegregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Rickey was dead-on about the racism. As Sports Illustrated`s Bill Nack wrote: "Robinson was the target of racial epithets and flying cleats, of hate letters and death threats, of pitchers throwing at his head and legs, and catchers spitting on his shoes." Robinson learned how to exercise self-control -- to answer insults, violence and injustice with silence. A model of unselfish team play, he earned the respect of his teammates and, eventually, the opposition. The 6-foot, 195-pound Robinson was the Rookie of the Year and two years later he was MVP. His lifetime average was .311 and he was voted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Pigeon-toed and muscular, it was No. 42`s aggressiveness on the basepaths that thrilled fans. It wasn`t so much his two stolen-base titles or his 197 thefts. It was the way he was a disruptive force, dancing off the base, drawing every eye in the stadium, making the pitcher crazy, instilling the Dodgers with the spirit that would help them win six pennants in his 10 seasons. "Robinson could hit and bunt and steal and run," Roger Kahn wrote in The Boys of Summer. "He had intimidation skills, and he burned with a dark fire. He wanted passionately to win. He bore the burden of a pioneer and the weight made him stronger. If one can be certain of anything in baseball, it is that we shall not look upon his like again." He was born on Jan. 31, 1919, in rural Georgia. His father, Jerry, was a ladies man who deserted the family six months after his birth. When his mother Mallie was told by her half-brother, "If you want to get closer to heaven, visit California," she took her five children West in 1920. They moved into a working-class neighborhood in Pasadena, where they felt the sting of a town`s prejudice. Jackie found his home on the playground, playing marbles, soccer, dodgeball, tennis, golf, football, baseball and basketball. He was a demon competitor, desperately wanting to win no matter the game. After starring athletically at Pasadena Junior College, he became the first to letter in four sports at UCLA. He was a brilliant broken-field runner in football; a pioneer point guard who introduced the fast break to a deliberate, white boys` game in basketball; a bandit on the bases in baseball; and an NCAA champion long jumper. He also earned a reputation as a mad brawler, ready to smash any white man who insulted him. After Pearl Harbor, he was drafted into the Army and wound up a second lieutenant. At his court-martial for not moving to the back of the bus, his lawyer said Robinson was on trial not because he had violated any articles of war, but because a few officers "were working vengeance against an uppity black man." All charges were dismissed, and several months later, Robinson received an honorable discharge from the Army. In 1945, he played shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro League. That year, Happy Chandler became the major leagues` new commissioner, succeeding the late Kenesaw Mountain Landis, a racist at heart. Chandler, a former governor and senator of Kentucky, said about African-Americans, "If they can fight and die on Okinawa, Guadalcanal (and) in the South Pacific, they can play ball in America." That summer, Rickey selected Robinson to integrate baseball. In 1946, Robinson, playing second baseman for the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers` top farm team, batted an International League-leading .349 and stole 40 bases and led them to the Little World Series championship. April 15, 1947, Robinson`s first major-league game: "It was the most eagerly anticipated debut in the annals of the national pastime," wrote Robert Lipsyte and Pete Levine in Idols of the Game. "It represented both the dream and the fear of equal opportunity, and it would change forever the complexion of the game and the attitudes of Americans." Robinson went hitless, but did score the winning run. That season, the 28-year-old rookie played first base, the only position open on the Dodgers. (He would move back to second base the next year.) The new position was easy compared to all he had to endure -- an abortive rebellion by some of his teammates, the threat of a strike by the St. Louis Cardinals, black cats thrown on the field. Despite feeling the enormous pressure, he kept his considerable temper under control, just as he had promised Rickey. One poignant moment occurred when Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese, a native of Louisville, draped an arm over Robinson`s shoulder, a quiet expression of support that spoke volumes. By 1949, Robinson was free to become his own man. He became animated, with his teammates, the opposition, the umpires. When he felt an injustice, he spoke his mind. For this, some thought he was an "umpity nigger," Robinson said. If a white player had shown the same fire, he would have earned praise, much like Pete Rose did. The "real" Robinson came into his own this MVP season, leading the league with a .342 average and 37 steals. He also had career-highs in RBI (124) and runs (122). After a decade with Brooklyn, he was traded to the New York Giants in December 1956. A month later, the 37-year-old Robinson announced his retirement in Look magazine. He became a vice president for Chock Full o` Nuts before going into other businesses and politics. But his body, which had served him so well as an athlete, gave out early. Diabetes and heart disease weakened him and he was almost blind in middle age. On October 24, 1972, he died of a heart attack at 53. In 1997, baseball dedicated the season to Robinson on the 50th anniversary of his debut. How should we remember this grandson of a slave and son of a sharecropper? Maybe by what he told a white New Orleans sportswriter: "We ask for nothing special. We ask only to be permitted to live as you live, and as our nation`s Constitution provides." With such simple and justifiable demands, it`s no wonder the man had such an impact on so many lives. Wednesday, January 16, 2008 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Richard Reeves – One of America’s Greatest Journalists & the Man Who has Appeared before The Forum More Than Any Other Person Speaking on: "A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Copies of Mr. Reeves` book will be available at the event. Event Sponsor: "A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford" Pub. Date: November 2007 (208 pages) Publisher: W. W. Norton ISBN-10: 039305750X Richard Reeves, best known for his acclaimed trilogy on the presidencies of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, will move in a different direction on November 5, 2007 with the publication of "A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford," a short biography of the physicist born on the frontier of New Zealand, in 1871, who became, along with Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, one of the most famous scientists of the "heroic age of physics." A big bluff country boy, Rutherford, director of the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, was teacher, guide and mentor to 11 Nobel Prizewinners, including Bohr. Using simple tabletop experiments with old copper and glass tubing, string, and sealing wax, he became the father of nuclear physics — "the second Isaac Newton", in Einstein`s words — using simple experiments to upset thousand of years of science by showing the atom was not the indivisible building block of nature but was in fact mostly vacuum surrounding an extraordinarily dense nucleus held together by the most powerful force of nature. Reeves returned to the laboratory where he learned science and energy as a young man to re-create the Rutherford 1911 "scattering" experiments that revealed the atom as we understand it today. Then 20 years later, with young assistants, he became the first man to split the atom, releasing the energy that would create nuclear power — and the atomic bomb. ...All this from a kid on the frontier who built his first bicycle of wood. The book will be published by W.W. Norton as part of the "Great Discoveries" series created by Atlas Books. About Richard Reeves Richard Reeves, Senior Lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, is an author and syndicated columnist whose column has appeared in more than 100 newspapers since 1979. A new column also appears on Yahoo! News each Friday. He has received dozens of awards for his work in print, television and film. Educated as a mechanical engineer, Richard Reeves began his career in journalism at the age of 23, founding the Phillipsburg Free Press in Phillipsburg, N.J. He has been a correspondent for the Newark Evening News and the New York Herald Tribune and was the Chief Political Correspondent of The New York Times. He has also written for numerous other publications, becoming National Editor and Columnist for Esquire and New York Magazine along the way. Named a "literary lion" by the New York Public Library, Reeves has won a number of print journalism awards and has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist and juror. In 1975, Reeves published his first book, "A Ford, not a Lincoln." His "President Kennedy: Profile of Power" is now considered the authoritative work on the 35th president, has won several national awards and was named the Best Non-Fiction Book of 1993 by Time and Book of the Year by Washington Monthly. Reeves has also worked extensively on television and in film. He was Chief Correspondent on "Frontline". He has made six television films and won all of television`s major documentary awards: the Emmy for "Lights, Camera . . . Politics!" for ABC News; the Columbia-DuPont Award for "Struggle for Birmingham" for PBS; and the George Foster Peabody Award for "Red Star over Khyber" for PBS. He has also appeared in two feature films, "Dave" and "Seabiscuit". In 1998, he won the Carey McWilliams Award of the American Political Science Association for distinguished contributions to the understanding of American politics. He was the Goldman Lecturer on American Civilization and Government at the Library of Congress that year; the lectures were published by Harvard University Press under the title "What the People Know: Freedom and the Press." In 2007, W.W. Norton will publish his biography — and re-creation of the experiments — of Ernest Rutherford, the Nobel prizewinning physicist, who was born on the frontier of New Zealand in 1871 and went on to become the greatest experimental scientist of his time, discovering the unimagined subatomic world we now know and then splitting the atom he first envisioned. He is currently working in the United States and Europe on a history of the Berlin Airlift, scheduled for publication in 2008.experimental scientist of his time, discovering the unimagined subatomic world we now know and then splitting the atom he first envisioned. He is currently working in the United States and Europe on a history of the Berlin Airlift, scheduled for publication in 2008. Positions Chief Correspondent, Frontline, PBS, 1981-1984. Panelist, We Interrupt This Week, PBS, 1978 National Editor and Columnist, Esquire, 1976-1980. National Editor and Columnist, New York Magazine, 1971-1976. Chief Political Correspondent, The New York Times, 1966-1971. Correspondent, The New York Herald Tribune, 1965-66. Correspondent, The Newark Evening News, 1963-65. Editor, Phillipsburg (N.J.) Free Press, 1961-63. Engineer, Ingersoll-Rand Co., 1960-61. Publications President Nixon: Alone in the White House, Simon and Schuster, 2001 What The People Know: Freedom and the Press, Harvard University, 1998 Do the Media Govern?, Sage, 1997 (with Shanto Iyengar) Family Travels: Around the World in 30 Days, Andrews and McMeel, 1997 Character Above All, Vol. 4, Simon and Schuster Audio, 1996 Running in Place, Andrews and McMeel, 1996 President Kennedy: Profile of Power, Simon and Schuster, 1993 The Reagan Detour, Simon and Schuster, 1984 Passage to Peshawar, Simon and Schuster, 1983 American Journey; Travelling with Tocqueville, Simon and Schuster, 1982 Jet Lag, Andrews and McMeel, 1981 Convention, Harcourt Brace, 1977 Old Faces of 1976, Harper and Row, 1976 A Ford, not a Lincoln, Harcourt Brace, 1975 Hundreds of magazine articles on public affairs for most major American magazines, including particularly New York Magazine, The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine. Films "Plowing Up a Storm", PBS, 1986 "Red Star Over Afghanistan", PBS, 1984 "Struggle for Birmingham", PBS, 1984 "American Journey", PBS, 1983 Lights, Camera . . . Politics", ABC, 1980 "TV on Trial", PBS, 1978 Thursday, November 8, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Dick & Dottie Lamm – Great Citizens of Colorado & America Speaking on: "Public Lives & Private Places" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Sage Room Members: $35, Non-Members, $50 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Price includes an autographed copy of Mrs. Lamm`s book, "Daddy on Board" Event Sponsor: Dottie Lamm – Biographical Notes Dottie Lamm has been involved in the fight for women`s equality and reproductive rights as first lady of Colorado, as a Colorado Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator, and as a columnist for The Denver Post, among other positions. She earned her BA in psychology at Occidental College and her MSW at the University of Denver`s Graduate School of Social Work. Lamm came to Colorado from California in 1959 as a United Airlines flight attendant. She met her husband, Dick Lamm, future governor of Colorado, in 1961 and they married in 1963. She is an active freelance writer and public speaker, serves on the Colorado Access Board, and enjoys spending time with her grandsons. A 25-year survivor of breast cancer, she still skis, hikes, and bikes. She lives with her husband in Denver, Colorado. Dick Lamm– Biographical Notes Richard D. Lamm is Co-Director of the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver, and the former three-term Governor of Colorado. (1975-1987) He is both a lawyer (Berkeley, 1961) and a Certified Public Accountant. He joined the faculty of the University of Denver in 1969 and has, except for his years as Governor, been associated with the University ever since. Lamm has appeared on virtually every national news program, including Buchanan & Press (MSNBC), Larry King Live and Inside Politics (CNN), Today (NBC), Meet the Press (NBC), ABC`s Good Morning America, Lehrer NewsHour (PBS), and CBS`s Face the Nation. His editorials have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Newsday, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune, as well as in a number of academic and medical journals. While Governor, Lamm wrote or co-authored six books: "A California Conspiracy," with Arnold Grossman (St. Martin`s Press, 1988); "Megatraumas: America in the Year 2000" (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985), "The Immigration Time Bomb: The Fragmenting of America," with Gary Imhoff (Dutton and Company, 1985), "1988," with Arnie Grossman (St. Martin`s Press, 1985), "Pioneers & Politicians," with Duane A. Smith (Pruett Publishing Company, 1984) and "The Angry West," with Michael McCarthy (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982). His latest book is "The Brave New World of Healthcare" (Fulcrum Publishing, 2003). Lamm has always been in the forefront of political change. As a first year legislator, he drafted and succeeded in passing the nation`s first liberalized abortion law. He was an early leader of the environmental movement, and was President of the First National Conference on Population and The Environment. Reacting to the high cost of campaigning, he walked the state in his campaign for Governor of Colorado. Lamm was elected to three terms as Colorado`s top elected official, and in serving as Governor from