Internationally renowned geneticist and environmental activist Dr. David Suzuki will deliver the 9th annual June Callwood Lecture at the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library on Wednesday, May 27. The event starts at 7pm (doors open at 6:00).
Free tickets are required and will be available on the Library’s website starting Wednesday, April 29th at 9 am.
In a lecture inspired by letters to his own grandchildren, the revered author, environmentalist and activist explains why feminism is important, why it is dangerous to deny our biological nature and how indigenous people around the world inspire his environmentalism. A traditional First Nations welcome will precede the Lecture.
“Early people learned through their mistakes that their survival and well-being were utterly dependent on nature,” said Suzuki. “That is why it is so important to fight to keep those cultures alive. Once they are gone, they will never be reproduced.”
“Social justice is inextricably linked to the survival of the planet and the 2015 June Callwood Lecture will challenge Canadians to consider a fair, equitable and sustainable future,” said City Librarian Vickery Bowles.
David Suzuki is an award-winning environmentalist and broadcaster and the recipient of UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science. He is the host of the long-running CBC television program The Nature of Things and has authored over 50 books, including 19 for children. Elected to the Royal Society of Canada and a Companion of the Order of Canada, he holds 25 honourary degrees in Canada, the US and Australia.
The June Callwood lecture began in 2007 and serves as a legacy to Callwood’s lifelong commitment to social justice. Past lecturers have examined goodness (Mary Jo Leddy); injustice in our legal system (James Lockyer); moral courage (Sally Armstrong); the Canadian immigrant experience (Ratna Omidvar); homelessness (Cathy Crowe); the power of advocacy (Stephen Lewis); homophobia in sports (Mark Tewksbury); and most recently, Maude Barlow on water as a human right.
David Suzuki’s memoir Letters to my Grandchildren, will be published on May 30, 2015 in Canada and June 2, 2015 in the US. He appears at Toronto Public Library courtesy of Greystone Books and the David Suzuki Foundation.
Event Details: Wednesday, May 27, 7 pm (doors open 6 pm), Bram & Bluma Appel Salon, Toronto Reference Library. 789 Yonge Street.
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Media Contact: Yvonne Hunter, yhunter@torontopubliclibrary.ca, 416-393-7098
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The June Callwood Lecture is supported in part by the June Callwood Endowment Fund at the Toronto Public Library. To find out more or to donate visit tplfoundation.ca/estate-and-tax-smart-giving