Rick Steves to Deliver American Masters Lecture
March 27, 2025
Public television host, best-selling author, and activist Rick Steves will be the speaker for the Lackawanna County Library System’s 2025 American Masters Lecture. The event will be held Wednesday, April 30 at 7 P.M. in the Scranton Cultural Center.
Free tickets for the event will be available beginning Monday, March 31 at Lackawanna County Library System libraries and online with Ticketmaster at https://tinyurl.com/bdzm3w5e.
Steves is widely considered America’s leading authority on European travel. He proudly provides Americans with access to travel information through his series of best-selling guidebooks; his long-running documentary travel program, “Rick Steves’ Europe;” and his radio show and podcast, “Travel with Rick Steves.”
His most recent book, “On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer,” is a resurrected journal chronicling a 1978 trip along a series of roads connecting Europe to India. Highlighting a period when travel through the Middle East was less complicated, Steves’ snapshots offer a candid look at cultural differences and the connections we all share.
Steves considers himself a teacher foremost. Since teaching his first travel course in the 1970s, he has remained dedicated to distributing travel resources and does so for free through the Rick Steves Audio Europe app and in Rick Steves Classroom Europe video database.
In addition to providing access to travel information, Steves views travel as a tool to understand the world and bring about social good. His book “Travel as a Political Act” encourages travelers to approach new environments with an open mind, to make connections, and to bring back valuable insights from the people they meet along the way.
“Rick Steves is America’s most respected European travel authority,” said Sandy Longo, Executive Director of the Lackawanna County Library System. “He is an enthusiastic traveler and a dynamic speaker who is sure to delight our audience.”
The American Masters Lecture series is supported by grants and donations from area foundations, businesses, and individuals. Previous American Masters Lecture speakers include world-renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winner Doris Kearns Goodwin; humorist and author David Sedaris; two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Colson Whitehead; former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith; and children’s book author and Emmy Award-winning actor Henry Winkler.
