The 2011 Liberty Ball

Friday, February 4th, 2011
Brussels



P.J. O'Rourke
keynote speaker

2011 Photo Gallery Now Available

08 FEB 2011 BRUSSELS – Photos of the 2011 Liberty Ball are now available from this link.



Programme and Speakers

Thursday
and Friday
Annual Liberty Conference
sponsored by New Direction Foundation

Details coming soon
7:00 pm

The Liberty Ball Begins
Location: The Hotel (formerly the Brussels Hilton)

Registration at "Checkpoint Liberty"

Champagne reception

8:00 pm

Seated 3-course dinner from Maison du Boeuf chef Jacky Chartier (choice of menus and wines)

:: Keynote address from P.J. O'Rourke

:: Speech by Christofer Fjellner MEP
:: Speech by Geoffrey Van Orden MEP
:: A letter from Mrs. Reagan
:: Video presentation from Peter Robinson, former speechwriter to President Reagan

Dessert and coffee

10:00 pm

Bar opens. Dancefloor opens.

The PDM Big Band plays swing hits from Reagan's Hollywood days.

12:00

DJ takes over, playing hits from Reagan's years in the White House and onward.




P.J. O'Rourke
With more than a million words of trenchant journalism under his byline and more citations in The Penguin Dictionary of Humorous Quotations than any other living writer, P.J. O'Rourke has established himself as America's premier political satirist. His best-selling books include Parliament of Whores, Give War a Chance, Eat the Rich, The CEO of the Sofa , Peace Kills and On the Wealth of Nations. Both Time and The Wall Street Journal have called him “the funniest writer in America.” He frequently appears on television, and is a regular panelist on National Public Radio’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.

Whether dealing with the inner workings of Washington bureaucracy, the shifting political and economic sands of the new world order or his own living room, P.J. proves himself to be a savvy guide to national and world affairs. His razor sharp insights never fail to inform and entertain, and audiences may be in peril of injury from laughter.

Patrick Jake O'Rourke was born in Toledo, Ohio, son of a car salesman and dance instructor. He began life as a Republican, but in the late 1960's he changed his politics to conform to the rest of the nation’s youth. He says, “At least I was never a liberal. I went from Republican to Communist and right back to Republican.” P.J. attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and graduate school at Johns Hopkins where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. After receiving an M.A. in English, he worked at small newspapers in Baltimore and New York.

In the early 1970’s, P.J. joined The National Lampoon where he became the editor-in-chief and created, with Doug Kenney, the now classic 1964 High School Yearbook Parody. In the 1980’s, he decided the real world was funnier than anything National Lampoon’s writers could invent, so he became a roving reporter covering crises and conflicts around the world. P. J. O’Rourke is the best-selling author of fourteen previous books.


Photos
ABOVE: Dancing at the 2007 Ball (left); Marjolein Cneut (top) sings "Just One of Those Things"; Pascal Maertens sings Sinatra; Filip Demeyer conducts the 24-piece PDM Big Band. TOP BANNER: Dinner at the 2006 Ball.

ABOVE: Dancing at the Ball (left); Marjolein Cneut (top) sings "Just One of Those Things"; Pascal Maertens sings Sinatra; Filip Demeyer conducts the 24-piece PDM Big Band. BELOW: Dinner at the Ball. More photos from 2010 are here. top


Sponsorship


Kreab Gavin Anderson Worldwide
L'Anglophone: lux per nebulas

Annual Liberty Conference sponsored by New Direction Foundation.

For information about sponsorship, please contact us.


News

P.J. O'Rourke to Speak at 2011 Liberty Ball
14 APRIL 2010 – Best-selling American author P.J. O'Rourke will speak at the 2011 Liberty Ball in Brussels, to be held in commemoration of Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday. Cited more than any living writer in The Penguin Dictionary of Humorous Quotations, Mr. O'Rourke is a best-selling author of of 14 books including Republican Party Reptile, Give War a Chance, and On the Wealth of Nations.
[more]

2010 Photo Gallery, Speech Transcripts Now Available
10 MARCH 2010 BRUSSELS – Photos of the 2010 Liberty Ball are now available from this link.

Click here to read transcripts of the speeches.


Contact Us

For additional information, please email:
reservations [at] thelibertyball.com