[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9440]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   REMEMBERING KATHRYN TUCKER WINDHAM

  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, today I wish to pay tribute to Kathryn 
Tucker Windham, who passed away in her home on Sunday, June 12, 2011, 
at the age of 93. Kathryn was a renowned storyteller for whom I had 
deep respect. She enjoyed an accomplished career as an author, 
playwright, photographer and journalist. Kathryn also demonstrated a 
fierce dedication to her community. I mourn her passing.
  Born on June 2, 1918, Kathryn spent the majority of her childhood in 
Thomasville, AL, where she also began her career in writing and 
photography. She graduated from Huntingdon College in Montgomery and 
remained supportive of her alma mater for the duration of her long and 
successful career.
  Kathryn's trailblazing accomplishments include publishing many well-
loved ghost stories and autobiographical memories as well as three 
cookbooks. She was also recognized as the first woman journalist in the 
South to cover a police beat at a major daily newspaper, and she had 
stints at the Alabama Journal, the Birmingham News, the Selma Times-
Journal, the Area Agency on Aging and WUAL radio. Kathryn also wrote 
several plays, including a one-woman show that she, herself, performed. 
She was also a contributor to NPR's ``All Things Considered'' and a 
regular at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, 
Tennessee. Always giving back to her community, Kathryn founded the 
Alabama Tale-Tellin' Festival, which takes place each year in Selma.
  Kathryn's achievements garnered recognition, both in the State of 
Alabama and nationally. She received the Alabama Humanities 
Foundation's Alabama Humanities Award, the University of Alabama's 
Society of Fine Arts' Alabama Arts Award, the National Storytelling 
Association's Circle of Excellence Award and Lifetime Achievement Award 
as well as numerous other distinguished awards and honors throughout 
her lifetime. Additionally, the Alabama Southern Community College in 
Thomasville opened the Kathryn Tucker Windham Museum in her honor.
  I am honored to have known Kathryn and to have enjoyed her great 
works of literature and journalism. She was truly an inspiration to her 
community, the literary world, and the nation. Her legacy will forever 
be preserved through her timeless stories. My thoughts and prayers are 
with her friends and family, especially her children, Dilcy Hilley and 
Ben Windham, as they mourn the loss of this gracious and wonderful 
woman.
  Kathryn cleared a path for women writers and journalists to follow 
after her and should be revered for her bravery, stamina and grace. Her 
life's contributions to the State of Alabama will forever be 
remembered.

                          ____________________