2008 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 A past president of the Alabama Writers' Conclave, John has written two as yet unpublished novels and a number of short stories.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."

Claudya Muller, Director, Columbus Public Library

Claudya, an Army brat who grew up moving among bases in Europe and eastern US, graduated with a degree in History from Georgia Southern and a master’s degree in Library Science from Emory University. She served as a library director in West Virginia, Maryland, Long Island, Ohio and Michigan and as State Librarian of Iowa for three years. Claudya has been in Columbus since 2001 and finds this a gratifying community in which to serve.

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. "Theatrical Costumers," Jo says, "don't quit or retire. They burn out." Her interest in the writing craft developed from her theatrical experience, reading scripts, researching periods, and costuming to enhance a character's development. Jo's character/place driven stories draw heavily on characters that live along the banks of the Chattahoochee River. Her yet to be published novel, Stepin' On the Cracks, is a tale of rural folks coming to the city to work in the cotton mill after the land has played out and bringing with them the old passed down family stories and superstitions. The mixture of superstition and mill work result in a unique psychology in the mill village. As Jo's character, Granny White, says in the book, "The same ol', same ol' of mill work can make some folks act right strange." Jo credits her growth as a writer to her contact with the talented writers in the Chattahoochee Valley. Her involvement with the Chattahoochee Valley Writers' Conference is driven by the knowledge that writers drinking from the old "Hooch" seem to have a deeper understanding of the craft than can be acquired up stream

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, Treasurer; 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, 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.

Linda Farmer Ames, Website Design/Graphics, Publicity

Linda is a South Dakota native and Army brat, but claims GA as home. After several years as a federal civil servant, she began a second career at West Central Georgia Regional Hospital. Initially, she served as a unit secretary and eventually became the hospital’s Librarian. Five years before retirement, she moved into Information Services, serving as Editor of the hospital’s monthly newsletter, as well as facilitating team building and providing technical expertise in the production of annual reports, strategic planning activities, and performance improvement teams. She retired in 2005. Since retirement, she has volunteered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, providing facilitation for peer groups. She has served as Editor of the Georgia Poetry Society Newsletter; she is a member of several writers groups. This past year, she dedicated herself to the growing of the CVWC, wanting to provide recognition for her community and for the many creative and talented people within the Chattahoochee Valley. Linda is currently working on three novels and writes poetry. She is a mom, a grandmom, and a great-grandmom.

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

This page updated June 9, 2008.