Mercer County - Princeton - An Evening at Morven with Dr. Benjamin Rush (and author Stephen Fried)

Tuesday, September 25 – Mercer County

An Evening at Morven with Dr. Benjamin Rush (and author Stephen Fried)

Book Launch: Museum Tour, Refreshments, Music, Illustrated Lecture, Q&A, Signing Tuesday,

$10 Friends of Morven; $15 Public

Book Purchase: Pre-Sept 25: $25; Sept 25: $30

    Morven Museum & Garden hosts best-selling author and local resident Stephen Fried for the release of his latest book Rush: Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father. He will share Dr. Rush’s life and activities in and around Morven.

   Dr. Benjamin Rush was the most well-known physician in 18th-century America, as well as a patriot, philosopher, author, lecturer, fervent evangelist, politician, and dedicated social reformer. Married to one of Richard & Annis Stockton’s daughters, Julia, Dr. Rush frequently visited Morven. Both Richard Stockton and Rush signed the Declaration of Independence and were key figures in America’s birth.

   The evening’s events begin at 5:00 p.m. with docent-led tours of our newly reopened history exhibition. Docents will share anecdotes on both Dr. Rush and his family's relationship to Morven’s residents.

   At 5:45 p.m. and following the tour, light refreshments will be served and 18th-century live music will begin in Morven’s newly completed Stockton Education Center, adjacent to the Museum.

   At 6:30, the illustrated lecture, Q&A, and book signing begin.

   About Dr. Benjamin Rush: According to an article in the US National Library of Medicine: NIH, Rush was “unquestionably brilliant, he graduated from what later became Princeton University at age 14. He translated Hippocrates' Aphorisms from the Greek at age 17. He wrote the first textbook of chemistry to be published in America. He was by all accounts a devoted, if highly paternalistic, medical practitioner, who cared deeply for his patients' welfare.”

   About the Author: STEPHEN FRIED is an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author who teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Pennsylvania. He is, most recently, the author of the historical biography Appetite for America and the coauthor, with Congressman Patrick Kennedy, ofA Common Struggle. His earlier books include the biography Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia and the investigative books Bitter Pills and The New Rabbi. A two-time winner of the National Magazine Award, Fried has written frequently for Vanity Fair, GQ, The Washington Post Magazine, Glamour, Rolling Stone, and Philadelphia magazine. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, author Diane Ayres, not far from where Rush lived.