Palm Springs Speaks adds authors Paula McLain, Robin Wall Kimmerer to eighth season lineup

Novelist Paula McLain and author and plant ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer will complete the eighth season of the Palm Springs Speaks series, joining previously announced Go-Go’s co-founder Jane Wiedlin, the Friends of the Palm Springs Library announced Tuesday.

Wiedlin will appear Tuesday, Dec. 8, at the Palm Springs Cultural Center in conversation with journalist Bruce Fessier. McLain follows Tuesday, Jan. 19, at the cultural center, talking with author Wade Rouse. Kimmerer will speak Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the Plaza Theatre in downtown Palm Springs. All programs begin at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets for the Wiedlin program are on sale now on Eventbrite. Tickets for McLain’s event, also on Eventbrite, and for Kimmerer’s, through Ticketmaster or the Plaza Theatre box office, go on sale later this month. Ticket links are at palmspringsspeaks.org.

Wiedlin is the rhythm guitarist, songwriter and a co-founder of the Go-Go’s, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. The band was the first all-woman rock group to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts while playing its own instruments and performing original songs. She will discuss her memoir, “TMI: Memoirs of a Go-Go.”

A limited number of tickets are available for a pre-event meet and greet with Wiedlin. It includes a book, a photo with her, an early book signing as time allows and front-row seating.

In recognition of Wiedlin’s longtime commitment to animal welfare, the series is partnering with Greater Palm Springs Animal Allies to collect pet food at the December event. Attendees are encouraged to bring canned or dry dog and cat food to a table in the theater lobby. The donations will benefit the Palm Springs Animal Shelter’s Pet Food Bank, which provides food to local families in need so they can keep their pets.

McLain is the author of six novels, including “The Paris Wife,” “Circling the Sun” and “Love and Ruin,” as well as two poetry collections and a memoir. Her work has been published in more than 35 countries. She will discuss her latest novel, “Skylark,” with Rouse, who also writes under the pen name Viola Shipman.

Kimmerer is a scientist, plant ecologist, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Her talk, titled for her book “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants,” will explore the book’s themes, including cultivating a reciprocal relationship with the living world. She will also share stories and experiences that shaped her life.

Fessier, who will moderate the December program, became the first journalist inducted into the Coachella Valley Media Hall of Fame in 2024 after a 40-year career at The Desert Sun. He will receive a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in January.

The Friends of the Palm Springs Library established Palm Springs Speaks in 2017 as a fundraiser for the Palm Springs Public Library. Past speakers include Deepak Chopra, Jane Fonda, Al Gore, Temple Grandin, Bob Woodward and Billy Dee Williams.

Sponsors include the Friends of the Palm Springs Library, the city of Palm Springs, the Supple Foundation, Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs, the Palm Springs Cultural Center, Greater Palm Springs Animal Allies and Follett Books.

---