Twelve Notables in Western North Carolina: Compelling Mini-biographies of 12 Remarkable North Carolinians Who Have Made Signific

Twelve Notables in Western North Carolina Mini-biographies featuring compelling life journeys, as told to author Jack J. Prather - Rev. Dr. Dan Matthews, O.B.E. - Waynesville Priest at Ground Zero on 9-11 / Recipient Order of the British Empire / Chair, Friends of the Smokies - Musician David Holt - Fairview Multi-Instrumentalist, Storyteller / Four Grammy Awards, Eight Nominations / PBS-TV, NPR-Radio Host - Captain Ray F. West, Jr., USNR, Ret. - Flat Rock Founder-President Moldova World Children's Fund / UNCA 2006 Taylor Distinguished Alumnus Award - Judge Harry C. Martin - Biltmore Forest Former NC and Cherokee Supreme Court Justice / Honorary Cherokee / 2010 Liberty Bell Honoree - Olson Huff, MD, FAAP - Black Mountain Former President NC Pediatric Society / Founding Medical Dir., Mission Children's Hospital, Asheville - Glenis Redmond - Asheville Mountain Xpress Hall of Fame Poet / Third in National Poetry Slam / Kennedy Center Teaching Artist - Douglas M. Orr, Ph.D. - Black Mountain President Emeritus Warren Wilson College / Author / Musician / Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award - Billie Ruth Sudduth - Bakersville Basket Artist / Smithsonian Collection / 1st Woman NC Living Treasure / Order of Long Leaf Pine Award - Matthew J. Hayes, M.D., Ph.D., FACEP - Hendersonville Pioneer National Emergency Medical Services / Co-Founder American College of Emergency Physicians - Joe S. Epley, APR - Tryon Global Leader Public Relations Profession / UNC Journalism School Hall of Fame / Order of Long Leaf Pine - Richard Ritter - Bakersville Glass Art Master / NC Living Treasure 2011 / Governor's Award for Volunteer Service as Fire Chief - Julyan Davis - Asheville Nationally Recognized Painter of Southern Art / Gallery Shows on East-West Coasts and Europe Portion of book proceeds dedicated to Young Writers Scholarship Fund Future Now Publishing.com (est. 1986)

Author Bio - - - Jack J. Prather is a multiple award-winning former journalist and public relations strategist, and the author of six books. In 2005, he and wife Pam moved to Hendersonville, North Carolina from New Jersey, after a two-year interlude at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia. ’Twelve Notables in Western North Carolina’ from (Future Now Publishing 2012) is potentially the launch of a new series of biographies about North Carolinians who have made their mark anywhere in the region, state or nation. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Jack’s books are dedicated to a new Young Writers’ Scholarship Fund that he founded at Warren Wilson College near Asheville NC. Prather has also written two mystery thriller novels, The Day of the Knights (PublishAmerica 2007) and Investigative Reporter (Future Now Publishing 2011). The author’s Speaking Up in Poetry & Prose (PublishAmerica 2007) consists of fifty pieces about social, political, religious and life issues of importance to all Americans. The book was featured for several years at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock, where his poem Sandburg Homage was on display. Jack founded The Prather Strategic Public Relations Group in 1978, and FNP in 1986 when he wrote The PR Bluebook (S-W Press 1986). That was followed in1991 by The Power of PR, a two-hour video produced by WSUS Channel-8 TV, then a second guidebook titled All PR is Local (Amazon-Booksurge 2004). Diverse clients Jack served during his career as a PR strategist and crisis manager included two U.S. Congressmen, two state legislators, Warner Bros. Jungle Habitat, Space Farms Zoo and Museums, Playboy Resorts Inc., and conference centers, ski areas, healthcare entities, and legal, realty, accounting and financial firms. Jack was the PR consultant to Ames Rubber Corporation, winner of the 1993 Malcolm Baldrige National Total Quality Award presented by President Bill Clinton and the late Secretary of Labor Ron Brown in Washington D.C. Prather’s several professional honors include The Communicator ’Award of Distinction’ in 1996. As a young journalist, he earned six New Jersey Press Association writing and editing awards, including Best Column in All Divisions. He later won prizes for magazine articles, op-ed pieces ghost-written for clients, and for poetry.