Alice Walker Visits on Book Tour

Alice Walker, the award-winning author of "The Color Purple" and a longtime activist, will be visiting Seattle's Town Hall to present her new book, "Why War Is Never a Good Idea,"  at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 24.
Walker's new book, for children ages 4 to 8, is a heartfelt poem, richly illustrated by Stefano Vitale, which explores the wanton destructiveness of war and its unforeseen consequences. Presented with the University Book Store, tickets are $5 at the door only. Town Hall is located at 1119 Eighth Avenue, at Seneca Street.
Walker reflects that when she wrote "Why War Is Never a Good Idea" she was thinking about children who play "war" long before they have any understanding of its meaning. She says she wanted to write a book for small children that would counter the entrenched belief that it is all right for children to think positively about war. Walker believes that it isn't all right, and the adults of the world must say so. She maintains that there is no such thing as a "good" war because war of any kind is immoral in its behavior.
Walker's philosophy is that our only hope of maintaining a livable planet lies in teaching our children to honor non-violence. "Why War Is Never a Good Idea" doesn't take sides, says Walker, because ultimately we are all on the same side: the side of keeping our home, Earth, safe from attack.
Walker won the Pulitzer Prize and an American Book Award for her novel "The Color Purple." She has written numerous poems, essays, and short stories, including her most recent book, "The Way Forward is With a Broken Heart."
Other family programs taking place at Town Hall include Helder Moutinho, playing Fado-Portugese folk music, Saturday Oct. 6; The Saturday Knights, laying down hip-hop beats on Saturday, Nov. 10; Saturday Family Science: An Inconvenient Truth on Saturday, Nov. 17; and the Tudor Choir and Seattle Baroque Orchestra in a special one-hour performance of George Frideric Handel's Messiah, designed especially for families on Saturday, Dec. 22.
For more information, visit www.townhallseattle.org.