Author to speak to Humanities Council

COEUR d'ALENE - Freedom of speech is the main topic best-selling crime fiction writer Sara Paretsky will touch on when she speaks Oct. 15 at The Coeur d'Alene Resort.

Paretsky, author of a series of novels featuring female private detective V.I. Warshawski, is the guest of honor at the Idaho Humanities Council's 7th annual Northern Idaho Distinguished Humanities Lecture and Dinner.

Karen Yother, one of the event organizers, said they selected Paretsky after speaking with people from the community.

"We asked them what they're reading, what their interests are," Yother said.

They chose Paretsky because she is known for her fiction writing, as well as for her essays on free speech, Yother said.

Paretsky's lecture will explore the theme of her bestselling 2007 memoir, "Writing in an Age of Silence." Part autobiography, part political commentary, the collection of essays reflects Paretsky 's journey to finding her voice as an American writer while coming of age in the shadows of the Cold War and civil rights movements, and then maintaining that voice since 9-11 and the Patriot Act.

The Idaho Humanities Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing greater public awareness, appreciation and understanding of the humanities in Idaho.

Yother, who has been at the Hayden Libary for 13 years, realized what the IHC was all about back in 2002, when they brought a traveling exhibit from the Smithshonian through town.

"Their focus is to really bring these high quality programs to all patrons of Idaho, especially in the small towns and in the schools and libraries," Yother said. "It gets people engaged in their communities, whether it be through art, history or literature."

Tickets are $45 and can be purchased online at www.idahohumanities.org under "IHC Events," or by calling the Idaho Humanities Council at (888) 345-5346.