LEWISTON – University of Southern Maine professor of adult education, Mike Brady, will be the featured speaker at the Great Falls Forum on Thursday.

Brady will talk about Baseball And American Society: A Journey.

The forum is held at the Marsden Hartley Cultural Center in the Lewiston Public Library and is free. Bring a lunch; desserts and water are offered for a minimal price.

In 1996, USM introduced a travel course with a goal of exploring the game of baseball and its role in America. Now in its 12th season, the course has involved hundreds of learners from ages 12 to 86 and included more than 25,000 miles on motor coaches as well as speakers, including Hall of Famers.

Brady, the founder of this course, will describe these years and tell stories of what he’s learned in more than a decade of teaching it.

A question-and-answer period follows each talk.

Brady is a native of Connecticut and has been teaching at USM since 1984. He said having hung up his spikes long ago, he has had the good fortune to keep active in his favorite pastime by teaching and writing about baseball as well as following the Boston Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs.

The forum is sponsored by the Sun Journal, Lewiston Public Library, St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center and Bates College. Everyone is welcome.

Closing out this season’s series will be Lewiston High School teacher Joan Macri on May 17 on “Lewiston As A ‘College Town’: Creating A College-Going Culture.”

Anyone wishing to nominate potential speakers for next season should contact Lewiston Public Library Director Rick Speer or Sun Journal Newsroom Administrator/Reader Representative Mari Maxwell. The forum’s planning group meets in May to discuss speakers for the upcoming season.

Speer may be reached at the Lewiston Public Library, 200 Lisbon St., Lewiston ME 04240, 784-0135, ext. 208 or e-mail [email protected]. Maxwell may be reached at Sun Journal, 104 Park St., Lewiston, ME 04243, 689-2857, or via e-mail at [email protected].