Carrie Fisher: Humanist Lifetime Achievement Award (Ticket Required)

The Humanist Hub, in partnership with Harvard College student group the Harvard Community of Humanists, Atheists, and Agnostics (HCHAA), will present Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher with our 10th Annual Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism as part of a ceremony held at Harvard’s historic Memorial Church on Monday, April 18 at 8:00pm.

This award, created in 2007, honors an individual whose life and contributions to popular culture and society exemplify the values of Humanism: compassion, creativity, and honesty, among others.

In addition to portraying Princess Leia on Star Wars and a long list of acting credits, Fisher, a highly accomplished writer and Hollywood "script doctor," has used her celebrity to uphold values around which The Humanist Hub centers its mission. She is featured in the Emmy Award-winning BBC documentary "The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive," which destigmatizes mental illness, as do her many popular novels and memoirs, including Postcards From the Edge and Wishful Drinking.

Renowned throughout a literary career spanning decades for her bravely honest and deeply funny style, Ms. Fisher's work humanizes a popular culture obsessed with celebrity, and helps readers laugh at the absurdity of contemporary society and relationships. Her forthright activism and outspokenness about addiction, mental illness and agnosticism have advanced public discourse on these issues with creativity and empathy.

The Humanist Hub has hosted similar award ceremonies with comedian Eddie Izzard (2013) author Mary Roach (2012) Seth MacFarlane (Fall 2011) Stephen Fry (Spring 2011) Discovery Chanel’s MythBusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman (2010) director Joss Whedon (2009) Bad Religion’s Greg Graffin (2008) and Sir Salman Rushdie (2007).

The Hub, also known as The Humanist Community at Harvard, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, dedicated to building a model nonreligious community where humanist values inspire people to connect deeply and change the world. Founded as the first chaplaincy for atheists and agnostics in US history, we have grown into a diverse community serving thousands throughout Greater Boston and helping inspire the growth of similar communities worldwide. To learn more, visit humanisthub.org.

Tickets are available beginning Tuesday, March 29 at the Harvard Box Office. (https://www.boxoffice.harvard.edu/Online/default.asp)