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Ellie LeBlond Sosa, granddaughter of President George H.W. Bush and the late Barbara Bush, and Kelly Anne Chase, a New England-based writer and magazine editor, served as co-speakers for the 2018 George and Barbara Bush Distinguished Lecture Series. The event was held on October 3 at 6 p.m. at the Harold Alfond Forum on the Biddeford Campus.

Sosa and Chase shared with the ɫ����Ƶ community their experiences writing their newly released book, George & Barbara Bush: A Great American Love Story, which pays tribute to the 73-year marriage of President and Barbara Bush -- the longest marriage in presidential history.

Sosa, the daughter of Doro Bush Koch, works for a Boston-based health care nonprofit and, as a certified holistic health counselor, teaches fitness in Boston and on retreats around the world. She collaborated with Chase, the managing editor of New England Living’s print and digital magazines and former managing editor of Maine magazine, to capture the story of the enduring love between her grandparents.

Created from private collections of letters, photographs and stories and informed by intimate interviews with the members of the Bush family, the book explores the special relationship between the Bush family matriarch and patriarch -- a relationship that remained steadfast throughout political victory and occupancy of the White House as well as times of hardship imposed by war separation, political defeat, and the painful loss of a child.

ɫ����Ƶ President James Herbert commented, “President and Mrs. Bush have held a special place in ɫ����Ƶ’s heart, and I cannot think of a better topic to celebrate and explore at the University’s annual Bush Lecture than the love the Bushes shared for one another.”