SAL will caption seven author talks
Seattle Arts and Lectures has announced that it will caption the presentations of seven authors this year, including an expert on affordable health care, two Pulitzer-Prize winning literary authors and a well-known children's author who will appear in his adult incarnation.
The captioned offerings begin Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Seattle's Benaroya Hall with T.R. Reid, a former journalist and radio commentator who will talk about the dysfunctional health care system in the United States, where we spend far more money on health care than any other nation but rank a dismal 37th in effectiveness. Reid has spent years examining the health-care systems of other nations that produce better results for far less money, and will share his insights into what those countries can teach us.
On Tuesday, Oct. 19, the speaker will be Sarah Paretsky, author of the best-selling detective works featuring female protagonist V.I. Warshawsky. A one-time community organizer in Chicago, Paretsky has written extensively about women's rights and social-justice issues.
On Tuesday, Nov. 9, Daniel Handler will appear. While Handler has written a number of literary books and short stories for adults, his best-known writing has been as children's author Lemony Snicket, whose 13-book "Series of Unfortunate Events" has sold more than 50 million copies.
On Wednesday, Dec. 8, Picasso biographer John Richardson will speak. His appearance coincides with an exhibition of Picasso masterpieces at the Seattle Art Museum.
On Monday, Jan. 4 (of 2011), Pulitzer-Prize winner Elizabeth Strout will appear. She was awarded the Pulitzer in 2008 for Olive Kitteridge, a series of interconnected stories set in small-town New England.
Prolific author Joyce Carol Oates will appear Monday, April 18. Oates has published over 50 critically acclaimed novels and dozens of short stories.
The captioned season concludes Tuesday, May 10, with an appearance by Richard Ford, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Independence Day, the middle volume of a trilogy chronicling the fictional life of Frank Bascombe.
The captioned presentations are all in the Mark Taper Auditorium at Benaroya Hall. Because the author discussions and question-and-answer sessions are unscripted, the captioning is done in real time by a highly skilled captioner. The captions are displayed on an LED board visible from throughout the auditorium.
Because the captions are available from all seats, no special area is set aside for patrons who need to see the captions. Tickets are available at their regular price, and may be ordered on line.
This is the second season that SAL has captioned some of its author appearances, an effort it undertook at the request of the Washington State Communication Access Project (Wash-CAP). We hope SAL will be able to expand their captioned offerings in the future to become fully accessible to people with hearing loss.