January 1975 and retiring in January 1987, he was the longest-serving Governor in Colorado`s history to that date. The Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver comprises the Public Affairs Program (Bachelor’s in Public Affairs), the Graduate Program in Public Policy (Master’s in Public Policy, MPP), and the Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues. In addition to directing the University of Denver’s academic policy programs, the Institute for Public Policy Studies contributes to the study and discussion of American society’s most critical issues through an active program of conferences, seminars, forums and publications. Sunday, October 28, 2007 The Denver Forum and the Denver Post Proudly Present: Tim Kurkjian of ESPN and ESPN The Magazine With: Former Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper Mr. Kurkjian will speak on his new book: "Is This a Great Game or What?” Governor Dukakis will speak on "The Red Sox in My Life" Mayor Hickenlooper will speak on the "Rockies’ Magic Season" 1:00 PM Luncheon Grand Ballroom – The Oxford Hotel (2nd floor – enter off Wazee) $50 Per Person -- Includes an Autographed Copy of Mr. Kurkjian’s Book Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Tim Kurkjian– Biographical Brief Tim Kurkjian is a Major League Baseball analyst on ESPN`s Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter. He is also a contributor to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com. He guests on Mike & Mike in the Morning on Thursdays at 7:44 AM, discussing the latest in happenings in Major League Baseball. Mr. Kurkjian is well known for his Baseball Tonight segments and SportsCenter reports that include an in-depth analysis of statistics, trade situations, and unusual "Did-You-Know?" facts. In his article "Gaining an Appreciation for the Sacrifice Fly" (July 14, 2007, ESPN the Magazine), he confessed, "I`ve always been fascinated by sacrifice flies.” He has an extensive background in covering baseball. His journalism career began with the Washington Star in 1978 following his graduation from the University of Maryland; he then worked briefly for the Baltimore News American in 1981. Mr. Kurkjian began covering baseball as the Texas Rangers beat writer for the Dallas Morning News where he worked from 1981 to 1985. Kurkjian then covered the Baltimore Orioles for the Baltimore Sun beginning in 1986. He was a senior writer for Sports Illustrated from 1989-1997 as well as a reporter for CNN/SI from 1996-1997. He authored his first book, "America`s Game", in 2000 and his second book, "Is This a Great Game, or What?: From A-Rod`s Heart to Zim`s Head – My 25 Years in Baseball", was released in May 2007. Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe says, “Tim Kurkjian has written a wonderfully entertaining book, but that’s not surprising, because Tim’s a wonderfully entertaining guy. And, as funny as he is to read, he’s even funnier to listen to. His knowledge of the game is second to none.” Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Kurkjian was the 2007 Commencement speaker at Walter Johnson High School (he’s a graduate of that high school). Mayor John Hickenlooper – Biographical Brief A small businessman who had never previously run for political office, John Hickenlooper was elected Mayor of Denver in 2003 and reelected in 2007. Since taking office, Mayor Hickenlooper passed a citywide charter reform initiative to modernize Denver’s personnel system, overcame a $70 million deficit to balance the City budget while averting major cuts in services and massive layoffs, reached deals with United, Frontier and Southwest Airlines enabling all carriers to grow at Denver International Airport, implemented the most sweeping set of police reforms in Denver’s history, built an unprecedented partnership with Denver Public Schools, launched efforts to create a more business-friendly environment in city government, initiated a citywide campaign to end homelessness, created Denver’s sustainable development initiative, and ushered in a new era of bipartisan regional cooperation culminating in passage of the largest regional transit initiative in the history of the United States. In November 2005, Mayor Hickenlooper was the only mayor named by Governing Magazine as one of the top Public Officials of the Year, and in April 2005 – less than two years into his first term – TIME Magazine named Mayor Hickenlooper one of the top five “big-city” mayors in America. Hickenlooper’s passion for Denver began in 1981 when his career as an exploration geologist brought him to Buckhorn Petroleum, where he worked for five years. After the collapse of the oil industry, he found himself with a healthy severance check, no immediate job prospects, and time on his hands. Inspired by a visit to a northern California brewpub, he spent two years developing the Wynkoop Brewing Company, the first brewpub in the Rocky Mountains. The Wynkoop group grew to eventually include seven Denver restaurants and a brewpub in Colorado Springs. A respected entrepreneur, Hickenlooper was also involved with numerous downtown Denver renovation and development projects and is credited as one of the pioneers that helped revitalize Denver’s Lower Downtown historic district. In recognition of his efforts supporting preservation in Denver and downtowns across the country, Hickenlooper received a National Preservation Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1997. Long before he had ever considered public office, Hickenlooper was active in community affairs, serving on numerous civic boards including Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Denver Civic Ventures, Colorado Business Committee for the Arts, the Denver Art Museum, the Association of Brewers, and the Institute for Brewing Studies. In 1987, he co-founded the Chinook Fund, a local foundation that provides seed grants to community organizations that emphasize social change. He also co-founded CultureHaus, the Denver Art Museum`s 600-member young adult organization. Leading a grassroots campaign to preserve the “Mile High Stadium” name in 2000 planted the seeds for his 2003 mayoral bid. An unlikely candidate facing a half-dozen seasoned political veterans, Hickenlooper made Denver history with his nearly two-to-one margin of victory. Mayor Hickenlooper began his term by assembling the most diverse team of city leadership Denver has ever known. Maintaining a commitment to diversity and excellence, Hickenlooper recruited corporate executives, local nonprofit leaders and government innovators from around the country, resulting in a team that is more than half women and more than half Latino/African-American/Asian. Since his election, Mayor Hickenlooper has worked to increase civic engagement and participation throughout the city and Denver metro area, helping to bring all 32 metro mayors together to work on initiatives that benefit the entire region. His collaborative approach has built strong bonds and partnerships that transcend partisan and geographic lines. His integrity, honesty and sense of humor have renewed public faith and trust in City Hall, and his boundless energy and enthusiasm have generated tremendous optimism and confidence in Denver’s future. Mayor Hickenlooper graduated from Wesleyan University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English in 1974 and a master’s degree in geology in 1980. His wife, Helen Thorpe, is a writer whose work has been published in the New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, George, and Texas Monthly. They live in northeast Denver with their five-year-old son, Teddy. The Honorable Michael Dukakis – Biographical Brief Michael Stanley Dukakis (born November 3, 1933) is an American Democratic politician, former Governor of Massachusetts, and the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek and Vlach immigrant parents in Brookline, Massachusetts and was the longest serving governor in Massachusetts` history. He was the first Greek-American governor in U.S. history. Dukakis`s father Panos (1896–1979) was a Greek from Turkey who settled in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1912 and graduated from Harvard Medical School twelve years later, subsequently working as an obstetrician. His mother Euterpe (née Boukis) (1903–2003) was a Vlach (Aromanian) from Larissa; she and her family immigrated to Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1913. She was a graduate of Bates College. He had one brother, Stelian Panos Dukakis (1930–1973), who was sent into a coma when struck by a motorist while he was riding his bicycle in Brookline, Massachusetts and taken off life support after four months. Dukakis graduated from Swarthmore College in 1955, served in the U.S. Army 1955–1957, stationed in Korea, and then received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1960. Dukakis is also an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America. After winning four terms to the Massachusetts House of Representatives between 1962 to 1970, Dukakis was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1974, defeating the incumbent Republican Francis W. Sargent during a period of fiscal crisis. Dukakis won in part by promising to be a `reformer` and pledging not to increase the state`s sales tax to balance the state budget. However, this performance did not prove enough to offset a backlash against the state`s high sales and property tax rates, which turned out to be the predominant issue in the 1978 gubernatorial campaign. Dukakis, despite being the incumbent Democratic governor, was refused re-nomination by his own party. The state Democratic Party machine supported Edward J. King in the Democratic primary partly because King rode the wave against high property taxes (along with the passing of a binding petition on the state ballot that limited property tax rates to 2 1/2% of the property valuation -- known as Proposition 2 1/2), but more significantly because State Democratic Party leaders lost confidence in Dukakis`s ability to govern effectively. King also enjoyed the support of the powerbrokers at the MDC, who were unhappy with Dukakis`s attempts to disempower and dismantle the powerful bureaucracy. King also had support from state police and public employee unions. Dukakis suffered a scathing defeat in the Democratic Primary. It was "a public death," according to his wife Kitty. Yet, four years later (`after wandering in the wilderness` some said), having made peace with the state Democratic Party machine powerbrokers, MDC, and the state police and public employee unions, Dukakis defeated King in a `re-match` in the 1982 Democratic primary. He went on to defeat his Republican opponent in the November election. Future Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry was elected Lieutenant Governor on the same ballot with Dukakis, and served in the Dukakis administration from 1983 to 1985. Dukakis served as Governor again from 1983 until 1991 (winning re-election in 1986 with more than 60 percent of the vote) during which time he presided over a high-tech boom and a period of prosperity in Massachusetts and simultaneously getting the reputation for being a `technocrat`. The National Governors Association voted Dukakis the most effective governor in 1986. Residents of the city of Boston and its surrounding areas remember him for the improvements he made to Boston`s mass transit system, especially major renovations to the city`s trains and buses. He was known as the only governor who rode the subway to the state capitol every day. He made a cameo appearance in the medical drama St. Elsewhere (Season 3, Episode 15, "Bye, George," January 9, 1985). He limps to the hospital desk and says that he has suffered a jogging injury, but Dr. Fiscus (played by Howie Mandel) refuses to believe that he is the governor of Massachusetts. After the end of his term, he served on the board of directors for Amtrak, and became a professor of political science at Northeastern University in Massachusetts, visiting professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University, and visiting professor in the Department of Public Policy at the School of Public Affairs at UCLA. He continued to talk in media interviews about the "negative" 1988 Bush campaign, beginning with his press conference on the day after the election, continuing throughout Bush`s term, and even subsequent to Bush`s defeat in the 1992 election. Dukakis has recently developed a strong passion for grassroots campaigning and the appointment of precinct captains to coordinate local campaigning activities, two strategies he feels are essential for the Democratic Party to compete effectively in both local and national elections. In 2006 he and Kitty worked to help Democratic candidate Deval Patrick in his efforts to become governor of Massachusetts. He also has taken a strong role in advocating for effective public transportation and high speed rail as a solution to automobile congestion and the lack of space at airports. Dukakis is married to Katherine D. (Kitty) Dukakis. The couple`s children are John, Andrea and Kara. The Dukakises continue to reside in his boyhood home in Brookline, Massachusetts, but live in Los Angeles, California during the winter while Dukakis teaches at UCLA. He is the cousin of actress Olympia Dukakis. Tuesday, October 9, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Naomi Wolf – One of America’s Most Provocative Thinkers Speaking on: "The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Theater (enter off Wazee) Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Naomi Wolf –Biographical Brief Naomi Wolf was born in San Francisco in 1962. She was an undergraduate at Yale University and did her graduate work at New College, Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Her essays have appeared in various publications including: The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, Glamour, Ms., Esquire, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. She also speaks widely to groups across the country. "The Beauty Myth," her first book, was an international bestseller. She followed that with "Fire With Fire: The New Female Power and How It Will Change The 21st Century," published by Random House in 1993, and "Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle for Womanhood," published in 1997. "Misconceptions," released in 2001, is a powerful and passionate critique of pregnancy and birth in America. In fall 2002, Harper Collins published a 10th anniversary commemorative edition of "The Beauty Myth." Ms. Wolf’s latest book, released in May of 2005, is "The Treehouse: Eccentric Wisdom from my Father on How to Live, Love and See." Naomi Wolf is co-founder of The Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, an organization devoted to training young women in ethical leadership for the 21st century. The institute teaches professional development in the arts and media, politics and law, business and entrepreneurship as well as ethical decision making. She lives with her family in New York City. Monday, August 27, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Diana DeGette – United States House of Representatives Speaking on: "Stem Cell Research in Washington: The Politicization of Science" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Congresswoman Diana DeGette Chief Deputy Whip Diana DeGette is currently serving her 6th term in the U.S. Congress representing the First District of Colorado and is the Senior Member of the Colorado delegation. She is the Vice Chair of the powerful Committee on Energy and Commerce, an exclusive congressional committee with vast jurisdiction over health care, trade, business, technology and consumer protection. In addition, she co-chairs the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, the largest congressional member