[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 3, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S4965]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO KATHRYN TUCKER WINDHAM

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, today I ask that my colleagues 
join me in celebrating the 90th birthday of one of America's and 
Alabama's most talented and acclaimed residents, Ms. Kathryn Tucker 
Windham. Ms. Windham is a beloved storyteller, author, playwright, 
photographer, television and radio personality and, most importantly, a 
woman of faith, integrity, grace and high ideals.
  This smalltown girl has written larger than life tales including 
``Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffery'', along with many other 
historically based ghost-stories that involve smalltown urban legends 
in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi. She has also written 
works like ``Twice Blessed'', ``GRITS'' and ``Alabama, One Big Front 
Porch'', which reveal the rich joys of Alabama living.
  She grew up in Thomasville, AL, not too far from my rural home and 
not too far from another notable Alabama writer--Harper Lee. Her 
capacity for storytelling and writing started early, as a news 
reporter. But she did not stop there allowing her natural talent and 
inclinations to lead her to a higher plane of national renown. It is 
always inspirational to see a real person, an individual American, 
follow their own calling and achieve success.
  Ms. Windham represents the highest values of our State and region. 
This is so because she was raised right, studied hard, thought deeply, 
and was committed to a life that enriches others. A graduate of my alma 
mater, Huntingdon College, she followed its admonition, ``Enter to grow 
in wisdom; go forth to apply wisdom in service.''
  I have known her and her son Ben for many years. I am so in awe of 
her. Not just for her noteworthy achievements, but because of the 
content of her character. She is an entertaining storyteller for sure, 
but she is a truth teller also. Her works reflect with truth the nature 
of the human condition. In them, she displays a love for all persons 
that reflects well on her rich heritage of religious faith.
  She, from a lifetime of experience and insight, has been a leader in 
racial reconciliation in her home area. Persons of her integrity and 
stature can make a positive difference and she has. She supports good 
causes, knows in remarkable detail the history of the smallest 
communities in our State, and knows the importance of simply 
remembering. She loves children, capturing them with tall tales while 
stressing education and personal character.
  Her wonderful southern accent is well remembered on NPR's ``All 
Things Considered'' and her commentaries are still heard on Alabama 
Public Radio.
  I applaud her on her many achievements, and I am thankful to have 
such a beacon of literary excellence shining from Alabama. She is 
highly recognized for her achievements by the whole State and around 
the world and was one of the 13 artists chosen to represent the State 
by the Alabama State Council for the Arts at Alabama in France and 
Monaco in 2000. She was also honored in 2003 with the establishment of 
the Kathryn Tucker Windham Museum at Alabama Southern College.
  Fellow Alabama author Harper Lee, author of ``To Kill a 
Mockingbird'', which is set in Monroeville not far from Thomasville, 
nominated Ms. Windham to the Alabama Academy of Honor in 2003. Some of 
her other accolades include: Alabama Humanities Award in 2000, the 
Governor's Award for the Arts, the National Storytelling Association's 
Circle of Excellence Award and Lifetime Achievement Award, the 
University of Alabama's Society of Fine Arts' Alabama Award, the Selma 
Rotary Club's Citizen of the Year, and she was inducted into the 
University of Alabama College of Communications Hall of Fame.
  In true poetic form, I think, Ms. Windham sums up her insights in her 
book ``Alabama, One Big Front Porch'':

       Alabama, they say, is like one big front porch where folks 
     gather on summer nights to tell tales and to talk family. The 
     stories they tell are all alike in their Southern blend of 
     exaggeration, humor, pathos, folklore and romanticism. Family 
     history is woven into the stories. And pride. And humor. 
     Always humor.

  I know I speak for all Alabamians and all Americans when I express my 
gratitude for your eloquence, your literary achievements, and your 
humanity, and say, ``Happy Birthday Kathryn Tucker Windham!''
  In closing, I would like to leave the Senate with a few of her words 
that truly embody the spirit of her work and life:

       I think we need to be put back in touch with our childhood 
     . . . to be reminded of what's important, like memories about 
     people we loved, or things that happened to us that affected 
     our lives, things we can laugh about and shed a few tears 
     about . . . I think storytelling is a way of saying ``I love 
     you. I love you enough to tell you something that means a 
     great deal to me.''

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