How to meet authors ~ Naomi Tutu

When I wrote recently about authors I've met,  Helen of Helen's Book Blog left this comment:

"How the heck do you meet all these authors? That's awesome!"

I've decided to tell you -- one by one -- "how the heck" I happened to meet these folks.  Think of it as a new series of posts from me.  Today's author is not as well-known as her father.

Naomi Tutu

Naomi, an activist for human rights and currently associate director of the Office of International Programs at Tennessee State University, spoke at Chattanooga State last year on the subject, “What Gift Do You Bring?” She compiled a book of excerpts of her father's writings, speeches, and sermons:  The Words of Desmond Tutu, Second Edition, 2007.

Naomi spoke in the auditorium of the Humanities building, where I usually teach when my classes are on the main campus.  To answer Helen's question, this one was easy -- a matter of deciding to attend her talk, which was open to the public.  My friend Donna went along with me, and we were both very impressed with what she said.  Afterwards, Donna photographed me with Naomi Tutu, but it was too dark to get a good photo (we were using my cell phone, which has no flash), so this one is from the internet.

Fun Fact:  I began writing this first post in the series while I was in Nashville a few days ago, though I had forgotten it's where Naomi Tutu lives until I looked up this article to refresh my memory about when she was in Chattanooga.