ORONO – National radio commentator, newspaper columnist and best-selling author Jim Hightower, who has been compared to Mark Twain and Woody Guthrie, will speak at the University of Maine at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 10, in Room 100 of the Donald P. Corbett Business Building. His lecture is free and open to the public.

Hightower’s commentaries are carried on more than 90 commercial and public radio stations, and his column is carried in more than 75 independent newspapers, magazines and other publications. He also writes a monthly column for The Nation.

Hightower said he has spent three decades battling “the powers that be on behalf of the powers that ought to be” – consumers, working families environmentalists, small businesses and just-plain folks.

At UMaine, Hightower will talk about the war in Iraq, U.S. foreign policy, the loss of Americans’ civil liberties and grassroots activism.

The Maine Peace Action Committee will hold a fund-raising reception for those interested in talking with Hightower. The reception is 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the atrium of the Corbett Business Building. Cost is $5 for students and $10 for the public.

After the lecture, Hightower will sign copies of his most recent book, “If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates.”

For information, call the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine at 942-9343.