Newark mayor Corey Booker to speak in Lynn

LYNN – Salem State will make a Lynn appearance Sunday when the university’s popular Speakers Series brings Corey Booker to Lynn auditorium.”We’ve been courting Salem for quite a while,” said Community Development Director James Marsh, who oversees the auditorium. “It’s a shift for us but we’ve been testing the waters.”The speakers series, which brings politicians and academics as well as those from the sports and entertainment worlds to the university’s stage, is typically held in the O’Keefe Center on Canal Street, but that location is undergoing renovations. The construction project forced university officials to find a new location for its spring speaker, Corey Booker, who’s been called a political activist and agent for social change.Booker, elected in 2006 as Mayor of Newark, N.J., is serving his second term and garnering a lot of national attention for the strides he’s making with innovations, new coalitions and creative public/private partnerships aimed at bettering his city.He will present his lecture “How to change the world with your bare hands” and take questions from the audience during his appearance Sunday, beginning at 3 p.m. For ticket information or to purchase tickets go to www.salemstate.edu.Hosting Booker gives Marsh the chance to test the waters by seeing how well the popular speaker is received in Lynn. The auditorium has made a name for itself with classic rock and Latino shows but Marsh said he doesn’t want the venue to be pigeonholed.He has booked Clint Black May 9, A Night of Comedy, April 27, Room Full of Blues May 3 and Cesar Milan, the dog whisperer, in July and hopes those will be a stepping stone to other acts. He is considering booking the Cake Boss, niche singers such as the Celtic Women, and he would like to try out a few indy/hipster bands to try and attract some of the downtown residents, he said.In the meantime, however, he is interested in seeing how Booker is received.”We’re excited about Sunday because it’s a deviation from what we normally do and we’re partnering up with Salem State,” he said. “It will be an exciting night.”Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].