Langley’s Whidbey Island Center for the Arts is once again presenting “Conversations on the State of American Politics.”

Veteran journalist and correspondent for CBS News, Bill Plante is this year’s speaker for the May 6 evening event, which has sold out in past years.

During his 52 years at CBS News, Plante reported from Washington, Saigon, Moscow, Berlin, Phnom Penh, and the American South during the voting rights marches of the mid-1960s. He covered the White House through the tenures of nine presidents and served several tours in Vietnam during the war.

Plante anchored the CBS Sunday Night News for seven years.

“Bill Plante is integrity wrapped in talent wrapped in grace,’’ Scott Pelley, current CBS anchor, said in a press release.

Plante will be interviewed on stage by Whidbey’s Robert Merry, who first met Plante when they covered the White House together in the 1980s.

Merry has presented numerous “Conversations” the past several years.

Merry spent 30 years in Washington D.C. as a journalist covering primarily politics, the economy and foreign policy for a plethora of publications including Dow Jones, National Observer and The Wall Street Journal.

In past events, he has sat down with PBS NewsHour analyst Mark Shields, associate editor of The Washington Post David Ignatius and Robby Robinson, head of The Boston Globe’s spotlight investigative team that revealed the decades-old sexual abuse and cover-up within the Catholic Church.

Limited seating is still available. All Seats $25. Piano Bar opens one hour before performance.

For tickets: Available at the WICA Box Office, call (360) 221-8268 or online at www.tickets.wicaonline.org