Mark Twain impersonator Ken Church will be the featured speaker at the Dr. Max Pickerill Lecture Series hosted by Colby Community College on Tuesday, March 10, at 7 p.m. in Frahm Theatre on the CCC campus.
Church, of Leavenworth, has been performing as the iconic American writer and humorist since 1972. Church did his first one-man show as a student at the University of Kansas for a political fundraiser. After college, he taught 41 years in Kansas high schools and a variety of night courses for Cloud County Community College, Pratt Community College, Donnelly College (Lansing Correctional Facility, and Highland Community College.
Of his show, Church says, "My goal is to do all I can to allow each listener to feel as though Mark Twain is speaking just to him or her."
He grew to love the writing of Twain through the influence of the late Edith Hetzel, the speech and drama coach and librarian at Crest High School where he attended.
He sees much in Twain that is pertinent and needed today.
"Mark Twain is a huge part of the cultural fabric of our country, really of the world," Church said. "He is not a perfect human being, but he is one of the most human of human beings."
There is no charge to attend the presentation. The Dr. Max Pickerill Lecture Series is funded annually by anonymous donors. For more information, contact Dr. Linda Davis-Stephens at (785) 460-5528.