Meals and Reception

Tennessee History Book Award Winner Paul K. Conklin received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. He is the recipient of the Albert J. Beveridge Award, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, a Senior Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a University Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has served as President of the Southern Historical Association.

Dr. Conklin was Chair of the Department of History at Vanderbilt University from 1984 - 1987 and is currently Distinguished Research Professor of History at Vanderbilt. He is the author of a number of books including his most recent, A Requiem for the American Village (New York: Roman & Littlefield, 2000).

Tennessee History Book Award Winner Walter Durham, Gallatin businessman and award-winning writer, has written extensively on Tennessee history subjects. Three of his most popular books are about the Civil War: Rebellion Revisited, Nashville The Occupied City, and Reluctant Partners--Nashville and the Union. His latest book is Volunteer Forty-Niners, Tennesseans and the California Gold Rush. Durham is a past president of the Sumner County Historical Society and the Tennessee Historical Society, as well as a former chair of the Tennessee Historical Commission.

Tennessee History Book Award Winner Ridley Wills is a resident of Williamson County and retired Senior Vice-President of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company. He is a local historian and adjunct teacher of history of Nashville at Montgomery Bell Academy where he recently served on the Academy's Board. He is an active author and community service volunteer whose most recent book is Belle Meade Country Club: The First 100 Years. His other works include a number of articles, booklets, chapters in books, as well as books including, Old Enough to Die: The Letters and Experience of a Confederate Family from Tennessee (1996); Touring Tennessee: A Postcard Panorama, 1898-1955 (1996); and Tennessee Governors at Home (1999).

Michael Shoulders attended the Governor's Academy for Teachers of Writing in 1995, was bitten by the writing bug, and has written for publication ever since! As a Title I Supervisor for Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools, he provides assistance in reading and math programs to economically disadvantaged schools. Mr. Shoulders also provides inservice training to teachers, and shares teaching techniques with colleagues in the school system. He has served as Chair of the Tennessee Supervisors' Study Council, distributing new educational information to school supervisors throughout Tennessee. He is currently a doctoral candidate at Tennessee State University.

Marylaine Block is a former librarian who parlayed her web site, Best Information on the Net, into a career as an internet trainer, and her free online column, My Word's Worth, into a career writing columns, magazine articles and a book. She is a writer, internet trainer and librarian without walls. She writes two weekly e-zines to serve the library community: Neat New Stuff I Found This Week, which reviews reference-quality internet sites, and ExLibris, where she talks about such issues as censorship, information, search1ing, and library website design.

Donna Paz and Mark Kaufman are trainers and consultants in the book industry, offering fresh insights to help improve marketing effectiveness and visual appeal. Their group, Paz & Associates, helps librarians and booksellers integrate creativity and promotional efforts with merchandising and design so that patrons and customers respond with "What a great place!"

Since completing degrees at Peabody/Vanderbilt and Georgetown University, Ms. Meyers has taught and worked as a writer, editor, and administrator. She has spent the last six years uncovering and celebrating the many ways food links women in families--especially mothers and daughters. She lives in Minnesota, where she is professor of literature and language at Metropolitan State University and an avid gardener.

Edwin S. Clay, III, has been Director of the Fairfax County Public Library since 1982. In this position, he manages all aspects of the 21-branch system. Mr. Clay has been recognized for his leadership with one of Fairfax County, Virginia's top distinctions: a Managerial Excellence Award. Only one other County agency director has received the award since its inception in 1995.

Mr. Clay is active in a variety of professional and civic groups and has received numerous honors and recognitions, including the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of North Carolina in May of 1996.

Mary Pankiewicz is a professional organizer and owner of her own business, Clutter-free & Organized. She regularly helps people gain back the feeling of control and well being in their lives by helping them become "Clutter-free & Organized". Ms. Pankiewicz is a member of the National Speakers Association, teaches classes at ETSU and UT, and has been quoted in Women's Day and the Wall Street Journal. She regularly appears on a segment on Knoxville's Channel 10 morning show.

Tennessean Norris Hall is one of the Nashville area's most commissioned artists, featuring whimsical characters in the form of animals and other images which have been displayed in galleries, museums and shops from coast to coast. Hall has completed a number of public and private commissioned pieces, among which includes a project for EuroDisneyland in Paris where Hall designed and painted three 25 foot "Nashville Cats" sculptures that were installed atop Thunder Mountain roller coaster ride. Also, Hall was commissioned by the state of Tennessee to design two new automobile license plates. The proceeds from the sale of the "Art Tags" will benefit Tennessee arts programs. He was voted "Best Visual Artist" in the Nashville Scene readers poll, and "#1 Artist" by the readers poll in Murfreesboro Magazine

Dana Moore is Director of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. This program was started by Dolly in her native Sevier County, Tennessee, to provide every preschool child with a home library that would encourage them to love reading and books at an early age. Dana is a native of Bristol, Tennessee, and at age 22 was the youngest woman ever elected to the Tennessee State Legislature. She has been in the field of marketing and business development in Nashville for 15 years until last year, when she joined Dolly to help her take the Imagination Library to all communities that want to provide this important gift for children.

Thomas J. Hennen Jr. has been a practicing librarian for over 25 years. He is presently the Director of Waukesha County Federated Library System in Wisconsin. The Hennen's American Public Library Ratings have gained media notice in scores of communities since their first publication in American Libraries magazine in January of 1999. The series of articles proved so popular that American Libraries took the unusual step of posting them in their entirety on their web site. Hennen has addressed professional library associations in a dozen U.S. states and in several Canadian Provinces during his career.