WBFO to Host Program with NPR Senior Correspondent Lyden

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- WBFO 88.7 FM, the National Public Radio affiliate operated by the University at Buffalo, will host an on-air program with NPR senior correspondent Jacki Lyden at 8 p.m. on Sept. 23.

The live event, to be broadcast from the Tralfamadore Cafe, 622 Main St., will be followed by an in-audience question-and-answer session and book-signing with Lyden.

WBFO news director Mark Scott will serve as moderator of the event.

The quality of the remote broadcast will be enhanced by digital technology made possible by a grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and the Don Davis Auto World Endowment.

Lyden, now based in Washington, D.C., covered events in the Middle East and Europe for NPR for more than six years.

In 1995, she brought her listeners a series of reports, "Iran at the Crossroads," that included some of the first interviews with dissidents openly critical of the Ayatollah Khomeini and his regime's effect on Iran's economy.

Among Lyden's other credits are an investigation of alternatives to probation featuring teens serving life sentences in Michigan, the American farm crisis, Chicago politics and the decline of the steel industry.

She earned a 1990 National Mental Health Association Media Award for her report on mental health care in Montana and a National Press Club award for Best Consumer Journalism of 1986.

Her critically acclaimed memoir, "Daughter of the Queen of Sheba," tells of growing up with a colorful, manic-depressive mother whose travels in her mind influenced her daughter's travels in real life.

For information and reservations, call 716-829-6000. Seating for the broadcast is limited. Reservations are preferred for the event, which is free to station members. The cost will be $40 for non-members.