Former United States Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey will appear in Point Reyes Station next week for a conversation with Inverness journalist and historian Mark Dowie, a benefit for the activist group West Marin Standing Together. The pair will discuss the contemporary political climate in Washington, D.C. “I see this really as a conversation and I won’t behave like a journalist trying to grind her down,” Mr. Dowie said. “She’s not in politics anymore. She’s respectable and retired, and one of the greats.” Bing Gong, the event’s organizer, said he’s curious to learn about Ms. Woolsey’s outlook and how it can help the group. “We’d like to get her take on how she sees things happening,” he said. “She was in the belly of the beast for 20 years and might have a unique perspective for what we should be doing.” He said funds raised at the event, which takes place on April 23 at the Dance Palace, could be used to coordinate a bus for future protests. Ms. Woolsey’s two-decade term as the representative of California’s Sixth Congressional District began in 1993, and the former Petaluma city council member had a reputation as a staunch liberal Democrat. (“She’ll be in very friendly territory here,” Mr. Dowie said.) Ms. Woolsey served on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce as well as the Science, Space, and Technology committee. In West Marin, Ms. Woolsey is remembered for her help halting the killing of non-native deer in the Point Reyes National Seashore, signing a letter along with other politicians requesting a moratorium on the program. She was also the primary sponsor behind the 2011 renaming of the Inverness post office as the “Specialist Jake Robert Velloza Post Office,” after the Inverness native who died in Iraq in 2009, at age 22. Mr. Dowie is the former publisher and editor of Mother Jones magazine and taught at the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He’s authored multiple investigative books, including  “Conservation Refugees: The Hundred-Year Conflict between Global Conservation and Native Peoples,” published in 2009. He has conducted conversations with environmentalist David Brower and poet Margaret Atwood, for City Arts & Lectures. “I like to do it and, I have to admit, I like to have stimulating conversations in front of an audience,” Mr. Dowie said. “And I’ve seen Lynn in action: I won’t have to do a lot to start a stimulating conversation.” Lynn Woolsey speaks with Mark Dowie at 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 23 at the Dance Palace, in Point Reyes Station. Tickets are $15 at the door, and donations are welcome.