CNN news correspondent addresses Wilton Library’s annual meeting June 3rd

Wilton Library Association’s 123^rd annual meeting will have a current affairs take with this year’s guest speaker, Alex Marquardt, Senior National Correspondent for CNN based in its New York bureau. The meeting gets underway on Sunday, June 3, at 4:30 p.m. in the Brubeck Room with a brief business meeting that includes the election of new trustees and officers, a celebration of retiring trustees, and the presentation of awards to the outstanding volunteer and staff member of the year. The proposed slate of officers for the 2018 – 2019 fiscal year is as follows: Michele Klink, president, Rob Sanders, vice president, Patty Connor, secretary and Kimberley Healy, treasurer. Retiring members are Robert Kelso and Tom Leffel.

Guest speaker Alex Marquardt is an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards winner who has been a foreign correspondent reporting on the front lines of the wars and uprisings in the Middle East. Among many events, he was the first American broadcast journalist in Cairo as the Egyptian Revolution exploded. He has covered stories from the 2008 presidential election, to the devastation of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, to the London Bridge attack. He will speak to his experiences abroad and the similarities to the current U.S. climate. Marquardt remarked, “Never in my lifetime has there been a period of such division, distrust, polarization and political dysfunction in the United States. It was this unique time that compelled me to return after covering the world for eight years as a foreign correspondent. These days many of the distressing characteristics of the countries I covered overseas can be found here: tribalism, erosion of the rule of law and institutions, authoritarianism. There is reason for hope as well, young people are being galvanized to get involved, there is a growing sense of civic duty.” He also will discuss the state of journalism today.

Elaine Tai-Lauria, the executive director of Wilton Library noted, “We are so pleased to have a speaker as qualified as Alex Marquardt addressing our meeting. With what we see being reported every day in these 24/7 news cycles, it will be refreshing and enlightening to hear a seasoned journalist’s direct point of view.”

The annual meeting is open to the public. There will be an informal reception following the meeting and the speaker. People are asked to register by visiting www.wiltonlibrary.org or by calling 203-762-6321. Wilton Library is located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in the heart of Wilton Center.