Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture Featuring Author David Frum

OLLI at BCC is proud to announce the
2020 Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture
featuring

Bestselling Author, Commentator & Former Presidential Speechwriter
David Frum

in conversation with Frederic Rutberg
Berkshire Eagle publisher

Thursday, June 25th at 7pm
via Zoom

Pre-registration required. Click here to reserve your place.

OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College, is honored to present bestselling author, commentator and former presidential speechwriter David Frum, in conversation online with Berkshire Eagle publisher Frederic Rutberg for the 11th annual Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture. The lecture is sponsored by Berkshire Gas and is in partnership with the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.

The conversation will be held online on Thursday, June 25, at 7pm via Zoom. The event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required.

A limited number of copies of Trumpocalypse signed by the author are available for $35, including shipping. All proceeds benefit the Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture series. To purchase the book, or to reserve a virtual seat for the online conversation with David Frum, click here.

David Frum writes for the Atlantic and is the author of ten books, including the New York Times bestseller Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic. From 2001 to 2002, he served as a speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush. He earned bachelor and master’s degrees in history from Yale University, and a law degree from Harvard.

Frum was one of the first and foremost conservative Republicans to sound the alarm about the challenge posed by the Trump presidency to U.S. global leadership, open international trade, and democratic institutions. His prophetic 2017 cover story in the Atlantic, "How to Build an Autocracy," has been one of the most cited of the Trump years. Frum appears frequently on CNN, MSNBC, and the Australian, British, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporations. A profile in Esquire magazine in December 2017 described Frum as "first among equals" in the conservative anti-Trump movement.  

In his newest book, Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy (Harper, 2020), David Frum describes the damage being done by the Trump presidency, and offers a path forward. Frum inspires readers of all points of view to believe again in the possibilities of American life. Trumpocalypse is both a warning of danger and a guide to reform that will be read and discussed for years to come.

In Joe Klein’s review of Trumpocalypse in the New York Times, he writes that Frum “has done something crucial: He has recognized that a new national conversation is coming, and, with Trumpocalypse, he has provided a thoughtful way to start it.”

Frederic Rutberg is a retired judge and president and publisher of New England News, Inc., which publishes the award-winning Berkshire Eagle, and three other papers in Vermont.

The annual Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture was established to honor the memory of the late Mona Sherman, a dynamic businesswoman and volunteer leader who played a transformative role in the growth and expansion of OLLI at BCC. The lecture series, established through the generosity of her family and friends, honors both her love of the Berkshires community and of lifelong learning.

For the past decade, the Mona Sherman Memorial Lecture series has featured extraordinary nationally known writers and commentators: past speakers have included Cokie Roberts, Jim Acosta, Mika Brzezinski, Joe Klein, Katy Tur and others. The lectures were established to honor the memory of former OLLI at BCC board President Mona Sherman. They have always been free and open to the public.

OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College, provides over 120 diverse educational, social, and volunteer opportunities a year designed especially by and for people fifty years old and better. OLLI’s 1,300+ members organize courses, lectures, trips and special events online, throughout the Berkshires and beyond.  OLLI’s midsummer semester of online classes begins July 13^th. For more information visit www.berkshireolli.org.

We are grateful to Berkshire Gas for co-sponsoring the lecture, to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center for being a co-presenter, and to the many friends and family of Mona Sherman for their continuing support.