A Legendary Actor and Director, Iconic Entertainer and Chicano Art Advocate, A New York Times Best-Selling Author, and a Genetic Genealogist Trailblazer will be featured in this Unforgettable Season!
Palm Springs, CA (November 6, 2025): The Friends of the Palm Springs Library are excited to announce that the line-up for Palm Springs Speaks Season Seven has been finalized; Actor and Director Rob Reiner will appear on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, Actor, Comedian and Chicano Art Advocate Cheech Marin will appear on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, Author and Journalist Wade Rouse in Conversation with Steven Rowley will appear on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, and Genetic Genealogist CeCe Moore will appear on Monday, March 30, 2026 all at 7:30 PM at the newly restored Plaza Theatre in downtown Palm Springs.
Tickets for the December program featuring Rob Reiner will go on sale on Friday, November 7 at 12 p.m. noon PST. While the other three programs will be available for purchase beginning Friday, November 21 at 12 p.m. noon PST. Visit palmspringsspeaks.org for details and ticket links.
Rob Reiner, a two-time Emmy winning actor for his role in the landmark television series, “All In The Family”, is also an acclaimed director of “This Is Spinal Tap”, “Stand By Me”, “The Princess Bride”, “When Harry Met Sally”, “Misery”, “A Few Good Men”, “The American President”, “Ghosts of Mississippi”, and “The Bucket List”. He recently directed the Emmy-nominated documentary “Albert Brooks: Defending my Life”, and The End Continues, the sequel to This is Spinal Tap. As a dedicated political activist, he passed a tobacco tax initiative in California to fund early childhood development and chaired the state commission to oversee its implementation. In 2008, he helped form The American Foundation For Equal Rights which paved the way for marriage equality nationwide. The pre-event VIP reception will be hosted at the legendary Frank Sinatra Twin Palms Estate; limited tickets are available.
Cheech Marin is an actor, director, writer, musician, art collector, humanitarian and a multi-generational talent. As Cheech himself jests, “people know me from the womb to the tomb.” Widely acknowledged as a cultural icon, he is perhaps best known as one half of the hilariously irreverent, satirical, counterculture comedy duo Cheech and Chong. Details about the pre-event VIP reception will be announced soon!
Wade Rouse is an author and journalist, writing under his own name and also the pen name Viola Shipman in homage to his grandmother. He is author of 21 books, including five memoirs, 13 novels and three holiday novellas. Wade’s books have been translated into nearly 30 languages and have been bestsellers across the world. His novels, The Secret of Snow, The Clover Girls and A Wish for Winter, have been optioned for film and TV. He will be in conversation with Steven Rowley, best-selling author of “The Guncle” and other titles, and they will be discussing Wade’s latest book, “That’s What Friends Are For” to be released on March 3, 2026.
CeCe Moore is a pioneer in the field of genetic genealogy. Through collaboration with hundreds of investigative agencies across all 50 states, as well as several other countries, she has led the Parabon Genetic Genealogy Team to the unparalleled record of over 350 successful identifications of violent criminal suspects and unidentified decedents since 2018. For eleven seasons, she has worked as the DNA expert on the PBS documentary television series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., analyzing the DNA of hundreds of high-profile guests.
Sponsors of this series include The Friends of the Palm Springs Library, The City of Palm Springs, Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs, LuLu California Bistro, Palm Springs Unified School District Foundation, The Palm Springs Cultural Center, and Follett.
All of these events will take place at the historic and recently restored Plaza Theatre, located in downtown Palm Springs. Learn more about this venue and its story at: https://www.palmspringsplazatheatre.com/about
Tickets will be sold through Ticketmaster on the Plaza Theatre web site. Pre-event VIP tickets available for some of the events will be detailed, that includes a private reception, photo opportunity, premium seating, and a book.
For more information about the speaker series or sponsorship opportunities, and for the ticket link visit palmspringsspeaks.org.
About Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner first came to prominence as a two-time Emmy Award-winning actor in the landmark television series All In The Family. He went on to become an acclaimed director of some of the most popular and influential motion pictures in American film history. His work ranges from the satire “This Is Spinal Tap” to dramas like “Stand By Me”, “Misery”, “A Few Good Men”, and “Ghosts of Mississippi” to romantic comedies like “When Harry Met Sally” and “The American President”, not to mention the enduring classic, “The Princess Bride”. His 22 films also include “The Bucket List”, “Flipped”, “LBJ”, “Shock and Awe”, a documentary, “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life”, and most recently the sequel to “This Is Spinal Tap”, “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues”.
Reiner is also a dedicated political activist. In 1998 he was instrumental in the passage of a tobacco tax initiative in California to fund early childhood development. Then, for seven years he served as chairman of California’s First Five Commission to oversee the implementation of the initiative. In 2008 he and his wife, Michele, helped found The American Foundation for Equal Rights, the foundation filed a federal lawsuit to overturn California’s Prop 8. Their victory at the Supreme Court paved the way for marriage equality nationwide.
Working as a producing team, he and Michele produced “Shock and Awe”, “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life”, “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues”, the documentary “God & Country”, which shines light on the dangers of Christian Nationalism, and with Rob directing, the first ever rock concert at England’s legendary Stonehenge performed by Spinal Tap. The result is the concert film “Spinal Tap at Stonehenge the Final, Finale” which will be released next year.
Currently Rob and Michele are overseeing the creation of a national media campaign designed to help save American democracy.
About Cheech Marin
In addition to a successful life in entertainment, Cheech Marin is recognized today as a preeminent advocate for Chicano art. In the mid-1980s, he began developing what is now arguably the finest private collection of Chicano art. Much of it formed the core of his inaugural exhibition Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge, which broke attendance records during its groundbreaking 15–city tour during 2001–2007 to major art museums across the United States. He states, “Chicano art is American art. My goal is to bring the term ‘Chicano’ to the forefront of the art world.”
In addition to artwork loans to numerous institutions, this notable collection has been featured in over a dozen exhibitions organized and shown at more than 50 museums in the U.S. and Europe. Comprising mostly paintings, followed by drawings, prints, mixed-media artworks, sculptures and photography, the collection now serves as the core of The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum, which opened in June 2022. A long-term goal of “The Cheech” is to supplement and expand the collection with Chicano artists, media, and subject matter not currently included through acquisitions and donations from artists and their estates, art collectors, dealers, and institutions.
Cheech was born Richard Marin in South Central Los Angeles and was an Angeleno until a move to Canada where he serendipitously met Tommy Chong. He moved back to Los Angeles with Chong and their comedy duo proved entertainment gold. Six of their albums went gold, four were nominated for Grammys, and their Los Cochinos won the 1973 Grammy for Best Comedy Recording. The critically acclaimed duo made a fluid transition to films, starring in eight features together. Their first — “Up In Smoke” — was the highest grossing comedy of 1978, topping $100 million at the box office.
During a split with Chong, Cheech wrote, directed, and starred in the comedy Born in East L.A. and went on to a fruitful acting career. To date, he has appeared in over 20 films, including his scene-stealing role as Kevin Costner’s caddy in “Tin Cup” and eight of Robert Rodriguez’s movies for which he played international characters. He appeared earlier this year with Jennifer Lopez in the romantic comedy film “Shotgun Wedding” which was released in January of this year Prime Video and was the #1 streamed movie opening. Cheech also appeared in “Champions” with Woody Harrelson and will appear in “The Long Game,” a golf period piece. Cheech has also had numerous roles in animated movies, including “Oliver & Company,” “The Lion King,” and “Cars.”
Marin made his TV debut as a sitcom regular on “The Golden Palace,” before joining Don Johnson on the highly successful CBS drama “Nash Bridges” (they recently reconciled on the reboot as a TV movie for the USA Network). He also appeared in “Lost” and “Jane the Virgin.” This year, he made guest appearances on the TV sitcoms “Home Economics” and “Lopez vs. Lopez.”
