Photographed while on a visit to Alaska, author Douglas Brinkley will appear at BIG ARTS this Sunday as part of the J.N. “Ding” Darling 2011 Lecture Series.

Famed presidential biographer Douglas Brinkley will make an exclusive guest appearance to speak about his latest book, “The Quiet World: Saving Alaska’s Wilderness Kingdom,1879-1960” this Sunday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. in BIG ARTS Schein Performance Hall, as part of the J.N. “Ding” Darling 2011 Lecture Series.

A historian and best-selling author, Brinkley is the history commentator for CBS News and a contributing editor to Vanity Fair. Six of Brinkley’s books have been selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year.

“The Quiet World: Saving Alaska’s Wilderness Kingdom, 1879-1960” is a riveting, expansive look at the past and present battle to preserve Alaska’s wilderness. Brinkley explores the colorful diversity of Alaska’s wildlife, arrays the forces that have wreaked havoc on its primeval arctic refuge — from Klondike Gold Rush prospectors to environmental disasters like the Exxon-Valdez oil spill — and documents environmental heroes from Theodore Roosevelt to Dwight Eisenhower. Not merely a record of Alaska’s past, Quiet World is a compelling call-to-arms for sustainability, conservationism, and conscientious environmental stewardship.

Michael Scott of The Plain Dealer said, “It is hardly surprising that the renowned Douglas Brinkley’s new book, The Quiet World, succeeds as a steadily paced and well-researched history. But what happily makes this sprawling story so readable is how the Rice University scholar lovingly spins a tale of how “a noble band of conservationist revolutionaries” saved Alaska — from its exploiters and for the rest of us.”

Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students. A book-signing reception will follow Brinkley’s presentation. Books available at the “Ding” Darling Bookstore.

For more information, call the “Ding” Darling Bookstore at 472-1100 ext. 241 or BIG ARTS at 395-0900. Please visit www.BIGARTS.org for more event and performance information including links to presenters’ sites. To purchase tickets, stop by BIG ARTS, located at 900 Dunlop Road, or call the Marks Box Office at 395-0900.