Flagler presents former Post columnist Raspberry

Historic City News St. Augustine news reporters learned that William Raspberry, a former columnist for the Washington Post, will be the last speaker in the 2009-2010 Flagler College Forum on Government and Public Policy.

Raspberry will speak April 6th, at 7:00 p.m., in the Flagler College Auditorium.

After nearly four decades, Raspberry retired as a columnist for the Washington Post in 2005. He also recently retired as the Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy Studies at Duke University’s Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy.

His commentaries, often on public policy concerns such as education, justice, family and community, earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary in 1994. In 2004, Raspberry earned the National Press Club’s highest honor – the Fourth Estate Award. The National Association of Black Journalists gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994 and inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2006.

His other honors include recognition by Washington magazine in 1997 as one of the top 50 most influential journalists in the national press corps and honorary doctorates from more than two dozen educational institutions.

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.