Author David Shields will be reading from his new book on Friday at NAU. The reading will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Marguerite Weiss Gallery in Old Main. He is also conducting a three-day writing workshop Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Pre-registration is required for the workshop.

Shields is the author of New York Times bestseller "The Thing About Life is That One Day You'll Be Dead," and "Black Planet : Facing Race During an NBA Season." Shields has received a Guggenheim fellowship, two NEA fellowships, an Ingram Merrill Foundation Award, a Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation grant, and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. He is a professor in the English department at the University of Washington. Since 1996 he has also been a member of the faculty in Warren Wilson College's low-residency MFA Program for Writers, in Asheville, N.C.

Shields will be available after the reading and Q & A for a book signing. The reading is free and open to the public. For more information about the reading or the workshop, contact Nicole Walker at Nicole.Walker@nau.edu.

AARP Safe Driving Classes

AARP is hosting an upcoming series of Safe Driving classes. The classes have been revised and shortened. The content will remain the same but there will be less time for discussion. The schedule is as follows:

— June 19: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m., Pinewood Fire Station in Munds Park.

— July 25, 8 a.m. - 1 p.m., Flagstaff Medical Center, McGee Auditorium.

— Sept. 19, 8 a.m. - 1 p.m., Flagstaff Medical Center, McGee Auditorium.

The fee for the class is $14 or $12 for AARP members. To sign up for any of the above classes, call Joyce Kloeber at 525-0585.

In addition, AARP is looking for anyone in the Sedona or Williams areas who might be interested in teaching the class. For more information, call Loni Shapiro at 522-8635 or e-mail maxmaddy@infomagic.net.

Send Around the Town to Abbie Gripman at agripman@azdailysun.com or call 556-2241.