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At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 21, author Michael Hirsh, whose newest novel focuses on the sex trafficking of young girls in Southwest Florida, will be the guest speaker at the pro- gram of the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism (CHJ) in Sarasota. Hirsh spent over a year researching and writ- ing his latest work, discovering early on that most people are under the impression that the girls used in sex trafficking are brought here from foreign countries, while the fact is the vast majority of those forced into prostitution are Americans, a news release points out. "The FBI's best estimate is that between 100,000 and 300,000 girls are being trafficked in this country at any one time," the release adds. "We need to learn how to recognize it, and what to do to help rescue girls and boys who are being held against their will," the release says. Hirsh, a member of CHJ, is a lifelong jour- nalist. He has produced documentaries and specials for ABC, CBS, PBS and HBO, win- ning the Peabody Award and multiple Emmys in the process, the release notes. He also "had a long association with the folks who created M*A*S*H," the release continues. Hirsh has written six nonfiction books, including The New York Times best-seller, Terri — the Truth, which he co-authored with Michael Schiavo, the release adds. The program is free for CHJ members; for non-members, the cost is $5. CHJ meets at Unity, located at 3023 Proctor Road in Sarasota. For more information, call 929-7771 or visit chj-sarasota.org. % SEX TRAFFICKING IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA TO BE TOPIC OF PROGRAM Michael Hirsh/Contributed photo For the best viewing experience on a computer click the icon in the menubar to zoom to fullscreen mode. QUICK TIP Sarasota News Leader March 14, 2014 Page 124