FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Livermore Valley Arts
Contact: Ruth Egherman (925) 583-2306
From Africa to Everest, Take Your Mind on a Journey This Winter at Bankhead Presents The Rae Dorough Speaker Series
Livermore, CA – (January 6, 2026) – Starting out the 2026 portion of the exciting continuing partnership where Bankhead Presents The Rae Dorough Speaker Series, Livermore Valley Arts has two thrilling speakers in store for Tri-Valley audiences this winter. From a journey to Africa with Paleoanthropologist Louise Leakey at Digging for Humanity’s Origins on Thursday, January 29, to a visit to Everest and the South Pole with Adventurer Peter Hillary at 70 Years of Everest on Thursday, March 5, these famed and interesting speakers closing out the 2025—2026 RDSS season will provide insights into a wide array of fascinating topics for the Tri-Valley; both of these exciting evenings of conversation will take place right at the beautiful Bankhead Theater in Downtown Livermore.
The burning question that consumes African-born Louise Leakey—as it consumed her famed parents Meave and Richard Leakey, and grandparents Louis and Mary Leakey before her—is, “How is it that Homo Sapiens are the only surviving species out of the genus Homo; the upright ape species that have called Earth home over the past 8 million years?” Was it due to cross-breeding with other human species? Was it due to the size of our brains? These are the questions Dr. Leakey seeks to answer and will explore at The Bankhead on January 29 at the not-to-be-missed Digging for Humanity’s Origins. The Turkana Basin region of East Africa is a source of unprecedented fossil and archaeological evidence for all major stages of human development. This is the place where our story is written. Every human being alive today shares DNA inherited from a common ancestral population, currently believed to have lived within a few hundred miles of the Turkana Basin, approximately 60,000-70,000 years ago. Discoveries over the last few decades continue to reshape our understanding of the human family tree.
Born and raised in East Africa, Louise Leakey (officially, Princess Louise de Merode) was destined to carry on her family’s legacy—searching for human origins in the fossil-rich Turkana Basin that stretches from Kenya into southern Ethiopia. At age five, Louise became the youngest documented person to find a hominid fossil—a tooth from a 17-million-year-old primate. By age 12, Louise was driving the family’s Land Rover to pick up water for the team. At age 18, she learned how to fly a single-engine plane—a skill that would prove useful later. While Louise was away at college in England, her father lost his legs below the knee due to complications from a plane crash. At that time, Louise returned to Africa to join her mother in running the field camp. Six years later, as they launched their careers, the mother-daughter team discovered a 3.5-million-year-old skull believed to be a branch of very early humans. Louise currently directs Kenya’s paleoanthropological expeditions of the Koobi Fora Research Project. A true conservation family, Louise is married to Prince Emmanuel de Merode, who directs the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, home to endangered mountain gorillas. Louise earned a PhD in Biology from University College London. In addition to field work, she also serves as a Research Professor in Anthropology at SUNY Stony Brook (the academic partner of the Turkana Basin Institute) and a Research Associate at the National Museums of Kenya, and will surely enlighten Tri-Valley audiences in remarkable ways at the end of this month.
Speaking of legacies, Peter Hillary carries on the legacy of adventure and purpose, as crafted by his father, Sir Edmund Hillary, part of the first climbing team to summit the world’s tallest peak, who made the first ascent of Mount Everest 73 years ago in 1953. A high achiever from one of the great families of mountaineering, like his father, Peter summited Everest and reached the South Pole on skis, forging a new route across Antarctica. In this captivating talk, 70 Years of Everest, Peter reveals what it takes to travel to the ends of the earth. Peter’s life is a testament to setting goals and accomplishing them. His ambition and good judgment have enabled him to climb mountains and survive ferocious storms and avalanches. His captivating talk is filled with authentic, spine-tingling, and at times hilarious stories about what it takes to travel to the ends of the earth, and will be an extraordinary, fascinating evening on March 5 in Downtown Livermore.
The name Hillary is synonymous with exploration and Himalayan mountaineering. Peter Hillary has been on 50 mountaineering expeditions around the world, including five to the top of the world—Mount Everest. Peter has also completed the elusive holy grail for most climbers,
reaching the “seven summits” (the highest mountain on each continent). Peter chairs the Himalayan Trust, a nonprofit organization founded by his father, to provide health, environmental, and educational services to the people in the Himalayas. Together with the local people of Nepal, the trust has funded and built 42 schools and hospitals at the foot of Mount Everest and runs educational programs in 80 schools.
Bankhead Presents The Rae Dorough Speaker Series is proud to continue to elevate the names coming to the Tri-Valley with RDSS. Tickets for shows in the 2025—2026 Bankhead Presents season are available online, by calling 925-373-6800, or at the box office windows. For a complete list of events, visit LivermoreArts.org. The speaker series honors the late Rae Dorough, a respected Livermore resident and strong supporter of cultural events. Members of her family and friends were the initiating sponsors in 2008. The series features provocative, entertaining, and enlightening presentations on a wide variety of topics. Past speakers have included engineers, scientists, fiction and nonfiction writers, historians, entrepreneurs, comedians and entertainers, diplomats, astronauts, journalists, and even a former Secretary of Defense. The 2025—2026 Rae Dorough Speakers Series is sponsored in part by Jean King. Louise Leakey: Digging for Humanity’s Origins is also sponsored in part by Sandia National Laboratories. The Rae Dorough series also partners with the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District and Las Positas College to provide free or reduced-price tickets to students and educators. Additionally, individual and corporate supporters help sponsor specific presentations.
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Livermore Valley Arts is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit offering wide-ranging programs that provide access to the arts for the Tri-Valley community and beyond. The Bankhead Theater and Bothwell Arts Center are home to eight resident performing arts companies, over 40 studio artists, and cultural arts instructors. LivermoreArts.org
Show: Louise Leakey: Digging for Humanity’s Origins
Date/Time: Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 7:30pm
Tickets: $25—$80 ($25 student/military personnel)
Show: Adventurer Peter Hillary: 70 Years of Everest
Date/Time: Thursday, March 5, 2026, at 7:30pm
Tickets: $25—$80 ($25 student/military personnel)
Dates, times, and ticket prices for other events available at www.LivermoreArts.org
