Neely Tucker Explained

Neely Tucker (born November 26, 1963, in Lexington, Mississippi) is an American journalist and writer. He is the author of Love in the Driest Season, an autobiographical story that chronicles his journey from his education at a whites-only school in Mississippi, his marriage to a Jamaican, and his adoption of a Zimbabwean child.[1] A former journalist at The Washington Post, he previously worked as a foreign correspondent in Zimbabwe, where he and his wife, Vita lived, eventually adopting a child.[2] He is currently a writer-editor in the Office of Communications at the Library of Congress.

Personal

Tucker was raised in Mississippi by his parents Elizabeth and Duane Tucker. He has a brother named Duane Jr. He lives near Washington DC. His favorite teams are Mississippi State and the New Orleans Saints.

Education

Tucker attended Starkville Academy, a segregation academy.[3] [4] He started first grade at SA on the day it opened and graduated in 1982, playing football, writing for the school's newspaper, and earning the title Mister Starkville Academy. After graduating high school, he went on to attend Mississippi State University[5] but later obtained his degree from the University of Mississippi where he was selected as the most outstanding journalism student at graduation in 1986. In 2018, he returned to Starkville Academy and delivered a speech on racism, in which he drew an analogy between white students such as himself and monsters, and compared the Mississippi of the mid twentieth-century with the apartheid rule in South Africa.[6]

Career

Throughout Tucker's career, he has reported from more than 50 countries around the world.[7] While attending the University of Mississippi, he worked for the Oxford Eagle in Mississippi. Upon graduating, he went on to work for Florida Today, Gannett's national wire service, and the Miami Herald. He then served as a foreign correspondent at the Detroit Free Press.[8] Tucker was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2011 for "Life After Death," a story about his wife's seven-year odyssey to help convict her daughter's killer.[9] In 2019, Tucker became a writer-editor at the Library of Congress.[10] [11]

Books

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Love in the Driest Season. Random House. March 11, 2010.
  2. News: Feature Interview: Neely Tucker, foreign correspondent and father. Crosslin. Julie. May 6, 2004 . Life Matters. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. March 11, 2010.
  3. Web site: Spencer. Mack. Public domain, private options. 25 September 2015. 17 May 2004.
  4. Book: Bolton. Charles C.. The Hardest Deal of All. 2005. University Press of Mississippi. Jackson, Mississippi. 9781578067176.
  5. Web site: Steinberg. Sasha. 'To the university I love most:' MSU receives Neely Tucker papers collection. 10 November 2017. 29 August 2016.
  6. News: Tucker . Neely . We make Mississippi's future brighter by being honest about our past . 11 December 2018 . 26 November 2018.
  7. News: Neely Tucker - The Washington Post. The Washington Post. October 10, 2013. April 16, 2012.
  8. Web site: Usher. Kelle. Neely Tucker, Mississippi writer and journalist. Mississippi Writers and Musicians. October 10, 2013.
  9. Web site: Neely Tucker. 10 November 2017.
  10. Web site: Shall not be denied: women fight for the vote. Library of Congress Magazine . 5 August 2020 . 15.
  11. Web site: Neely Tucker | Library of Congress Blog.