Winona's Great River Shakespeare Festival will host award winning journalist, advocate, and noted author, William Cope Moyers this Sunday, July 20 at 1:00 PM in the WSU PAC theatre as part of its annual Front Porch Conversation speaker series.

Moyers grew up in Garden City, a suburb of Long Island, New York and studied journalism at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. The son of renowned journalist, Bill Moyers, William Cope led a successful career in journalism for 15 years before he became the Vice President of External Affairs for the Hazelden Foundation in 1996. He received the Arthur Liman Public Interest Award from the Legal Action Center and the Gold Key from the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD). His book, "Broken," chronicles his struggle with alcoholism, a crack cocaine addiction, and his eventual road to recovery and redemption.

As the executive director of Hazelden's Center for Public Advocacy, William Cope Moyers works to increase awareness of addiction and recovery from personal experience and from his years of work at Hazelden. He has appeared on NPR, Larry King Live, the Today Show, the Oprah Winfrey Show, and has appeared in People, Star tribune, USA Today and several other publications.

Paul Barnes, GRSF Producing Director commented, "I happened to read ‘Broken' last year, and immediately knew I wanted to invite Wiliam Cope Moyers to speak at the Festival. He has a vital and moving story to tell, and his work is making a huge difference in people's lives around the globe. I was thrilled when William Cope was able to accept our invitation to speak, and am pleased to welcome him to the Festival. This is not his first time visiting Winona, which he calls a 'very cool place to hang out,' and he seems happy to return."

William Cope Moyers's conversation about transformation, healing, and reconciliation is open to the public. Tickets are $15.00 and may be purchased in advance at the GRSF Box Office, 79 E. Third Street, 507-474-7900, online by clicking here, or at the door on the day of the Conversation. Thanks to a generous grant from the Buuck Family Foundation, this Front Porch Conversation will be ASL interpreted.

William Cope Moyers will be followed by Dr. Peter Saccio of Dartmouth College, who returns for his fourth visit to GRSF on July 27. Saccio's talk is entitled "A Shrew, A Jew, and Five Years in Winona."

GRSF performances and Conversations take place at the Winona State University Performing Arts Center Theatre.