Join us Friday, November 22nd @ 6pm for a reading with journalist Georgiana Vines for her new book East Tennessee History Makers: Where Are They Now? She will be joined in conversation by John North, Senior Investigative Journalist at WBIR. 

About the Book

The Sunsphere, World’s Fair Site, and Neyland Stadium are Knoxville landmarks of pride and passion, history and culture. But anyone who has resided in this mid-sized southern city knows that it derives its unique glow not so much from its locale but from its people— the ones who built it and stayed true to it over the years.

In East Tennessee Newsmakers, Georgiana Vines pays tribute to some remarkable individuals and their contributions to Knoxville and the history, civic and cultural life, and politics of East Tennessee. Some personalities linked with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are part of the blend. While many of these profiles celebrate personal achievement and local renown, the true narrative is found in the tapestry as a whole.

Presenting the narrative in five parts—Political Notes, UT Spotlights, Media Sparks, Park Personalities, and About Town—Vines prefaces the stories with insight into her inspiration for the collection, discussing her career in journalism and how a Knoxville News Sentinel features series bloomed into the present book-length work on notable and interconnected Knoxvillians and other East Tennesseans. From political figures like Jimmy Duncan and Tipper Gore to well-known local personalities, including Sam Beall and Mary Lynn Majors, their stories and many more have here been updated and expanded into an impressively researched, entertaining, and valuable history of the colorful and dynamic city of Knoxville and the people who have made it so.

About the Presenters

Over the course of her fifty-year career in journalism, GEORGIANA VINES has worked as a reporter, feature writer, and editor with various newspapers. She retired from full-time work as associate editor with the Knoxville News Sentinel in 2005 and continues to write political columns for the newspaper as a freelancer.

John North is an investigative journalist at WBIR in Knoxville, Tenn., specializing in the courts, law enforcement, government and elections. He received his bachelor’s in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He became a reporter in 1986 for The Kansas City Star newspaper. He’s also worked at CNN in Atlanta and for The Knoxville News Sentinel newspaper as a reporter and as projects editor and metropolitan editor. He is a past recipient of the Scripps Howard Foundation Award for Distinguished Service to the First Amendment, the APME First Amendment Award, and the Malcolm Law Investigative Reporting Award.