Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley will read several of her columns about Martin Luther King Jr. at noon Thursday, Jan. 22, in the atrium of the Undergraduate Library.

Riley also will autograph copies of her new book Life Lessons, which will be available for purchase ($14.95). The book is a collection of her best Free Press columns whose subjects range from popular culture, family and politics to education, entertainment and life. She was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 and 2002, and named Michigan's Best Local Columnist in 2002 by the Michigan Press Association.

An advocate for programs that fight illiteracy, Riley helped the Free Press launch Metro Detroit READS, a family literacy campaign. Her efforts came in response to national findings that an estimated 47 percent of Detroit residents over 16 are functionally illiterate. She also teaches journalism weekly at a Detroit public high school.

The event, sponsored by the Honors Program and Library System, is part of the university's Martin Luther King Jr. Week celebration. For details about the presentation, call the Honors Program at 577-4621.