FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13, 2009
Media Contact: Michael Corby 904.632.3310

Child soldier, refugee, best-selling author and activist Ishmael Beah to speak at FCCJ South Campus Wilson Center March 4, 2009

What:	Ishmael Beah, author of “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,” presented by Florida Community College and Bedford/St. Martin’s Press
When:	March 4 at 7 p.m.
Where:	Florida Community College South Campus Nathan H. Wilson Center for the Arts — Main Stage 11901 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville
Cost:	Free and open to the public; general seating.

Details: Sierra Leone-born Ishmael Beah’s incredible experiences as a boy soldier, thrown into battle and trained to kill at age 13, rescued by UNICEF and rehabilitated to regain his humanity, are recounted in what has been called an extraordinary and mesmerizing account, “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.” A United States resident since 1998, Beah has been the subject of interviews with National Public Radio, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, TIME, Newsweek, the New York Times Magazine, The Daily Show with John Stewart among others. He graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in political science. He is a member of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division Advisory Committee and has spoken before the United Nations, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities (CETO) at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory.