Author of book on light pollution to address issue at Mary Baldwin College

Dr. Paul Bogard, an assistant professor of English at James Madison University and author of “The End of Night: Searching for Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light,” will do readings from his book and discuss the issue of light pollution at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 26 at Mary Baldwin College.

Bogard’s appearance in Francis Auditorium is part of a week of events designed to raise awareness about light pollution and the simple solutions for reducing it.

The week of events, called Starry Nights, begins 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 24 at the John C. Wells Planetarium at James Madison University in Harrisonburg. The opening program will feature the screening of a student-produced film about light pollution and the showing of the award-winning documentary, “The City Dark.” Starry Night creators, Bogard and Wells Planetarium Director Shanil Virani, will introduce the week and its events.

Bogard will also do book readings at Washington & Lee University in Lexington and at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

All events during the week are free and open to the public. The complete Starry Nights schedule is available on the Web athttp://www.jmu.edu/planetarium/starrynights.shtml.