A Civil Conversation:  Deb Price to be presented at UW-M/WC

“A Civil Conversation:  Deb Price,” a Window on the World presentation featuring congressional reporter Deb Price, will be presented at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 4, in the Black Box Theatre at UW-Marshfield/Wood County Campus. 

Deb Price, the daughter of an Episcopal priest and a vestry member at Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C., writes a nationally syndicated Detroit News column. It makes her more widely read by heterosexuals than any other gay journalist. Price married journalist Joyce Murdoch in Canada in 2003.  In a conversation woven around the theme that improving our understanding of our neighbors is a means of achieving peace, Price will converse with Marshfield News-Herald Managing Editor Tom Berger and Wisconsin Public Radio Morning Anchor Glenn Moberg. The audience will be invited to join in the civil discourse. 

“Deb Price is offering us a wonderful opportunity to understand our neighbors who are a minority because of their sexual orientation,” said Mindy Gribble, spokesperson for Marshfield Social Justice.  “We learn most about peacemaking when we take the time to tell our stories and listen to other people’s stories.” 

Cost for the event is $5 per person.  To register, call the Office of Continuing Education at 389-6520 or email: msfce@uwc.edu. 

In 1995, Price wrote “And Say Hi to Joyce: The Life and Chronicles of a Lesbian Couple” with her partner Joyce Murdoch.  The book is a collection of Price’s columns, along with a collaborative memoir written with Murdoch.  The couple also wrote “Courting Justice: Gay Men and Lesbians V. the Supreme Court.” in 2001.  This survey of Supreme Court decisions that involve homosexuality includes cases, decisions, and background material going back to a 1958 case, and includes both victories and defeats for gays. The authors provided insight into how the court operates, and they chronicled changing American attitudes toward gays. 

The Window on the World Series is offered to nurture and stimulate the roots of peacemaking as a collaborative effort between Marshfield Social Justice and the UW-Marshfield/Wood County Office of Continuing Education.  The last event in the series, “Social Entrepreneurship:  The Next Major Wave,” will be 7-9 p.m. Thursday, April 27, in the Black Box Theatre at UW-Marshfield/Wood County. 

Social entrepreneurs are fundamentally altering the way we approach social problems by acting as change agents who invent and advance sustainable solutions that make a difference through business enterprises.  Three panelists will participate:  Jim Bower, a Madison-based consultant on strategy development and a lecturer on social entrepreneurship at UW-Madison; Georgette Frazer, a local financial-planning and investment advisor who has made social change an integral part of values-based investing; and Heather Hilleren, founder of GreenLeaf Market, a new internet-based business connecting farmers and buyers to increase locally-grown produce consumption.  Discussion will include both local and global perspectives while challenging the audience to tackle a local social issue: affordable housing.