caucus, and the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus. Democratic Leadership Rep. DeGette was promoted to the House Democratic leadership as Chief Deputy Whip in 2005. She has risen steadily in the Whip organization since her first term in Congress, serving for six years as Regional Whip and two years as the Democratic Floor Whip. The Whip’s job is to keep track of how Democratic Members of Congress plan to vote on important issues. Committee on Energy and Commerce In January 2007, Rep. DeGette was appointed to serve as Vice Chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. As Vice Chair, Rep. DeGette will have the opportunity to be the Acting-Chair of the committee when the Chairman is away. She will also spearhead special projects and assist the Chairman in promoting the Committee’s legislative agenda. Rep. DeGette has served on the Committee on Energy and Commerce since she was first elected to Congress. During that time, she has used her position to improve health care, expand medical research, reform corporate business and accounting practices, and ensure that our homeland is adequately protected. Rep. DeGette is also a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection. Health Care Rep. DeGette is committed to expanding access to health care and improving public health. She has become one of Congress’ leading experts on cutting-edge scientific research and is the author of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. This important legislation would overturn President Bush`s ban on embryonic stem cell research and reassert the United State’s worldwide leadership role. It passed both the House and Senate with strong bipartisan support but was vetoed by President Bush in July of 2006. Rep. DeGette has led efforts to expand the State Children`s Health Insurance Program, which provides health insurance to low-income children up to age 18. As co-chair of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, Rep. DeGette has also been a long-time advocate for the expansion of diabetes care and research, particularly for lower-income and minority communities. Corporate Responsibility As a member of the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee, Rep. DeGette has taken the lead on a variety of investigations including the National Institutes of Health ethics guidelines, the safety of the diet supplement Ephedra and child exploitation over the internet. She has established a national reputation as a leader on corporate accountability issues during her committee’s investigations of Enron, Arthur Andersen, Hewlett Packard and other companies embroiled in various scandals. In the News Rep. DeGette has been featured on a wide spectrum of news outlets, including ABC’s Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNBC, and CNN. Rep. DeGette is also regularly quoted in major newspapers across the nation, including the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post, as well as magazines including Newsweek, and Time. Strong Leadership for Colorado The First Congressional District includes Denver, Cherry Hills Village, Englewood, Glendale and Sheridan. As a life-long Westerner, Rep. DeGette represents Colorado’s most diverse and densely populated district. She is committed to common-sense fiscal responsibility and is working with like-minded Members of Congress to reduce the national deficit. Rep. DeGette has fought to expand her constituents’ access to affordable quality health care. As the First District’s Representative, she has also worked to expand mass transit, improve transportation in the Denver area, clean up environmental waste sites, and improve opportunities for small business. Rep. DeGette is also the author of the landmark Colorado Wilderness Act, which designates 59 pristine areas comprising 1.6 million acres of land across Colorado as protected wilderness. This would preserve a rapidly disappearing piece of our Western heritage for generations to come. Personal Rep. DeGette is a fourth generation Coloradoan who went to Denver’s South High School before receiving her B.A. magna cum laude from Colorado College in 1979 and her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1982. She served two terms in the Colorado House of Representatives and was an Assistant Minority Leader from 1993-1995. Rep. DeGette is married to attorney Lino Lipinsky. They have two daughters and a dog named Charlie. Thursday, July 12, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Bill Ritter – Governor of Colorado Speaking on: "The Future is Now" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Biography – Governor Bill Ritter LIFELONG COLORADAN Governor Ritter, 50, was born in Colorado and raised on a farm east of Aurora, the sixth of 12 children of Bill and Ethel Ritter. Bill Ritter`s dad was a heavy equipment operator, while his mom stayed home until tight economic circumstances forced her to find work as a bookkeeper when Bill Ritter was in his early teens. Governor Ritter started working full time in construction at age 14 to help support the family. As a member of the local laborer`s union, he continued working construction to pay his way through Colorado State University and the University of Colorado Law School. He earned his law degree in 1981 and was hired as a Denver Deputy District Attorney. PUBLIC SERVICE In 1987, Bill Ritter and his wife, Jeannie, began a three-year commitment to manage and expand a nutrition center in Zambia, Africa, where one-third of all children suffered from malnutrition. Returning home in 1990, Bill Ritter worked as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney`s Office. In May 1992, Bill Ritter returned to the DA`s Office. Then-Gov. Roy Romer appointed Governor Ritter as Denver`s District Attorney in 1993. He was elected to the position in 1994 and re-elected in 1996 and 2000. As District Attorney, Governor Ritter: Established one of the nation`s first drug courts; Focused on white-collar crime and crime against seniors, and expanded domestic and sexual abuse prosecution; Created the nation`s first Victim Service`s Network; Advised the U.S. attorney general on community security following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. These accomplishments earned Governor Ritter a national reputation for effective prosecution, innovation and the ability to manage public dollars wisely and efficiently. Widely respected by his peers, Bill served as a vice president of the National Association of District Attorneys, Chairman of the American Prosecutors Research Institute, and on the board for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. FAMILY and COMMUNITY Bill Ritter and Jeannie Ritter have been married for 22 years. They have three sons and a daughter: August, 20; Abe, 18; Sam, 16; and Tally, 13. Jeannie is a substitute teacher with Denver Public Schools. Most of Bill Ritter`s extended family, including his 28 nieces and nephews, live in Colorado. Governor Ritter has served his community as chairman of the board of Promoting Alternatives to Violence through Education (Project PAVE), the Mile High United Way board, the Denver Foundation`s Human Services Committee, and the Denver Public Schools Commission on Secondary School Reform. Thursday, June 28, 2007 The Denver Forum and Colorado Rockies Proudly Present: Frank Deford -- the Legendary Sports Illustrated writer and NPR Morning Edition Commentator Author of and Speaking on: "The Entitled: A Tale of Modern Baseball" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: Frank Deford -- The Man Who`s Been Called, "The world’s greatest sportswriter" "Baseball is a game of instinct and keen observation, of knowing which way the ball is going to bounce off a broken bat and knowing whether a player wears his pants high or low. At least it is to Howie Traveler, who never made it as a player—his one major league hit and .091 batting average attest to that. After years of struggling his way up the coaching ladder, Howie`s finally been given his shot to manage in the big leagues. But America`s pastime has changed. Whether Howie can spot a small flaw in a batter`s swing won`t matter if he can`t manage today`s megastar players—especially his superstar outfielder Jay Alcazar. If Howie can`t get through to Jay—a homerun slugger with giant talents and an ego to match—his managing career will be over as soon as it began. But Jay has no use for Howie. Until, that is, one night at the hotel when Howie sees something at Jay`s door he wishes he hadn`t..." From six-time National Sportswriter of the Year and NPR commentator Frank Deford comes a page-turning novel that takes you deep into America`s game. "The Entitled" (May 16; 978-1-40220-896-6; $24.95; fiction) is a tale of modern baseball. It takes you inside a ball club and inside the mind of a defeated manager and a champion slugger, as only Deford can. He creates a world where the idealism of the old game meets the reality of today’s sports landscape, as idolized millionaires step in to replace the boyhood heroes of yesterday. Deford’s writing is authentic and emanates today’s baseball. Fans who already know quite a bit about the game will get more knowledge out of this book than they have with non-fiction books on the genre. Frank Deford is a six-time National Sportswriter of the Year, Senior Contributing Editor at Sports Illustrated, commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition, and a correspondent on the HBO show RealSports with Bryant Gumbel. In addition to being the author of more than a dozen books, he has been elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters and has been awarded both an Emmy and a Peabody. Sporting News describes Deford as “the most influential sports voice among members of the print media” and GQ simply calls him “the world’s greatest sportswriter.” Wednesday, June 6, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: His Excellency Flavio Espinal Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United States Speaking on: "Latin America & the Future of American Foreign Policy" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30 Non-members: $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: His Excellency Flavio Dario Espinal -- Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to theUnited States Flavio Dario Espinal became ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United States on Jan. 1, 2005. Ambassador Espinal previously served as ambassador to the Organization of American States 1996-2000), for which he was chair of the Permanent Council, the Committee on Legal and Political Issues, and the Committee on Hemispheric Security. He was also co-coordinator of the Civil Society Agenda during the Summits of the Americas. In addition, Ambassador Espinal is the former dean of the Law School at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, Recinto Santo Tomás de Aquino, in Santo Domingo, where he was also a professor of law and director of the University Center of Political and Social Studies as well as of the Center for the Study, Prevention and Resolution of Conflicts. He has practiced law in the cities of Santiago and Santo Domingo, and has served as a consultant for both the private sector and various international organizations. He is the author of "Constitutionalism and Political Processes in the Dominican Republic," and has published numerous articles and essays on political and constitutional issues in different academic journals. Before his current appointment, Ambassador Espinal published a weekly op-ed column in the newspaper El Caribe and co-produced the television program "En Contexto." He obtained his law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra. Ambassador Espinal also holds a master’s degree in political sciences from the University of Essex, England, and a doctorate in government from the University of Virginia. Monday, May 21, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Dr. Marion Nestle – Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University Author of and Speaking on: "What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: About the Author – Marion Nestle Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, in the department that she chaired from 1988 through 2003. Her degrees include a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of "Nutrition in Clinical Practice"; "Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health" (winner of awards from the James Beard Foundation, Association of American Publishers, and World Hunger Year); and "Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism" (a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book), and she is co-editor of "Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Food and Nutrition." Inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America/Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003, she lives in New York City. Visit her website at www.foodpolitics.com. “The foods that sell best and bring in the most profits are not necessarily the ones that are best for your health, and the conflict between health and business goals is at the root of public confusion about food choices.” — Marion Nestle, from the introduction Never one to shy away from debates in which America’s health is at stake, distinguished nutritionist Marion Nestle has courageously challenged the food industry and became a vocal champion for reform in the way food is produced and marketed. Now she sheds light on the hype-laden world of super foods and taboo foods, fad diets and befuddling package labels in “What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating.” “As soon as people find out what I do, they ask: ‘Why is nutrition so confusing?’” Dr. Nestle writes. “Everyone wants to know what the politics of food means for what they personally should eat. Should they be worried about hormones, pesticides, antibiotics, mercury or bacteria in foods? Is it acceptable to eat sugars, artificial sweeteners? What about foods that are raw, canned, irradiated, or genetically engineered? Eventually I came to realize that, for many people, food feels like nothing at all like a source of pleasure; it feels more like a minefield.” In an effort to quell these and other quandaries, she embarked on an extensive research project that would take her from a meeting of the Organic Trade Association in Austin to the Hong Kong Supermarket in Manhattan’s Chinatown, with countless interviews with store managers, fish inspectors, food company executives, farmers, and scientists in between. Delivering the lowdown on a variety of culinary controversies, “What to Eat” tours each section in the grocery store, from the freezer aisles to the bakery and butcher, answering such questions as: • Is there much difference between a product labeled “100% Organic” and one just labeled “Natural”? Are organic foods worth the high price? And why are they so high-priced? • Are eggs, beef, and pork deadly sins on the road to heart disease? How worried should we be about E. coli, Listeria, mad cow disease, and other safety concerns? Is it better to buy beef that is labeled “all vegetable diet”? • Are the omega-3 fats in fish worth the risk of methylmercury? • Do calories really count? Aren’t trans fats and vitamins more important? • Aren’t carrots and beets full of sugar, and therefore off-limits? • Does everybody need to eat dairy foods? • Corn oil, olive oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, sesame oil: What’s the difference? If the label says, “vegetable oil,” it’s good for us, right? • What should kids eat? • Is bottled water better than tap water? • How can I tell if foods are genetically engineered? Why aren’t they labeled in the U.S.? • Is green tea really a wonder drug? Or should we avoid the caffeine in tea and coffee? • Are soy foods and infant formulas better than dairy products? • Who’s right