Rheta Grimsley Johnson, an award winning, nationally syndicated journalist and winner of numerous journalism awards, will give a public presentation from 3 to 4 p.m. today in the University Center Shiloh Room.
Johnson has covered the South for over three decades as a newspaper reporter and columnist for such organizations as United Press International, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and a number of other regional newspapers.
Johnson is the recipient of such national awards as the Ernie Pyle Memorial Award for human interest reporting and the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Distinguished Writing Award for commentary. In 1986, Johnson was inducted into the Scripps Howard Newspaper’s Editorial Hall of Fame. In 1991, she was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
Syndicated today by King Features of New York, Johnson’s column appears in about 50 papers nationwide. She is the author of several books, including America’s Faces (1987) and Good Grief: The Story of Charles M. Schulz (1989). Her latest book, Poor Man’s Provence, tells of her love for Cajun Louisiana.
The event is free and open to the public and is co-sponsored by the School of Journalism and Electronic Media and the College of Communication and Information’s Diversity Student Leaders Society.