News from SUNY Cortland

For more information contact: Jean Palmer, 607-753-2232

Author of 'Jesus Land' to Speak at SUNY Cortland Sept. 25

CORTLAND, NY (09/18/2008; 1255)(readMedia)-- Julia Scheeres, author of the memoir, Jesus Land, will speak on Thursday, Sept. 25, at SUNY Cortland.

Scheeres will discuss her book, the writing process, life and aspects of writing a memoir in an informal setting at 7:30 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 105.

The lecture is part of the College's yearlong series on the theme of "Inequality," organized by the College's Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee. The series is free and open to the public.

In Jesus Land, Scheeres chronicles the upbringing of herself and her adopted African-American brother, David, who were raised in a Midwestern fundamentalist Christian family.

The book begins with the family's move to rural Indiana and their transition from a tiny Christian school to a large public school, where David and Scheeres' other adopted African-American brother were the only minority students. It ends with her and David on a beach in the Dominican Republic, where the two attended a Christian reform school as teens.

Scheeres has written for the Los Angeles Times, the L.A. Weekly, El Financiero, the San Francisco Chronicle, Wired News and Court TV's "Crime Library." She has been a finalist twice for journalism awards presented by the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California and once for an Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Award.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., and a Master of Arts in Journalism from the University of Southern California.

"Inequality" is the fourth yearlong series of lectures and cultural events organized around a single theme at SUNY Cortland. Sponsored by the College's Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee, the series is funded by the President's Office and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs' Office. Scheeres' talk also is sponsored by NeoVox.

For more information, contact Assistant Professor of History Kevin Sheets at (607) 753-2060 or Lorraine Berry, NeoVox project director, at (607) 753-2483.

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