in the debate over Vitamin E supplements? Which supplements are necessary? At the heart of Dr. Nestle’s research is the fact that health claims sell products, but a society that constantly chases the next miracle food is not necessarily going to be any healthier—or happier. A sign touting the antioxidant benefits of blueberries will sell more blueberries, but ultimately, says Dr. Nestle, “Surely the best reason to eat blueberries is that they are delicious in season.” From the saccharin saga to the fast-food restaurants’ attempts to become more health-conscious (or at least look like they are), “What to Eat” leaves no fad uninvestigated and provides an inspiring dose of reasons to rediscover the joy of a worry-free meal. Tuesday, April 17, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Troy Eid – United States Attorney for Colorado Speaking on: "Criminal Justice in Colorado” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members and Non-members: $30 (this event only) Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Biographical Brief – The Honorable Troy A. Eid United States Attorney for Colorado On August 11, 2006, Troy A. Eid was sworn in as the United States Attorney for Colorado. He serves as Colorado’s chief federal criminal prosecutor and represents the United States in civil cases where the government is a party to a lawsuit. Nominated by President George W. Bush, Troy was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in August 2006. He is Colorado’s 41st U.S. Attorney since Abraham Lincoln made the first such presidential appointment for the newly created Colorado Territory in 1861. Troy’s legal practice focused on environmental, natural resources, and federal Indian law. He grew up in Wheat Ridge, Colorado and graduated from Stanford University and the University of Chicago Law School. Before taking office as U.S. Attorney, he was a partner in the Denver branch of one of the world’s largest law firms. Earlier in his career, Troy was general counsel and chief operating officer of an Internet technology research consortium and directed engineering teams in North America, Europe and Asia. He is a member of the American Law Institute and admitted to practice law in Colorado and the Navajo Nation. Troy’s past public service includes all three branches of the federal government. He was a Law Clerk to the Honorable Edith H. Jones, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; a Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission under President Ronald Reagan; and a Congressional Aide for law enforcement and the federal judiciary. Colorado Governor Bill Owens appointed Troy as his Chief Legal Counsel in 1999, where Troy oversaw the appointment of 34 state judges and served on the commission that reviewed the mass shootings at Columbine High School. Troy went on to serve in Governor Owens’ cabinet as the Chief Administrative Officer for Colorado’s $13 billion state government. He was responsible for 60,000 state employees and for leading the State Controller’s Office, Insurance and Risk Management, Human Resources, Procurement, Real Estate, Information Technology, Telecommunications and Public Safety Radio, Central Business Services, and Colorado’s Administrative Court system. The former Chair of the Colorado State Board of Ethics, Troy has been a director of several non-profit organizations, including the Legal Aid Foundation of Colorado, and has served on more than a dozen state boards and commissions. He is the recipient of the Coloradan of the Year Award from the Colorado Jaycees, the Outstanding Government Advocate of the Year Award from the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the American Marshall Memorial Fellowship from the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Troy’s writings include “Strategic Democracy-Building: How U.S. States Can Help,” published by The Washington Quarterly magazine and as a chapter in WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS: USING SOFT POWER TO UNDERMINE TERRORIST NETWORKS (Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 2003). He and his wife Allison, a Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, have two children. Thursday, March 22, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Dr. Harlan Ullman Author of and speaking on: "America’s Promise Restored: Preventing Culture, Crusade and Partisanship from Wrecking Our Nation" 12-Noon Luncheon Price: $30 members, $45 for non-members Oxford Hotel -- Sage Room 1600 17th Street Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Dr. Harlan Kenneth Ullman Senior Associate, International Security Program -- Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) Dr. Harlan Ullman will discuss his latest book "America`s Promise Restored--Preventing Culture, Crusade and Partisanship from Wrecking Our Nation." The book is provocative and tough. It shows how and why government is broken and, through six big ideas, offers ways to fix it. The book has received powerful endorsements from Colin Powell, John Kerry, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, among other notables including former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci, national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and NATO Commander General George Joulwan. Dr. Ullman is a senior advisor with CSIS. His expertise spans national security, foreign policy, terror, defense, economics, and finance as well as Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. A columnist for the Washington Times, he is a frequent commentator in U.S. and international media including Fox, BBC, and Al Jazeera TV. An honors graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Dr. Ullman completed more than 150 combat missions and patrols in Vietnam as a Swift boat skipper and later commanded a destroyer in the Persian Gulf. With a Ph.D. in international affairs, finance, and economics, he has been an academic and businessman as well as an adviser to the most senior levels of government and the private sector. He is also principal author of the doctrine of “shock and awe,” but not the variant used by the Pentagon. After leaving naval service, he joined CSIS as senior fellow and director of the Political-Military and Strategy Programs and began consulting with a number of Fortune 100 companies. Elected to the board of the Wall Street Fund, he later formed his own company, the Killowen Group, a consulting firm with broad financial interests. He has served on the boards of several related investment and venture capital companies with holdings in Asia and as senior partner and vice chairman of two companies in the high-technology area. Dr. Ullman is currently chairman of the advisory board of a company engaged in Smart Zone Management and homeland security, serves at the Center for Naval Analyses, where he chairs the Senior Seminar and is a senior fellow and is on the advisory boards for U.S. European Command and the NATO Defence College. Thursday, March 8, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Kathleen Kennedy Townsend -- Former Lt. Governor, State of Maryland Author of and Speaking on: "Failing America`s Faithful: How Churches have Mixed God and Politics and Lost Their Way" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Theater (enter off Wazee) 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30; Non-members: $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Briefly Biographical Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has a long history of accomplishment in the public arena. As Maryland’s first woman Lt. Governor, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was in charge of a multimillion dollar budget and had oversight of major departments including State Police, Economic Development, Transportation, and the Office of Children Youth and Families. She is known nationally for her innovative and results oriented programs such as Hot Spots, Break the Cycle, the development of Marylands bio-tech business, the launching of the e-readiness initiative and the establishment of one of the first state wide offices of character education. Before being elected Lt. Governor, Mrs. Townsend served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States. In that role, she led the planning to put 100,000 police officers into the community and she ignited the Police Corps, a program to give college scholarships to young people who pledge to work as police officers for four years after graduating. Prior to serving at the Department of Justice, Mrs.Townsend spent seven years as the founder and director of the Maryland Student Service Alliance. It was in this role that she led the fight to make Maryland the first state in the nation to require all high school students perform community service. Before launching that initiative, Mrs.Townsend worked as an environmental attorney both in private practice and as an Assistant Attorney General in Maryland. In addition, in 1982 she managed Senator Edward M.Kennedy’s successful re-election campaign. Mrs.Townsend has taught foreign policy at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has published articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Washington Monthly, among others. In the mid-eighties she founded the Robert F.Kennedy Human Rights Award – and award whose recipients now include the Comadres of El Salvador, Adam Michnic of Poland, and Beyers Naude of South Africa. Mrs.Townsend is Chair of the Institute for Human Virology at the University of Maryland and currently serves on the boards of directors of the John F.Kennedy Library Foundation, Points of Light Foundations, Strategic Partnerships, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the Character Education Partnership and she is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and the Inter-American Dialogue. She previously served on the boards of the Export-Import Bank, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the Wilderness Society, the Baltimore Urban League and was chair of the Robert Kennedy Memorial. A honors graduate of Harvard University, she received her law degree from the University of New Mexico where she was a member of the law review. She has received ten honorary degrees. The eldest child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, Lt.Governor Townsend lives in Baltimore County with her husband, David, a professor at St.John’s College in Annapolis. They have four daughters, Meaghan (27), Maeve (25), Kate (21), and Kerry (13). About Katheen`s Book Kathleen Kennedy Townsend grew up in a time when faith inspired people to fight for civil rights, to join the peace corps, to make the United States a moral voice in the world. This has been lost. Kennedy Townsend writes with a compelling passion urging America`s churches and their congregants to reclaim the legacy of an active faith. For too long, the subject of religion has been politicized by the right and largely ignored by the left, as American churches have become increasingly more strident in their condemnation of others rather than inspiring their own congregations to be "a good neighbor". Now, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend issues a call to arms to churches and all those who see that on this earth we should judge ourselves on what we do for others. Kennedy Townsend speaks personally and from the heart about the tragedies that struck her family and how faith and service were a way to heal and survive. She movingly recalls what it was like to grow up as the eldest Kennedy of her generation, a member of a prominent Catholic family at a time when both America and church leaders such as the Reverend Martin Luther King, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Reverend Sloane Coffin, and the Berrigan brothers (Father Daniel and Father Phil) were leading a revolutionary transformation. The traditional role of churches has been to promote the welfare of those in the community who depend on them —the poor, the sick, those in need. Yet American churches today involve themselves more in offering prescriptions of what one ought not to do, then in working for the common good. . She documents how America’s churches have been in the forefront of the fight for social progress: from the original struggle for independence, to the abolitionist movement, to efforts supporting the vote for women, better conditions for working people, and Civil Rights. This book’s inspiring message is one of hope and spiritual renewal. Powerful, personal, and provocative, "FAILING AMERICA’S FAITHFUL" demonstrates how Americans and their churches can reclaim their religious traditions and transform their lives, and this very nation. What’s being said about Failing America`s Faithful: "Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is a woman of passion, integrity and faith. Her Christian witness requires her to remember and act on Jesus` repeated instructions to love our neighbors, care for the poor, and repair the breaches among us. She makes a compelling case for those who share her faith to do the same. – President William Jefferson Clinton "Townsend is...a committed Catholic who despairs of the Church’s political leanings and who counters with an ethic of service to the poor and powerless…Watch for elements of Townsend’s well-framed argument at the 2008 Democratic Convention.” – Kirkus Reviews Tuesday, February 27, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Wellington Webb – Former Mayor of Denver Author of and Speaking on: "Wellington Webb: The Man, the Mayor, and the Making of Modern Denver" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel Sage Room 1600 17th Street Members, $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Wellington Webb – Biographical Brief Wellington Webb was born in Chicago in 1941. As a child his family relocated to Denver, where he would grow up to become the city`s first African-American mayor. Growing up Mr. Webb was an all-conference basketball player at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. Four years later he obtained his B.A. in sociology from Colorado State College at Greeley and his M.A. in sociology from the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley in 1971. Mr. Webb was turned down twice for teaching positions in the Denver public schools. He was working as a forklift operator when he sought advice from his grandmother, Helen M. Gamble, who was active in the community affairs in northeast Denver. Following her advice, he went to work at the Denver City Hall. Through her mentoring with Mr. Webb about political involvement and political clout his political career began. In 1972, Webb was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives, five years later; Mr. Webb was selected by President Jimmy Carter to serve as regional director of the U.S. Department of Health Education and Welfare. In 1981, Colorado Governor Richard Lamm appointed Mr. Webb to his cabinet as executive director of the Department of Regulatory Agencies. In 1987, he was elected Denver city auditor where his track record paved the way for his successful and historic mayoral bid in 1991. Mr. Webb pledged to walk the entire city and the Denver media followed. In his three terms in office, Mayor Webb focused on four major areas: parks and open space, public safety, economic development and children. During his administration include a record 40 percent decrease in crime and unemployment dipped below 2 percent. Mayor Webb`s development projects include the new Denver International Airport, a new sports stadium, expansion of the Denver Art Museum and a new African American Research Library. He was president of the Democratic Mayors and the past president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and National Conference of Black Mayors. Mayor Webb lectures often and was a guest lecturer at Harvard University`s Kennedy