Cerro Visiting Authors

Made possible by a generous bequest by Delores Cerro, a local citizen who believed in the power of libraries to shape students' lives, the Cerro Author program brings a prominent writer to the Bakersfield College campus each year.

Students, faculty, staff, and community members have an opportunity to hear the author speak about the creation of and themes within the writer's works. Audience members are able to hear firsthand about both the challenges and rewards of the writing process from the vantage point of a professional author.

Current Author: Aron Ralston

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Aron Ralston's extraordinary story of survival after an 800-pound boulder trapped him in a remote Utah canyon captured global headlines in 2003. In his New York Times best seller, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, the Oscar-nominated film, 127 Hours, and on stage, Ralston takes audiences vicariously through those six days without water, means of communication, or hope of escape, to the ecstatic moments when he freed himself by severing his own arm.

Speaker Biography

Following a miraculous rescue spearheaded by his mom and with the aid of prosthetics he helped design, Aron returned to his outdoor passions, completing elite mountaineering projects which remain unrepeated, even to this day. He has interviewed with Tom Brokaw, David Letterman, and Jay Leno, and received standing ovations and industry-leading testimonials from over five hundred groups around the world. Attendees credit Ralston's story with encouraging them through disease, disability, and loss, even saving their lives from suicide and depression.

Aron's incredible triumph in the face of insurmountable odds inspires audiences to harness the power of their deepest motivations, relationships, and mindset to transform personal and professional "boulders" into their blessings. Today, Ralston continues to pursue high-altitude adventures, advocates for wilderness protection, and tries to keep up with his two spirited children, Leo and Elisabetta.

Schedule of Events

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Screening of 127 Hours Movie | 6 PM Levan Center

Thursday, August 25, 2022

• 2 PM | Levan Center
• 7 PM | Indoor Theater, PAC Building

Past Authors

• 2019: Erin Gruwell part of Freedom Writers Foundation
• 2018: Temple Grandin
• 2017: Michael Eric Dyson
• 2016: Andy Weir
• 2015: Luis Urrea
• 2014: Kelsey Timmerman
• 2013: Patricia McCormick
• 2012: Julie Otsuka
• 2011: Mark Salzman
• 2010: Steve Lopez
• 2009: Reyna Grande
• 2008: Gary Soto
• 2007: Luis Rodriguez