Warriors head coach Steve Kerr next up for Sonoma Speaker Series

Head coach of the three-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors will be the next guest in the Sonoma Speaker Series, on Monday, Oct. 1.|

Steve Kerr, coach of the three-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors, will be the next guest in the Sonoma Speaker Series at Hanna Boys Center, on Monday, Oct. 1.

Though his recent celebrity is the result of his guiding the Warriors to three tiles in four years as head coach, Kerr is himself a five-time NBA champion player, having won three championship rings with the Chicago Bulls (1996-98) and two more with the San Antonio Spurs (1999, 2003).

Kerr was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and spent much of his childhood there. In 1984, his father, Malcolm, 52, was serving as the President of the American University of Beirut when he was assassinated by Islamic Jihad. Steve was 18 at the time, attending the University of Arizona as a freshman.

Steve married his college sweetheart Margot in 1990. They have three children, and now live in the Presidio Heights of San Francisco.

His interviewer on the Hanna stage will be Garry St. Jean, himself a former head coach and general manager of the Warriors (1999-2000), and now the half-time commentator/analyst on NBC Sports Bay Area.

The addition of Kerr to the Speaker Series line-up is another “get” for the ambitious program of notables from media, broadcast, politics and sports.

Kathy Witkowicki, the president of the Sonoma Speaker Series, said that the introduction was made through Chuck Young, the former UCLA chancellor who recently served as interim superintendent of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District.

“This is a great example of how the Sonoma community can help to enrich the Sonoma Speaker Series and the caliber of speakers we can attract to this Valley – by tapping into people they know in high places, and personally inviting them here to grace our stage,” said Witkowicki.

Similarly, Witkowicki said that St. Jean is an old college friend of Dan Gustafson, a longtime school board member. “So Dan is the person who connected me to Garry, and Garry is the perfect person to be up on that stage and in conversation with Steve,” said Witkowicki.

Tickets for the event go on sale Sept. 1 on the website at sonomaspeakerseries.com.

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