School of Government. Webb also works together with his wife, former Colorado State Representative Wilma J. Webb. Thursday, February 8, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Mr. James H. Quigley -- CEO of Deloitte & Touche USA Speaking on: "Accountability & The Public Interest" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30; Non-members: $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: James H. Quigley James H. Quigley was named Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP (D&T USA) in June 2003. Jim was most recently Vice Chairman of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP and Regional Managing Partner of the Deloitte US Firms’ Northeast practice, with responsibility for service to companies in the metropolitan region of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. With over 30 years of experience, Jim has a distinguished track record of service to many of the Firm’s leading clients in a range of industries including BASF, Huntsman Chemical, International Paper, ITT Industries, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, Monsanto Company, and Northeast Utilities. Jim was also National Industry Leader for the organization’s Manufacturing Practice. Jim is a member of D&T USA’s Executive Committee, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) Executive and of the Boards of Directors of both D&T USA and DTT. He has been Chairman of the U.S. Firms’ partner compensation and benefits committee and its Mergers and Acquisitions committee. Since becoming a partner, Jim has held numerous leadership roles in the organization’s National Office, including assistant to the Chairman, Secretary to the Board of Directors and the Operating Committee, and Chief of Staff in the Office of the Chairman (now the Global Strategic Clients program). Jim serves on the board of trustees of Central Park Conservancy, Catalyst, the Financial Accounting Foundation, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Partnership for New York City, and National Advisory Committee - Brigham Young University. Jim has served on numerous committees of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, including the Environmental Issues Task Force, the Committee on Structure and Governance, the Future Issues Committee, and the Strategic Planning Committee. He has also been a member of the boards of the Business Council of New York State, Professional Housing Resources, the Southwestern Area Commerce and Industry Association of Connecticut, and Junior Achievement of New York City. He has chaired the audit committee and served as treasurer for the National Council for the Better Business Bureau in Washington, D.C. Jim is actively involved with the Boy Scouts of America, and he has been a member of the task force on role and mission for United Way of Tri-State. He is also a member of the Economic Club of New York. Jim received his Bachelor of Science degree from Utah State University and was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Commercial Science from Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. Friday, February 2, 2007 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Mr. John Hofmeister -- President, Shell Oil Company Speaking on: "United States Energy Security" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Grand Ballroom (enter off Wazee) Members: $30; Non-members: $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: John Hofmeister - President, Shell Oil Company John Hofmeister is president of Houston-based Shell Oil Company. Hofmeister has participated in the inner workings of general industries for more than 30 years. He has held key positions with General Electric, Nortel, and AlliedSignal (now Honeywell International) in North America, Europe, and Asia. In his current position with Shell, Hofmeister heads the U.S. Country Leadership Team, which includes the leaders of all Shell businesses operating in the United States. Hofmeister believes there is strength in diversity and argues that the United States can assure energy security by bringing to bear a broad range energy sources. Fossil fuels, alternative energies, and expanded access to domestic and foreign supplies of gas and oil should all be part of the solution to the U.S. energy challenge. John earned a master’s degree in political science from Kansas State University. He currently serves on the boards of the American Petroleum Institute, United States Energy Association, National Association of Manufacturers, the National Urban League, the Foreign Policy Association, and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources. Ambassador Ken Adelman Dick Lamm Tuesday, January 30, 2007 The Denver Forum and The City Club of Denver Proudly Present: The Honorable Ken Adelman -- former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and Arms Control Director In Dialogue with Dick Lamm on Ambassador Adelman`s "Iraq Journey" 12-Noon Luncheon The Oxford Hotel Grand Ballroom - enter off Wazee Cost: $30 per person for Forum and City Club members, $45 for non-members Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Biographical Notes on Ken Adelman Vice-President of Movers and Shakespeares, with years of teaching Shakespeare, beginning in 1977, at Georgetown and George Washington Universities Writer, consultant and former member of the Defense Policy Board under Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield Served as a U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Arms Control Director under President Ronald Reagan (1981-87); and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense in the mid-1970s Author of five books, including co-author of "Shakespeare in Charge," and hundreds of articles; regular commentator on television and radio Doctorate in Political Theory (1975) and Masters in Foreign Service Studies, (1969) from Georgetown University Translator for Mohammed Ali during "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight championship fight in Africa (1975), and a member of the Zaire River Expedition down the Congo River on the 100th Anniversary of Stanley`s exploration. RICHARD D. LAMM -- Biography Richard D. Lamm is Co-Director of the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver, and the former three-term Governor of Colorado. (1975-1987) He is both a lawyer (Berkeley, 1961) and a Certified Public Accountant. He joined the faculty of the University of Denver in 1969 and has, except for his years as Governor, been associated with the University ever since. Lamm has appeared on virtually every national news program, including Buchanan & Press (MSNBC), Larry King Live and Inside Politics (CNN), Today (NBC), Meet the Press (NBC), ABC`s Good Morning America, Lehrer NewsHour (PBS), and CBS`s Face the Nation. His editorials have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Newsday, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune, as well as in a number of academic and medical journals. While Governor, Lamm wrote or co-authored six books: "A California Conspiracy," with Arnold Grossman (St. Martin`s Press, 1988); "Megatraumas: America in the Year 2000" (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985), "The Immigration Time Bomb: The Fragmenting of America," with Gary Imhoff (Dutton and Company, 1985), "1988," with Arnie Grossman (St. Martin`s Press, 1985), "Pioneers & Politicians," with Duane A. Smith (Pruett Publishing Company, 1984) and "The Angry West," with Michael McCarthy (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982). His latest book is "The Brave New World of Healthcare" (Fulcrum Publishing, 2003). Lamm has always been in the forefront of political change. As a first year legislator, he drafted and succeeded in passing the nation`s first liberalized abortion law. He was an early leader of the environmental movement, and was President of the First National Conference on Population and The Environment. Reacting to the high cost of campaigning, he walked the state in his campaign for Governor of Colorado. Lamm was elected to three terms as Colorado`s top elected official, and in serving as Governor from January 1975 and retiring in January 1987, he was the longest-serving Governor in Colorado`s history to that date. The Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver comprises the Public Affairs Program (Bachelor’s in Public Affairs), the Graduate Program in Public Policy (Master’s in Public Policy, MPP), and the Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues. In addition to directing the University of Denver’s academic policy programs, the Institute for Public Policy Studies contributes to the study and discussion of American society’s most critical issues through an active program of conferences, seminars, forums and publications. Embittered Insiders Turn Against Bush By Peter Baker Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, November 19, 2006 The weekend after the statue of Saddam Hussein fell, Kenneth Adelman and a couple of other promoters of the Iraq war gathered at Vice President Cheney`s residence to celebrate. The invasion had been the "cakewalk" Adelman predicted. Cheney and his guests raised their glasses, toasting President Bush and victory. "It was a euphoric moment," Adelman recalled. Forty-three months later, the cakewalk looks more like a death march, and Adelman has broken with the Bush team. He had an angry falling-out with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld this fall. He and Cheney are no longer on speaking terms. And he believes that "the president is ultimately responsible" for what Adelman now calls "the debacle that was Iraq." Adelman, a former Reagan administration official and onetime member of the Iraq war brain trust, is only the latest voice from inside the Bush circle to speak out against the president or his policies. Heading into the final chapter of his presidency, fresh from the sting of a midterm election defeat, Bush finds himself with fewer and fewer friends. Some of the strongest supporters of the war have grown disenchanted, former insiders are registering public dissent and Republicans on Capitol Hill blame him for losing Congress. A certain weary crankiness sets in with any administration after six years. By this point in Bill Clinton`s tenure, bitter Democrats were competing to denounce his behavior with an intern even as they were trying to fight off his impeachment. Ronald Reagan was deep in the throes of the Iran-contra scandal. But Bush`s strained relations with erstwhile friends and allies take on an extra edge of bitterness amid the dashed hopes of the Iraq venture. "There are a lot of lives that are lost," Adelman said in an interview last week. "A country`s at stake. A region`s at stake. This is a gigantic situation. . . . This didn`t have to be managed this bad. It`s just awful." The sense of Bush abandonment accelerated during the final weeks of the campaign with the publication of a former aide`s book accusing the White House of moral hypocrisy and with Vanity Fair quoting Adelman, Richard N. Perle and other neoconservatives assailing White House leadership of the war. Since the Nov. 7 elections, Republicans have pinned their woes on the president. "People expect a level of performance they are not getting," former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said in a speech. Many were livid that Bush waited until after the elections to oust Rumsfeld. "If Rumsfeld had been out, you bet it would have made a difference," Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said on television. "I`d still be chairman of the Judiciary Committee." And so, in what some saw as a rebuke, Senate Republicans restored Trent Lott (Miss.) to their leadership four years after the White House helped orchestrate his ouster, with some saying they could no longer place their faith entirely in Bush. Some insiders said the White House invited the backlash. "Anytime anyone holds themselves up as holy, they`re judged by a different standard," said David Kuo, a former deputy director of the Bush White House`s faith-based initiatives who wrote "Tempting Faith," a book that accused the White House of pandering to Christian conservatives. "And at the end of the day, this was a White House that held itself up as holy." Richard N. Haass, a former top Bush State Department official and now president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said a radically different approach to world affairs naturally generates criticism. "The emphasis on promotion of democracy, the emphasis on regime change, the war of choice in Iraq -- all of these are departures from the traditional approach," he said, "so it`s not surprising to me that it generates more reaction." The willingness to break with Bush also underscores the fact that the president spent little time courting many natural allies in Washington, according to some Republicans. GOP leaders in Congress often bristled at what they perceived to be a do-what-we-say approach by the White House. Some of those who did have more personal relationships with Bush, Cheney or Rumsfeld came to feel the sense of disappointment more acutely because they believed so strongly in the goals the president laid out for his administration. The arc of Bush`s second term has shown that the most powerful criticism originates from the inside. The pragmatist crowd around Colin L. Powell began speaking out nearly two years ago after he was eased out as secretary of state. Powell lieutenants such as Haass, Richard L. Armitage, Carl W. Ford Jr. and Lawrence B. Wilkerson took public the policy debates they lost on the inside. Many who worked in Iraq returned deeply upset and wrote books such as "Squandered Victory" (Larry Diamond) and "Losing Iraq" (David L. Phillips). Military and CIA officials unloaded after leaving government, culminating in the "generals` revolt" last spring when retired flag officers called for Rumsfeld`s dismissal. On the domestic side, Bush allies in Congress, interest groups and the conservative media broke their solidarity with the White House out of irritation over a number of issues, including federal spending, illegal immigration, the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers, the response to Hurricane Katrina and the Dubai Ports World deal. Most striking lately, though, has been the criticism from neoconservatives who provided the intellectual framework for Bush`s presidency. Perle, Adelman and others advocated a robust use of U.S. power to advance the ideals of democracy and freedom, targeting Hussein`s Iraq as a threat that could be turned into an opportunity. In an interview last week, Perle said the administration`s big mistake was occupying the country rather than creating an interim Iraqi government led by a coalition of exile groups to take over after Hussein was toppled. "If I had known that the U.S. was going to essentially establish an occupation, then I`d say, `Let`s not do it,` " and instead find another way to target Hussein, Perle said. "It was a foolish thing to do." Perle, head of the Pentagon`s Defense Policy Board at the time of the 2003 invasion, said he still believes the invasion was justified. But he resents being called "the architect of the Iraq war," because "my view was different from the administration`s view from the very beginning" about how to conduct it. "I am not critical now of anything about which I was not critical before," he said. "I`ve said it more publicly." White House officials tend to brush off each criticism by claiming it was over-interpreted or misguided. "I just fundamentally disagree," Cheney said of the comments by Perle, Adelman and other neoconservatives before the midterm elections. Others close to the White House said the neoconservatives are dealing with their own sense of guilt over how events have turned out and are eager to blame Bush to avoid their own