Author Hedrick Smith at Pearl January 20

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Best-selling author and formerNew York Timesreporter Hedrick Smith will be in Portsmouth this month as part of a tour to promote his new book,Who Stole the American Dream? At 4:00 pm on Monday, January 20, the Martin Luther King Holiday, he will speak at the Portsmouth Pearl.   (Click title for full article)

The title of his speech is “Martin Luther King, Jr. and the American Dream Today.”  Following his remarks, he will sign copies of his book (Riverrun Bookstore will handle this part).  As a reporter covering the civil rights movement in the 1960’s, Smith had direct contact with Dr. King and other leaders, in places like Albany, GA as well as at the historic March on Washington in 1963.

The Pearl is a fitting venue for this event.  Now a function hall located at 45 Pearl Street, just off Islington Street, it was New Hampshire’s first African-American church.  A stop on the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, for decades it was the heart of Black Portsmouth’s social, political and spiritual life.  A young Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. preached there on October 26, 1952, as a divinity student at Boston University.   

The event is free and open to the public.  Light refreshments will be sold.  Parking will be available at a nearby business, which has lots both in front of and behind their building.