FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONTACTS:

Blanca Quezada

Sr. Communications Specialist

Phone: 832-393-1382

Civil Rights Icon Congressman John Lewis and Co-Author Andrew Aydin

to Discuss Their Award-Winning Graphic Novel March

Houston (January 28, 2015) - The Houston Public Library (HPL) is honored to launch its first HPLQ Reading Series, with civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis, as well as co-author Andrew Aydin. They will be discussing their groundbreaking graphic novel series, “March,” an engaging and award-winning first-hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, drawn by artist Nate Powell. "March: Book One" spans Lewis' youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., and the Nashville Student Movement's battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins, building to a climax on the steps of City Hall. The story continues in the second installment of the memoir trilogy with the newly released “March: Book Two,” including the 1961 Freedom Rides and the legendary 1963 March on Washington. Copies of both March books—print and e-book format—are available for check out at the Houston Public Library with the Library’s MY Link card.

This signature event presentation and book signing will take place on Sunday, February 8, 2015 at 6:30 PM at the Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater, 500 Texas Avenue, 77002. This event is being sponsored through the generous support of the Houston Public Library Foundation. The program is presented in observance of African American History Month and in conjunction with the exhibit, “Organized Love: Ideas of Non-violence,” on view at the Houston Public Library’s African American Library at the Gregory School, 1300 Victor St., 77019, 832-393-2600. This event is free with tickets; seating is limited. For ticketing information, please call 832-393-1652.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Congressman John Lewis is an American icon and one of the key figures of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper’s farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African American president. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, he was the youngest member of the "Big Six" and spoke at the March on Washington; in 1965 with Hosea Williams he led the fateful "Bloody Sunday" march in Selma, Alabama. Despite physical attacks, serious injuries, and more than 40 arrests, John Lewis has remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence. His books include Walking with the Wind (called by the Washington Post "the definitive account of the civil rights movement"), Across That Bridge, and the #1 bestselling graphic memoir series March. Since 1987 he has represented Georgia's fifth district in the House of Representatives.

Andrew Aydin, an Atlanta native, is the Digital Director & Policy Advisor to Rep. John Lewis in Washington, D.C. In addition to his work on March, Aydin has published and lectured on the history of comics in the civil rights movement. Previously, he served as Communications Director and Press Secretary during Rep. Lewis’ 2008 and 2010 re-election campaigns, as District Aide to Rep. John Larson (D-CT), and as Special Assistant to Connecticut Lt. Governor Kevin Sullivan. Aydin is a graduate of the Lovett School in Atlanta, Trinity College in Hartford, and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

ABOUT HPLQ

The Houston Public Library Quarterly (HPLQ), Four Books for Houston Reading Series is a citywide reading program that aims to cultivate a shared community experience through coordinated activities, events and exchanges based on four books, each featured independently and as part of a recurring literary series. The series will continue with the appearance of other outstanding authors in May, August and November 2015.

ABOUT THE HOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

The Houston Public Library (HPL) operates 35 neighborhood libraries, four HPL Express Libraries, a Central Library, the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, The African American Library at the Gregory School, and the Parent Resource Library located in the Children’s Museum of Houston. Serving more than seven million customers per year in person and online, HPL is committed to excellent customer service and equitable access to information and programs by providing library customers with free use of a diverse collection of printed materials and electronic resources, Internet, laptop and computer use, and a variety of database and reference resources with live assistance online 24/7.

For further information, visit the Houston Public Library at www.houstonlibrary.org or call 832-393-1313.

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