culpability. Joshua Muravchik, a neoconservative at the American Enterprise Institute, said he is distressed "to see neocons turning on Bush" but said he believes they should admit mistakes and openly discuss what went wrong. "All of us who supported the war have to share some of the blame for that," he said. "There`s a question to be sorted out: whether the war was a sound idea but very badly executed. And if that`s the case, it appears to me the person most responsible for the bad execution was Rumsfeld, and it means neocons should not get too angry at Bush about that." It may also be, he said, that the mistake was the idea itself -- that Iraq could serve as a democratic beacon for the Middle East. "That part of our plan is down the drain," Muravchik said, "and we have to think about what we can do about keeping alive the idea of democracy." Few of the original promoters of the war have grown as disenchanted as Adelman. The chief of Reagan`s arms control agency, Adelman has been close to Cheney and Rumsfeld for decades and even worked for Rumsfeld at one point. As a member of the Defense Policy Board, he wrote in The Washington Post before the Iraq war that it would be "a cakewalk." But in interviews with Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and The Post, Adelman said he became unhappy about the conduct of the war soon after his ebullient night at Cheney`s residence in 2003. The failure to find weapons of mass destruction disturbed him. He said he was disgusted by the failure to stop the looting that followed Hussein`s fall and by Rumsfeld`s casual dismissal of it with the phrase "stuff happens." The breaking point, he said, was Bush`s decision to award Medals of Freedom to occupation chief L. Paul Bremer, Gen. Tommy R. Franks and then-CIA Director George J. Tenet. "The three individuals who got the highest civilian medals the president can give were responsible for a lot of the debacle that was Iraq," Adelman said. All told, he said, the Bush national security team has proved to be "the most incompetent" of the past half-century. But, he added, "Obviously, the president is ultimately responsible." Adelman said he remained silent for so long out of loyalty. "I didn`t want to bad-mouth the administration," he said. In private, though, he spoke out, resulting in a furious confrontation with Rumsfeld, who summoned him to the Pentagon in September and demanded his resignation from the defense board. "It seemed like nobody was getting it," Adelman said. "It seemed like everything was locked in. It seemed like everything was stuck." He agrees he bears blame as well. "I think that`s fair. When you advocate a policy that turns bad, you do have some responsibility." Most troubling, he said, are his shattered ideals: "The whole philosophy of using American strength for good in the world, for a foreign policy that is really value-based instead of balanced-power-based, I don`t think is disproven by Iraq. But it`s certainly discredited." Friday, December 15, 2006 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Ms. Lynn Sherr -- ABC`s 20/20 Author of and Speaking on: "Outside the Box" Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30; Non-members: $40 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Lynn Sherr -- Author of "Outside the Box" Lynn Sherr has been a correspondent with the ABC Newsmagazine 20/20 since May 1986. She has covered a wide range of stories, specializing in women`s issues and social change, as well as investigative reports. Among her many contributions to 20/20: an award-winning report on the astonishing story of a homeless girl in New York who earned a scholarship to Harvard; a pioneering report on a treatment for anorexia; a series on the lengths women go to when altering their bodies in the name of beauty; and most recently, a look at the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, where the goal is Gross National Happiness. In 2000, Ms. Sherr traveled to India to report on midnight in Bombay for the ABCNEWS Millennium Special, which received numerous awards. She has also received an Emmy, two American Women in Radio and Television Commendation awards, and, among other honors, a George Foster Peabody Award. Prior to her assignment at 20/20, Ms. Sherr was a national correspondent for ABC News, where she was also part of the network’s political team. She served as a floor reporter for every Republican and Democratic nominating convention, starting in 1978 and regularly analyzed the results of the exit polls on election nights. In 1984 she also covered the presidential primary campaign of Senator John Glenn and the vice-presidential campaign of Geraldine Ferraro. Ms. Sherr also reported on the NASA space shuttle program from its inception in 1981 through the Challenger explosion in 1986, anchoring almost every mission from launch to landing. During the investigation into the Challenger accident, she obtained the only interview with astronaut Sally Ride. She was also chosen as a semifinalist in the Journalist-in-Space program, which was unfortunately abandoned. In 1996 Ms. Sherr was one of 10 graduates of Lower Merion High School (Ardmore, Pa.) selected as distinguished alumni. Before coming to ABC, she was a reporter for WNET-TV in New York and WETA-TV in Washington, D.C., both public television stations. Prior to that, she reported for WCBS-TV in New York, and The Associated Press in New York and Condé Nast Publications. Ms. Sherr is the author of "Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words" and co-author of "Susan B. Anthony Slept Here: A Guide to American Women`s Landmarks", and 10 editions of “The Women`s Calendar.” Her bestselling book, "Tall Blondes", offered a perceptive and highly praised look at one of wildlife`s most endearing but little-understood animals—giraffes—and was also the subject of a one-hour documentary for the PBS Nature program. Her bestselling book, "America the Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind Our Nation’s Favorite Song", came out in 2001. Her newest work," Outside the Box", a memoir, will be published in September 2006. Lynn Sherr lives in New York City. Tuesday, November 28, 2006 The Denver Forum and The City Club of Denver Proudly Present: The Honorable David Walker -- Comptroller General of the United States Speaking on: "America`s Fiscal Crisis & the Future" 12-Noon Luncheon The Brown Palace Ballroom A Cost: $30 per person Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: David M. Walker Comptroller General of the United States David M. Walker became the seventh Comptroller General of the United States when he took his oath of office on November 9, 1998. As Comptroller General, Mr. Walker is the nation’s chief accountability officer and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), a legislative branch agency founded in 1921. GAO’s mission is to help improve the performance and assure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. GAO has earned a reputation for professional, objective, fact-based, nonpartisan and nonideological reviews of government programs and operations. The 15-year tenure of the Comptroller General gives GAO a continuity of leadership and independence that is rare within government. Both elements help to allow GAO to consider long-range and cross-governmental issues and alert policymakers to problems looming on the horizon, such as the nation’s long-term fiscal crisis. Before his appointment as Comptroller General, Mr. Walker had extensive executive level experience in both government and private industry. Between 1989 and 1998, Mr. Walker worked at Arthur Andersen LLP, where he was a partner and global managing director of the human capital services practice based in Atlanta, Georgia. He was also a member of the board of Arthur Andersen Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor. While a partner at Arthur Andersen, Mr. Walker served as a Public Trustee for Social Security and Medicare from 1990 to 1995. Before joining Arthur Andersen, Mr. Walker was Assistant Secretary of Labor for Pension and Welfare Benefit Programs from 1987 to 1989, and in 1985, he was Acting Executive Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. His earlier technical, professional, and business experience was with Price Waterhouse, Coopers & Lybrand and Source Services Corporation, an international human resources consulting and search firm. Mr. Walker currently serves as Chair of the U.S. Intergovernmental Audit Forum, the Center for Continuous Auditing, and as a principal of the U.S. Joint Financial Management Improvement Program. He is on the Board of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions and various educational and not-for-profit entities. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, the National Academy of Social Insurance and an active member of various professional, public service, and other organizations, including the Sons of the American Revolution. Mr. Walker is a certified public accountant. He has a B.S. degree in accounting from Jacksonville University, a Senior Management in Government Certificate in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and honorary degrees from a number of colleges and universities. He is married to the former Mary Etheredge, and they have two adult children – a daughter, Carol, and a son, Andy – as well as three grandchildren. Wednesday, November 15, 2006 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Max Boot -- A Fellow of The Council on Foreign Relations Author of and Speaking on: "War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Cost: $30 per person Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Max Boot Max Boot is a Senior Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He is also a weekly foreign-affairs columnist for the Los Angeles Times, a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard, and a regular contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, and many other publications. In 2004, he was named by the World Affairs Councils of America one of “the 500 most influential people in the United States in the field of foreign policy.” His last book, "The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power"(Basic Books) was selected as one of the best books of 2002 by The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Christian Science Monitor. It also won the 2003 General Wallace M. Greene Jr. Award, given annually by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation for the best nonfiction book pertaining to Marine Corps history. He is now completing his next book, "War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today," which will be published in October 2006 by Gotham Books, an imprint of Penguin (USA). Boot is a frequent public speaker and guest on radio and television news programs, both at home and abroad. He has lectured at many military institutions, including the Army and Navy War Colleges, the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School, the Army Command and General Staff College, Marine Corps University, West Point, and the Naval Academy. He is a member of the U.S. Joint Forces Command Transformation Advisory Group. Before joining the Council in 2002, Boot spent eight years as a writer and editor at The Wall Street Journal, the last five years as editorial features editor. From 1992 to 1994 he was an editor and writer at The Christian Science Monitor. Boot holds a bachelor’s degree in history, with high honors, from the University of California, Berkeley (1991), and a master’s degree in history from Yale University (1992). He grew up in Los Angeles and now lives with his family in the New York area. Wednesday, October 25, 2006 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Dr. J. Edward Hill -- President, American Medical Association (AMA) Speaking on: "The State of American Medicine" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Price: $30 per person Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: J. Edward Hill, MD President – American Medical Association J. Edward Hill, MD, a family physician from Tupelo, Mississippi, was elected three times to the American Medical Association (AMA) Board of Trustees (BOT), and became its Chair in 2002. Dr. Hill was elected President-Elect in June, 2004, and assumed the Presidency in June, 2005. Prior to his election to the Board of Trustees, he served as an AMA Delegate from the Mississippi State Medical Association since 1984 after beginning service as an Alternate Delegate in 1979. In 1990 he was appointed by the Board of Trustees to the AMA’s Council on Legislation and served as its Vice Chair from 1995 to 1996. In addition to his active participation in the AMA, Dr. Hill has served in a variety of leadership positions in other medical organizations. He has been Chairman of the Board of Trustees and President of the Mississippi State Medical Association, President of the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians, an Alternate Delegate and Delegate to the American Academy of Family Physicians, and President of the Southern Medical Association. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Dr. Hill was educated in the public schools of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and received both his BS and MD degrees from the University of Mississippi. He completed his internship while serving four years as a commissioned officer in the US Navy, in addition to serving as a general medical officer in a naval destroyer group. A board-certified family physician, Dr. Hill began his professional career in the rural Mississippi Delta where he practiced for 27 years. In addition to full service family practice, Dr. Hill developed and directed a local maternal child health program that resulted in lowering the fetal mortality rate from one of the highest in the United States to below the national average where it remained. Due to his wealth of medical practice experience and recognition as a role model for young doctors, Dr. Hill was asked in January 1995, to become the Director of the Family Practice Residency Program at North Mississippi Medical Center, which is the nation’s largest rural hospital. He stepped down from the directorship in July 2001, remains on the faculty full time and has an active practice. In addition to his busy professional life, Dr. Hill is also an active participant and leader in community activities. He has served as President of the Mississippi Affiliate of the American Heart Association, Chair of the Industrial Development Committee for his local Chamber of Commerce, member of the Advisory Board for his county Head Start program, President of his local school board, and a member of the Board of Directors of his church. Dr. Hill and his wife, Jean, are the parents of two daughters and five grandchildren who also reside in Mississippi. Thursday, October 19, 2006 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Ms. Kitty Dukakis Author of and Speaking on: "Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30; Non-members: $40 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Biographical Notes Kitty Dukakis, the wife of former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, is a social worker, a founding member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, and an advocate for programs to battle homelessness and promote refugee rights. She revealed her ongoing struggle to overcome depression and her accompanying addictions to alcohol and diet pills in her 1990 memoir, "Now You Know." She has battled disabling depression for more than twenty years. Coupled with drug and alcohol addictions that both hid and fueled her suffering, Kitty’s despair was overwhelming. She tried every medication and treatment available; none worked for long. It wasn’t until she got electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, that she could