WITF Launches Conversation on Mental Health with Sue Klebold
Sue Klebold is a fierce advocate of mental health awareness. Klebold’s son was one of two shooters involved in the Columbine High School tragedy in 1999. For the last twenty years, she has lived with the indescribable grief and shame of that day. How could her child, the promising young man she had loved and raised, be responsible for such horror? And how, as his mother, had she not known something was wrong? Were there subtle signs she had missed? What, if anything, could she have done differently?
Sue Klebold, author of A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy will be the keynote speaker at WITF’s Transforming Health A Summer Read event. This mental health conversation will be Monday, September 16 at 6pm at Penn State Harrisburg. The campaign is in collaboration with WellSpan Health, Capital Blue Cross, Aligning Forces for Quality South Central PA and PA Libraries.
Ron Hetrick, CEO & President of WITF shared thoughts behind choosing this difficult topic “A key component of WITF’s mission is to start and strengthen difficult conversations in our communities. We have discussed other difficult topics in the Summer Read program, including Death & Dying and the Opioid Epidemic. The selection of A Mother’s Reckoning is meant to encourage people to talk about gun violence, stigma and mental health.”
The event at Penn State Harrisburg serves as a capstone to the Transforming Health A Summer Read campaign. Sue Klebold will deliver a talk titled Reaching for Hope and share her story of grief and confusion in the aftermath of tragedy. She speaks about mental health, violence and pathways for help. There will be an audience Q/A session after her talk.
Monday, September 16 at 6pm
Mukund S. Kulkarni Theatre, Student Enrichment Center
Penn State Harrisburg
777 W. Harrisburg Pike
Middletown, PA 17057
About WITF
WITF Public Media is a trusted provider of public media news and programming for approximately 2.3 million citizens in 19 counties in central Pennsylvania, encouraging children and adults to Live Inspired®. WITF’s media services include public television (WITF TV and WITFK (PBS Kids 24/7), public radio (WITF 89.5, 99.9 in Lancaster and 93.3 in Chambersburg), websites (including WITF.org, TransformingHealth.org, PAPost.org, Stateimpact.npr.org and ExplorePAhistory.com), and a production services division (Media Solutions). WITF’s mission is to strengthen our communities by connecting us to each other and to opportunities for lifelong learning. WITF engages minds and enriches lives. For more information, visit WITF.org
