Kathryn Tucker Windham

Kathryn Tucker Windham
Windham on her balcony in Selma in 2007
Windham on her balcony in Selma in 2007
BornKathryn Tucker
(1918-06-02)June 2, 1918
Selma, Alabama
DiedJune 12, 2011(2011-06-12) (aged 93)
Selma, Alabama
OccupationJournalist, short story writer, storyteller, photographer
NationalityAmerican
SubjectFiction, non-fiction

Kathryn Tucker Windham (née Tucker, June 2, 1918 – June 12, 2011) was an American storyteller, author, photographer, folklorist, and journalist. She was born in Selma, Alabama, and grew up in nearby Thomasville.[1][2][3]

Tucker 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.[4] Soon after graduating she became the first woman journalist for the Alabama Journal.[5] 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. She died on June 12, 2011, ten days after her 93rd birthday.[2][3] She was a longtime friend of artist Nall, who introduced her works to the art world at large.[6]

  1. ^ "Alabama legend Kathryn Tucker Windham dies". Montgomery Advertiser.
  2. ^ a b Frances Osborn Robb (June 30, 2008). "Kathryn Tucker Windham". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Auburn University. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  3. ^ a b Dennis Hevesi (June 15, 2008). "Kathryn T. Windham, a Storyteller of the South, Dies at 93". New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  4. ^ "Alabama Academy of Honor: Kathryn Tucker Windham". State of Alabama. March 15, 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-05-28. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  5. ^ "Four Distinguished Communication Leaders to be Inducted into C&IS Hall of Fame at UA". UA News. University of Alabama. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  6. ^ "The artist known simply as Nall".