It was a fine day & night on campus at VCU Oct. 12, conversing with bright students and instructors as part of the university’s Common Book events. If you click here, you can find lots of free resources (films, books, etc.) available to all! And click here for VCU news coverage of my keynote speech. Thanks to all of you – whether or not you came or viewed online. I'll be sure to keep you posted on any future developments!

​Thanks to everyone coming to VCU this Wednesday at 6 p.m. for my Keynote talk for the university’s Common Book program at the Singleton Center for the Arts. Click here for the address and more information about the event. There's parking along Harrison Street (near the arts center), plus VCU’s parking decks on nearby Main and Cary streets. 
After my talk and some questions from the audience, I’ll stick around to sign books (there will be some available to buy).
If you can’t make it, click here to watch via livestream.
Here are a couple of more links to recent news stories: VCU’s student newspaper, The Commonwealth Times, coverage of the recent apology from VCU with comments from me; and the university’s news service's account of former Virginia Governor L. Douglas Wilder’s scathing attack on VCU for its apology about for the treatment of Bruce Tucker.

             It's been more than two years since the publication of The Organ Thieves, but Virginia Commonwealth University -- home of the former Medical College of Virginia -- has finally apologized for the tragic treatment of Bruce Tucker and his family. In this recent post -- today’s news from Virginia Commonwealth University -- VCU announced a “Resolution regarding the late organ donor Mr. Bruce Tucker and the East Marshall Street Well.”
          The VCU Board of Visitors, along with the Board of Directors of the VCU Health System, issued a lengthy resolution admitting the university (as MCV) “engaged in medical experimentation and research that resulted in dehumanizing practices for handling the remains of primarily Black and enslaved people.” These despicable practices are well-documented in my book.
          Regarding the 1968 heart transplant – long heralded as a great moment in Virginia medical history – the resolution states: “VCU acknowledges and sincerely apologizes to the late Mr. Bruce Tucker, and to his family, for the Medical College’s transplant of his heart 54 years ago.”
          They also authorized the “commissioning of a plaque… to honor Mr. Tucker’s important role in the early history of heart transplantation and to place it in a location of honor at VCU Medical Center.” Here's VCU's news release about its plans.
          I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at VCU on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 6.pm. Click here to learn more about this free lecture open to the public, so c’mon down! Whether or not you can make it, thanks for your interest in setting the historical record straight and – however late or inadequate it may be – in honoring Bruce Tucker and his family.

Hi everyone! Please save the date for my fall talk at VCU that's free and open to the public. It's set for Wednesday, Oct. 12 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Singleton Center for the Performing Arts at 922 Park Ave., RVA 23220.
I actually learned this from the recent Times-Dispatch article about the university's choice of The Organ Thieves for its first-year reading program. As reported by Colleen Curran, "The book will be read by roughly 4,500 students in the first year program and be discussed through a series of events by the VCU Health community."
In the 16-year-long history of the Common Book program, "This is the first VCU Common Book selected by a Richmond author and which takes place in Virginia."
She quotes Dr. Art Kellerman, CEO of VCU Health System, who noted the importance of "understanding how the university's complex history affects our patients." While VCU has "come a long way," he said, "We will not rest until we achieve health equity for all, regardless of race, ethnicity, income or geography."
Please consider this my personal invitation to YOU as I complete more than two years of public discussion of The Organ Thieves! I hope to offer fresh perspectives gleaned from hundreds of discussions since the book's publication in August, 2020.

Whether it's Putin's deadly lies about Russia's bloody, tragic invasion of Ukraine, or America's own pathetically partisan patter about our shared history, the critical role of a free and skeptical press has never been clearer. So I invite you to join me at the Richmond Public Library for an upcoming panel discussion with my esteemed former colleague at the Richmond Times-Dispatch -- Michael Paul Williams, winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Commentary. On Friday, May 17 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Mike and I will be part of the library's speaking series,  "Democracy and the Informed Citizen." Our topic will be "What Makes a Fact True: Local Journalism and American Democracy." Click here  to register. The library's address is 101 E. Franklin St., RVA 23219. The event should be livestreamed as well, so for those of you who'd rather tune in, I'll send that link along when it becomes available.
And click here for C-SPAN's BookTV coverage of my recent panel discussion at the Virginia Festival of the Book.

Spring is almost here, bringing with it literary events like the Virginia Festival of the Book. It starts Wednesday, March 16 and runs through Sunday, March 20. I'll be on a panel at NOON Saturday, March 19, at the CODE Building on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall. It's free and masks will be required. I'll be on a panel called "Fighting for Justice: When our institutions do not serve" with Benjamin Gilmer, author of the just-released "The Other Dr. Gilmer." Our moderator will be best-selling Richmond author, Kristen Green. So if you're looking for a road trip, check out the daily offerings -- with many great authors and books to choose from! I'm also featured on a new Podcast -- "GO Between the Covers" with Ann Bocock, who hosts "Between the Covers" for South Florida PBS.
May Your Gardens Bloom!

 Hi everyone! Thanks to readers like you, interest in THE ORGAN THIEVES keeps building -- leading to an interview with ABC News' anchor Linsey Davis on her evening livestream show, "ABC News Live Prime." After a delay, it's now set for Thursday, March 3. It's likely to be in the final segment of the 90-minute program that starts at 7 p.m. 
For other upcoming appearances -- all free, open to the public and safely masked -- check these out:
Thursday, Feb. 24 7-8:30 p.m. Book talk with readers at TUCKAHOE LIBRARY in Henrico County (near Three Chopt & Parham) at 1901 Starling Drive, Henrico, VA 23229.
Saturday, March 19, Noon-1 p.m. at the "Virginia Festival of the Book" in Charlottesville (at the CODE building on Downtown Mall). Panel discussion with author/physician Benjamin Gilmer ("The Other Gilmer"), moderated by Richmond author Kristen Green.  
Click here for more about the festival, a nearly week-long event that's packed with plenty of talent!