During an illustrious four-decade career at NPR and PBS, John Merrow -- winner of the George Polk Award, the Peabody Award, and the McGraw Prize -- reported from every state in the union, as well as from dozens of countries, on everything from the rise of district-wide cheating scandals and the corporate greed driving an ADD epidemic to teacher-training controversies and America’s obsession with standardized testing. Along the way, he taught in a high school, at a historically black college, and at a federal penitentiary.

Now, Merrow distills his best thinking on education into a twelve-step approach to fixing a K–12 system that he describes as being “addicted to reform” but unwilling to address the real issue: American public schools are ill-equipped to prepare young people for the challenges of the twenty-first century.The evening will be introduced by Dr. LaMarr Darnell Shields, a social entrepreneur, author, “Ubuntu” teacher, inspirational speaker, and educator who loves to create and build with purpose.

The Ivy Bookshop will have copies of the book for sale at a book signing following the program.

Writers LIVE programs are supported in part by a bequest from The Miss Howard Hubbard Adult Programming Fund.