Presidential Diarist and Author Janis F Kearney
Presidential diarist and author Janis F. Kearney will speak at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 9, 2013, at Southern Arkansas University’s Reynolds Center Foundation Hall. The public is invited to attend.
Kearney will speak about the civil rights leader Daisy Bates’ life growing up in Huttig, a small town in Union County, and about her contributions to Arkansas and America’s civil rights struggle.
Her presentation will be followed by a panel discussion by four community leaders who will reflect on their personal memories of the civil rights struggle, as well as the progresses made over the last 50 years. Panelists will include Rev. W.C. Tims, a long time educator and school administrator; Gertrude Henderson, owner of Henderson Mortuary for sixty years and retired county extension agent; Ivory Joe McIntyre, president of the Arkansas and Columbia County Vietnam Veterans Associations; and Mr. Claudell Woods, chair of the Department of History, Political Science and Geography at SAU.
Kearney has written several books, and her latest book is entitled Daisy: Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
Kearney is a native Arkansan. Her mother was born and raised in Columbia County. She purchased the Arkansas State Press from Daisy Bates in 1987. The newspaper continued publication from 1988-1998. She went to Washington, D.C., in 1993, during the Clinton Administration. She served as Communications Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration and as Personal Diarist to President Bill Clinton for five years of the Clinton Administration.
She is married to Bob Nash, a native of Texarkana, who served as Undersecretary of the USDA for two years before being appointed as Director of Presidential Personnel for the Clinton White House.
Refreshments will be provided starting at 1:30 p.m. For more information about the event, contact Woods at 870-235-5158 or cwoods@saumag.edu or Writing our World Publishing at 501-372-4815.
