Bill McKibben and Green Week

Best-selling author and environmental activist Bill McKibben will deliver the fourth annual McBride Lecture for Faith & Literature at 7:00 p.m. on Oct. 3 in Oklahoma Christian University’s Gaylord University Center. The evening lecture will be followed by a book-signing reception. Both events are free and open to the public.

“We invite Oklahomans to hear this powerful thinker discuss issues of great importance – not only how both to design durable human communities and care for the planet, but also specifically how to sustain the great quality of life we enjoy in Oklahoma as well as pass on to our children the best of Oklahoma’s natural resources,” said Scott LaMascus, Professor of English and Director of the McBride Center for Faith & Literature.

“As always, faith plays a unique role in this year’s lecture programs,” LaMascus said. “McKibben’s book The Comforting Whirlwind should be read by every Christian because he asks us to consider the book of Job not so much for its insights into suffering or belief, but because the book calls readers to appreciate the marvel of creation as well as to humbly accept our place of responsibility in it.”

The McBride Center was named in 2004 and is endowed by donations from alumni, foundations, and humanities organizations to honor the lifelong work of McBride, a longtime professor of English and university leader, and his wife, Joyce Warren McBride. They have three children and eight grandchildren. McBride began teaching at the university in 1956 when the campus was located in Bartlesville, and served from 1971 to 1990 as the university’s chief academic officer. He continues to direct the university’s Honors program. He is a member of the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame. See www. http://www.ohehs.org.

Co-sponsors with the McBride Center have included The Oklahoma Humanities Council, The Oklahoma Scholarship-Leadership Enrichment Program, The Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers and “Writing Out Loud”, The Inasmuch Foundation, and the Williams Foundation. Book sales following the lectures benefit the McBride Center and are provided by Best of Books in Kickingbird Square.

For additional information or Media opportunities with McKibben, contact Ron Frost at 405-425-5330. For information about the McBride Center see www.oc.edu/mcbridecenter. For program details contact Frances Sawyer at 405-425-5330.