University of New England

Former Time and LIFE magazine writer, author, Peace Corps and women's rights activist, Perdita Huston will be recognized with a ceremony, reception, and original play at University of New England's Westbrook College Campus in Portland on Thursday, April 21, 2005 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

UNE's Maine Women Writers Collection will celebrate the dedication of the Perdita Huston Collection starting at 4:30 p.m. with Perdita, an original play written and performed by Huston's son, Pierre-Marc Diennet, which will take place at Ludcke Auditorium. Following the play, a reception will be held at the Maine Women Writers Collection at the Abplanalp Library from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Perdita Huston
Born in Maine, Perdita Huston lived half her adult life abroad, traveling the world as a journalist and writer. Her work appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the International Herald Tribune, the Baltimore Evening Sun, Jeune Afrique, LIFE magazine and many other publications. She was distinguished for her cross-cultural reporting based on conversations with ordinary people.

A wife and mother, she wrote four pioneering books, Message from the Village, Third World Women Speak Out, Motherhood by Choice, and Families as We Are - Conversations from Around the World.

Huston also worked with a number of international organizations, including World Conservation Union, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and several specialized agencies of the United Nations. She also served as Peace Corps regional director of North Africa, Near East, Asia and Pacific, later directing Peace Corps programs in Mali and Bulgaria.

She was a scholar-in-residence at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and she was the first recipient of the Margaret Mead World Citizen Award. Following her death in 2001, the Perdita Huston Human Rights Award was created to honor her memory.

For more information on this event and other events at the Maine Women Writers Collection, the public may view the website or contact Cally Gurley, curator, at 207-797-7688 extension 4324.