Read Alabama! - 2008

We are excited to announce that Bevill State Community College is now in its fifteenth year of bringing its Read Alabama! The Tradition Continues series to Jasper and Walker County. We have continued to focus on writers with Alabama connections and feel you will be pleased with this year’s lineup:

March 25: Pat Cunningham DeVoto was born and raised in Alabama. She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, former high school history teacher and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. DeVoto writes, “…writing is memory with hindsight – that is, events, real or imagined, placed in the context of my accumulated experience.” DeVoto is the author of several noted works of Alabama literature, including The Summer We Got Saved, My Last Days as Roy Rogers, and Out of the Night That Covers Me. This is DeVoto’s second appearance at Read Alabama and we are proud to have her return as our keynote author

April 1: Pat Morrison is a retired coach from Walker High School and creator of two works: Walker County, Alabama: A Postcard History and Walker County High School Athletics: 1920-2000. Amazon writes “Walker County is a unique place inhabited by a unique people. Characters including George “Goober” Lindsey, Tallulah Bankhead, Sybil Gibson, and Eric “Butterbean” Esch, and communities including Cordova, Carbon Hill, and Day’s Gap and Horse Creek—or as we know them today, Oakman and Dora—have all contributed to the county’s rich history. In this volume of vintage postcard images, readers will learn how the town of Jasper avoided extinction, visit the old Walker County Courthouse that burned six times, and discover which town in Walker County began as Bald Eagle.” Morrison will discuss the heritage of the county and about writing on the subject of that heritage.

April 8: Jimmy Carl Harris was born and raised in Fairfield, Alabama, and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps shortly after high school, fighting in two wars and rising to the rank of Sergeant-Major. While in the Marines, Harris earned two degrees from Chapman College, and then completed his doctorate at the University of Alabama after retiring to near Cullman. With doctorate in hand, Harris served as a faculty member at Southeastern Louisiana University, then put down the gown to concentrate on writing. Harris writes, “…about strong women, weak preachers, and brave Marines.” His award-winning works include Wounds that Bind and Walking Wounded.

April 15: Dr. Steven Rudd will wrap up the Read Alabama 2008 series. Rudd, a neurosurgeon from Sylacauga is both a physician and a lawyer, in addition to becoming a writer with rapidly growing popularity. Writing about forensic criminal justice, Steven Rudd is responsible for the crime novel and cult phenomenon Midnight Red, which introduced forensic psychiatrist Kris Van Zant to her fans. He is the author of another crime novel, The Sooty Man.

Each session will be held in Bevill Hall Auditorium on the Walker College Campus in Jasper, beginning with refreshments at 3:30 p.m. and the author’s presentation at 4:00 p.m.

Please mark your calendars! We look forward to seeing you at Read Alabama!