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Chris Crutcher for
Freedom to Read Foundation

Enjoy an evening with teacher, family therapist, and award-winning author  Chris Crutcher . Experience Crutcher at his very best as he recounts stories related to his popular novels.

According to Freedom to Read Foundation President John W. Berry, "Chris Crutcher is a remarkably strong voice for young adult readers and for intellectual freedom.  He's stood with schools and libraries as they have faced challenges to his materials.  He's an advocate as well as a writer.  He gets it.  More to the point, he's a truly engaging speaker with great stories about writing, reading, and intellectual freedom.  Don't miss this chance to see Chris speak!"

author chris crutcher

Crutcher will be the featured speaker at a fundraiser for the Freedom to Read Foundation on Sunday, January 21, 2007. Doors will open at 5:45, and Crutcher’s talk will begin at 6:30 p.m. The event will take place at the Seattle Public Library.

Crutcher, whose works include Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories, Chinese Handcuffs, The Crazy Horse Electric Game, The Deep End, Ironman, Running Loose, The Sledding Hill, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Stotan! and  Whale Talk, is one of the most popular authors in the young-adult genre. He is the recipient of YALSA's 2000  Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, Writer Magazine's 2004  Writers Who Make A Difference Award, the National Council of Teachers of English's 1998  National Intellectual Freedom Award, and the prestigious  ALAN Award, given by the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents. In 2005 Crutcher also was honored by the National Coalition Against Censorship at its  tribute to free speech and its defenders (PDF).

Following his presentation, Crutcher will be signing his books. Copies of Crutcher's books will be on sale at the event, and all donations from sales will go to the Freedom to Read Foundation.

Refreshments will be provided. Space is limited. The suggested donation to attend the event is $25.

  • You may use the secure online donation form to donate now. Please indicate in the comments section that the donation is to attend the  Chris Crutcher Fund-raiser.
  • You also may write a check, payable to the Freedom to Read Foundation (memo line:  Chris Crutcher Fund-raiser), and mail it to FTRF, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611.
  • Donations (by cash, checks, or credit card) also will be accepted at the event.

For more information, or to RSVP, contact  Jonathan Kelley at jkelley@ala.org or (800) 545-2433 x4226.

The Seattle Public Library is located at 1000 Fourth Ave. (206-386-4636),  between Spring and Madison.  Bus information.  The library is approximately half a mile (six blocks) from the  Washington State Convention and Trade Center (Seventh Ave. and Pike St.).  Parking is available nearby.

Crutcher's Whale Talk is  one of 2005's most challenged books, according to the  ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom.

The event is being held in conjunction with the 2007 American Library Association Midwinter Meeting, and is sponsored in part by  HarperCollins.