2009 Chattahoochee Valley Writers' Conference Steering Committee

Dr. Thornton F. Jordan, Honorary Chair

Thornton Jordan (Ph.D., Indiana University) taught American Literature at Columbus State University from 1971-1994. He served for thirty years on the Board of Historic Westville, Inc., a pre-1850 living history town in Lumpkin, GA, where he established the annual competitions for dulcimer and fiddle and researched and restored five antebellum flower gardens. He serves on the Collections Committee of the Board of the Columbus Museum. He donated the Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians to CSU.

John Frandsen, CVWC Coordinator

John is a retired research scientist, professor, and Army officer. A past president of the Alabama Writers' Conclave, John has written two as yet unpublished novels and a number of short stories. "It was while I was serving as leader of the Columbus Chapter of the Georgia Writers' Association that I became aware of the rich- ness and diversity of the Chattahoochee Valley's writing community and became convinced that this community deserves the benefits of hosting a first-rate writers' conference."

Henry McCoy, Program Coordinator, Columbus Public Library

Henry began his career with The Alliance Theatre in entertainment production. With extensive experience in educational programming as well, Henry joined the Chattahoochee Valley Regional Library System (CVRLS) in July 2007 as Program Manager and, as such, develops and coordinates programming for the nine libraries within the System. He is an Emmy Award winning producer of educational television; he helped to create and develop dozens of multi-platform media programs for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He has also been involved in entertainment production for Walt Disney World, helping to produce shows such as their annual New Year’s Eve spectaculars, Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance at Disney”, among others. Henry’s experienced also includes the administration of a successful collegiate conference program at Longwood University in Virginia.

KENNETH CROOKS, Community Relations/OneColumbus Liaison

Ken came to Columbus in 1990 to serve as President and CEO of the local Urban League. He currently serves as Executive Director of One Columbus, a community service organization committed to creating unity and respect within the diverse cultures that exist in the Chattahoochee Valley. Crooks admits he has a kinship with the members and friends of the Inaugural CVWC because of the causes, activities and efforts in which he has been involved.

JOANNE MIDDLEBROOKS, Community Relations

Jo began writing fiction and poetry in 1996 when she left her position as Resident Costumer at Georgia's Historic State Theatre, the Springer Opera House in Columbus GA. Jo credits her growth as a writer to contact with the talented writers in the Chattahoochee Valley.

Her poem, Digging up Jimmy Hoffa, was recently published in the Georgia Poetry Society 2008 edition of The Reach of Song. Her Poem, A Dream of Spring, was published in the Alabama State Poetry Society 2008 edition of The Sampler.

Jo is presently working on a novel, Miss Alma Gets Her Hair Done, for publication by Portals Press in New Orleans, Louisiana.

RON SELF, Fund-Raising

Ron is a Columbus lawyer/musician and teaches part-time in the D. A. Turner College of Business at Columbus State University. He hosts an open mic poetry reading at the Columbus Public Library the first Thursday of every month. He is currently president of the Georgia Poetry Society, and his poems have appeared in Atlanta Review, The English Journal, and several state and local anthologies.

Andy Waddell, Fund-Raising and Logistics

Andy is a Columbus native who wants to give back to the community in which he grew up. He graduated Georgia Tech and was a National Merit Scholar. Before being lured away by the excitement of selling batteries, he worked in the aerospace industry. Andy recently completed a memoir and began writing a novel.

Nancy Moore, Fund-Raising; Columbus State University Liaison

Nancy received her doctorate from Georgia State University in Modern American Literature with a concentration in Southern Literature (also known as Literature of the American South). There she studied under Dr. Virginia Spencer Carr, past CSU faculty member and author of The Lonely Hunter, biography of Carson McCullers.

It was through this relationship that Dr. Moore’s major scholarly interest began. She is a student of the works and life of playwright, Tennessee Williams, and his relationship to other writers such as Carson McCullers and Paul Bowles.

Although Dr. Moore continues to study and teach American writers and publications, she is currently collaborating with Art graduate student, Michelle Masters, on a children’s book about diversity which should be published by fall, 2006.

