The Long Beach Public Library Foundation will present "killing fields" survivor's story of success at the Main Library in Long Beach, CA on Tuesday May 19th from 5:30.-7:30p.m. Ambassador Sichan Siv will tell his tale of endurance and triumph rising from Pol Pot prisoner to U.S. Ambassadorship to achieve the American Dream.
Long Beach, CA (PRWEB) May 14, 2009 -- Daring escapes from war horrors coupled with meteoric rises from tragedy's ashes are often thought to be only the stuff of Hollywood films. But the dramatic and courageous life of The Honorable Sichan Siv - a refugee from the Cambodian "killing fields" and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations - is a true story.
The Long Beach Public Library Foundation is pleased to present Ambassador Siv on Tuesday, May 19, to tell his amazing and inspiring story from his best-selling book, Golden Bones: An Extraordinary Journey from Hell in Cambodia to a New Life in America. This will be the Ambassador's first appearance in Southern California.
While war raged throughout Southeast Asia in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ambassador Siv was a young intellectual and graduate student in Cambodia. He was part of the target demographic that dictator Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge sought to eradicate, resulting in the infamous "killing fields" or rice paddies dotted with millions of skulls.
Siv was captured and placed in a slave labor camp, but made a daring escape though the jungle to Thailand. After months in a refuge camp, he entered the United States. Once here, through diligence and hard work, he rose to the heights of the U.S. government.
Tuesday, May 19 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Main Auditorium, Long Beach Public Library
101 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach
Tickets are available for $30 by calling (562) 628-2441 or purchasing online at www.lbplfoundation.org. The event will include a live reading by Ambassador Siv, book signing and refreshments. Books will be available to purchase.
The non-profit Long Beach Public Library Foundation supplements and supports the Long Beach Public Library. The Foundation's programs include Family Learning Centers at each of the city's 12 libraries, as well as the Raising A Reader program, which has graduated more than 5,700 parents and pre-schoolers from its reading readiness course. Among the Foundation's most prominent programs is the annual Long Beach Reads One Book, when the entire city spends a week celebrating a selected book and its author. Funds from Ambassador Siv's appearance will support these programs.
Long Beach Public Library Foundation
101 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach, CA
562/628-2441 - lbpl.foundation@charter.net
Contact: Sara Pillet
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