Kennedy Jr. here May 18

SANDPOINT — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will speak at the Panida Theater on Wednesday, May 18, to support Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper.

Tickets are $15 for the general public and $5 for students. It starts at 7:30 p.m.

Kennedy, an international leader in causes for clean and healthy waterways, was originally scheduled to visit the region last spring, but postponed the trip for personal reasons.

As an active and visible heir to the Kennedy family’s public service legacy, Kennedy regularly speaks and writes on a variety of subjects. But he’s perhaps best known as a front-line advocate for clean water.

Kennedy has authored two books on environmentalism and chairs Waterkeeper Alliance, an umbrella organization which connects and supports local Waterkeeper groups. There are more than 200 Waterkeeper groups worldwide. He is also senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and is a professor at a Pace University law clinic in which second- and third-year law students to try cases against accused Hudson River polluters.

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s support for local organizations like the Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper and Spokane Riverkeeper is deeply inspiring,” said Jennifer Ekstrom of Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper. “His presence is clearly a help to our efforts to raise public awareness about the critical issues we work on every day.”

On May 19, Kennedy is scheduled to speak at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox in Spokane, Wash. Kennedy will be introduced by famed mountaineer Jim Whittaker, the first American to summit Mount Everest and a close friend of Robert F. Kennedy Sr.