BOONE—Husband and wife writers Jonathan Weiner and Deborah Heiligman are the next speakers in Appalachian State University’s Darwin Bicentennial Series, a celebration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. Scheduled for Thursday, March 26, the talks also are part of Appalachian’s Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series.

Weiner’s talk and reading, titled “The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time,” begins at 7:30 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Blue Ridge Ballroom. That afternoon, Heiligman will present the craft talk “From Dogs to Darwin: The Challenges, Perils, and Rewards of Writing for Children” from 2 to 3:15 p.m. in Table Rock Room.

Both lectures are free and open to the public. Books will be available for sales and signings.

Weiner majored in English at Harvard University. He learned to write about science in the early 1980s while working at The Sciences magazine.

In 1985, Weiner left the magazine to write his first book, “Planet Earth,” the companion volume to a seven-part PBS television series. His books include “The Beak of the Finch,” winner of both the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science; “Time, Love, Memory,” winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction, and finalist for the Aventis Science Prize; and “His Brother’s Keeper,” finalist for Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

He has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, New Republic, and many other newspapers and magazines. In 2000 and 2001, he was Rockefeller University’s first writer in residence. Weiner currently teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Heiligman is the author of 26 books for children, many of them non-fiction. Her most recent, “Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith,” was published by Henry Holt in December 2008. Heiligman enjoys writing about complex topics for young people, especially things she initially knows nothing about. She also is working on a picture book about mathematician Paul Erdos, which will be published by Roaring Brook.

A sequel to her book “Fun Dog, Sun Dog” called “Cool Dog, School Dog” will be published this summer. Heiligman is also working on a young adult novel, and is scouting for her next non-fiction project. Her most recently published books are a series for National Geographic called “Holidays Around the World.”

Heiligman started writing for children in the early 1980s at Scholastic News, the classroom news magazine. That job taught her how to write for children, how to write fast, how to write about all kinds of topics, and gave her an undying love of research— all of which paved the way for her career.

Lectures presented as part of the Darwin Bicentennial Series are sponsored by the University Forum Committee, the Division of Academic Affairs, University College, the Darwin Bicentennial Celebration Committee, and the College of Arts and Sciences. Additional support for the series has been provided by the Joan Askew Vail Distinguished Lectureship Endowment and the Morgan Lecture Series in the Sciences.

The spring 2009 season of the Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers  Series is supported by the Appalachian State University Foundation and Appalachian’s Office of Academic Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of English, Office of Multicultural Student Development, Summer Reading Program, University Bookstore, and The Appalachian Journal. Business sponsors are The Gideon Ridge Inn and The Red Onion Restaurant. Community sponsors include John and Marjorie Idol, Paul and Judy Tobin, Alice Naylor, Mildred Luckhardt, Thomas McLaughlin, and The High Country Writers.

The Visiting Writers Series is named in honor of Hughlene Bostian Frank, class of 1968, a trustee and generous supporter of Appalachian.

Additional details regarding the March 26 lectures are available online at www.universityforum.appstate.edu or by calling the university’s Office of Academic Affairs at 828-262-7660.

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