January 20, 2004
Contact: George Yatchisin
(805) 893-3494
e-mail: yatchisin-g@ sa.ucsb.edu

Author and National Public Radio commentator Bruce Feiler delivers the inspiring lecture Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths

Summary Facts:

• Bruce Feiler
• Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths
• Feiler’s lecture, based on his New York Times bestseller, offers a powerful interfaith message and a rare vision of hope
• Feiler is also the author of Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land through the Five Books of Moses
• Sunday, February 22
• 3 pm / UCSB Campbell Hall
• General public: $8 / UCSB students: $6
• Tickets & Information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535

Author Bruce Feiler will present the timely, provocative and uplifting lecture Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, based on his New York Times bestseller, on Sunday, February 22 at 3 pm at UCSB Campbell Hall. Compelled by the events of 9/11, Bruce Feiler set out on a personal quest to better understand Abraham, the shared ancestor of Jews, Christians and Muslims. Traveling in war zones, climbing through caves and ancient shrines and sitting down with the world’s leading religious minds, Feiler uncovers fascinating, little-known details of the man who defines faith for half the world. Feiler’s lecture about Abraham is a powerful, universal story, an interfaith portrait of the man God chose to be his partner. Thoughtful, personal and inspiring, this talk and the book it’s based on offers a rare vision of hope that will redefine what we think about our neighbors, our future and ourselves.

Abraham was named one the best books of 2002 by Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Christian Science Monitor and Publisher’s Weekly. It was also featured in a September 2002 cover story of Time magazine, which hailed the book as “a revolution in thought.” Since the publication of his book, Feiler has organized an unprecedented nationwide network of major summits and grassroots “Abraham Salons” in which religious leaders and laypeople gather in open forums to host interfaith discussions. Adopted by universities, local non-profits, religious and community institutions, Feiler’s “Abraham Initiative” has been heralded as a major breakthrough in building peaceful relations among the religions.

Feiler is also author of the best-selling Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land through the Five Books of Moses, which describes his perilous, 10,000-mile odyssey across the Middle East. Traveling through three continents, five countries, and four war zones, Feiler is believed to be the first person to complete such a historic journey. He camps in the desert, crosses the Red Sea, climbs Mt. Sinai, and interviews Bedouin and pilgrims alike, as he attempts to answer the question: Is the Bible just an abstraction, or is it a living, breathing entity? The Washington Post claims the book “ranks among the great spiritual autobiographies...Feiler, a superb narrator and storyteller with a gentle, ironic sense of humor, also possesses a potent intellect that at moments blazes forth, illuminating everything in its path. Walking the Bible should become an instant classic. It is written with a rare collaboration of heart and mind working in perfect unison, and as a result is profound without being oppressive, humorous without being trite or at someone else’s expense, and a pure joy to read.”

Feiler’s adventurous journalistic spirit has taken him to over 60 countries, where he has immersed himself in strikingly different cultures, recording his experiences in six critically acclaimed books. He has been a schoolteacher in Japan (Learning to Bow), a student at Oxford and Cambridge (Looking for Class), a circus clown (Under the Big Top) and a traveler with singer Garth Brooks (Dreaming Out Loud). A graduate of Yale, Feiler has studied at universities in Osaka and Oslo and holds a master’s degree in international relations from Cambridge. A regular contributor to NPR’s All Things Considered, he has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Condé Nast Traveler and Gourmet, where he is a contributing editor.

To learn more about Bruce Feiler visit www.brucefeiler.com.

Courtesy of the UCSB Bookstore, books by Bruce Feiler will be available for purchase and signing at the event. They can also be purchased in advance on-line at www.bookstore.ucsb.edu by clicking on “General Books.”

Bruce Feiler is presented with major support from the Norbert and Charlotte Reiger Foundation. This lecture is an offering of the Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies and is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, Department of Religious Studies, Hillel and Congregation B’nai B’rith.

Tickets for Bruce Feiler are $8 for the general public and $6 for UCSB students. They are on sale now and will be available at the door beginning at 2 pm.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.