Christopher Check presents 'The Battle of Lepanto' Nov. 18
Christopher Check, executive director of the Rockford Institute and publisher of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, will deliver a lecture titled "Lepanto" on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
The talk begins at 7:30 p.m. in O'Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium. His presentation will transport the audience across time and space to a galley in the midst of the most important sea battle in the history of Western Civilization.
The Battle of Lepanto, a battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League in 1571, ensued with a rag-tag collection of sailors from across Christian Europe, bracing itself for the fleet's destruction and a subsequent Ottoman invasion. When the smoke cleared, however, the Ottoman fleet had been defeated.
During the presentation, Check will recite from memory G.K. Chesterton's poem "Lepanto," written in 1915 to commemorate the Holy League's victory.
Graduating in 1987 with a B.A. degree in English literature from Rice University, Check was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He joined the 11th Marine Regiment and served in exercises, deployments and expeditions in Okinawa, Korea, Japan, the Philippines and the Persian Gulf. He was promoted to captain in March 1992. He resigned his commission in December 1993 to join the Rockford Institute, a band of scholars, which promotes and defends personal virtues and cultural principles.
Check's writings have appeared in Rockford Institute's and other publications as well as various newspapers across the country. His television and radio appearances include programs on National Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television, Illinois Public Television, the BBC, Radio Free Europe, and the Business Radio Network. He is an award-winning commentator for Northern Illinois Public Radio.
This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Catholic Men's houses and the Center for Catholic Studies.
