ANDOVER, Mass. (Aug. 16, 2002) - What does it mean to be American? What about America is worth fighting for or worth dying for? Why have American principles endured for more than 225 years? ABC News anchor Peter Jennings and co-author Todd Brewster will examine these and other questions considered in their new book, In Search of America, during an interfaith service at Phillips Academy's Cochran Chapel, Chapel Avenue, Sunday, Sept. 22, at 11 a.m.

The public is invited to attend the service that will include Christian, Jewish and Muslim readings and music performed by Phillips Academy faculty and students. At noon, following the service, Jennings and Brewster will attend a book-signing event in the Underwood Room, across from Cochran Chapel.

In Search of America considers the American experience and how the vision of the Founding Fathers has played out over time by examining six different arenas of American life: religion, government, business, culture, race and immigration. In preparing the book, Jennings and Brewster traveled to cities, rural towns and suburban enclaves to gather eyewitness accounts that help explain what makes America unique among nations. The story is told through such voices as a Pakistani-American businessman in Dallas who preaches the free market gospel to sell the all-American potato chip to the rest of the world; a fundamentalist Christian nuclear engineer who pushes his local school board to abandon its strict adherence to the teaching of evolution to embrace the "science" of creationism; and an illegal immigrant who longs to embrace the opportunities and responsibilities of freedom, even in the face of arrest and deportation.

A six-part In Search of America companion series is scheduled to air on primetime ABC-TV from Sept. 3-7.

"Over the last year, Americans everywhere have reflected anew on what it means to be an American and what we need to cherish and protect about our country," said Phillips Academy Head of School Barbara Landis Chase. "To this process of reflection, Mr. Jennings and Mr. Brewster bring fresh examples and valuable perspectives. As Andover begins its 225th year educating youth from every quarter, we are proud to make this interfaith celebration and discussion open to the public."