Jillian Michaels, Nicholas Sparks headline SEMO Speakers Series

A celebrity fitness trainer, a famous romance author and a major metropolitan mayor will highlight the 2013-2014 Southeast Missouri State University Speakers Series.

The annual series, now in its sixth year, has brought big-name speakers to campus in previous years, including retired general and former secretary of state Colin Powell, former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and actor Michael J. Fox. An estimated 5,200 people visited the Show Me Center for last year's speakers series.

The 2013-2014 series will kick off with "An Evening with Jillian Michaels" at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 30 in the Show Me Center. Michaels, one of the leading health and wellness experts in the country, best known for her work on the TV show "The Biggest Loser," will share her philosophy that emphasizes the integration of fitness, nutrition and behavioral changes.

Corey Booker

Blake Mycoskie, founder and "Chief Shoe Giver" of TOMS Shoes, will speak on "Start Something that Matters" at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Show Me Center. Mycoskie was behind the idea of the "One for One" model, in which for every TOMS product purchased, the company will help a person in need. TOMS has given more than 10 million pairs of new shoes to children in need since it began in 2006, and the company recently expanded its unique business model to include TOMS Eyewear, helping more than 150,000 people around the world.

Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker will present "How to Change the World with Your Bare Hands" at 6 p.m. Jan. 22 during the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Dinner at the Show Me Center. Booker became mayor of Newark in 2006 and was re-elected in 2010. He and his team have more than doubled the rate of affordable housing production, created Newark's largest expansion of parks and recreation spaces in more than a century and brought more than $1 billion of economic development into the city. For his work, Booker has been recognized in numerous publications. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of 2011.

Blake Mycoskie

Best-selling author Nicholas Sparks will present "An Evening with Nicholas Sparks" at 7:30 p.m. March 10 at the Show Me Center. With almost 80 million copies of his books in print, Sparks is the author of 17 New York Times best-sellers, including "The Notebook," "A Walk to Remember," "Nights in Rodanthe" and "Dear John." Coupled with his literary success, the movie adaptations of Sparks' books were hits in the romance film genre.

Diane Rehm

Closing out the 2013-2014 University Speakers Series will be Diane Rehm, in "A Conversation With Diane Rehm" at 7:30 p.m. April 16 in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus. In 2009, Rehm celebrated 30 years as host of her radio show, "The Diane Rehm Show," produced at WAMU 88.5 FM in Washington, D.C., and distributed by NPR, NPR Worldwide and SIRIUS XM satellite radio. Rehm's show can be heard on more than 160 stations nationwide, including KRCU 90.9 FM in Cape Girardeau, and each week more than 2 million listeners tune in her show, which was named to the Top 10 list of the most powerful programs in public radio for 2007 and 2008.

Tickets for the Michaels and Mycoskie events become available Aug. 26. Tickets for the Jan. 23 Martin Luther King Jr. Dinner, along with tickets for the Sparks and Rehm events, will go on sale at a later date.

General admission tickets for the Michaels, Mycoskie, Sparks and Rehm events are $10 for the public and free for current Southeast faculty, staff and students with a valid Redhawks ID. Tickets for the Michaels, Mycoskie and Sparks events may be purchased at showmecenter.biz and the Show Me Center box office. Tickets for the Rehm event may be purchased at rivercampusevents.com and the River Campus box office.

klewis@semissourian.com

Nicholas Sparks

388-3635

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