THOUSAND OAKS, CA - Rick Steves, an international travel writer and the host of popular TV and public radio programs, will speak at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and at a breakfast at California Lutheran University in a benefit for KCLU.

“KCLU presents Rick Steves” will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, in the Fred Kavli Theatre. KCLU will host “Breakfast with Rick Steves” from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, in Lundring Events Center on CLU’s Thousand Oaks campus.

The author of more than 50 travel guidebooks, Steves writes and hosts the public television series “Rick Steves’ Europe,” and produces and hosts the public radio show “Travel with Rick Steves,” which airs at noon Saturdays on KCLU. The weekly program is a fun and practical hourlong conversation between listeners and experts designed to make world travel smart, smooth and thoughtful.

Steves’ mission is to make European travel accessible and meaningful for Americans. Since 1973, he has spent four months every year exploring the continent. As an advocate of smart, affordable, perspective-broadening travel, he encourages Americans to travel as “temporary locals.”

He self-published his first book, “Europe Through the Back Door,” in 1980 and has since written country guidebooks, city and regional guides and co-authored “Europe 101: History and Art for Travelers.” His guidebook to Italy is the bestselling international guidebook in the United States. In 1999, he started writing his anecdotal “Postcards from Europe,” recounting his favorite moments from his many years of travel. In 2009, he published “Travel as a Political Act,” a guide on traveling more thoughtfully.

Award-winning National Public Radio affiliate KCLU, a community service of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, serves more than 90,000 listeners on 88.3 FM in Ventura County and on 102.3 FM and 1340 AM in Santa Barbara County.

The Civic Arts Plaza is located at 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. Lundring Events Center is in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center, which is north of Olsen Road between Campus Drive and Mountclef Boulevard.

Tickets for the evening appearance are $24 to $44, plus any applicable service charges. They are available at the Civic Arts Plaza box office and through Ticketmaster.

Tickets for the breakfast are $60 and may be purchased by calling KCLU at 805-493-3900 or visiting http://www.kclu.org.