The book's co-editors, Magdalena Beltrán-del Olmo, Frank's wife, and Frank Sotomayor, assistant Minority Editorial Training Program and hiring editor at the Los Angeles Times, will be on hand for the book signing. Distinguished guests will read excerpts from the book, a compilation of 90 columns by del Olmo that offer a historical sweep of some of the most important issues of the last quarter century.

The event will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Presentation Room of the Oviatt Library in the center of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge. CSUN President Jolene Koester and Los Angeles Times editor John Carroll will make brief remarks.

"Frank del Olmo was one of our most distinguished alumni. His writing has in one way or another touched the lives of people from one end of this nation to the other. This event in some small way permits us to honor his memory and his work," said William Toutant, dean of CSUN's College of Arts, Media, and Communication, which is co-hosting the event with the College of Humanities.

Humanities Dean Elizabeth Say agreed.

"Frank touched the lives of so many of our students, and gave them the opportunity to learn more about themselves and the city of Los Angeles. He challenged them to make a difference in their communities," Say said. "He used his influence to do so much for our students. Not too many people come back and give back, but he did, more than most."

Beltrán-del Olmo, vice president of communications for Woodland Hills-based The California Wellness Foundation and Northridge alum, said she and her late husband were "fiercely proud" of being graduates of Cal State Northridge.

"Bringing a celebration like this one to the campus, in the San Fernando Valley, makes me and my family so very proud and excited to share with the world the amazing legacy he left in journalism and for the city," she said.

Beltrán-del Olmo said the Northridge event is the first in a series planned for select college campuses throughout Southern California.

"It's just so appropriate," she said. "For us, the university is symbolic of not only excellence, but also access to higher education for working class people. Frank and I both come from working class roots. Frank grew up in Pacoima, and the university really did give us an opportunity to succeed to a level where we in turn could help people with our work. The university's commitment to reaching out to the community and the underserved really meant that this was the place to begin the college tour."

For more information about the book signing or to make a reservation, call (818) 677-5473.

Del Olmo was the university's top graduate in 1970, served as a lecturer in CSUN's Chicano Studies Department and spent nearly his entire journalism career with the Times. He was 55 when he died from a heart attack in February. He had served as associate editor of the Times since 1998, and was the first Latino promoted to the Times' masthead of top editors. In 1984, del Olmo shared a Pulitzer Prize for a series on Southern California's Latino community.

A winner of a Northridge 1999 Distinguished Alumni Award, del Olmo wrote columns that made him a highly respected "voice for Latinos in Southern California, delving into a multitude of issues affecting that community." He won an Emmy for his work on a 1975 KNBC documentary called "The Unwanted," which dealt with illegal immigration.

Del Olmo played key roles in the formation of the California Chicano News Media Association as well as the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. He was widely recognized for his efforts to improve news coverage of the nation's Latino community and for bringing more Latinos and other underrepresented groups into journalism. He also worked on international journalism issues as a board member of the Committee to Protect Journalists, and his columns often appeared in Mexican and Latin American newspapers.

The 90 commentaries in the book--culled from the almost 450 columns del Olmo authored--are grouped into 10 themed chapters covering politics, Mexico and Central America, Latino California, unions and the grass roots, journalism and mass media, education, sports, immigration, law enforcement and the military, and his son Frankie's journey with autism. All 10 columns about autism appear in the book.