Activist Cindy Sheehan To Speak, Sign Books In Sarasota

Cindy Sheehan is best known for her protesting at a President George W. Bush's ranch after her son was killed in the Iraq war and advocating peace.

The California mom set up camp in Texas back in 2005 to meet the president to give Bush a piece of her mind about peace. Now, folks are lining up to hear Sheehan speak her mind, and she'll make a stop in Sarasota this week.

Sheehan is set to appear at Bookstore1 at 7 p.m. Thursday to sign her book Revolution: A Love Story  then on Saturday, Jan. 5, she will be a part of the World Peace Deay celebration at New College of Florida's Sudakoff Hall. That even runs from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sheehan will speak at 11:30 a.m. and participate in a panel discussion at 12:40 p.m. on community organizing.

A $10 suggested donation is asked for the event. Students are free to attend.

Sheehan told The Herald-Tribune that her message of peace will continue until one of two things happen:

“I'm going to just keep doing what I do,” Sheehan said Wednesday during an interview on Siesta Key. “I can't stop until I'm dead or the wars end.”

In her speech Saturday at a World Peace Day event, Sheehan said she will push for more anti-war protests and encourage the Occupy political movement to head to Washington, D.C., to speak out against military spending.

“Let's push the Pentagon off the fiscal cliff,” she says.

Sheehan's son, Casey Sheehan, died April 4, 2004, in Iraq during combat as an Army specialist and soon after that her protests and activism started.

Sheehan received some attention this past election season when she ran for vice president with comedian Roseanne Barr for the Peace and Freedom party. She could run to be California's governor, she also told The Herald-Tribune.

For the book signing, only copies of Revolution: A Love Story purchased at Bookstore1 are available to be signed.