Santa Ana : Kirkpatrick to Debate at City’s Talk Festival

Deductions, syllogisms and rebuttals will fly, city officials hope, when former U.N. Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick debates an as yet unnamed opponent at the Great American Talk Festival in November.

Kirkpatrick’s appearance, at a cost of $20,000, was confirmed Friday. Actor Orson Welles and author John Naisbitt (“Megatrends”) have also agreed to exhibit their abilities to soliloquize, says Elise Young, city cultural events coordinator.

The City Council on Monday will consider approval of contracts with the three. Kirkpatrick’s fee is the steepest, followed by Naisbitt at $15,000 and Welles at $11,500.

The festival begins on Nov. 5 at Santa Ana High School’s auditorium with the Kirkpatrick debate on a topic yet to be chosen. Young said the city is in touch with Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and U.S. Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.) as possible opponents.

Naisbitt will converse on corporate philosophies on Nov. 6, followed the next night by oration on the state of the film industry by Welles. Tentatively scheduled for the final night is New York Times music critic Harold Schunberg.

Santa Ana is sponsoring the celebration of linguistics with the League of Women Voters, Rancho Santiago and Chapman colleges, the county Republican and Democratic parties and Sherman Clay Pianos, which will sponsor a two-day piano competition at the high school after the festival.