[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 85 (Thursday, May 22, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S4790]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO KATHRYN TUCKER WINDHAM

 Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I wish today to honor Kathryn 
Tucker Windham, who is celebrating her 90th birthday on June 5, 2008. 
In Alabama, one of our greatest treasures is our history, which is 
often best learned through the stories told by others. Alabama is lucky 
to have one of the world's best storytellers, Kathryn Tucker Windham, 
who shares her memories and observances of our State's social history 
in a way unlike any other. Kathryn can tell stories about graveyards 
and ghosts, cooking or recipes and the Gee's Bend quilters that provide 
her listener with a unique view into life in the rural South.
  Born in Selma, AL, Mrs. Windham grew up in Thomasville, where she 
began her writing career at the age of 12 working for the Thomasville 
Times, a local weekly newspaper. After receiving her bachelor's degree 
from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL, Kathryn became one of the 
first women to cover the police beat for a major daily newspaper in the 
South at the Alabama Journal. She also worked as a reporter, 
photographer, and State editor for the Birmingham News and as a 
reporter, city editor, State editor, and associate editor for the Selma 
Times-Journal, where she won Associated Press awards for her writing 
and photography.
  Kathryn is also the author of 24 books and is a playwright. She is 
widely recognized for storytelling abilities in classrooms, historical 
meetings, and storytelling events across Alabama. In addition to her 
writing career, Mrs. Windham worked as the community relations 
coordinator for the area agency on aging, which serves 12 rural 
counties in southwest Alabama and promoted statewide war bond drives 
during World War II.
  Mrs. Windham's work in radio brought her a new level of notoriety, as 
she is now a favorite contributor to National Public Radio's program, 
``All Things Considered.'' Her tales about life in the rural South tell 
listeners more about our region than is widely known and have included 
stories about rumors of people who could kill a rattlesnake by 
spitting, a hailstorm in Thomasville that was supposed to have knocked 
the eyes out of goldfish in a pond, or the frog houses Alabama children 
make with cold mud.
  Quoted in a 1999 article for Current magazine, Windham said of her 
storytelling, ``It preserves a part of our Southern history maybe, our 
heritage. We need to know where we came from.'' I could not agree with 
her more. Kathryn Tucker Windham will leave an important legacy as a 
trailblazing female journalist and a chronicler of life in Alabama that 
I greatly admire.
  I join Kathryn's three children, Kathryn Tabb Windham, Amasa Benjamin 
Windham, Jr., and Helen Ann Windham Hilley, and her two grandsons, 
David Wilson Windham and Benjamin Douglas Hilley in wishing Mrs. 
Windham a happy 90th birthday. Mrs. Windham is a special and unique 
lady, and I wish her the very best.

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