ALLIANCE, Ohio – Alliance native Perry King, actor and director, will present the Kershaw Lecture at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 27 in Brush Performance Hall of the Giese Center for the Performing Arts.

The lecture will screen King’s newest film The Divide and is free and open to the public. Following the screening, King will discuss the film with the audience. The discussion will be moderated by Kevin Kern, associate professor and chair of the Department of Theatre.

King’s film The Divide is a moving story about the ravages of dementia and the healing power of family, set against the backdrop of drought-plagued northern California in 1976. The film has been screened at multiple film festivals, including the International Independent Film Awards as a Silver and Gold Award recipient; the Los Angeles Film Awards, where it won Best Western and Best First-Time Screenwriter; WorldFest Houston, where it received the Platinum Remi; and the Arizona Film Festival, where it was awarded Best Dramatic Feature and a special jury award was given to Perry for Best Performance.

Born and raised in Alliance, OH, Mr. King’s family has played a significant role in the development of Mount Union and the city of Alliance. Mr. King has a distinguished career in multiple facets of the entertainment industry since 1972, when he made his debut in the film adaptation Slaughterhouse – Five.  In 1984, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work in The Hasty Heart, and in that same year began a 3- season run on the television detective series Riptide.

The Myrtie Allen Kershaw Lectureship on Poetry and the Fine Arts was established in 1960 by a bequest from Myrtie Allen Kershaw of Kent, Ohio, who indicated in her will that such a fund should go to a college chosen by her friend and executrix of her estate, Elizabeth Clark Bell. Because of Mrs. Bell's personal interest in Mount Union, where she was a student in 1932-33 and where her uncle, Robert E. Stauffer, was a teacher and librarian for many years, she designated Mount Union to receive the fund. The income is used to bring to the University a person(s) of distinction, for one or more lectures on ancient or modern poetry, the fine arts, or music or for an original performance in one of these fields.

The lecture and reception are free and open to the public. Brush Performance Hall is located in the Giese Center for the Performing Arts on the corner of Simpson Street and Union Avenue on Mount Union’s campus.

For more information, contact the Office of Marketing at (330) 823-6063.