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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF LITERATURE
FRED LeBRUN
JOURNALIST AND LATTER-DAY HUDSON RIVER EXPLORER TO SPEAK AS PART OF THE HUDSON QUADRICENTENNIAL
NYS Writers Institute, November 19, 2009
8:00 p.m. Discussion | Assembly Hall, Campus Center
CALENDAR LISTING:
Fred LeBrun, “Times Union” journalist and latter-day Hudson River explorer will speak about his river adventures on Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. in the Assembly Hall, Campus Center, on the University at Albany’s uptown campus. The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored in conjunction with UAlbany’s Hudson 400 celebration.
PROFILE
Fred LeBrun, journalist, will speak about his travels on and coverage of the Hudson River over the course of his long career as a reporter and columnist. One of the defining voices of the Albany “Times Union” for more than forty years, LeBrun has served the newspaper as suburban beat reporter, city editor, arts editor, restaurant critic and metro columnist.
For 18 days in September of 1998 LeBrun traced the Hudson River from its source in the Adirondack Mountains to its terminus at New York Harbor. His trip is chronicled in a richly documented website: www.timesunion.com/SPECIALREPORTS/hudsonriver/main.asp. On the trip, LeBrun was joined by “Times Union” features editor Michael Virtanen and photographer Paul Buckowski.
The website features a day-by-day account of the journey. Highlights include a visit to the purported source of the river at Lake Tear of the Clouds; the ghost town of Adirondac; being tossed from his canoe by rapids; the peril of dams on the upper river; the Thompson Island Pool, the river’s worst PCB hotspot; sailing on a replica 19th century sloop through the; and his arrival at “the waterly equivalent of 42nd Street.”
The website also features an introduction by Paul Grondahl, a photo gallery, and profiles of various river personalities by Michael Virtanen, including river boat captains, sports enthusiasts, environmentalists, community activists, and lifelong residents.
LeBrun participated in a partial reprise of the trip this past September, paddling a 150-mile stretch of “true river” from Mount Marcy to the replica of Henry Hudson’s ship, the Half Moon, docked at the City of Albany’s Erastus Corning Preserve, where he received a one-cannon salute. The second trip was also chronicled in a series of articles in the “Times Union.”
In the new series of articles, LeBrun makes special note of the changes that have occurred in the 11 years since his first excursion. These include the rapid collapse of the paper products industry and the establishment of vast new nature preserves; the partial restoration of the “ghost town” of Adirondac; burgeoning eagle populations; the explosion of tourism devoted to whitewater rafting; the creation of several new town parks next to hydro facilities; improved portages at dams for canoeists; the rising popularity of kayaking; and the dredging of PCB contaminated sediment by General Electric under the supervision of the EPA.For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.
