Author Nancy Peterson Hill, discusses her new book “ A Very Private Public Citizen: The Life of Grenville Clark” Wednesday, April 15, at 7 p.m. at the Clark House on the grounds of Clark Botanic Garden, 193 I.U. Willets Road in Albertson.
Behind Batman stood Alfred. Behind James Bond stood Q. And behind some of the most influential figures of the past century, from presidents to diplomats to Supreme Court justices, stood Grenville Clark.
A New York-born lawyer, activist, and advisor, Clark championed academic freedom, fought a successful public battle with good friend Franklin Roosevelt over FDR’s attempt to “pack” the Supreme Court, and worked closely with the NAACP to uphold civil rights during the tumultuous 1950s and ‘60s. He devoted his final decades to a quest for world peace through limited but enforceable world law.
Hill is a writer and administrator of Diastole Scholars’ Center, a nonprofit conference center, art gallery, and event space affiliated with the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She also serves on the board of the Edgar Snow Memorial Foundation, a U.S./China friendship group and is active in cross-cultural activities in Kansas City and China. She lives in Kansas City, Mo.
