AARP Bulletin editor to speak at Flagler College

The local St. Augustine news desk has learned that Jim Toedtman, editor of the AARP Bulletin, will be the next speaker for the 2009-2010 Flagler College Forum on Government and Public Policy.

Toedtman will speak March 23rd, at 7 p.m. in the Flagler College Auditorium. His topic will be “The Current State of Washington Politics.”

He is the Editor of AARP Bulletin and a former Associate Editor for Newsday. Toedtman has been covering politics for more than 25 years and helped shape Newsday’s campaign and financial coverage.

This will be Toedtman’s 11th Flagler Forum appearance. In previous appearances, Toedtman predicted that New York City would be the target of a terrorist attack, most likely by a group named Al Qaeda and that major scandals would erupt among some of the nation’s most-respected companies. His first prediction was a year and some months before the 9/11 attacks, and his second preceded the Enron scandal by about one year.

Toedtman has been a reporter and editor for The Boston Herald and Baltimore News American. His editorials for the News American won first place in the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association in 1982, 1984 and 1985. He also won a special citation from the Inter-American Press Association for a series of reports from Central America. He has covered Congress and the White House, concentrating on financial issues including the federal budget, taxes and international trade.

The final speaker for the 2009-2010 season will be former Washington Post columnist Bill Raspberry on April 6.

All forums take place in the Flagler College Auditorium, 14 Granada St., at 7 p.m. Forums are free and open to the public, but seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign language interpreters are provided.

Call (904) 819-6400 for more information.