reclaim her life. Kitty’s dramatic first-person account of how ECT keeps her illness at bay is half the story of Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy. The other half, by award-winning medical reporter Larry Tye, is an engrossing look at the science behind ECT and its dramatic yet subterranean comeback. Far from the grisly process that inspired films and fostered a stigma that still persists, today’s ECT is fast, safe, and presents a better prospect for relieving severe depression than even the best antidepressants or the sagest psychotherapist. And it is not just depression: ECT has an enviable success rate for a series of other debilitating mental conditions. This book looks at ECT’s full picture, analyzing the treatment’s risks along with its benefits. It considers memory loss and other complications that have kept electroconvulsive therapy under a cloud of controversy, and it explores refinements that can minimize that loss, if not defuse the controversy. ECT, it turns out, is neither a panacea nor a scourge, but a serious option for treating life-threatening ailments. Through Kitty Dukakis’s moving account, and interviews with more than one hundred other ECT patients, Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy separates scare from promise, real complications from lurid headlines. In the process it offers practical guidance to prospective patients and their families on whether ECT can help them battle depression, bipolar disorder, and other disabling mental diseases. Larry Tye, Ms. Dukakis` co-author, is an award-winning journalist who spent fifteen years with the The Boston Globe, where his primary beat was medicine. He has taught journalism at Boston University, Northeastern, Tufts, and Harvard, and now runs a Boston-based fellowship program for medical journalists. Tye is also the author of The Father of Spin, Home Lands, and Rising from the Rails. Thursday, October 5, 2006 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Ben Barnes Former Lt. Governor -- State of Texas Author of and Speaking on: "Barn Burning Barn Building" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Oxford Theater (enter off Wazee) Members $30, Non-Members, $40 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Ben Barnes -- Biography Ben Barnes was once a considered a rising-star in Texas politics after becoming a state representative at age 21. He remained a prominent political leader during the 1960s and 1970s. Elected to the Texas House of Representatives when he was in his early 20`s, he went on to become the youngest house speaker in Texas history. Barnes did not limit his involvement to just Texas politics. He was a member of President Johnson’s Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, U.S. representative to the NATO Conference in 1967, and United Nations Representative to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1968. In 1969, Barnes was elected lieutenant governor of Texas and served from 1969 to 1973. Since leaving elective office, Barnes has become a successful business executive and civic leader. He is the founder of Entrecorp, a business consulting and lobbying firm. He has served as a consultant, director or chairman of more than two dozen companies, including SBC, American Airlines, Dallas Bank and Trust, Grumman Systems Support Corporation, Laredo National Bank and the Barnes/Connally Partnership. Barnes has been active in a number of community service organizations, including the People`s Community Clinic, the Boys and Girls Club, the LBJ Library and School of Public Affairs, the Huntington Art Gallery and the Longhorn Foundation. His honors include the UT Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor (1993), recognition as one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Men in America" by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce (1965), and two honorary law degrees (McMurray University and Texas Tech). Friday, September 22, 2005 The Denver Forum & The Denver Press Club Proudly Present: James Fallows -- One of America’s Most Distinguished Journalists Speaking on: "Blind Into Baghdad " 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel -- Grand Ballroom (enter off Wazee) 1600 17th Street Members, $30, Non-Members, $40 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Autographed copies of Mr. Fallows’ book will be available at the event Corporate Event Sponsors: James Fallows – Briefly Biographical James Fallows is The Atlantic Monthly’s National Correspondent, and has worked for the magazine for more than twenty years. His previous books include "Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy", "Looking at the Sun", "More Like Us" and "National Defense", which won the American Book Award for non-fiction. He and his wife live in Washington DC. Wednesday, July 19, 2006 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Bonnie McElveen-Hunter The Chairman of the American Red Cross Speaking on: "The Future of the Red Cross" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Oxford Theater - enter off Wazee Members $30, Non-Members, $40 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Click Here Bonnie McElveen-Hunter -- Chairman of the American Red Cross On June 18, 2004, Bonnie McElveen-Hunter was appointed Chairman of the American Red Cross by President George W. Bush. McElveen-Hunter is the former U.S. Ambassador to Finland (2001-2003) and the CEO and owner of Pace Communications, Inc., the largest private custom publishing company in the United States. The company`s clients include such Fortune 500 companies as United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, AT&T, Carlson Hotels, and Toyota. As U.S. Ambassador to Finland, Bonnie led several initiatives to success, including The Helsinki Women Business Leaders Summit (2002); Stop Child Trafficking: End Modern-Day Slavery (2003); and Children of Karelia. The program helped Finnish and Russian charities assist children at risk for drugs, crime, HIV/AIDS and trafficking. For her exceptional and outstanding services, Bonnie was awarded by the President of Finland one of that country`s highest honors-the Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion. She also received the Dr. Carl—Christian Rosenbröijer Award. Previous recipients were former President George H. Bush and Dr. Henry Kissinger. Bonnie is one of the nation`s most successful entrepreneurs, ranked by Working Woman Magazine as one of the top 175 women-owned businesses in America. Known as a generous philanthropist and extraordinary fundraiser, Bonnie has served as a member of the International Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity, and a board member of Habitat`s First Ladies Build. Bonnie has also chaired the Alexis de Tocqueville Society, United Way of Greater Greensboro, North Carolina, and served as a board member and National Leadership Council member for the United Way of America. She is the founder of the Women`s Initiative of Greensboro and, under her leadership, 100 women in Greensboro joined what has become a model for the Billion Dollar National Women`s Leadership Initiative. She now lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with her husband, Bynum Merritt Hunter, an attorney in the law firm of Smith Helms Mulliss & Moore. They have a 21-year-old son, Bynum Merritt Hunter, Jr., a recent graduate of Williams College. Thursday, June 15, 2006 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: 7th District Colorado Democratic Congressional Candidates: Peggy Lamm, Ed Perlmutter & Herb Rubenstein Discussing America`s Future Media Panel: Fred Brown of The Denver Post and TR Reid of The Washington Post 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Grand Ballroom -- Enter off Wazee (2nd floor) $30 Per Person Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Bio -- Peggy Lamm Peggy Lamm has had a distinguished career as a legislator, consumer advocate, teacher, chair of Colorado`s Commission on Higher Education, and investigator into the CU football/sex scandal. She has also served on numerous boards and commissions including the University of Colorado`s Health Sciences Center for Ethics, Humanities and the Law, Hospice of Boulder County, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research Advisory Board. She currently sits on the Board of Trustees of Adams State College. During her tenure at the legislature, Rep. Peggy Lamm was known for her leadership in support of women`s rights, the environment and labor. Peggy Lamm lives in Arvada. Her son, Danny Lamm is a senior in high school and he will be attending the University of Colorado in the fall. Accomplishments Known for her effectiveness and political independence, as Executive Director of Bighorn Action, Lamm led the successful fight for Colorado`s "Telemarketing No-call List" legislation. As Chair of the Commission on Higher Education, she led the efforts that brought meaningful reform to Colorado`s college and university systems. More recently, she was asked to lead the independent commission which investigated the recruitment practices and charges of sexual assault at CU`s athletic program. Her efforts led to an overhaul of the University`s athletic department and major reforms in the recruitment process. *********************************** Bio -- Ed Perlmutter A lifelong resident of the 7th Congressional District, Ed is a proud product of public schools. Ed graduated from Jefferson High School in Edgewater and went on to study Political Science, History and Economics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, graduating in 1975. He received his Juris Doctorate from CU in 1978 where he was twice elected President of his class while working part time as a laborer on construction projects. Currently a shareholder and director of the law firm of Berenbaum, Weinshienk and Eason, Ed has specialized in business reorganizations and commercial litigation. Ed has served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Colorado Bar Association and served on the Board of Trustees and Judicial Performance Commission for the First Judicial District. Ed and Deana were married in 1980 and they are the proud parents of three daughters - Alexis (24), who works for Grassroots Democrats, Abby, who graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in 2005 and is currently attending the University of Northern Colorado and Zoey (14) a Freshman at Wheat Ridge High School. An active member of the community, Ed recently led two successful referendum elections for the Jeffco Public Schools. As a busy Dad, Ed is involved in PTA’s, Booster Club’s, the Applewood Community Church, and with coaching the Angels, Abby’s competitive softball team. He is also a Trustee for the Midwest Research Institute (primary operator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory), and a Former Board Member for the National Jewish Medical & Research Center. Ed also finds time to be a runner, skier, bicyclist and golfer. Ed was elected to two four-year terms to represent the citizens of central Jefferson County as their State Senator from 1995 to 2003 - the first Democrat elected in the district in 30 years. In 2000, Ed helped lead a team which succeeded in a Democratic takeover of the Colorado State Senate for the first time since John F. Kennedy was President. Ed has assisted numerous campaigns and most recently was co-chair of the Kerry Campaign in Colorado. Ed served on numerous Colorado State Senate committees including: Water Finance Judiciary Child Welfare Telecommunication Transportation Legal Services Oil and Gas Ed`s legislative accomplishments as Senator include: Chair of the Public Policy and Planning Committee Chair of the Bi-Partisan Renewable Energy Caucus President Pro Tem of the Senate during the 2001 and 2002 Session Ed carried and passed numerous bills ranging from criminal justice to water, consumer protection to land use and everything in between. Among the many awards Ed received while in the Senate are: Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry award “Business Legislator of the Year” Legal Aid Award for Equal Justice Under the Law American Institute of Architecture award “Colorado Legislator of the Year” DARE Man of the Year Jeffco Education Association Friend of Education United Veterans Committee “ Legislator of the Year ” Colorado Humane Society Distinguished Service Award The AARP Outstanding Legislative Service Award University of Colorado School of Law “Distinguished Alumnus Award” *********************************** Bio -- Herb Rubenstein Herb Rubenstein is an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Colorado State University. He also teaches federal budget policy in Aurora at the Office of Personnel Management`s Western Management Development Center. He has published one book and has three more scheduled for publication within the next year. Originally from Louisiana, Herb holds a Master`s Degree in Public Administration from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and a Law Degree from Georgetown University. He lived in the Washington D.C. area for 28 years. During that time, he worked for the Federal Government, served in private practice, and founded a leadership development consulting firm. He and his wife Laurie have also raised two children, one a recent graduate from Harvard and the other currently attending the University of Chicago. Herb`s ties to Colorado go back twenty years. His brother is mentally-challenged, and Herb is responsible for him. After a nation-wide search for the best care facility, Herb settled his brother at the Jewish Family Services Group Home at 2310 S. Holly in Denver back in 1984. Herb has been visiting and loving Colorado since then. Herb and his wife Laurie moved their businesses to Colorado in early 2005. They are enjoying their new home in the foothills of Golden and establishing ties with local Democratic party members. *********************************** Media Panel TR Reid -- The Washington Post T.R. Reid, one of the nation`s most highly regarded journalists, is the author of six books in English and two in Japanese. Through his reporting for The Washington Post, his syndicated weekly column, and his light-hearted commentary from around the world for National Public Radio, he became, while based in Tokyo and London, one of America’s best-known foreign correspondents. Now back in Denver, Mr. Reid serves as a National Correspondent for The Post. Mr. Reid, a Princeton graduate and former United States Naval officer, is the author of several books, among which are, "The Chip", "Confucius Lives Next Door" and "The United States of Europe." Fred Brown – The Denver Post Fred Brown, a legend among Colorado journalists, retired from The Denver Post in 2002, but resumed writing a Sunday editorial page column a year later. He is also a principal in a new media consulting firm, Hartman and Brown, LLP, does political and legislative analysis for 9News in Denver, and has taught journalism at Metropolitan State College and ethics at the University of Denver. Mr. Brown was chief of The Post’s state Capitol bureau when he retired, and he spent 25 years covering Colorado government and politics as well as national presidential campaigns. For 10 years, he was an editorial writer, and then assistant editor and, for several months, acting editorial page editor. Mr. Brown was national president of the Society of Professional Journalists in 1997-98, and has been especially active in journalism ethics. He was one of the authors of SPJ’s Code of Ethics, an industry standard, and writes a monthly column on ethics for Quill magazine. He is an Honor Alumnus of Colorado State University and a member of the Denver Press Club Hall of Fame. He is a graduate of Colorado State and Northwestern universities, and serves on the boards of directors of Colorado Public Radio, the Colorado Freedom of Information Council, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation and the Denver Press Club. Friday, May 19, 2006 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: One of the Most Amusing Speakers in America -- The Great Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated Eight Times National Sports Writer of the Year Author of and Speaking on: "Who`s Your Caddy?" