Dr. Dennis Shepard will be the featured speaker as part of The Valley Speaks series in Santa Maria. Shepard was born and raised in Oregon before settling in Santa Maria and becoming known locally for his altruism and ophthalmology practice. His background is legendary, having once served with the famed Dr. Tom Dooley in evacuating 600,000 Vietnamese refugees from Hanoi. He received two presidential citations for his efforts. He came to Santa Maria in 1967 after getting his medical degree and ophthalmology training.
Dr. Shepard is scheduled to be the guest speaker at The Valley Speaks on Jan. 8 at 11 a.m. in the Shepard Room of the public library.
Arts Briefs is compiled by Arts Editor Shelly Cone. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
This article appears in Jan 6-13, 2011.