KENNEBUNK — Chuck Collins, author of the recently published book Born on Third Base, will share his conviction that we can “Change the story and fix the future” during a program co-sponsored by the Kennebunk Free Library and First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church.

The presentation will be at 7 p.m. Friday, March 3, at 7 p.m. at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, which is next door to the library. 

Collins represents the Institute for Policy Studies in Jamaica Plain, Mass. and has spent two decades working to shift the national debate about wealth inequality and how it relates to racial divisions and taxation. 

“We are living between two worlds,” he says. “There is the world we have always known, but realize now has deep system flaws like extreme inequality, climate change, and global instability. And there is the future world, one that we can have a hand in shaping.”

Collins was born into a family in the top percent of the wealth spectrum and inherited a fortune. He donated his wealth to several foundations, however, shifting himself into the 99 percent in order to do his part in effecting change.

He joined with Bill Gates, Sr. in writing Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes, and is co-author with Mary Wright of The Moral Measure of the Economy about Christian ethics and economic life.

His goal is to organize members of the one percent to advocate for fair tax policy, living wages, and campaign finance reform.

The program promises fascinating story, discussion, book signing, coffee and dessert as participants search for ways to move forward together.

All are welcome. Door opens at 6:30 p.m. Suggested donation, $5.

CUTLINE

Chuck Collins, author of Born on Third Base, to speak at First Parish Church, Kennebunk