Edwards to appear without wife

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards won't be accompanied by his wife in his first public appearance since admitting to having an affair.

Edwards is to make his first public appearance since the ABC confessional interview at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., next week, The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer reported Sunday.

The newspaper said initially John and Elizabeth Edwards were to make a joint appearance at the Sept. 8 kickoff of the university's Educate '08 speaker series. The school is host to a presidential debate in mid-October.

Hofstra said Friday the former North Carolina senator would be appearing alone.

Since admitting he had an affair with videographer Rielle Hunter, Edwards has spent some time on Figure Eight, the private island near Wilmington, N.C., where he and his wife have a home.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Edwards has been at the couple's home outside Chapel Hill, N.C.

A day after her husband's announcement, she wrote on the Daily Kos that she needed privacy to deal with the situation. She said her husband was an "imperfect man who had come to face his own imperfections."