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2-27-07
AUTHOR TO ARTICULATE ABOUT AGRICULTURE APRIL 15
AMES, Iowa -- Nationally known farmer, writer, conservationist and philosopher
Wendell Berry promises to tackle a host of contemporary agriculture issues as he
delivers the 2007 Shivvers Memorial Lecture on Sunday, April 15, at Iowa State
University’s Memorial Union.
Berry’s rare public appearance is sponsored by the Leopold Center for
Sustainable Agriculture as part of its 20th anniversary observance. Berry’s
daughter, Mary Berry Smith, will join him for this lively session.
The 7 p.m. event will feature a discussion moderated by Laura Jackson, Leopold
Center board member and University of Northern Iowa biology professor, joined by
two well-known Iowa organic farmers, Francis Thicke, Fairfield grass-based
dairyman; and Laura Krouse of Mount Vernon, who grows organic seed corn and
vegetables for a community supported agriculture enterprise and teaches biology
at Cornell College.
"Wendell is one of the great literary treasures of our time," said Leopold
Center Distinguished Fellow Fred Kirschenmann, who helped arrange Berry's ISU
appearance. "His practical wisdom shared through his poetry, essays and novels
has withstood the test of time. We are deeply honored that he and his daughter
Mary have agreed to come and help us celebrate our 20th anniversary at the
Leopold Center."
Both Berry and his daughter farm in Harris County, Kentucky where their
forebears farmed for five generations. Berry is a prolific poet, essayist and
novelist and has taught English at New York University and the University of
Kentucky. Central themes for his work include responsiveness to one’s place,
sustainable agriculture, appropriate technologies, healthy rural communities,
reverence and the interconnectedness of life.
Berry is especially well known for his essays and provocative writings about
agriculture and food. He has called eating "an agricultural act" and minces few
words about the current direction of agriculture.
The annual Shivvers Memorial Lecture in memory of John Shivvers, who farmed near
Knoxville, is cosponsored by Gamma Sigma Delta Honorary Society for Agriculture
and the ISU Committee on Lectures.
For more information,
contact:
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