NOTE: Jamison is available for interviews prior to her appearance. To arrange an interview, call Jill Perry, (626) 395-3226.
PASADENA—Psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison, the author of numerous books and scientific articles about mood disorders, suicide, and psychotherapy, will speak and sign books at the California Institute of Technology at 8 p.m. October 13 in Beckman Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
The presentation is cosponsored by the Caltech Student Counseling Center, Las Encinas Hospital and the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel.
Jamison, who most recently authored Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide, will address topics raised in that book which was a national best-seller, translated into 12 languages, and selected by the New York Times as a Notable Book of 1999. The trade paperback will be released in October.
Jamison suffers from manic-depressive illness and once attempted suicide herself. With medication, she has been able to lead a successful and productive career. The former director of the UCLA Affective Disorders Clinic, she is professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her memoir about her own experiences with manic-depressive illness, An Unquiet Mind, was selected by the Boston Globe, Entertainment Weekly, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as one of the best books of 1995. It was on the New York Times best-seller list for more than five months and is under development as a feature film.
She regularly speaks at colleges because suicide is the second major cause of death among college students. "I have studied the psychological and biological effects of suicide for more than 15 years and have become increasingly optimistic about the possibilities of suicide prevention, but deeply frustrated by the lack of public and professional awareness of the terrible toll of suicide," she says.
The book signing will follow the lecture. For event details, call (626) 395-3227. ### Contact: Jill Perry (626) 395-3226 jperry@caltech.edu
