About the Author
I was born in Oakland, Mississippi, spent my childhood in Coffeeville, and graduated from high school in Water Valley. My undergraduate degree was from Abilene Christian University and a master’s degree was awarded from the University of Tennessee. Graduate specialist certifications were received from the University of Alabama and the University of North Texas.
After completing my undergraduate degree, I spent six years in full-time church ministry. Afterwards, I pursued graduate studies in sociology in order to teach at the college level.
When I retired in 2012, I was an adjunct instructor in sociology for the University of Memphis, Jackson State Community College, and the University of Tennessee (Martin). During my years of college teaching, I held membership in the American Sociological Association, Southern Sociological Association, Mid-South Sociological Association, and the Tennessee Association for Gerontology/Geriatric Education.
Over my career of nearly 35 years as a university professor, I gave oral presentations at professional conferences, usually based on research for my master’s thesis titled “A Study of the Reisman Typology of Inner-Other-Directedness and Its Relation to the Concept of Civil Religion Among Selected Churches in Knoxville, Tennessee,” and the dissertation titled “Geriatric Mental Health Needs: Issues and Proposals in Service Delivery.”
Professional and scholarly activities during my teaching career included the following: serving as section chair at sociological symposium; resource presenter for the U-T Center for Government Training; conducted pre-retirement seminars for corporations; published articles in journals and lectureships on “The Role of the Church in Aging Ministry”; and published “Knowledge, Insight and Training Skills (KITS) Notes” for mental health hospital staff.
Here are some of the titles of several professional presentations including keynote addresses: “Civil Religion in America”; “Images of Aging in America; Status of the American Family”; “Staying Alive”; “Avoiding Burnout in Social Services”; “Staying Economically Alive in the 1980s”; “Historical Perspective on Aging”; “Getting Even With Getting Older”; “Tribute to Ethel Percy Andrus”; “A Neo-Marxian Perspective of Evolutionary Social Change”; “Stop the World: Let Me Get On”; “Three Gifts: Life, Laughter and Love”; and “Preparing Empty-Nesters to be Golden-Ponders.”
Conducting training workshops for geriatric workers all across Tennessee was a vital part of the mission of various geriatric organizations to which I belonged.
In more recent years, I’ve written feature articles for our local newspaper with each article containing between 2,000 to 3,000 words. Here are some titles:
“Heroes in Our Midst.” (The story of one of the original African American families who lived in “Tent City” after being evicted from a farm for registering to vote.)
“She Hath Done What She Could.” (The story of a 96-year-old African American blind woman who earlier married a blind man and together raised an unwanted child of a relative.)
“Selma: How Many Bridges Must We Cross?” (This article was written after marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on the fiftieth anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.”)
“A. B. Barret Outlived His Life.” (How one man became the founder and first president of Abilene Christian University in 1906 with few resources.)
“Labor Creates All Wealth.” (This was written to honor workers on Labor Day.)
“Staying Alive All Your Life.” (Written for Older Americans Month-May.)
“Depression: An Invader That Twists the Soul.” (Written for Mental Health Awareness Month-May.)
“They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers of the Civil War.”
“Cemetery Oddities.”
“Witnessing the Presidential Inauguration, 2013.”
“Family Duties to the Aging.”
“Remembering Waynell Jones: Master of Country Blues.” (Written to honor the memory of local blues singer during Black History Month.)
Currently, I am writing a series of articles for the local newspaper on therapeutic themes for Tennessee correctional facilities.
