Stephen Ambrose, acclaimed author of the best-selling book "Undaunted
Courage," and renowned historian Patricia Nelson Limerick of the University of Colorado at Boulder will meet in Denver May 8 for a public discussion and debate on heroes and American history.
Ambrose and Limerick will discuss "Good Guys, Bad Guys, Complex Guys? Praising and Appraising America聮s Heroes" at 6 p.m. at the Denver Athletic Club, 1325 Glenarm Place.
Tickets are $5 at the door and a book signing will follow.
Ambrose is the author of more than 20 books including "Citizen Soldier" and "D-Day June 6, 1944." In his long and distinguished career, he has written about the achievements of American citizens, from the courage and enterprise of Meriwether Lewis to the persistence and bravery of soldiers in World War II.
Ambrose is the Boyd Professor of History at the University of New Orleans, founder and director of the university聮s Eisenhower Center, and president of the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans.
Professor Limerick is a leading scholar of Western American history and author of the landmark book, "The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West." She is a MacArthur Fellow and chair of the board of the CU-Boulder Center of the American West.
While Limerick is a great admirer of many American individuals, much of her historical writing has been placed in the category of "debunking"-- showing the flaws of people who once had been much admired leaders in the story of westward expansion.
The May 8 event grew out of an exchange of letters between the two influential scholars over their differing views of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Limerick and Ambrose may disagree on interpretations of history, but they are both solidly committed to the respectful and civil expression of differing opinions, she said.
Professional historians have given heroes a hard time in recent years, Limerick said. They have revealed many of our cultural heroes as racist or corrupt, sexist or environmentally destructive. And they have offered us many cautionary tales about the dangerous effects of arrogance and ignorance, as well as many examples of seemingly impressive achievements that, in hindsight, turned out to produce complicated and even injurious results.
Ambrose, however, would counter by asserting that people need both inspiration from and respect for what is valuable in their heritage.
Some of the questions to be addressed May 8 include:
*Have historians completely surrendered the faith that history can provide us with inspiration and uplifting examples?
*Have the great white men of the American past entirely lost their claim on our admiration?
*Can we devise a way of thinking in which the people of the past can be both strikingly heroic and strikingly flawed?
*Can we come to see people who struggle for nobility against their frailties as practitioners of a better, deeper heroism?
The event is sponsored by the Center of the American West at CU-Boulder. For more information please call (303) 492-4879.