Cheech’s memoir Cheech is Not My Real Name…But Don’t Call Me Chong! was published in 2017. He is also an author of children’s books such as Cheech the School Bus Driver.
In his limited off-time, Marin splits his time between Pacific Palisades and Joshua Tree, California with his wife Natasha Marin.
About Wade Rouse
Wade Rouse is the USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly and #1 internationally bestselling author of 21 books, including five memoirs, 13 novels and three holiday novellas. Wade’s books have been translated into nearly 30 languages and have been bestsellers across the world. His novels, The Secret of Snow, The Clover Girls and A Wish for Winter, have been optioned for film and TV.
Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, Indie Next Picks by the nation’s independent booksellers as well as Michigan Notable Books of the Year. His memoirs and novels have been featured in the Washington Post, USA Today and on Chelsea Lately. Wade was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards in Humor (he lost to Tina Fey) and was named by Writer’s Digest as “The #2 Writer, Dead or Alive, We’d Like to Have Drinks With” (Wade was sandwiched between Ernest Hemingway and Hunter Thompson).
That’s What Friends Are For was inspired by the classic TV sitcom The Golden Girls – marks the first novel under Wade’s own name. #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult calls the novel, “Hilarious, tender, and devastating. I loved this ode to the family we find!” Grant Ginder, author of The People We Hate at The Wedding, says, “Wade Rouse has written the most unabashedly joyful novel you’ll read this year, a rip-roaringly funny ode to found family, Palm Springs, drag, and Bea Arthur. But beneath all the wigs and the California sunshine, That’s What Friends Are For is also a poignant study of survival – of what it means to persevere in a world hell-bent on bringing you down, and a celebration of the friends who always have our backs.”
That’s What Friends Are For is being called The Guncle meets The Golden Girls, and this poignant and hilarious story celebrates love, aging, finding your people, and the art of impeccably timed one-liners. Theodore Copeland has created a fabulous life in the desert oasis of Palm Springs, where he shares a fabulous pink mid-century home with three fabulous friends: Barry, a former actor still clinging to his youth, his hair, and the memory of the dream role that killed his career; Ron, an uprooted Christian from the Midwest with a big heart but no one to give it to; Sid, who, after coming out late in life, has never found love. Teddy is the caustic, unspoken leader of “The Golden Gays”—the foursome’s monthly drag tribute to The Golden Girls. Despite their foibles and bickering, they have turned their golden years into a golden era. But the harmony of their desert enclave becomes a carousel of emotional baggage when Teddy’s estranged sister, Trudy, shows up on their doorstep, her dramatic teenage granddaughter in tow. While Teddy keeps Trudy at arm’s length, she manages to wheedle her way into the lives of the Golden Gays, until the real reason for her visit is revealed and the secrets they’ve all been keeping from each other unravel faster than a hastily stitched hemline.
Wade’s previous novels were written under his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, a pen name he chose to honor the working poor Ozarks seamstress whose sacrifices changed his family’s life and whose memory inspires his fiction.
Wade’s most recent Viola Shipman novel, The Page Turner, was a national bestseller and featured in PEOPLE and Country Living Magazine. The novel is a book that celebrates how books and reading change and save us and takes readers inside the world of publishing today and asks why we judge one another and the books we read by our collective covers. Wade’s first memoir, America’s Boy – selected as part of the American Library Association’s inaugural “Rainbow List” recognizing outstanding books with significant and authentic LGBTQIA+ content for readers – was recently republished. His memoir, Magic Season – a Michigan Notable Book of the Year about the difficult relationship Wade had with his Ozarks father and how their love of baseball was the only thing to bond them over the years – just released in paperback. Library Journal wrote, “This memoir is equal parts heart-rending and humorous, and at all points filled with love. A story that’s more than just about a conservative father and his gay son; it’s about the power of family and shared experience.” Wade’s recent novels, The Wishing Bridge and Famous in A Small Town, were both instant national bestsellers as well as summer and winter book picks by Good Morning America, Reader’s Digest and Katie Couric.
