"A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" author to speak tonight 2/26 at MSU

Ishmael Beah, an author and former boy soldier, will discuss "A Long Way Gone: A Story of Redemption and Hope" at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, Feb. 26, in the SUB ballrooms on the Montana State University campus.

Tickets for the evening lecture are sold out, but the MSU Leadership Institute will release approximately 100 additional tickets for sale at noon today when Beah signs copies of his book.

"We are doing our best to allow as many students and community members as possible to hear Beah’s story of hope, redemption and leadership," said Carmen McSpadden, director of the MSU Leadership Institute http://www.montana.edu/leadership/ that broght Beah to campus.

Beah is an activist and author of the memoir "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier." He was born in Sierra Leone and abducted at age 12 into civil war where he was drugged, traumatized and forced to use an AK-47 against his fellow countrymen. He narrowly escaped and immigrated to the United States, where he brought international attention to the issue of child soldiering during his high school and undergraduate education. Beah, now 26, will explain what it meant to him to be a child soldier, a killer and a refugee, and how he regained his humanity among the world of civilians.

For more information, contact the MSU Leadership Institute at 406-994-7667 or http://www.montana.edu/leadership/ .