BESTSELLING AUTHOR LUANNE RICE FEATURED IN GLOBE TALKS
ON IMMIGRATION’S HUMANITARIAN CHALLENGES
Luanne Rice, Paul Bridges, Jennifer Hochschild and Marcela García
Joined The Boston Globe & The Kennedy Library
to Offer Insight on the Human Face of Immigration Reform on October 7
(Oct.15, 2014) – New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice participated in an all-star panel at Globe Talks: Immigration’s Humanitarian Challenges at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston on October 7. Rice shared her thoughts on the humanitarian challenges that undocumented immigrants face, based on her own professional and personal experiences. Video of the panel is available here on the JFK Library website.
Rice shares her passion for humanitarian challenges facing undocumented immigrants in her most recent novel, THE LEMON ORCHARD. Her experiences with the thousands crossing the desert near her home in Southern California, her volunteer work with immigrants and research for her latest novel, give her deep insight to a cause and issue currently being debated in our nation’s capital.
Rice was incredibly honored to share the stage with pre-eminent immigration experts Paul Bridges, former mayor of Uvalda, Georgia and winner of the 2014 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award; Harvard Professor of Government Jennifer Hochschild; and writer and Boston Globe contributor Marcela García, who moderated the event.
While volunteering with the group Water Station in the Anzo Borrega desert, Rice saw firsthand the dangerousness of the treks through the perilously hot and barren desert. She discussed her character Roberto from THE LEMON ORCHARD, who was based on a real man she knew and who experienced that treacherous trek and the challenges of assimilating as an undocumented worker. Rice also shed light on what she learned about the extortion and sexual assaults by “coyotes”—human smugglers who bring immigrants over the border—and the post-traumatic stress disorder that often follows. She also talked about her own Irish descent, and looked at the similarities in immigration history that transcend culture, location and time.
Luanne Rice is the New York Times bestselling author of 31 novels that have been translated into 24 languages. In her latest book, THE LEMON ORCHARD, she crafts the story of an undocumented immigrant who lost his daughter in the desert when crossing the border in search of a better life, a scenario that is both heart-wrenching and all too real.
Globe Talks: Immigration’s Humanitarian Challenges took place on October 7, 2014 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston and was co-sponsored by the The Boston Globe and the JFK Library.
About Luanne Rice:
LUANNE RICE is the New York Times bestselling author of 31 novels that have been translated into 24 languages. The author of The Lemon Orchard, Little Night, The Silver Boat and Beach Girls, Rice’s books often center on love, family, nature and the sea. Rice is an avid naturalist and bird-watcher and is involved with domestic violence organizations such as the Georgetown University Law Center’s Domestic Violence Clinic. Born in New Britain, Connecticut, Rice divides her time between New York City, shoreline Connecticut and Southern California. Visit Luanne Rice online at