ELSIE M. AUSTIN, Treasurer; Registrar

Elsie is a retired church musician, bookkeeper, and homeless shelter crisis clerk who paints watercolors and oils and writes screenplays, novels, short stories and some poetry. She has two screenplays, “Shoebox Angel” and an adaptation of Annie Jones Wright’s book, “Raising Dead Issues.” A favorite annual event for her is the November National Novel Writing Month online which she has completed for the past two years. “I’ve always been an observer and listener and dialects fascinate me. I’ve attended screenplay workshops in Providence, RI, Concord, Mass., Miami, Orlando, Winter Park, Mt. Dora, FL, and Raleigh, NC. I’m happy to share, for free, the cardinal rules of writing that I have learned: 1. Keep your derriere in the chair. 2. Get over yourself. Your words aren’t golden, initially. 3. It’s 2 percent inspiration and 98 percent perspiration and re-write is the name of the game,” says Elsie. And, her personal observation---don’t wait until you’re older than dirt to finally write, the way she has. Do it now! The genesis of this conference occurred in a 2005 Georgia Writers’ meeting, of which she has been a member since its Columbus chapter formation in 1998, and grew from there. She is happy to be a small part of such a wonderful endeavor to honor the rich heritage of Columbus writers.

Debbie B. Morris, Publicity Team Chair

Debbie came to Columbus in 2005 from Springfield Missouri, where as substitute teacher, she worked with children from all grade levels. Previous to her life in Missouri, she grew up in North Carolina where she worked with the North Carolina Department of Social Services and as the Head Costume Designer for an outdoor drama. A mom and grandmom first and foremost, Debbie is also a writer of short stories.

DON L WILLIAMS, Website Design and Maintenance

Don came to Columbus in 1994. He is a retired Naval Officer and currently works as a technical manager for a local company. Don is also a singer/songwriter and musician. He doesn't claim to be a "writer", although he usually has an article in the in the local monthly entertainment newspaper "Playgrounds", and has sucessfully completed his first attempt in the November National Novel Writing Month online. Don holds an Associate degree in Computer Science and a Bachelors in Engineering.

Alice Martin, Youth Writing Contest Coordinator

Alice retired in June of 2006 after 36 years of teaching, the last 21 of which were spent at Fort Benning schools. At Benning she taught English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in the elementary and middle schools. She also taught at Columbus State University in the Summer Language Institute with students of all ages from our sister city, Kiryu, Japan. During Alice's career she has experienced students from ages 4 to 72 from 48 countries and from 16 different languages. Alice's teaching includes adult GED prep courses, literature, language arts, reading instructional support, and computer courses. She developed, directed, and wrote the curriculum for an after-school ESOL program.

Alice has been writing for many years - mostly non-fiction, which includes political essays  posted on blogs. She writes and presents song and poem parodies, geared to specific people upon their retirement or as a greeting to welcome newcomers, as well as presentations for faculties and Department of Defense manuals. Currently, she and a friend are working on a fiction book based on a well-documented, though unfamiliar historical event for middle school students.

Alice says, "I am a hard worker, a quick learner, and willing to do whatever needs to be done, within my talent parameters. I look forward to working with the committee to make next year's workshop even better than this year's wonderful event."

James D. Cummins, Adult Writing Contest Coordinator and Historian

Jim is a retired electronics engineer, who has written three mystery novels under the pen name of James Dona. He has also written a dozen short stories, and over sixty memoirs. He is a volunteer teacher of Memoir Writing and of English as a Second Language.

Jim is a long-time member of Georgia Writers Association, and served one term as a member of the GWA Board.

Jim's website, www.jamesdona.com, displays some of his stories.

  Rachel Williams, Hospitality

Rachael Williams teaches English Composition at Columbus State University and is an alumna of the University of Georgia (AB 1996, MA 1998). In 2007, her article "The Imaginary South of Country-Western Music" was published in Postscript, and she is currently at work on a book on west central Georgia's country music scene in the late 1970s.

This page updated 9 September  2008.