UCLA PROFESSOR WILL SPEAK ON MEDIA BIAS
Using a mathematical formula, Tim Groseclose measures the political content of news and the "political quotient," or PQ, of voters and politicians.

He's found all mainstream media outlets have a liberal bias. And though The Washington Times and "Fox News' Special Report" lean rightward, their conservative bias is less than the liberal bias of most mainstream outlets.

Groseclose wrote of his findings in "Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American Mind," which he will read from and discuss at 8 p.m. Thursday in Gibble Auditorium, Elizabethtown College, as the Lefever Lecturer.

This presentation of the Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics at University of California, Los Angeles, is free to the public.

For more information contact Sunday News columnist April Kelly-Woessner at 361-1285 or kellya@etown.edu.

MEMOIRIST EXPOSES HIS FAMILY'S SECRETS
Pennsylvania native Jay Varner will read from his memoir, "Nothing Left to Burn," at 8 p.m. Thursday at Bowers Writers House, Elizabethtown College.

The book looks at his family's fascination with fire. His father had been the fire chief and a hero in McVeytown. His grandfather was a convicted arsonist. And he, as a newspaper reporter, covered news of fires. The book is billed as being "about the kinds of secrets we don't even want to tell ourselves."

Varner now teaches at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.

LIBRARIES' OBOC CAMPAIGN DREW MANY TO 'ZEITOUN'
Thousands of residents in the south-central region of the state participated in this fall's ninth One Book, One Community reading campaign, a press release from the Library System of Lancaster County says.

The campaign, which encourages discussion of issues raised in selected books, centered in 2012 on "Zeitoun," David Eggers' nonfiction account of the ordeal faced by one Muslim family in New Orleans during and after the Hurricane Katrina crisis due to religious and ethnic prejudice and government malfeasance.

The book was borrowed 2,916 times from libraries. Stores in the region saw increased sales of it. And 750 people attended the 60 library programs related to the book, the release says.

For more information, visit oboc.org.

WRITER TO SPEAK ON LOCAL NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE
Manheim Township Historical Society Enrichment Series will present a program on local Native American culture from 1:30-4 p.m. Saturday at The Manor (formerly Armstrong Manor), 2025 Lititz Pike.

Local historian, author and Lancaster Newspapers "Scribbler" columnist Jack Brubaker will talk from 2-3 p.m., giving an in-depth account of the last of Lancaster's Conestoga Indians. He wrote the book "Massacre of the Conestogas: On the Trail of the Paxton Boys in Lancaster County," which he will sign.

Admission is $10. For more information, call 569-6638.

QUAKER PASTOR-AUTHOR VISITS E-TOWN CHURCH
Quaker pastor and author Philip Gulley, of Danville, Ind., reaches people with stories from his life, novels and humor — along with his theological writings. Among his 17 books is the Harmony series of novels chronicling life in the eccentric Quaker community of Harmony, Ind.; his best-selling Porch Talk series of inspirational and humorous essays; and a memoir.

Next weekend he will visit Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren, 777 N. Mount Joy St., Elizabethtown.

A session on storytelling is set for 7 p.m. Friday. At 6 p.m. Saturday, he'll present "The Evolution of Faith." In that book, subtitled "How God Is Creating a Better Christianity," Gulley proposes a fresh direction for Christianity. He will also address the 10:30 a.m. worship service Feb. 10.

All three events are free to the public. For additional information, contact the church at 367-1000 or info@etowncob.org, or go to philipgulley.org.

'PA BOOKS' FOCUSES ON ILLUSTRATOR, POLITICS
At 9 p.m. Sunday, PCN cable network's "PA Books" program will feature editor Heather Campbell Coyle's book "Howard Pyle: American Master Rediscovered."

Essays by leading scholars in art history and literature explore the work of the man who illustrated the works of Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson and Oliver Wendell Holmes and shaped visions of Robin Hood, the Arthurian legends and pirates in his own books. He also collaborated with Woodrow Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge to portray scenes from American history.

• At 9 p.m. Feb. 10, "PA Books" will feature "On the Front Lines of Pennsylvania Politics," by Philadelphia Daily News political columnist John Baer, whose opinions also appear on the Intelligencer Journal editorial page.

SHAKESPEARE FOR THE AGES, NEARLY ALL OF THEM
Lancaster Public Library invites those ages 11-20 to a Shakespeare Club meeting from 4-5:30 p.m. Tuesday at 125 N. Duke St. Register at lpl-speareteens.eventbrite.com.

• Older admirers of the Bard are invited to "Will to Read Shakespeare Aloud" from 6-7:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at the library. Each session begins with a brief lecture on one of his plays. The group then reads a scene out loud, views a movie version of the scene, and participates in a guided discussion. The focus this month is on "Richard III." Register online at lpl-willtoread13.eventbrite....

TEACHER REVISES ADULT-ED BOOKS FOR REISSUE
When Lancaster resident Tana Reiff started teaching adults to read, she struggled to find material for her students.

Her solution was to write chapter books for grown-ups at a very low reading level, and since 1979, more than 80 of her titles have been published and sold internationally.

Now, Grass Roots Press has resurrected nine titles that were out of print, with Reiff doing major rewrites of them.

The set of new editions is called Pathfinders; the books are written at a second-grade reading level, with recognizable words and short sentences.

"My main concern was keeping the language authentic," said Reiff, who is also a correspondent for Lancaster Newspapers. "Dialogue reflects what a character would actually say. That includes incomplete sentences, idioms and humor. It's important to keep it credible."

Titles in the new series are "Change Order," "Chicken by Charlie," "Doors to the Sky," "Just for Today," "Play Money," "A Robot Instead," "The Saw That Talked," "Take Away Three" and "Time to Talk."

According to the publisher's catalog, "In these compelling stories, the main characters have reached a turning point in their lives. Some … take a risk and pursue their dream. Others ... choose their path in life." Some stories are work-oriented; others are about personal dilemmas. All are ones readers can relate to their own lives.

Grass Roots Press, Edmonton, Alberta, is a division of Literacy Services of Canada Ltd. It publishes and distributes adult literacy resources in Canada, the U.S. , the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.

The paperbacks, $9.95 each or $89 for the set, are available at grassrootsbooks.net and elsewhere online as ebooks. Chapter discussion questions are available as a free download.

NURSE OFFERS PET LOVERS PRAYER PRESCRIPTIONS
Lancaster nurse Kate Loving Shenk recently published the second volume in her Prayer Prescriptions For Nurse Healers series, "365 Prayer Prescriptions For Dog and Cat Lovers."

The book is dedicated to Jessica Lynne Adams, 10, granddaughter of a friend, who lost the family dog, Hogan, in October.

"The passing of our dear companion animals is a rocky experience, emotionally and spiritually. The quiet, the loneliness after their passing can be unbearable," Shenk writes at katelovingshenk.com.

More than 400 pages, the book was published through CreateSpace and is available as a $16 paperback or a $3.99 Kindle e-book.