Tickets for the Orcas Crossroads Spring Lecture Series will be available to the public starting Jan. 19.

Four major lectures are scheduled, with a variety of speakers about timely issues, both local and global. All lectures are followed by a question and answer period and a public reception with the speaker. All lectures are at Orcas Center.

“The Economy: How Do We Get out of this Mess?” by Ned Brines will open the spring series on Friday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m. A noted financial blogger, asset manager and frequent media guest, Brines addresses the questions: How did we get in this predicament? How does the current U.S. financial condition compare with historical crises? What options exist to help us exit this combination of deficit and embedded debt?

World-roving British author Simon Winchester is “a masterful spinner of historical and scientific sagas,” including the bestseller “The Man Who Loved China.” He will present “The Fascination of China: Past, Present and Future” on Sunday, April 17 at 2 p.m. In this lecture Winchester brings decades of high profile experience as an author and journalist to elucidate unique perspectives about China and how it has evolved into the industrial and financial giant of today.

Pulitzer Prize winning historian David M. Kennedy ‘s scholarship is notable for its integration of economic and cultural analyses with social and political history. A Stanford Professor who specializes in American history, Kennedy has titled his lecture “A Tale of Three Cities: How the U.S. Won WWII and Made the Modern World.” The lecture is scheduled for Sunday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m., and addresses the question “How was America’s World War II different from the war that every other belligerent fought, and how did it affect the new world of twenty-first century international conflict?

The Spring Lecture Series concludes on Sunday, May 22, at 2 p.m., when Andrew Wilder presents “Afghanistan: Understanding the Relationship between Aid and Security.” Wilder is the Director of the Afghanistan and Pakistan Programs at the United States Institute of Peace. His recent research explores issues relating to state-building, reconstruction and stabilization efforts in Afghanistan.

Tickets for the lectures are $10 each or $30 for all four purchased together. They are available at Darvill’s Bookstore and the Orcas Island Public Library. For those who could not otherwise attend, a limited number of complimentary tickets are available in advance through the Orcas Library and Orcas Senior Center. Visit <a href="http://www.orcascrossroads.org" title="orcascrossroads"orcascrossroads.org for more information.