Essayist David Bouchier to Speak on 'A Year Not in Provence' At Brookhaven Lab, October 24

UPTON, NY - David Bouchier, an award-winning essayist for National Public Radio station WSHU, will give a humorous talk, titled "A Year Not in Provence," at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory on Wednesday, October 24, at 5:15 p.m. in Berkner Hall. Also, Diane Barthel-Bouchier's paintings and colored-pencil drawings of birds will be on display in the Berkner Hall lobby. The lecture and art show are open to the public free of charge.

Bouchier and his wife lived for a year in a small medieval village in the Languedoc region of southern France. His entertaining talk will be about some of their experiences during that time: encounters with local cats, adventures in language and culture, village politics, customs, shopping opportunities, and personal observations on diet, health, and survival in France. The talk will be illustrated with slides of the village and the region.

Born in London, David Bouchier has 30 years of experience on both sides of the Atlantic as a journalist, broadcaster, lecturer, editor, book reviewer and freelance writer. He received a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics, and he has taught sociology and media studies at universities in Britain and the U.S.

For six years beginning in 1992, Bouchier wrote a weekly humor column called "Out of Order" for the Sunday Long Island regional section of The New York Times. He plans to resume writing that column in October. His fifth book, a collection of essays from WSHU called The Song of Suburbia, will be published in November. Also, his radio reports from France, called Letters from Europe, will be issued as a book and audio book later this year.

Diane Barthel-Bouchier studied scientific illustration at Harvard University's Peabody Museum and botanical illustration at The New York Botanical Garden. Her botanical watercolors have been widely exhibited and are included in many collections, including the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, the leading international repository of botanical art. About four years ago, Bouchier extended her range of subjects from plants to birds.

Bouchier's exhibit at Brookhaven will include 23 of her egg-tempera and colored-pencil drawings of birds, reflecting the rich diversity of bird life in southern France. The works range in style from realistic to witty and fantastical.

For more information on the lecture/exhibit, call 631 344-2345. The Laboratory is located on William Floyd Parkway, about one-and-a-half miles north of Exit 68 on the Long Island Expressway.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies. Brookhaven also builds and operates major facilities available to university, industrial, and government scientists. The Laboratory is managed by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited liability company founded by Stony Brook University and Battelle, a nonprofit applied science and technology organization.