Novelist David Baldacci to be Valediction speaker

By Robert Brickhouse

Best-selling author David Baldacci, a 1986 U.Va. law alumnus, has been chosen by the University’s undergraduate class of 2002 to be the featured speaker at Valedictory Exercises May 18 during graduation weekend.

Baldacci, who practiced law for nine years in Washington, D.C., is the author of fast-paced suspense novels, including Absolute Power, Total Control, The Winner, The Simple Truth, Saving Faith, Wish You Well and Last Man Standing, published this month.

Worldwide best-sellers, his novels often involve dilemmas of ordinary people close to centers of power. Absolute Power, his first, was made into a movie starring Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman.

A Virginia native and graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, Baldacci is active in numerous charities and sits on the boards of the Central Virginia chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and VCU.