CSU, Chico News

California State University, Chico graduate Kelly Candaele’s claim to fame is that he co-wrote the screenplay for “A League of Their Own,” based on his mother’s professional baseball career in the 1940s.

His passion, though, is Northern Ireland, and the spiritual politics of peace, a concept he says has to do with the ability to go beyond the impulses toward revenge and retaliation, and to recognize the suffering of others.

Candaele, who received his M.A. in psychology and counseling from CSU, Chico in 1980, will be the featured speaker for this year’s Hodgkins Peace Studies Lecture. His talk, Northern Ireland: The Spiritual Politics of Peace, takes place Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Harlen Adams Theatre and is free and open to the public.

Candaele is also an accomplished journalist, published in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Nation and Irish America. It was as a journalist that he accompanied President Clinton on several trips to Northern Ireland. On these trips, Candaele said he helped facilitate the peace process in his own way by meeting with many groups who were interested in fostering better communication between Americans and people from both sides of the Northern Ireland conflict.

He has traveled to Northern Ireland at least 20 times since the IRA cease-fire in 1994, including three times with President Clinton’s entourage and when President George W. Bush met Prime Minister Tony Blair in Belfast.

“I’ve learned a good deal about the hold communal identity has on people in areas of intense conflict-but also about the ability of leaders and others to attempt to reconcile differences that are seemingly intractable,” said Candaele.

Candaele’s lecture should be of interest virtually to all members of the campus and community, noted Ron Hirschbein, Department of Philosophy, who is coordinating the Hodgkins Peace Studies Lecture.

“Kelly is one of our most accomplished graduates-a prominent screenwriter and highly regarded reporter with first-hand knowledge of world events,” said Hirschbein.

Candaele said he has fond memories of the time he spent in Chico. Hirschbein
remembers him as being interested in progressive politics and other humane causes.

“I was an academic j-walker at Chico as I took classes in philosophy, history, literature, political science, sociology, religious studies,” said Candaele. “So it really was a classic liberal arts education.”

He said his fondest memories of Chico were of the relationships he formed with his professors. “I remember most the professors who took me under their wings, so to speak, who were friends as well as educators. It was that kind of place.”

In addition to “A League of their Own,” Candaele has been involved in several other movies, including an award-winning film on the life of assassinated Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and a film on the Chinese human rights activist Harry Wu.

Candaele’s visit to CSU, Chico is made possible by an endowment from the Hodgkins family and from the support of the Office of International Programs, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, the Department of Philosophy, and VIVA (Volunteers Inspiring Vocational Action).

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 27th, 2003 at 8:52 am and is filed under 2003 Fall.