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Grand Ballroom -- Enter off Wazee (2nd floor) Members: $30; Non-members: $40 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Biography RICK REILLY, 45, is in his 19th year as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated. He has been voted National Sportswriter of the Year eight times. He is the author of the weekly "Life of Reilly" column that runs on the last page of SI. It`s the first such signed weekly opinion column in the magazine`s history. He is also a frequent contributor to Time magazine. Publishers Weekly called him "an indescribable amalgam of Dave Barry, Jim Murray and Lewis Grizzard, with the timing of Jay Leno and the wit of Johnny Carson." His current book "Who`s Your Caddy?" (Doubleday), in which he caddies for everyone from Jack Nicklaus to Donald Trump to a $50,000-a-hole gambler, hits bookstores May 6. His last book, "The Life of Reilly: The Best of Sports Illustrated`s Rick Reilly" became a New York Times bestseller. His first novel, "Missing Links," (Doubleday) a comic golf romance, was hailed by the New York Times as "three laughs per page." He also wrote "Slo-Mo: My Untrue Story," (Doubleday) a farce on the NBA, is a "romp that could have been written only by someone who has seen the game from the inside," according to the Denver Post. Reilly has won numerous awards in his 23-year writing career, including the prestigious New York Newspaper Guild`s Page One Award for Best Magazine Story. He is the co-author of "The Boz," the best-selling autobiography of bad-boy Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth; "Gretzky," with hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings; "I`d Love to but I Have a Game," with NBC announcer Marv Albert, and the "The Wit and Wisdom of Charles Barkley." He is co-author of the screenplay Leatherheads, a comic romance centered on the 1927 Duluth Eskimos of the fledgling NFL. He has written about everything from ice skater Katarina Witt behind the Iron Curtain to actor Jack Nicholson in the front row, from wrestling priests in Mexico City to women caddies in Japan, from playing golf with President Clinton to playing golf with O.J. Simpson and back again. He has four times had the disagreeable task of accompanying the models on the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. He was once featured in a Miller Lite ad with swimsuit cover girl Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Reilly has flown upside down at 600 miles per hour in an F-14, driven a stock car 142 miles per hour, competed against 107 women for a spot in the WNBA, done three innings of play-by-play for the Colorado Rockies, and played 108 holes of golf in one day. Reilly began his career in 1979 taking phoned-in high-school volleyball scores for his hometown Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera while a sophomore at the University of Colorado, from which he was graduated in 1981. He wrote for two years at the Camera, two more at the Denver Post and two more at the Los Angeles Times before moving to Sports Illustrated in 1985. Reilly married his Boulder High School sweetheart, Linda Campbell, in 1983. He dabbles in magic, piano, mountain biking, SCUBA, back-alley basketball, skiing and snowboarding. He lives in downtown Denver with his wife, three kids, too many fish, an eel, a rabbit, a bird and a 7 handicap that keeps him from concentrating on anything very important. Thursday, April 13, 2006 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable Robert S. Mueller III Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Speaking on: "The FBI: A Report to the People" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Grand Ballroom (enter off Wazee) Members and Non-members: $30 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Robert S. Mueller, III Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation September 4, 2001- Present Robert Mueller was nominated by President George W. Bush and became the sixth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on September 4, 2001. Mr. Mueller was born in New York City and grew up outside of Philadelphia. He graduated from Princeton University in 1966 and earned a masters degree in International Relations at New York University in 1967. He then joined the United States Marine Corps, where he served as an officer for three years, leading a rifle platoon of the Third Marine Division in Vietnam. He is the recipient of the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals, the Purple Heart, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Following his military service, Mr. Mueller earned a law degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 1973 and served on the Law Review. After completing his education, Mr. Mueller worked as a litigator in San Francisco until 1976. He then served for 12 years in United States Attorney`s Offices, first in the Northern District of California in San Francisco, where he rose to be chief of its criminal division. In 1982, he moved to Boston as an Assistant United States Attorney where he investigated and prosecuted major financial fraud, terrorist and public corruption cases, as well as narcotics conspiracies and international money launderers. After serving as a partner at the Boston law firm of Hill and Barlow, Mr. Mueller was again called to public service. In 1989 he served in the United States Department of Justice as an assistant to Attorney General Richard L. Thornburgh. The following year he took charge of its Criminal Division. During his tenure, he oversaw prosecutions, including the conviction of Panama leader Manuel Noriega, the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 bombing case, and the John Gotti mobster prosecution. In 1991, he was elected Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. In 1993, Mr. Mueller became a partner at Boston`s Hale and Dorr, specializing in complex white collar crime litigation. He returned to public service in 1995 as senior litigator in the Homicide Section of the District of Columbia United States Attorney`s Office. In 1998, Mr. Mueller was named United States Attorney in San Francisco and held that position until 2001. He then served as Acting Deputy Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice for several months, before becoming FBI Director. Mr. Mueller and his wife Ann have two daughters. Wednesday, March 15, 2006 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Colonel Nathan Sassaman -- United States Army Speaking on: "A Soldier`s Story: Reflections on the War in Iraq" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Ballroom (enter off Wazee) Members: $25; Non-members: $35 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Colonel Nathan Sassaman -- Mini Biography By George Mitrovich Nathan Sassaman was a star quarterback at West Point and led the Army team to one of its most successful seasons in the post Red Blake, Doc Blanchard, Glenn Davis era. In the 1980s, with Nate Sassaman at quarterback, the Army team won seven games. That season he ran for more than 1,000 yards. In the Navy game, the defining game for both service academies, he scored two touchdowns as Army won. Subsequently the Black Knights of the Hudson won their first bowl game ever. His remarkable leadership skills and athletic ability on the football field, however, were secondary to his success as a cadet. Nathan Sassaman was on the fast track to becoming a General in the United States Army. Then he was called to duty in Iraq. Recently, in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Dexter Filkins, a Times correspondent based in Baghdad, wrote an exhaustive article about Colonel Sassaman. It was one of the longest articles I have ever read in that magazine. I was deeply fascinated by Mr. Filkins account -- and especially his portrayal of Colonel Sassaman. (Colonel Sassaman`s photo was featured on the magazine`s cover. He and his family, as seen above, were also photographed for the story.) In the course of his time in Iraq, the Colonel and his soldiers, who had been called to fight a war and win, which they did, suddenly found themselves charged with the daunting challenge of bringing democracy to both Sunni and Shiite -- a people embracing one religion but in every other way mortal enemies. Colonel Sassaman gave superb leadership, both militarily and as the sole civilian/military authority over an area comprising 300 square miles. He was asked to control this vast area with only 800 men. In war stuff happens, and an incident occurred in Iraq that would bring about Colonel Sassaman`s taking leave of an Army career that many people saw as one of unlimited possibilities. That`s the story Mr. Filkins tells in The Times. I quote here one brief extract from that story (the story in full appears below): "The events that would end the career of one of the Army`s most celebrated midlevel officers sent a shock through the American force in Iraq. It is only now, with the Army`s investigation complete and Sassaman`s career over, that the story can be pieced together from interviews with him, his comrades and the Iraqis. Twenty-two months after that night on the Tigris, it is a tale that seems like a parable of the dark passage that lay ahead for the Americans in Iraq." Having read the story I determined to contact Colonel Sassaman. I wanted to explore te possibility of his speaking to The Forum, of his telling his story about his experiences in Iraq -- what he saw, what he learned, what he regrets, and to tell us in his own words what he feels about the War in Iraq? The Colonel has agreed to do that, to tell his story -- free of the constricting lens of a reporter`s focus. When I spoke to the Colonel I ended our conversation by saying, "Thank you, Colonel, for your service to Amerca." You will want to do the same thing when Colonel Nathan Sassaman, awarded the Bronze Star for valor in combat, speaks to The Denver Forum Thursday, November 17. ******************* October 23, 2005 The Fall of the Warrior King By DEXTER FILKINS The body had not yet turned up. Indeed, at that point, early in January 2004, it wasn`t clear there was a body at all. Months later, at the trial, the lawyers would still be arguing about it, the puffy, wrinkled corpse that was finally found floating face down in an irrigation canal off the Tigris. But even then, even before the dead man surfaced, it was clear that something had gone wrong on that cold Iraqi night down by the river, something wild by the American military`s standards of discipline and force, and the problem had wended its way up the chain of command to the unit`s commander, Lt. Col. Nathan Sassaman. Read more Thursday, February 23, 2006 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: The Honorable George McGovern Former United States Senator, candidate for President of the United States, 1972 Author of and Speaking on: "Social Security and the Golden Age: An Essay on the New American Demographic" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Grand Ballroom Members: $30; Non-members: $40 (price includes a copy of the Senator`s book) Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Corporate Event Sponsor: Biography A Representative and a Senator from South Dakota; born in Avon, Bon Homme County, S.Dak., July 19, 1922; attended the public schools of Mitchell, S.Dak., and Dakota Wesleyan University, 1940-1942; enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in June 1942, flew combat missions in the European Theater, and was discharged from the service in July 1945; returned to Dakota Wesleyan University and graduated in 1946; held teaching assistantship and fellowship at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., 1948-1950, receiving his Ph.D. from that university in 1953; professor of history and government at Dakota Wesleyan University 1950-1953; executive secretary of South Dakota Democratic Party 1953-1956; member of Advisory Committee on Political Organization of Democratic National Committee 1954-1956; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-fifth and Eighty-sixth Congresses (January 3, 1957-January 3, 1961); was not a candidate for renomination in 1960, but was unsuccessful for election to the United States Senate; appointed special assistant to the President January 20, 1961, as director of the Food for Peace Program, and served until his resignation July 18, 1962, to become a candidate for the United States Senate; elected to the United States Senate in 1962; reelected in 1968 and 1974 and served from January 3, 1963, to January 3, 1981; chairman, Select Committee on Unmet Basic Needs (Ninetieth Congress), Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs (Ninety-first through Ninety-fifth Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the U.S. Senate in 1980; unsuccessful candidate for Democratic presidential nomination in 1968 and 1984; unsuccessful Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1972; lecturer and teacher; U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Agencies in Rome, Italy, 1998-2001; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 9, 2000; appointed United Nations Global Ambassador on World Hunger in 2001. Bibliography Hart, Gary. Right From the Start. New York: Quadrangle Books, 1973; McGovern, George. Grassroots: The Autobiography of George McGovern. New York: Random House, 1977; McGovern, George. The Essential America: Our Founders and the Liberal Tradition. New York: Simon & Schuseter, 2004. Thursday, July 15, 2010 The Denver Forum Proudly Presents: Gary Smith – President & Chief Executive Officer of Ciena Corporation Speaking on: “What`s Wrong with Innovation in America?” 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members: $30, Non-Members, $45 Phone Reservations: 303-832-9030 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Gary B. Smith – Biographical Brief Gary B. Smith is President and Chief Executive Officer of Ciena Corporation, headquartered in Linthicum, Maryland, just outside of Baltimore. Prior to his current roles as President & CEO, Mr. Smith held various executive positions at Ciena including Chief Operating Officer; Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales; and Vice President, International Sales. His 20+ years in the telecommunications industry also include executive positions at INTELSAT and with CASE Communications. During his career, Mr. Smith has gained considerable international experience having been based at various times in Asia and Europe. Mr. Smith currently serves on the Board of Directors for CommVault Systems, Inc., is a commissioner of the Global Information Infrastructure Commission, is a `Broadband Ambassador` for the Internet Innovation Alliance and participates in initiatives at the Center for Corporate Innovation. He earned his M.B.A. from Ashridge Management College, United Kingdom. About Ciena Corporation At Ciena, we don`t generate Internet content; we get it to you faster. Every time you use Google, pay some bills online, buy something from Amazon, or send a photo from your mobile phone, you probably used Ciena technology and didn’t even know it. You might not have heard of us, but you know our customers - AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and a host of others. We don`t make computers. And we don`t make cell phones. We build the networks that make those things work. We`re Number One in our field in North America and currently Number Three in the world.