Who is Wilma Dykeman?
Wilma Dykeman (1920 - 2006) was a writer, speaker, teacher, historian, & environmentalist. She traveled and spoke widely, but she spent most of her life in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
Among her many achievements in life, she: -- made the first full-fledged economic argument against water pollution (seven years before Rachel Carson) in her 1955 book The French Broad -- won the Sidney Hillman Award for the best book of the year on social justice -- wrote a novel (The Tall Woman) that has sold more than 200,000 copies -- taught creative writing & Appalachian literature at the University of Tennessee for over 20 years -- served on the boards of Berea College & the University of North Carolina at Asheville -- served as Tennessee State Historian for over 20 years
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