Guilford College was saddened to learn
Friday afternoon about the passing of Tim Russert, the NBC news analyst
and "Meet the Press" moderator who had been scheduled to speak as part
of the Bryan Series on Nov. 18.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25145431/
The college will announce plans for a replacement Bryan Series program as soon as possible.
2008-09 Bryan Series speakers Khaled Hosseini and Tim Russert are on Time’s
fifth annual list of the world’s most influential people. The magazine
published the list in its May 12 issue. Hosseini opens the series Oct.
24 and Russert appears Nov. 18.
In describing the selections for the Time 100, editors stated that “Influence is hard to measure, and what we look for is people whose ideas, whose example, whose talent, whose discoveries transform the world we live in.”
First Lady Laura Bush, who wrote Hosseini’s profile, said, “Not many people write successful first novels. Still fewer are able to change the world with their writing. Khaled Hosseini has done both.”
Bush
added: “Hosseini’s writing has invited many to look beyond the
post-9/11 stereotypes about his birth country. We have grown to see
Afghanistan as a land of men and women, each with their own hopes and
longings for love.”
Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo said of Russert, “Every Sunday, more than 4 million Americans tune in to Meet the Press seeking help in trying to understand the issues and the candidates. They choose that program because Tim Russert is among the most astute, discerning and relentless pursuers of truth in the nation, and has been for years.”
Cuomo added: “His extraordinary success is more than enough to make him respected, but he adds to that a genuineness as a human being that makes him as easy to like as he is to admire.”
George Mitchell, who spoke in the Bryan Series in February 2004, was also among the Time 100 this year.
For more information, visit http://www.time.com.
Anna Deavere Smith
Feb. 28, 2010
