Our annual CHRISTMAS DINNER will be held on Saturday, 11^th December 2004, at CARLSON HALL of MOUNT IDA COLLEGE in Newton, Massachusetts, starting at 6:30pm (click here for directions). Our guest speaker is the celebrated author and journalist Simon Winchester (St. Catherine’s, Oxford). The title of his talk is "On Big Books."

Simon Winchester has written many big books and countless articles since he graduated from St. Catherine’s over 40 years ago with a degree in geology. He is the author of such best-sellers including The Map That Changed the World, The Professor and The Madman, Krakatoa, The Fracture Zone, The River at the Center of the World – A Journey up the Yangtze Back in Chinese Time, Korea: A Walk through the Land of Miracles. He was born and educated in England, has lived in Africa, India and Asia and the United States, but now lives principally in a farmhouse on an island in Western Scotland. Having reported from almost everywhere during an award-winning 20-year career as a Guardian foreign correspondent, he was appointed Asia-Pacific editor for Condé Nast Traveler in 1987, later becoming Editor-at-Large. He also contributes to a number of publications, including Harper's, The Smithsonian, The National Geographic Magazine, Granta, The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator and the BBC. His writings have won him several awards, including Britain's "Journalist of the Year."

Attire for gentlemen will be black tie, college blazer or business suit. We remind those who plan to come that we give a commitment to our caterers several days before the dinner, and that after that point we are unable to refund any payment. Please be sure to return the dinner reservation slip before Monday, December 6^th..