Nichols to deliver Carlson lecture May 11

An award-winning writer for The Capital Times will deliver the annual Laurie Carlson lecture this week at the university.

John Nichols, editorial page editor, will speak at 4 p.m. Friday, May 11, in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin auditorium, 816 State St. His topic is: “NO! Welfare Reform, School Choice, and ‘Reinventing Government’ are not Progressive.”

The free public lecture is sponsored by the La Follette School of Public Affairs with support of the family of Laurie Carlson, who died in 1999 at age 91. Carlson was the last Wisconsin political figure to have campaigned with the late Sen. Robert La Follette. Carlson was a founder of the Progressive Party in 1934, served in the Wisconsin Assembly, 1937-43, and was honored by the Assembly in 1991 with a resolution saying he exemplified “the best Wisconsin tradition of public service.”

In addition to his work with The Capital Times, Nichols is a columnist for The Nation and a regular contributor to The Progressive, In These Times, and other publications. He is the winner of the Inland Press Association’s award for best editorial writing in the United States and has been honored four times by the Milwaukee Press Club as best editorial writer in Wisconsin.

With Robert McChesney, Nichols recently co-authored a book, “It’s the Media, Stupid!” (Seven Stories Press, 2000).

The Capital Times was founded in 1917 by William T. Evjue to advance the cause of Robert M. La Follette’s Progressive movement. Nichols himself comes from a long line of Wisconsin Progressives.