it was all -- [inaudible] he said he took with him one typewriter and also one betsy smith album. he said he had never allowed himself to listen to betsy smith and america, but there is switzerland surrounded by these white mountains and white bases, he listened to betsy smith. .. >> and, you know, maya angelou used to say the bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, the burden sings because it has a song -- the bird sings because it has a song. so in a way, the writing of the memoir becomes the song of the bird. but i do understand what they're saying when they ask why did you where the book, because they're asking about the sociological themes of the book. it is more a marketing question than it is a literary question. however, aye -- i've learned to answer that question because it is true that the memoir for me, has many sociological themes, and those are themes like family and poverty and race to a certain degree, identity and abuse. and so what i want to do is just to talk about those concepts and those constructs as they present themselves in my book. i have a couple of p

betsy, director of the smith soon yum art museum and guest of our speaker. jerry, washington bureau chief for the buffalo news, chair of the speakers committee and a former national press club president. skipping over our guest of honor for a moment, amy henderson, historian of the national portrait gallery and co organizer of this luncheon. phillip lewis, vice president of the andrew w. melon foundation and guest of our speaker. [cheers and applause] this year marks the 50th birthday of the national endowment for the humanities, an independent federal agency that is funded by taxpayers. our speaker today has chaired the organization since mid 2014, and we hope to hear bro adams plans for marking that anniversary. like its sister organization, the national endowment for the arts, the n.e.h. had shared its politically charged controversies over the years. those cultural debates have largely been eclipsed in recent years and any $148 million budget grants generally go to state humanity consoles, museums, research and educational institutions. a native of michi