What: Whistler Reads: The Audacity of Hope
Where: Whistler Public Library
When: Saturday, May 10, 7-9 p.m.
While it may be a tad taboo to talk politics, Whistler’s booklovers are far from shy, and are delving deep into the heart of present-day American politics at the upcoming Whistler Reads meeting.
John Weston, the federal Conservative candidate for the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding, will be on-hand to discuss Barack Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope, at the first joint event of Whistler Reads and the new Whistler Public Library.
Born to a Kenyan
father and an American mother, Obama grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, and moved to
Jakarta where he lived with his mother and Indonesian stepfather for several
years, before going on to study at Columbia University and Harvard Law School.
He worked as a community organizer, university lecturer, and as a lawyer before
entering the Illinois Senate in 1997.
After an
unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representative in 2000, Obama
announced his campaign for U.S. Senate in early 2003, delivering the keynote
address at the Democratic National Convention just one year later. In November 2004,
he was elected to the U.S. Senate with 70 per cent of the vote.
Now, Obama is
engaged in a neck-in-neck race with Hillary Clinton in the Democratic
primaries, all under intense global scrutiny.
In The Audacity of
Hope, Obama outlines the blueprint for his platform for creating a very
different country than George Bush’s America, which includes a less polarized
political system and a nation that wants to regain the respect of the world
community. It also discusses his standpoint on some very significant issues,
like healthcare, education and the war in Iraq.
Weston, who was
born and raised in British Columbia, was educated at Osgoode Hall Law School
and Harvard, and has worked as a lawyer in Canada and in Taiwan, founding law
firms in both countries. Weston has a passion for non-partisan politics, and
has studied The Audacity of Hope so he can speak to some of the key issues
facing the Democratic candidates today.
To add a little
levity to the evening, Wayne Addison, a former Toronto Second City comedy troupe
member, is also coming to the meeting with a team of locals to perform a
political skit that will have a distinct Canadian twist on the political
situation south of the border.
If an evening of entertainment and political discussion sounds appealing, pick up a copy of The Audacity of Hope and bring your opinions and questions along to the meeting at Whistler Public Library on Saturday, May 10, from 7 until 9 p.m. Tickets are $10, and seeing as the following day is Mother’s day, people are encouraged to bring their mom’s along for night that promises to be full of lively discussion. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to www.bookbuffet.com .
