Author David Oliver Relin
SARASOTA – David Oliver Relin, author of the New York Times bestseller “Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time,” spoke in the Venice High School auditorium at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 28, after meeting with Venice High students earlier in the day.
The event was part of the sixth annual Literacy Celebration, organized each year by students, teachers and other members of the Venice High School Literacy Council. The Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice helps fund writer's visit as part of each annual celebration.
"Mr. Relin's evening lecture was a great intergenerational experience," said Candace Millington, VHS principal. "Our students, their parents and people of all ages shared the author's message of global peace, understanding and interdependence."
“Three Cups of Tea” tells the story of Greg Mortenson, who in 1993 tried to climb K2, the world's second-highest mountain. Severely ill and disoriented, Mortenson was nursed back to health by impoverished Pakistani villagers. He promised to return someday to build them a school. The book is the story of his fulfillment of that promise. It was named nonfiction winner of the 2007 Kiriyama Prize, the 2007 Pacific Northwest Booksellers' Book of the Year and the Time Magazine Asia Book of the Year, among other awards.
Relin is a graduate of Vassar and was awarded the prestigious Teaching/Writing Fellowship at the Iowa Writer's Workshop. He received a Michener Fellowship to support his groundbreaking 1992 bicycle trip the length of Vietnam. He spent two additional years reporting about Vietnam opening to the world. In addition to Vietnam and Pakistan, he has traveled to, and/or reported from, much of East Asia.
For two decades, Relin has focused on reporting about social issues and their effect on children, both in the U.S. and around the world. He is currently a contributing editor for Parade. For his work as both an editor and investigative reporter, he has won several national awards.