North Fulton Today

Author and Emmy award-winning news director Jeffrey Blount will visit Brenau University later this month to talk about his latest book, The Emancipation of Evan Walls.

Blount will deliver a book talk at 12:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20, in Thurmond-McRae Lecture Hall. Blount will sign copies of his book in the Trustee Library Conversation Corner after the talk. The author talk and book signing are free and open to the public, and hosted by the Brenau Women’s College GOLD Program. The event will also be livestreamed here.

“As we celebrate diversity and global perspectives in the ‘D’ year of the GOLD program, we know that different people have different experiences, and just sharing those experiences can change how one views the world,” Debra Dobkins, interim vice president for student services and dean of The Women’s College, said. “Blount’s novel and his openness during our author’s talk offer other perspectives for our students, faculty and staff to consider as we work together to support each other.”

The Emancipation of Evan Walls follows Walls as he relives his childhood experiences during the civil rights movement and how he grapples with his race, culture and identity as an adult while raising his family.

Blount recalled feeling like an outcast among his family and peers for seeking more than what was expected of him.

“As the civil rights movement began, getting an education was a priority for most Blacks,” Blount said. “By the time it was over, it was viewed in many parts of the African American community as a liability.”

Blount retired from the news industry in 2017, and during his 34-year career, he won an Emmy and directed a decade of Meet The Press, The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, The Chris Matthews Show and major special events. He is also a public speaker and an award-winning documentary script writer. He served as a Shapiro Fellow and Journalist in Residence at The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs in 2017 and 2018. In 2016, he was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame.

Blount is also the author of Hating Heidi Foster and Almost Snow White.

Original source can be found here.