Gearan, Relin Talk Tea on Radio
25 January 2010 Gearan, Relin Talk Tea on Radio
Colleges President Mark D. Gearan, and David Oliver Relin, co-author of Three Cups of Tea: One Mans Mission to Promote PeaceOne School at a Time, spoke to Ted Baker on Finger Lakes News Radio this morning. Relin will speak at the Smith Opera House tonight (Jan. 25) at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Presidents Forum Series.
During the interview, Gearan told listeners that the Colleges are thrilled to have distinguished journalist and author Relin as the first Presidents Forum Speaker of the spring semester. He noted the talk will look at the question of Afghanistan and Pakistan through the recent book and New York Times Bestseller, Three Cups of Tea, which makes a powerful statement about what people can do to make a difference.
The Colleges, he noted, have teamed with the entire community local schools, the Geneva Public Library, the Finger Lakes Times, and many Girl Scout troops, classes, church groups, and elementary, middle and high-school students to read the book together as part of a community read prior to Relins talk tonight.
During the radio interview, Relin shared his experience of meeting Greg Mortenson (co-author and subject of the book) in 2003. At the time, Mortenson had been working for about a decade building schools and roads in rural areas of Pakistan.
I jumped at the opportunity to write the book because I felt like what he was doing was the single-most effective thing you could do, practically, to diminish the threat of terrorism in the world, he said. Greg was rolling up his sleeves and, in my opinion, going into battle with the root causes of terrorism every day, which I believe are poverty and ignorance.
The full interview on Finger Lakes News Radio is available online:
http://fingerlakesdailynews.com/webpages/view/Finger_Lakes_Morning_News/
Relins talk will begin at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Jan. 25, at the Smith Opera House. It is free and open to the public.