Leonard Pitts Jr., a Miami Herald syndicated columnist, will give a free lecture at 7 tonight in HUB Heritage Hall. Pitts is one of the writers participating in the semi-annual Foster Conference of Distinguished Writers today and tomorrow at Penn State. Lori Shontz, sports writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Claire Smith, sports columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer will speak at 9:45 a.m. tomorrow in Foster Auditorium in Pattee Library about their career experiences and how they approach writing.

Pitts, who will also address the Faculty/Staff Club during its luncheon tomorrow, writes about family and social issues and popular culture. His column appears twice a week in newspapers across the country. He also is the author of the book Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood.