LEWISTON — Kevin Hancock, president of Hancock Lumber Co., will share his experiences with being diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia and how this condition changed his management style and his approach to life at the next Food for Thought session at the Senior College at University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College on Friday, April 14.

Hancock never planned to join the family business. After graduating from Bowdoin College with a degree in American history, he taught and coached basketball at a postgraduate prep school. But when his father learned he had lymphoma in 1991, Kevin went to work at one of the company’s stores. His father, David Hancock, died in 1997; so in 1998, Kevin, then 32, became president.

In 2012, Hancock read about the severe housing shortage at Pine Ridge, an Oglala Lakota Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Because of his ongoing interest in the history of the American West in the late 19th century, he became a frequent visitor to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and a passionate advocate of the economic and social challenges faced by the Pine Ridge residents.

He is an advocate of strengthening the voices of all individuals — within a company or a community through listening, empowering and shared leadership.

In 2015, he published a book about his experiences with the Oglala Sioux Tribe titled, “Not For Sale: Finding Center in the Land of Crazy Horse.” Books will be available for purchase at the luncheon.

Senior College presents a monthly luncheon program to the public in Function Room 170 at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and the program will begin promptly at noon. The cost, which includes lunch, is $7 with an advance reservation, or $8 at the door.

For reservations, call Senior College at 207-753-6510 by noon Wednesday, April 12. Reservation calls received after this date/time will be full price. 

Kevin Hancock

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