Professor to Lecture on ‘Born-Again Politics’

Politics and the religious right continue to drive the headlines during this season of primary elections frenzy. Nationally syndicated columnist Diana Butler will address the subject in her talk, “Born-Again Politics: Perspectives on the Religious Right,” presented by the UCSB Ventura Center Public Lecture Series.

A visiting professor in the history department at UC Santa Barbara, Butler also teaches religion and politics in America at Santa Barbara City College. Co-sponsored by the UCSB Humanities Center and Ventura Alumni Club, the lecture is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Ventura College Theater, 4667 Telegraph Road. Call 644-7261 for reservations.

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G. Murray Thomas will perform at 8 tonight in Cafe Voltaire, 34 N. Palm St., Ventura. Sign in at 7:30 p.m. for open readings that follow the featured poet.

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It’s another busy week at Barnes & Noble, 4360 E. Main St., Ventura. Storytime with Angelina Ballerina begins at 7 p.m. Friday. David Birchman signs “Raggly Scraggly No-Soap No-Scrub Girl” at 1 p.m. Saturday. Gloria Evangelista hosts a storytelling seminar about pirates and treasures for 7- to 12-year-olds at 2 p.m. Saturday. J. Gordon Melton will discuss and sign “The Vampire Book: An Encyclopedia of the Undead” at 1 p.m. Sunday. Everyone is welcome to attend the Writers Club meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday to share and critique manuscripts.

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Cowboy poet Gary Robertson will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for the Simi Valley Poetry Group, Simi Valley Library, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road. The public is also invited to bring poetry to read and to donate a good used book for Friends of the Library Bookstore. Call 526-1735.

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Acclaimed storyteller and author Donald Davis who, according to critics, “brings yarns to life in an unforgettable way,” will be performing in the county. Davis will sign at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Adventures for Kids, 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura. He will conduct a storytelling workshop beginning at 4 p.m. March 7 at the James Cowan Conference Center, 570 Airport Way, Camarillo. The $35 fee includes dinner. Call 388-4411.

On March 8 he will appear at 8 p.m. at the Performance Studio, 34 N. Palm St., Ventura. His final performance will be at a concert at 11 a.m. March 9 at Oak Grove School, 220 W. Lomita Ave., Ojai. Call 646-8236 for details.

UP THE COAST

An influential politician and a noted journalist will sign their books in Santa Barbara this weekend. U.S. senator and former basketball great Bill Bradley will be at the Earthling Bookshop, 1137 State St., Santa Barbara at 2 p.m. Saturday to answer questions about a possible run for the presidency and sign his memoir “Time Present, Time Past,” published by Knopf.

Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times columnist and author Al Martinez has written for the past 25 years about Los Angeles as the city of riots, fires, earthquakes and bizarre legal trials. “We stopped being a city of angels years ago,” comments Martinez, who will sign his “City of Angels: A Drive-By Portrait of Los Angeles” at 2 p.m. Sunday in Chaucer’s Books, 3321 State St., Santa Barbara.

Information on literary events should be sent to Frances Halpern at least two weeks in advance. Write to her at 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001, or send faxes to 653-7576.