Theodore Roosevelt and Wild America
 A Conversation with Douglas Brinkley about the
Future of America's Wild Prairie Lands

The Katy Prairie Conservancy (KPC) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), invite you to join us for a conversation, book signing, and reception, Thursday, December 3, 2009, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. This event takes place at the MFAH, 1001 Bissonnet.  Come share in a lively discussion about the history and future of conservation in America, including the Katy Prairie.

The program begins in the museum's Brown Auditorium Theater as Dr. Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History at Rice University and a Fellow of the James Baker III Institute of Public Policy, discusses Theodore Roosevelt's quest to conserve America's natural heritage and how efforts to save the Katy Prairie continue in the tradition of Roosevelt's far-seeing advocacy.  Dr. Brinkley's most recent book, The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, was published in July 2009.  Dr. Brinkley will be available to sign books at a post-program reception in the museum's lobby to which all attendees are invited.  The event and reception are free but we hope that you will purchase a copy of Dr. Brinkley's book prior to the event and bring it to the meeting so that Dr. Brinkley can sign it.

This event will also serve as KPC's annual meeting.  Photographs of the Katy Prairie will be projected prior to Dr. Brinkley's talk.  Door prizes include special tours of the prairie for intrepid adventurers, signed copies of Dr. Brinkley's book, and more. 

The mission of the Katy Prairie Conservancy is to conserve the Katy Prairie, an ecologically diverse landscape of international importance just thirty miles west of downtown Houston.  KPC's preserves are accessible through guided and self-guided tours, Flat Out Fun Day on the Prairie, and special events.

Established in 1900 as a modest education initiative to bring art to Houston public schools, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston remains steadfast in its mission to serve as a place for all people through excellence in the collection, exhibition, preservation, conservation, and interpretation of art.  To that end, MFAH public programming actively seeks to connect the institution with the community through programming that enhances our enjoyment, appreciation, and understanding of the works of art on the museum's walls. 

Dr. Brinkley won the Benjamin Franklin Award for The American Heritage History of the United States (1998) and the Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt Naval History Prize for Driven Patriot (1993). He was awarded the Business Week Book of the Year Award for Wheels for the World and was also named 2004 Humanist of the Year by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. He is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times Book Review, and American Heritage.  A frequent contributor to the New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic Monthly, he is also a member of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Century Club.  In a recent profile, the Chicago Tribune called him "America's new past master." He lives in Austin and Houston with his wife and three children and is currently at work on a biography of Walter Cronkite.

"Theodore Roosevelt and Wild America," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Brown Auditorium, Thursday, December 3, 2009, 6:30 - 9 p.m.  For more information or to register, please call KPC at 713.523.6135 or email us at info@katyprairie.org.  If you need help finding a copy of the book, we know where to get the The Wilderness Warrior.



Mary Anne Piacentini
Executive Director