Sonoma Speaker Series

THE PAST YEAR WAS EXTRAORDINARY, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, NOT IS A GOOD WAY. WE WERE HONORED TO HAVE MANY INTERESTING AND ACCOMPLISHED SPEAKERS READY TO TAKE OUR STAGE, ALL FROM A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS AND EXPERIENCES. BUT DUE TO THE PANDEMIC, OUR EVENTS CAME TO A SCREECHING HALT IN MID-MARCH, AND WE HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO FIELD ANY EVENTS SINCE THAT TIME.THE YEAR BEGAN WITH DAVID & NIC SHEFF ON FEBRUARY 3, 2020. DAVID SHEFF IS THE AUTHOR OF "BEAUTIFUL BOY: A FATHER'S JOURNEY THROUGH HIS SON'S ADDICTION", A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. THE BOOK, PUBLISHED IN A DOZEN LANGUAGES WAS NAMED THE YEAR'S BEST NON-FICTION BOOK BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, "BEST BOOKS OF 2008" BY AMAZON, AND IT WON FIRST PLACE IN THE BARNES AND NOBLE DISCOVER AWARD IN NON-FICTION. IN 2009, DAVID WAS NAMED TO THE TIME 100, "TIME MAGAZINE'S LIST OF THE WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE". A FEATURE FILE ADAPTATION OF "BEAUTIFUL BOY", STARRING STEVE CARELL AND TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, WAS RELEASED IN THE U.S. IN OCTOBER, 2018 AND INTERNATIONALLY IN FEBRUARY, 2019, FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS, NIC SHEFF BECAME A WRITER AND AUTHOR HIMSELF. TWO YEARS AFTER DAVID'S BOOK BECAME A BEST-SELLER, NIC WROTE AN ARTICLE CALLED "BREAKING DAD" WHERE HE DISCUSSES HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS TO READ THAT MEMOIR. HE WAS SO FIXATED ON HIS OWN DRUG ADDICTION THAT HE DIDN'T REALIZE HOW MUCH PAIN HIS DRUG USE WAS AFFLICTING THOSE AROUND HIM. HE EVENTUALLY WROTE TWO BOOKS ABOUT HIS STRUGGLE, 2009'S "TWEAK: GROWING UP ON METHAMPHETAMINES", WHICH IS ALSO LISTED AS SOURCE MATERIAL FOR THE MOVIE, AND 2011'S "WE ALL FALL DOWN: LIVING WITH ADDICTION".WILLIE BROWN, TWO-TERM MAYOR OF SAN FRANCISCO, LEGENDARY SPEAKER OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY, WIDELY REGARDED AS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL AFRICAN-AMERICAN POLITICIAN OF THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY, AND A MAN AT THE CENTER OF CALIFORNIA POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, AND CIVIC LIFE FOR AN ASTONISHING FOUR DECADES, WAS SCHEDULED FOR APRIL. UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO COVID, THIS EVENT, ALONG WITH THOSE PLANNED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE YEAR, HAD TO BE POSTPONED.SINCE 2016, THE SONOMA SPEAKER SERIES HAS BEEN PROVIDING A WEALTH OF EDUCATION, MOTIVATION, INSPIRATION, AND CULTURE THAT EXISTS NOWHERE ELSE IN THE SONOMA VALLEY. OUR EVENTS CONTINUE TO SELL OUT, AND WE HAVE NO DOUBT THAT AS SOON AS IT IS SAFE TO GATHER, WE WILL RESUME OUR PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES IN THE SAME MANNER AS PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC. WE HAVE KEPT IN TOUCH WITH OUR SPONSORS, SUPPORTERS, AND AUDIENCES, ASSURING THEM THAT WE WILL BE BACK!