NPR's Noah Adams to Lecture at UVa-Wise April 2

Noah Adams, the award-winning commentator and host of National Public Radio's All Things Considered, will present a free public lecture at The University of Virginia's College at Wise on Friday, April 2. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Chapel of All Faiths.

Adams' presentation, "Flying to Appalachia," is the inaugural event in the Chancellor's Lecture Series and is part of the College's 50 th anniversary celebration. A senior host of NPR's award-winning evening newsmagazine All Things Considered, Adams brings three decades of radio experience to audiences across the country.

Adams' career in radio began in 1962 at WIRO/Ironton, Ohio, across the river from his native Ashland, Kentucky. He was a "good music" DJ on the morning shift, and played rock 'n' roll on Sandman's Serenade from 9 p.m. to midnight. Between shifts, he broadcast everything from basketball games to sock hops. From 1963 to 1965, Adams was on the air from WCMI/Ashland, WSAZ/Huntington, West Virginia, and WCYB/Bristol, Virginia. In 1971, he discovered public radio at WBKY-FM at the University of Kentucky. He began there as a part-time rock 'n' roll announcer but soon became involved in other projects including documentaries and a weekly bluegrass show. In 1974, he joined the staff full-time as host of a morning news and music program.

In 1975, Adams joined National Public Radio where he worked behind the scenes, editing and writing, for the next three years. He became co-host of Weekend All Things Considered in 1978 and, in September 1982, he was named weekday co-host. During 1988, Adams hosted Minnesota Public Radio's Good Evening, a weekly show that blended music with storytelling. He returned to All Things Considered in February, 1989.

A collection of Adams' essays from Good Evening entitled Saint Croix Notes: River Mornings, Radio Nights was published in 1990. Adams' second book, Noah Adams on All Things Considered: A Radio Journal, was published in 1992. That was followed by Piano Lessons: Music, Love and True Adventures in 1996.

His work, Far Appalachia, traces the path of the New River. His latest book, The Flyers, and has been acclaimed as an original and in-depth look at the lives of the Wright Brothers. Adams will combine elements from both of these books for his talk at UVa-Wise.

Adams will be accompanied by his wife, Neenah Ellis, a freelance reporter and producer who is the author of If I Live to Be 100, a collection of stories from her NPR interviews with centenarians.

Following his lecture, Adams will be available to sign copies of his books, which can be purchased in the UVa-Wise Campus Bookstore.

Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, UVa-Wise is ranked among the nation' s top ten public liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. The only branch campus of the University of Virginia, UVa-Wise is home to 1,700 students and offers under graduate and professional programs in the liberal arts tradition of Thomas Jefferson.