The Pella Community Common Reading Experience 2018 welcomes Joan Becker, author of “Sentenced to Life: Mental Illness, Tragedy and Transformation,” to Pella.
Joan is the mother of Mark Becker, the man who shot and killed Ed Thomas, renowned football coach at Aplington-Parkersburg High School, in 2009. Joan tells KNIA/KRLS News she and her family have become passionate advocates of bolstering the mental health system, as her son dealt with mental illness and drug abuse throughout his teenage years.
Her presentation, titled “Life Beyond the Storm ‘The Rest of the Ed Thomas Story,'” is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 in Douwstra Auditorium on the Central College campus. Participants may also join in a discussion of Becker’s book at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25 in Room 202 of Central’s Geisler Library, or noon Thursday, Sept. 27 at the Pella Public Library.
Copies of “Sentenced to Life: Mental Illness, Tragedy and Transformation,” are available for purchase at the Central College Spirit Shoppe or to check out at the Pella Public Library.