Black Belt Treasures of Camden, Alabama (Courtney's hometown) is donating a
SIGNED COPY
of
by the late Kathryn Tucker Windham
Kathryn Tucker Windham was a pioneering female journalist in the South. By the close of the Civil Rights era, her hometown Selma, Alabama, newspaper had been taken over by corporate owners, and she sensed it was time to move on. She launched a new career as part social worker, part roving documentarian--photographing and writing about the people and places that fascinated her. When the national storytelling phenomenon took hold in the 1970s, she became a significant part of it. Then came a stint as essayist on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. She also wrote and performed a one-woman play, and served as consultant to public broadcasting. She is one of Alabama's best-known citizens, widely honored--yet she still keeps a busy schedule of public appearances, continuing to write, photograph, and tell stories. Seeking to put her worldly house in order, the nine autobiographical essays in this volume help tidy up the facts and folklore in her professional attic. In sum, Twice Blessed is an intimate visit with a generous spirit.
Kathryn Tucker Windham was a pioneering female journalist in the South. By the close of the Civil Rights era, her hometown Selma, Alabama, newspaper had been taken over by corporate owners, and she sensed it was time to move on. She launched a new career as part social worker, part roving documentarian--photographing and writing about the people and places that fascinated her. When the national storytelling phenomenon took hold in the 1970s, she became a significant part of it. Then came a stint as essayist on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. She also wrote and performed a one-woman play, and served as consultant to public broadcasting. She is one of Alabama's best-known citizens, widely honored--yet she still keeps a busy schedule of public appearances, continuing to write, photograph, and tell stories. Seeking to put her worldly house in order, the nine autobiographical essays in this volume help tidy up the facts and folklore in her professional attic. In sum, Twice Blessed is an intimate visit with a generous spirit.
"I think we need to be put back in touch with our childhood...to be reminded of what's important, like memories about people we loved, or things that happened to us that affected our lives, things we can laugh about and shed a few tears about... I think storytelling is a way of saying 'I love you. I love you enough to tell you something that means a great deal to me.' "
-- Kathryn Tucker Windham
Kathryn Tucker Windham (June 2, 1918 – June 12, 2011)[1] was an American storyteller, author, photographer, and journalist. She was born in Selma, Alabama and was raised in nearby Thomasville.
Windham got her first writing job at the age of 12, reviewing movies for her cousin's small town newspaper, The Thomasville Times. She earned a B.A. degree from Huntingdon College in 1939.[2] Soon after graduating she became a reporter for the Alabama Journal. Starting in 1944 she worked for The Birmingham News. In 1946 she married Amasa Benjamin Windham with whom she had three children. In 1956 she went to work at the Selma Times-Journal where she won several Associated Press awards for her writing and photography. A collection of her photographs is on display at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. She died on June 12, 2011. The 2004 documentary film, Kathryn: The Story of a Teller, directed by Norton Dill, chronicles Windham's life and varied careers. (From Wikipedia)
This marvelous Alabama storyteller & writer passed away last weekend (June 12) at the age of 93.
She is one of the great personal influences in our own Courtney's journey through writing.
Yesterday Courtney blogged HERE about this great loss to the writing community.
