Fowlerville News and Views Online

Noted political analyst to keynote Democrats’ annual dinner May 19
    Well-known political analyst and Emmy Award-winning journalist Jack Lessenberry will be the keynote speaker at Livingston County Democrats’ annual Winans Dinner coming up next month.
    The 34th annual dinner will be held Friday, May 19, at Lakelands Golf and Country Club, 8760 Chilson Road, Hamburg Township.
    “The annual Winans Dinner is our biggest event of the year and a great evening of political conversation with like-minded people,” said Judy Daubenmier, chair, Livingston County Democrats.
    Besides Lessenberry’s appearance, the evening also will include remarks by several Democrats vying for the party’s 2018 nomination for 8th District Congress.
    The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a social hour, followed by a sit-down dinner at 7 p.m. Included are a cash bar, snacks, music, dessert, and a silent auction of items including a trip to see the musical Hamilton in Chicago.
    Reservations are $70 per person through April 28 and $80 per person after that and at the door. Student tickets are $25. 
    Reservations may be made by sending a check made out to Livingston County Democratic Party to party headquarters at 8028 Grand River, Woodland Plaza Suite 7, Brighton, MI 48114.
    Reservations also may be made through ActBlue at: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/2017winans
    In a career spanning 40 years, Lessenberry has worked in nearly every facet of journalism from weekly newspapers to radio and television to the internet. 
   A former foreign correspondent and executive national editor of The Detroit News, he reported from more than 40 foreign countries and has been a writer for many national and regional publications, including Vanity Fair, Esquire, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.
   In 1995, he won a National Emmy award for one of two Frontline documentaries he helped report and produce on Dr. Jack Kevorkian.
    He is the co-author of the book, “The People’s Lawyer, The Life and Times of Frank J. Kelley, the Nation’s Longest-Serving Attorney General,” published by Wayne State University Press in September 2015. 
   Lessenberry is now the senior news analyst for the Michigan Public Radio station WUOM-FM, where he delivers daily essays and commentary on important Michigan issues such as the state of Michigan roads, the need to keep expanded Medicaid, and how Michigan selects judges.
     He also is the head of the journalism faculty at Wayne State University and is host of the weekly television show “Deadline Now” on WGTE-TV in Toledo.