On June 10, Rena Pederson will discuss The Burma Spring: Aung San Suu Kyi and the New Struggle for the Soul of a Nation. 

Pederson’s biography begins with her secret interview with Suu Kyi in 2003 at her home during the 15 years she was still under house arrest. She was smuggled past guards to visit with the pro-democracy activist who became a beacon of the dissident movement. As Pederson left the Yangon home, the Suu Kyi asked her to spread the word about and the hardships that the people of Myanmar have endured under military rule. “Don’t let people forget us,” she told Pederson. In the book, she draws from exclusive interviews with “The Lady” after her release in 2010, as well as recently disclosed diplomatic cables, and even risked a trip to the country’s closed and opulent new capital Naypyidaw during her research.  

 Pederson previously served as senior speechwriter for the U.S. State Department. She also served on the Pulitzer Prize Board for nine years and received national recognition as vice president and editorial page editor at The Dallas Morning News for 16 years. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Society of Newspaper Editors. She is a contributor to The Huffington Post as well as public radio. Her opinion pieces also have appeared in The Weekly Standard, Christian Science Monitor and The Washington Post.

The event will be moderated by former OPC president Allan Dodds Frank.

Please RSVP by emailing RSVP@opcofamerica.org or calling the OPC at 212 626-9220.