LEWISTON – Maine Center for Economic Policy Executive Director Christopher St. John will be the featured presenter at the Great Falls Forum, speaking on “Pocket Tremors: The Growing Chasm Between Maine’s Rich & Poor.”

The forum will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, in Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library. Admission is free and no reservations are required.

According to St. John, “The growth in income inequality over the last 30 years has made life increasingly difficult for families in the bottom 20 to 40 percent of the Maine income distribution.” He will discuss potential changes in government policies that would address this increasing hardship, and also stimulate more general economic activity that would prove beneficial to all Mainers.

St. John studied at Harvard College, the London School of Oriental and African Studies and Yale Law School. He worked for two decades at Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Augusta prior to his position at the Maine Center for Economic Policy. From 1981 to 1994 he was also a registered lobbyist at the Maine State Legislature, where he represented low-income groups on such issues as health care, welfare, unemployment insurance, utility regulation and taxation. He serves on the Board of Mainewatch Institute.

Forum attendees are invited to bring brown-bag lunches. Bottled water will be available on site. Alternatively, the library has forged a partnership with She Doesn’t Like Guthries cafe through which attendees can have a sandwich delivered to the library in advance of the talk. Those taking advantage of this option should place their orders with the cafe at 376-3344 no later than 7 p.m. on the day before the event. The menu is available at www.myspace.com/guthriesplace.

The Great Falls Forum is co-sponsored by the Lewiston Public Library, Bates College, St. Mary’s Medical Center and the Sun Journal.