London, 06 February 2013 – As part of a year-long celebration of mapmaking Michael Palin, renowned comedian, actor, writer and television presenter, will address the British Cartographic Society. The presentation, title A Life in Maps, will be followed by a drinks reception in the prestigious surroundings of the Ondaatje Theatre at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)s magnificent London headquarters, overlooking Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Taking place on the evening of Friday 12th April 2013 An evening with Michael Palin is open to members and non-members, at a small charge, and places can be booked online.
In our 50th Anniversary year it is a real honour to welcome Michael Palin as a guest speaker, commented Mr Peter Jones MBE, President of the British Cartographic Society. I am sure Michael as immediate Past President of our hosts, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), and an intrepid traveller, will be able to regale the audience with his exploits and experiences of maps around the world.
An evening with Michael Palin is a headline event from the British Cartographic Societys 50th Anniversary calendar of events. With more than thirty events planned throughout 2013 the society hope to promote the art and science of mapmaking to a new audience. Featured events from this programme include the societys annual Symposium with an anniversary theme of Today, Tomorrow and Beyond , An afternoon with Jack Dangermond commonly regarded as the grandfather of Geographical Information Systems and numerous Restless Earth Workshops aimed at year 10 pupils.
To find out more about the events follow the society on twitter @bcsweb, facebook https://www.facebook.com/bcsweb or visit the webpage www.cartography.org.uk
Notes to editors
About the British Cartographic Society
The British Cartographic Society promotes the art and science of cartography through awards, events, publications and special interest groups. 2013 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Society, a registered charity, and is being celebrated with a year-long programme of promotional, lecture, social and outreach events. The 2013 calendar of events is sponsored by society corporate members Cadcorp, ESRI (UK), Harper Collins, Leica Geosystems, Newgrove, Star-Apic, The GeoInformation Group and Victoria Litho.
About Michael Palin
Michael Palin CBE, FRGS is a well known comedian, actor, writer and television presenter. He is perhaps best known as member of the comedy group Monty Python and more recently for his travel documentaries. A BAFTA award winning actor he has travelled around the world in his new career as travel writer and documentarian visiting both the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert and more recently Brazil. In 2000 he was honoured as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to television and from 2009 to 2012 he served as President of the Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers).