A former journalist, magazine writer and People reporter, his writing has appeared in a diverse range of publications and media, including Coastal Living, Time, All Things Considered, Good Housekeeping, Parade, Salon, Forbes, Writer’s Digest and Publisher’s Weekly. Wade earned his B.A. from Drury University (with honors) and his master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. He divides his time between Saugatuck, Michigan, and Palm Springs, California, and is also an acclaimed writing teacher who has mentored numerous students to become published authors.
Wade hosts the popular Facebook Live literary happy hour, “Wine & Words with Wade,” every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. EST on the Viola Shipman author page where he talks writing, inspiration and hope, takes readers on tours of the places that inspire his novels, throws costumed monthly office parties, and welcomes bestselling authors and publishing insiders. For more, please visit www.violashipman.com or www.waderouse.com
Wade will be in conversation with Steven Rowley who is the New York Times bestselling author of “Lily and the Octopus”, a Washington Post Notable Book of 2016, “The Editor”, named by NPR as one of the Best Books of 2019, “The Guncle”, winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, “The Celebrants”, a TODAY Show Read With Jenna Book Club pick and the instant USA Today Bestseller ”The Guncle Abroad”. His fiction has been published in twenty languages. Originally from Portland, Maine, he is a graduate of Emerson College and currently resides in Palm Springs with his husband, the writer Byron Lane, and two rescue dogs.
About CeCe Moore
Profiled by the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine and the UK Sunday Times, CeCe’s groundbreaking work has been featured widely in thousands of articles and hundreds of television shows throughout the world, promoting public awareness and support of investigative genetic genealogy as a powerful tool with positive societal impact. In addition to “Finding Your Roots”, Ms. Moore also starred in the ABC television show “The Genetic Detective” which followed her as she used her unique research skills to transform the face of crime solving.
Parabon and CeCe Moore forged an unbeatable team, combining Parabon’s exclusive DNA Phenotyping, Kinship Inference and genotyping capabilities, with CeCe Moore’s brilliant Genetic Genealogy model revolutionizing law enforcement efficacy in identifying and capturing a record number of perpetrators of violent crimes at a speed and accuracy entirely without equal in the field.
CeCe Moore’s unique Genetic Genealogy model was first to pioneer autosomal genetic genealogy. Her decade long full-time experience working with tens of thousands of unknown parentage cases proved to be a perfect fit for law enforcement applications. Equally unique is her vast experience working cases involving a wide variety of ethnicities, all coming into play to deliver unparalleled results when applied to law enforcement.
Using deep data mining and advanced machine learning algorithms in a specialized bioinformatics pipeline, Parabon — with funding support from the US Department of Defense (DoD) — developed the Snapshot Forensic DNA Phenotyping System, which accurately predicts genetic ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, and face shape in individuals from any ethnic background, even individuals with mixed ancestry. Each phenotype prediction is made with a measure of confidence, including those that can be excluded with high confidence.
CeCe Moore’s Genetic Genealogy model and Parabon’s proprietary Snapshot Forensic DNA Phenotyping System in close collaboration with Law Enforcement, has produced a record number of perpetrator identifications, convictions and exonerations without equal anywhere.
About The Friends of the Palm Springs Library
The mission of The Friends of the Palm Springs Library is to support the Library in providing world-class service to the community and by advocating for funding, gifts, and memorials. The Friends of the Palm Springs Library acts as the link between the Library, the community, and its elected officials. It supports programs that encourage reading, culture, and the arts as well as volunteer-based activities to support the greater community. The Friends present the Palm Springs Speaks speaker series as a fundraising vehicle benefiting the Palm Springs Public Library.
About Palm Springs Speaks
Palm Springs Speaks is an annual speaker series presenting distinguished speakers from the worlds of art and culture, politics, wellness, and entertainment to the Coachella Valley. The series was first organized in 2017 by the Palm Springs Cultural Center and the Friends of the Palm Springs Public Library but has evolved with the Friends of the Palm Springs Library as sole presenting sponsor.
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