To give Press Distinguished Lecture on March 13

RELEASED: March 6, 2003

DANVILLE, KY—Arianna Huffington, nationally syndicated columnist and author of nine books, isn't afraid to speak her mind. She's sure to do so Thursday, March 13, as the speaker for the Press Distinguished Lecture Series.

The event begins at 7:30 p.m. at Weisiger Theatre in Centre College's Norton Center for the Arts. The lecture is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow the lecture.

"We're extremely excited to have Arianna Huffington on campus," said Centre President John Roush. "The night should be entertaining and educational."

Named one of Washington's most influential commentators by Newsweek and People, Huffington writes a syndicated column that appears in newspapers across the country, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Time, Boston Herald, Dallas Morning News and Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader. She is also a frequent guest on many television shows including Nightline, Larry King Live, Crossfire, Oprah and The Today Show.

Her new book, Pigs At the Trough: How Corporate Greed & Political Corruption Are Undermining America, has been widely hailed.

"Arianna Huffington makes an appealing and compelling argument for the repeal of human nature—that part of it that indulges savage, unconscionable and despicable greed. And she names the principal corporate offenders who, with their ill-gotten riches, purchase the political influence by which they mock and endanger our democracy," said Walter Cronkite.

A onetime Republican, Huffington now chooses to operate outside of the two-party system.

Originally from Greece, she received a master's in economics from Cambridge University. While there she was president of the school's famed debating society, the Cambridge Union. Huffington currently serves on a number of boards that promote community solutions to social problems, including the Points of Light Foundation and A Place Called Home.

The lecture series is named in honor of Kentucky civic leaders O. Leonard and Lillian H. Press.

Leonard Press was the founding director of Kentucky Educational Television and pursued creative ways for the public broadcasting service to deliver high quality arts programming throughout the state. Lillian Press was the founding director of the Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program and has held high-level posts with the Kentucky Department of Mental Health and the Bureau for Health Services.

The lecture series was endowed through a gift from the late Lucille Caudill Little, a Lexington philanthropist.

Little was a Kentucky native who established a charitable foundation based on family earnings in the horse and tobacco industries. She played a pivotal role in the founding of numerous nonprofit ventures, including the Lexington Children's Theatre and Studio Players, the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra and the Living Arts and Science Center. Little previously supported the arts at Centre, where a classroom is named in her honor in the Jones Visual Arts Center.

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