Adventurer-turned-humanitarian Greg Mortenson signs his book Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace, One School at a Time for graduate student Melanie Hogaboom Berry M ’12 after Mortenson’s Oct. 28 presentation in the Campus Center arena. His appearance was part of the “Oswego Reads” communitywide reading initiative. Mortenson’s New York Times bestseller, published in 45 countries, recounts his experiences building schools in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mortenson, who founded the not-for-profit Central Asia Institute, also signed copies of his sequel, Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Novelist and famed book cover designer Chip Kidd has a hard time keeping a straight face as he poses Sept. 15 with autograph-seeker Casi Tredo, a junior graphics design major. Kidd, author of ORI selection "The Learners," spoke to a full house at Waterman Theatre, displaying his wit and versatility -- for example, he mimicked the Wicked Witch of the West and a newborn hamster, among other shticks -- in a presentation that began with footage of the infamous 1961-62 obedience experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram at Yale University.