One thing we have learned through talking with former students of James Baker Hall is that he instilled a life-long love of writing in them. Just write . . . that’s what he would say. Emily Toadvine relates that is the biggest lesson she learned from her time in Jim’s classes. So she has!

Emily grew up on a farm in Frankfort. She left to attend college at Transylvania in Lexington, but was very discouraged by the support around writing and creativity. She decided to transfer to the University of Kentucky (UK) and graduated in 1985 with a degree in Journalism.

She went on to the Danville Advocate where she worked as an editor for 25 years. Needing a change, she turned her career to Public Relations and held positions at Hospice and a distillery visitor experience.

The James Baker Hall Foundation has come to know and love Melissa Jørgerud Helton as the incredibly mellow, inspirational leader of the Literary Arts Program and Director of the Ironwood Writers Studio at the Hindman Settlement School. So when we attended the Northern Kentucky Equinox in March where we were a sponsor, we were thrilled to see Melissa was going to read. She was amazing, but a very different persona. We were blown away by her reading.

Melissa’s new book of poetry, A Middle-Aged Woman Rages, addresses the complexity of living in today’s world. Add to that the challenges of parenting grown children, divorce and the current political climate and perimenopause, the book hits at the core of reaching middle age.

In this day and age, starting something from scratch requires not only the knowledge of the particular thing you are creating, but also the need to push it out to the world. No
business or organization can be successful without someone who can take care of information systems so that the good work you are doing reaches beyond the confines of a physical structure.

Meet Susan Murphy, the Information Systems Manager, at the James Baker Hall Foundation. Susan grew up in New York City, but an offer to join her uncle’s market research firm in San Francisco led her to the West Coast. Through a couple of jobs in the Bay area including a stint at United Way of the Bay Area, Susan spent the next few years in San Francisco working and managing IT programs.

Wes Blake really wasn’t interested in going to college. But as the time neared, he decided to give it a try and headed off to the University of Kentucky to start his life as a business major. It did not go well. After the first year, he was totally unmotivated and knew that the business world would never see the likes of Wes Blake. After his very unsatisfying first year in college, he switched his major to English where he later earned his degree. It was this switch that led to crossing paths with James Baker Hall. After taking two classes with Gurney Norman, Wes signed up to take Jim’s autobiography class.

If you haven’t been on the Foundation’s social media sites, get moving! Our presence has increased because of the work of Natalia Stanley, Social Media Coordinator. Natalia started with the foundation as an intern one year ago, but has moved to a part-time position because of the level of her work and commitment.

Natalia ended up in Louisville for college via Chicago where she grew up with her parents and brother. She very quickly fell in love with Louisville and when it came time to choose a law school, she made the decision to enter Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law where she will be a second year student. After law school, Natalia plans to pursue a career in criminal defense here in Kentucky. She is especially interested in work that promotes equity and drives meaningful, systemic change within the justice system. This summer in addition to producing social media content for the Foundation, Natalia is working in the Louisville Public Defenders office where she is excited to get some hands-on experience.