Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University

LAKELAND, Fla. (Sept. 9, 2010) The Lawton M. Chiles, Jr., Center for Florida History at Florida Southern College will host Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University, contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine, and widely acclaimed presidential historian, to open the 2010-2011 Florida Lecture Series.

Brinkley, who in 2009 published "Wilderness Warrior," a biography focused on Theodore Roosevelt's pioneering crusade to create national parks and preserve environmental havens such as the Everglades, will discuss "Saving Wild Florida: From John James Audubon to Barack Obama." The lecture takes place at 7 p.m. Sept. 24 in the Branscomb Auditorium on the FSC campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Brinkley, dubbed by The Chicago Tribune as "Americas new past master," is a prolific and widely acclaimed author. Six of his books have been selected as New York Times "Notable Books of the Year," and his 2007 book "The Great Deluge," the story of Hurricane Katrina, won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. This summer, he published "Witness to America," a newly updated collection of 150 first-hand accounts of American history from the Revolutionary War to the present. He holds a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University, and a master's and Ph.D. from Georgetown University.

"Douglas Brinkley's many books and public commentaries have enriched and extended our knowledge of America's past and its connection to the present," said James M. Denham, director of FSC's Lawton M. Chiles, Jr., Center for Florida History. "We are delighted to welcome Douglas Brinkley as our opening speaker for this year's Florida Lecture Series."