WCHL is airing conversations Coach Lefty Driesell, who died recently, was the legendary basketball coach at four different colleges, Davidson, Maryland, James Madison, and Georgia State, all of which he took to the NCAA tournament, about Maryland’s exit from the ACC and his memories of the great games against UNC and Duke.
Born into a blue collar and agricultural clan in rural Pennsylvania, Jim Crawford was the first in his family to graduate from college. Earning his PhD from UNC, he taught US and World History at several universities in piedmont North Carolina for several decades. He served as chairman of the Chatham County board of commissioners, and currently serves as trustee for Central Carolina Community College. He is a firm believer in American democracy and trusts that the constitution will hold firm now as it has in past crises despite the broken, distempered electorate.
Associate Professor Alvis Dunn teaches Latin American History, North Carolina History, Humanities, and Geography. Dr. Dunn earned his doctorate at UNC Chapel Hill and taught for 15 years at Guilford College before coming to UNCA in 2013. He was born and raised in rural Chatham County, North Carolina, the son of postal employees who also farmed and ran a hardware store. Guatemala is his second home and his most recent work there has focused on US Citizens, who like him, have come to love that country.
James Wood is currently Professor of Latin American and modern world history at North Carolina A&T State University. He is the author of The Society of Equality: Popular Republicanism and Democracy in Santiago de Chile, 1818-1851 and the co-editor of Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations, now in its fifth edition with Rowman and Littlefield. As a Fulbright scholar for Chile in 2016 he was a visiting professor at the Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago (where he observed Chilean student activism up close).
Tony Harrington, is the 2024 President of NC REALTORS® and member of Cape Fear REALTORS®. With over 25 years in the industry, Tony is a dynamic speaker emphasizing professionalism and advocacy. His leadership roles, including President for Cape Fear REALTORS® and NC REALTORS® Regional Vice President, bring a wealth of experience. As a Platinum R President Circle Hall of Fame member, Tony invests in state association priorities, focusing on elevating member engagement and advocating for private property rights. His insights into defining REALTORS®’ value and fostering growth make him a valuable speaker for programs on industry opportunities and challenges.
Chapel Hill’s Elizabeth Engelhardt, is Senior Associate Dean for Fine Arts & Humanities at UNC Chapel Hill, talks about her new book, “Boardinghouse Women: How Southern Keepers, Cooks, Nurses, Widows, and Runaways Shaped Modern America (2024)”
Jean MacDonald, DTM, is the Queen of Connections, Creative Director, and Humorous Speaker of Business Brewing is an expert in communication and building relationships. She’s a Distinguished Toastmaster and a member of the National Speakers Bureau. Jean has published two books and has a new book coming out in the fall of 2024, “Be Wild, Be Crazy, Be You: Open Your Heart and Mind, and Feel the Confidence”. She’s grown from owning a multi-million dollar commercial insurance agency to being a pink Cadillac driving Mary Kay Cosmetics top earner. Jean is a so-so ukulele player, and a novice race car driver with the need for speed.
Bill Kirwan, longtime head of the library at Western Carolina University, now retired in Chapel Hill, insists that that he is not an expert, but only a fan of thoroughbred horse racing. But he knows a lot and shares some of it with us on WCHL’s Who’s Talking.
Dan Kane is an award-winning investigative journalist for the Raleigh, NC newspaper The News & Observer. Kane, with whistleblower Mary Willingham, is credited for unearthing substantive academic fraud regarding student-athletes who were directed towards phony classes, according to allegations. Kane also covered NCSU, legislative corruption, and the formation of the state lottery. His reporting on NC’s secretive personnel law exposed how the state kept much information about state employees from public scrutiny, which led to a new state law to expedite information-gathering about the pay and performance of state employees. He is a 1983 graduate of Saint John Fisher College in Rochester, NY.