Governor's Lecture to feature bestselling author

Bestselling author Candice Millard will present “A Clear and Steady Eye: Storytelling and Our Shared History” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

The free event is the 27th Annual Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities, presented by Humanities Nebraska, and the first lecture in the 2022-23 E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues.

Tickets can be reserved through the Lied Center by clicking here, calling 402-472-4747 or visiting the Lied’s box office, 301 N. 12th St. Forums are general admission, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.

Millard’s talk will touch on her four New York Times bestsellers: “The River of Doubt,” “Destiny of the Republic,” “Hero of the Empire” and “River of the Gods.”

Her first book, “The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey,” was a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and a Book Sense Pick. It won the William Rockhill Nelson Award and was a finalist for the Quill Awards. Her second book, about President James Garfield, “Destiny of the Republic: A Tail of Madness, Medicine and Murder of a President,” won the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime, the One Book One Lincoln Award and the Kansas Notable Book Award. Millard’s “Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churchill” was named Amazon’s No. 1 history book of 2016.

Millard’s most recent book, “River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile” is already a top 10 New York Times bestseller. Focused on English explorers Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke, the book tells a story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers. The book also profiles Sidi Mubarak Bombay, the explorers’ formerly enslaved local guide. Without Bombay and men like him, who led, carried and protected the expedition, neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived.

Millard’s essays have also appeared in the New York Times Book Review, Washington Post Book World, the Guardian, National Geographic and Time.

The presentation’s format will be a conversation moderated by Rick Alloway, associate professor of broadcasting in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

This year’s Thompson Forum series, “Creativity to Solve Global Challenges,” focuses on elevating people and ideas addressing global concerns with vision and innovation. Millard is the first of five speakers for the 2022-23 E.N. Thompson season.

The E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues is a cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation, Lied Center and the university. It was established in 1988 with the purpose of bringing a diversity of viewpoints on international and public policy issues to the university and people of Nebraska to promote understanding and encourage discussion.

For more information and the link to livestream, click here.