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Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
What will Tori Murden McClure share at Wilson College's graduation?
Tori Murden McClure, a trailblazing adventurer and academic leader, will address Wilson College's class of 2025 at the 155th annual commencement ceremony on May 4, according to a community announcement. McClure retired from Spalding University in 2024 after 25 years, serving the last 14 as president. She is best known as the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, a 3,000-mile journey she completed in 1999 after 81 days at sea. Her boat, 'American Pearl,' was crafted by hand and later donated to the Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. A decade earlier, she was among the first two women and first 10 Americans to ski cross-country to the South Pole as part of a 50-day, 750-mile Canadian-led expedition. In 2009, Harper Collins published her memoir, 'A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean,' detailing her life and Atlantic journey. The book inspired a stage musical, 'Row,' which premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts in 2021. 'It is an honor to have renowned adventurer and scholar Tori Murden McClure providing the Commencement address to our undergraduate and graduate degree students this year,' said Wilson College President Wesley R. Fugate, Ph.D. 'Not only will her extraordinary journeys and academic insights help celebrate this occasion, but it is my hope that her experiences will also encourage Wilson's graduates to embark on their own journeys with a sense of lifelong learning and adventure.' McClure is also an accomplished mountaineer, having completed major climbs on several continents. She served as the former board chair of the National Outdoor Leadership School, a global wilderness school based in Wyoming. Additionally, she worked as an emergency medical technician (EMT) and wilderness EMT for nearly 25 years, also providing EMT instruction to firefighters. As a former college athlete, McClure is a proponent of collegiate and amateur athletics. At Smith College, she was a dual-sport Division III student-athlete in basketball and varsity crew, serving as a student athletic trainer. She was honored as the student who best represented the ideals of a Smith scholar-athlete, the college's highest athletic honor. She joined the Smith College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. She served as vice chair of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Board of Governors, chaired the NCAA Division III Presidents Council, and was acting chair of the NCAA Board in 2020. Throughout her career, McClure worked as a chaplain at Boston City Hospital, director of a Louisville women's shelter, policy assistant to the mayor of Louisville, and the first full-time employee of the Muhammad Ali Center. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Smith College, a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, a Juris Doctorate from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Spalding University. This story was created by Janis Reeser, jreeser@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at or share your thoughts at with our News Automation and AI team. The Public Opinion, The Record Herald, Echo-Pilot are growing their local news This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: Tori Murden McClure to speak at Wilson College commencement
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Writers bring us ‘something particularly humane,' says KY's next poet laureate
Kathleen Driskell chairs Spalding University's Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing in Louisville. (Spalding University photo) Kathleen Driskell of Oldham County will be Kentucky's new poet laureate, succeeding novelist and essayist Silas House. In naming Driskell Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear said she has 'made a real impact on the commonwealth's rich literary community through her poetry and passion for teaching.' Driskell, the author of multiple books of poetry, has been honored with the Appalachian Review's Denny C. Plattner Award in Creative Nonfiction. She has received grants from the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women among other honors. Her published books include 'Goat-Footed Gods,' 'Blue Etiquette: Poems,' 'Next Door to the Dead' and 'Seed Across Snow.' She also serves as the chair of Spalding University's Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing in Louisville. Driskell will serve as the poet laureate from 2025-2026. A conversation with Silas House, Kentucky's new poet laureate 'All genres of art are important, but there's something particularly humane about the work writers bring us,' Driskell said in the Capitol rotunda Thursday. 'Language and creativity at the end are largely qualities that make us human. And so it's not surprising that for so many of us, when we find our writing lives, we find our authentic lives,' she said. 'We deepen our own ability to practice compassion, and we make lasting connections with our loved ones, our communities, and we carry our history forward.' House, who was appointed in 2023 and was the state's first openly gay poet laureate, held writing workshops throughout the state and created an oral history project, among other initiatives during his tenure. 'It has been such an honor to serve as poet laureate for the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the past two years,' House said. 'In that time, this work has made my love for the state only deepen. I've had the opportunity to meet so many who are doing their best to be great neighbors and to make our world a better place.' House, who was a rural mail carrier in his native Eastern Kentucky, is author of many articles and novels, including 'Clay's Quilt,' 'A Parchment of Leaves,' 'Eli the Good' and 'Lark Ascending.' 'My number one goal has always been to make more people aware how rich our literature is here in Kentucky, and to make writing instruction more accessible,' House said. Driskell will be inducted into House's current role on April 24 in the rotunda. Both she and House will hold readings during that event. 'We are fortunate to have her as a guiding voice,' Beshear said of Driskell, thanking her for 'encouraging future writers and supporting Kentuckians in pursuing their dreams right here in their new Kentucky home.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
