Author Kati Marton

The Global and International Studies Program at Bard College Presents author Kati Marton

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. —The Global and International Studies Program at Bard College presents author Kati Marton in a talk about her new book, Enemies of the People: My Family’s Journey to America on Monday, February 1, at 7 p.m. The event will be held in the László Z. Bitó Auditorium in the Reem and Kayden Center, and is free and open to the public. For more information call 845-758-7816.

Marton’s Enemies of the People chronicles her family’s experiences in Cold War espionage. Marton, who emigrated from Hungary to the United States as a child in 1957, witnessed her parents’ arrests by the Hungarian secret police. Endre and Ilona Marton were the last independent journalists behind the Iron Curtain, working for the Associated Press and United Press International, when they were declared “enemies of the people” and imprisoned by Hungary’s Communist terror state. They rarely spoke about these experiences after beginning a new life in the United States, and Marton knew there was much they withheld. But with their deaths, the taboo on the past was lifted, and Marton was determined to follow the truth wherever it led. Making full use of the files of the Hungarian secret police that were opened after Hungary’s transition to democracy, as well as files obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Marton shares an intimate and historical account of a difficult chapter in 20th century European history. Copies of Enemies of the People will be available for purchase at the Bard College bookstore.

About the Author:

Kati Marton is the author of six books, including the New York Times bestseller Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our History; The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World; Wallenberg; The Polk Conspiracy; and A Death in Jerusalem. A former NPR and ABC News correspondent and bureau chief, she is the recipient of a Peabody Award. The mother of a son and a daughter, Marton lives in New York City with her husband, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. Marton is also active in human rights, journalism, and education advocacy. Currently a director and formerly chair of the Committee to Protect Journalists, she also serves on the board of directors of the International Rescue Committee, Human Rights Watch, New America Foundation, and Central European University. In addition, she is a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, International P.E.N., and the Authors Guild.

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1/20/10

This event was last updated on 01-20-2010

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