The Albany Academies' Lecture Series To Feature Tribeca Film Festival Co-Founder

ALBANY, NY (03/31/2008)(readMedia)-- Craig Hatkoff, philanthropist, author of multiple children's books and co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, will address members of The Albany Academies this Friday, April 4 as part of the school's Class of '57 Lecture Series.

Hatkoff will be speaking to Upper School students, alumni/ae, parents and community members from 11:20 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. in Caird Chapel on the West Campus (The Albany Academy building) located at 135 Academy Road in Albany. He will be on campus beginning at 11 a.m., and will take part in a book signing outside Caird Chapel and be available for media interviews from 12:25-12:40 p.m. Hatkoff will then meet with Lower School students at the Academies from 1:15-2 p.m. in the Lower School Library on the West Campus to discuss his books and various aspects of the writing and creative process (media are welcome to take photos during this time).

Hatkoff is the author of multiple children's books including "Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship," describing the story of a tortoise and an orphaned hippopotamus in Mombassa, Kenya after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami; and the upcoming "Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship," with his daughter Isabella, and an ecologist, Dr. Paula Kahumbu. Other works include "Good-Bye, Tonsils" (2001) and his most recent book, "Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated the World" (2007) about Knut from the Berlin Zoo – which he wrote together with his daughter, Isabella.

He and his wife, Jane Rosenthal, and actor Robert DeNiro co-founded the Tribeca Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Institute in 2002 in an effort to help New York City heal from the events of September 11, 2001. He was also a major sponsor of the Academies’ Herman Melville Symposium held last year.

Hatkoff, a 1972 graduate of The Albany Academy, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Colgate University and received an MBA from Columbia University. He lives with his wife and their two daughters in Manhattan.

The Class of '57 Lecture Series was created by The Albany Academy Class of 1957 to feature an annual lecture held at The Albany Academies with the goal of increasing visibility of the school.

The Albany Academies is home to the two campuses of The Albany Academy (West Campus) and Albany Academy for Girls (East Campus), which share a nearly 200-year-old tradition of outstanding single-gender independent school education. Both campuses bring with them deeply treasured values of community, tradition, and purpose to the newly formed school known as The Albany Academies.

The Albany Academies is committed to developing the potential of the whole individual by building a community that fosters scholarship, leadership, character, service and creativity.

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