Combative

Monday, Feb 19th: Promoting his book The Seventeen Traditions, Ralph Nader spoke at length for over an hour to a packed audience of around 200 at the Tattered Cover in LoDo, summarizing briefly the seventeen traditions that his parents passed onto him and their importance to community and democratic politics. Following a Q & A period, he signed copies of his book. An attorney and political activist, Nader is well known for his campaigns for consumer rights and his controversial role in the 2000 US presidential election. Read on …

Diva

Friday, Feb 16th: The audience—all twelve of us—was wondering if she was going to show up at all. Her no-show at the cast party for the play “Legends”, starring herself and Linda Evans, on Tuesday night at Strings was not a confidence builder (read Bill Husted’s column here). A half hour went by. Then an hour. Finally, an hour and a half after she was supposed to arrive at the Tattered Cover, she swept into the room, apologizing about the “mixup”, explaining that she had thought the event was at 1 pm (it was at 12 noon) and complaining about “altitude sickness”. She then got down to business, signing copies of her new book, “The Art of Living Well: Looking Good, Feeling Great”. Read on …

Here’s To You, Mrs. Robinson

Monday, Feb 12th: Reserved. Intellectual. Tough. That is how I would describe Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland (1990-1997) and the first female UN Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002). In Denver at the Buell Theater, Mrs Robinson gave an hour and a half lecture, followed by Q & A, to an appreciative, attentive audience of around 2,000. Introduced by Denver Post journalist Allison Sherry, Mrs Robinson spoke briefly about her upbringing and family life in Ireland, her time in the Irish Senate, her legislative achievements as President, and her experiences as UN Commissioner of Human Rights. Read on …

“I’m Not Julia Roberts”

Wednesday, Jan 31st: You never knew what she was going to do or say. She swore like a sailor, called herself an “environmentalist with cleavage”, and flipped off the woman doing sign language on stage (yeah I missed that photo). Erin Brockovich, a former beauty queen responsible for bringing the giant California utility PG&E to its knees in the largest legal settlement in US history ($333 million), spoke at the Buell Theatre to a packed audience of around 2,000 people as part of the Unique Lives Lecture series. Played by Julia Roberts in the film Erin Brockovich (for which Julia won an Academy Award), Erin has not only become a household name across the United States, but also has continued to struggle for justice against negligent corporations that pollute and harm ordinary Americans. Read on …