Renaissance Weekend to tackle contemporary issues

Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and other innovative leaders are pouring into the city to attend the 27th year of Renaissance Weekend, a nonpartisan family retreat that began Friday at Charleston Place.

Philip Lader, who founded the weekends in 1981 along with his wife, Linda LeSourd Lader, said the gatherings allow participants to "celebrate civility and discourse."

They're about bridging differences, said Lader, a former U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James and a partner in the Nelson Mullins law firm.

Lader said this year's diverse group of 1,400 highly accomplished individuals will discuss many issues including the economy, international terrorism, scientific breakthroughs and advances in neuroscience and nanotechnology.

"Some presidential candidates may drop in," Lader said, "but none are expected."

Over the years, he said, 16 presidential candidates — almost equally divided between Republicans and Democrats — have attended the gatherings.

Among this year's attendees are: Nobel laureates Peter Agre and Bill Phillips; eight current and former members of Congress; and astronauts Charles Bolden, Larry Young, Mark Kelly and Edgar Mitchell.

The gatherings promote an intelligent, nonpartisan exchange of ideas out of the media spotlight, Lader said.

In contemporary life, he said, "there's an argument culture that substitutes volume for substance."

The weekends, he said are designed to create "more light than heat."

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.