Mir lecture sustains Suzuki

Acclaimed geneticist and environmentalist, David Suzuki, will be engaging audiences in the West Kootenay on September 22, 2010, with a thought-provoking talk about an elder’s vision for our sustainable future.

David Suzuki will be engaging audiences in the West Kootenay this September with a thought-provoking talk about an elder’s vision for our sustainable future.

The Irving K. Barber lecture featuring David Suzuki is part of Selkirk College’s Mir Centre for Peace lecture series. The presentation is founded on his recent book The Legacy, that is a culmination of his knowledge and wisdom and his legacy for generations to come.

“This Mir Lecture is bound to influence our very being and encourage us to take a hard look at who we are and what we are doing to our planet,” said Chair of the Mir Centre for Peace, Randy Janzen. “This is an amazing opportunity for members of our communities to be inspired and moved into action.”

According to the book’s foreword by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, Suzuki encourages individuals throughout the book (and inevitably the lecture) to “realize that the laws of nature have priority over the forces of economics and that the planet simply cannot sustain unfettered growth.”

He argues, “We must also recognize the limits of scientific reductionism and the need to adopt a more holistic point of view. Perhaps most important, we must join together as a single species to respond to the problems we face.”

He concludes that, “change begins with each of us; all it takes is imagination and a faith in the inherent generosity of Mother Earth.”

David Suzuki is an acclaimed geneticist and environmentalist and the founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. He is the author of more than forty books and is a recent recipient of the Right Livelihood Award. He has been named a Companion of the Order of Canada, holds multiple honourary degrees and has been adopted into three First Nations clans.

The lecture takes place on Wednesday, September 22, 2010, at the Brilliant Cultural Centre in Castlegar. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for students and are available at Otter Books in Nelson, Castlegar & District Public Library and Selkirk College bookstores.

An opportunity to purchase The Legacy and obtain a personally signed copy by David Suzuki will be available. For more information, visit www.selkirk.ca/mir or call 250-352-2821.