LEWISTON – Nationally acclaimed author Kate Braestrup will be the Great Falls Forum’s featured speaker from noon to 1 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 18, in Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library, 200 Lisbon St.

Braestrup’s book, “Here If You Need Me,” was cited by the Washington Post as “A superbly crafted memoir. … The journey of a strong-minded, warmhearted woman through tragedy to grace.” It earned a spot on “Time” magazine’s list of the Ten Best Non-Fiction Books of 2007 and was winner of Barnes and Noble’s 2007 Great New Writers Award in Non-Fiction.

The book begins with a memory that the author relives nearly every day: The last time she saw her husband, a Maine state trooper, alive. Braestrup coped with his wrenching loss by pursuing and fulfilling her husband’s dream of becoming a Unitarian Universalist minister, and, eventually becoming one of the first chaplains appointed to the Maine Warden Service, which conducts the state’s search-and-rescue operations when people are reported missing.

The Great Falls Forum is sponsored by the Lewiston Public Library, Bates College, St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, and the Sun Journal. The forum is open to the public and free of charge. Attendees are invited to bring brown bag lunches to the noontime event; bottled water will be available on site. More information is available by contacting the library at 513-3135.

A question-and-answer session will follow the talk and copies of Braestrup’s recent book will be available for purchase and signing.