Historian and author Stephen Ambrose will speak at the Appleton Public Library at 4:00 pm on Friday, September 13, in the lower level meeting room. His presentation is free and open to the general public.
Ambrose is the author of the definitive biographies of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and President Richard Nixon. He wrote D-Day, June 6, 1944 : The Climactic Battle of World War II and spoke at the recent fiftieth anniversary commemoration of D-Day in Normandy. Ambrose has taught American history at Louisianna State University, Johns Hopkins University, the United States Naval War College, Kansas State University, and has recently retired as the Director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans.
Ambrose has strong Wisconsin ties. He grew up in Whitewater and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He played Badger football as left guard on offense and middle linebacker on defense between 1954 and 1956. He told a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter: "I was the last Big 10 player to go a full 60-minute game". He started out as a pre-med student, but a history class with an inspiring teacher changed his direction. He told the professor: "I want to do what you do for a living." He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1957 and a Doctorate in 1963. This fall he returns to the University as a visiting history professor.
Ambrose's most recent book, Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, was on the New York Times Bestseller List. He was inspired to write about Lewis and Clark after reading the journals of their exploration. According to a Publisher's Weekly interview, Ambrose and his wife, Moira, decided that they would spend the nation's bicentennial with their five children at Lemhi Pass in the Rocky Mountains where Meriwether Lewis was the first non-native American to cross the Continental Divide in August 1805. Every summer since 1976 the Ambrose family and friends return to Montana, Idaho, the Dakotas, or Oregon to travel some portion of the trail. One of those friends is from Appleton, Chuck Barnum.
Ambrose has interviewed all of the major figures in American history since 1950. He is a friend of General Colin Powell and has spoken publicly encouraging the General to run for President. Another friend, former Colorado Governor Richard Lamm, is running for the presidency.
Aronson's Bookshop will sell copies of Undaunted Courage and several other Ambrose books at the presentation in the library so that members of the audience can have the books autographed. Following the public presentation, Ambrose will attend a fundraising dinner for the Appleton Library Foundation at the Paper Valley Hotel at 7:00 pm. Tickets for the dinner cost $50 per person and can be purchased through the library Administration Office.
Ambrose is appearing at the library courtesy the Appleton Library Foundation. Questions about his appearance can be directed to Community Services, 832-1695.
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last modified 8/19/96