Former White House counsel John W. Dean will read from and discuss his newly published book, "Conservatives without Conscience," on Nov. 1 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Moyer Student Union Theatre at UNLV. The reading is free and open to the public and is sponsored by UNLV's Black Mountain Institute. Dean will also be signing copies of his book, which will be available for purchase after the event.

Best known for his involvement as a key witness during the Watergate investigation in the early 1970s, Dean has authored several books chronicling his experiences as White House Counsel during the Nixon administration and offering his take on the controversies that surround the current administration. His first effort, "Blind Ambition," a scathing account of the fall of President Nixon, became a New York Times Bestseller and inspired a made-for-TV movie.
Before serving as Nixon's counsel, Dean was Chief Minority Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives and Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States.

In his latest work, Dean maintains that the Republican Party is indifferent to the founding principles of liberty and equality and has pulled America away from its constitutional foundation. Steeped in the conservative ideology of the late Barry Goldwater, Dean paints a vivid picture of what he terms a once noble party whose new leaders' actions are cloaked with moral superiority and their programs packaged with propaganda.

Founded in 2006, the Black Mountain Institute (BMI) is an international center dedicated to advancing literary and cross-cultural dialogue. Named after the defunct Black Mountain College in North Carolina and Las Vegas' own Black Mountain, it is composed of the Forum on Contemporary Cultures (The Forum), the North American Network of Cities of Asylum (NANCA), and the International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML). A center of excellence in modern letters, BMI provides an environment for thinkers and writers from all segments of global society to fight against entrenched perspectives, whatever their political or cultural source.

For more information on the event, please contact Maritza White at 895-5542.