TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Friends of the late Dr. Bailey Thomson, University of Alabama journalism professor and the 2004 co-winner of the Clarence Cason Nonfiction Writing Award, including two fellow winners of the prize, will present a writing workshop at 9:30 a.m., Friday, March 19, in 216 Reese Phifer Hall on the UA campus.

There is no charge, but attendees should register by e-mailing Dr. Ed Mullins, chairman of the journalism department, at mullins@jn.ua.edu.

Dr. Don Noble, adjunct professor of journalism and creative nonfiction writing teacher at the University, will moderate a panel discussion of narrative writing and other forms familiar to nonfiction writing enthusiasts.

A few tickets still remain for the seventh annual Cason Award banquet honoring Thomson and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Rick Bragg. For reservations, call Sheila Davis in the College of Communication and Information Sciences (C&IS) at 205/348-4787, or e-mail Mullins.

Others on the panel, in addition to Bragg, are Bob Blalock, editorial page editor of The Birmingham News; Danny Cusick, editor of Greenwire, Washington, D.C., Susan Pace Hamill, attorney and tax reform activist; Sam Hodges, North Carolina journalist and author; Roy Hoffman, writer-in-residence for the Mobile Register; Diane McWhorter, Pulitzer Prize winning author and 2003 Cason Award winner; and Kit Lively, Charlotte Observer writer and editor.

Many Cason Award winners and participants sent words of tribute. Previous winners are Gay Talese, New York-based writer, 1998; Edward O. Wilson, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author/scientist of Harvard University, 1999; Howell Raines, Pulitzer Prize winning former executive editor of The New York Times, 2000; Albert Murray, New York author and jazz critic, 2001; Wayne Flynt, Auburn University distinguished professor of history and social essayist, 2002; and McWhorter, 2003.

Ed Wilson wrote: “I very much regret not being able to join you at the March 18 celebration of the life of Bailey Thomson. Bailey was a wonderful human being, a friend, an ornament for his University and Alabama. His passing is a reminder that even the best among us may not be here tomorrow.”

Howell Raines wrote: “I would love to help honor Bailey, but I'll be in Argentina on a long-planned trip. Please convey to the group my profound respect for Bailey as a journalist, scholar and engaged citizen.”

Susan Pace Hamill, a law professor, is an example of the many kinds of people whose lives were touched by Thomson. Hamill became one of his biggest allies in the fight for constitutional and tax reform. She wrote: “Had it not been for Bailey Thomson (and other journalists) my work would have remained locked up in the ivory tower. More bridges need to be built between those of us in universities doing research and journalists who have the ability to communicate (and teach the professor how to communicate) to the public as a whole.”

Roy Peter Clark of the Poynter Center, who addressed the 2003 Cason event, wrote: “I'm sorry that I won't be able to join you good folks in Alabama to celebrate the life and times of Bailey Thomson. It was my honor to bump into him hard about a half a dozen times throughout my career. Each time some of his skill and integrity would rub off on me. I'll be thinking of you all during the Cason Awards celebration.”

The College of Communication & Information Sciences is among the largest and most prestigious communication colleges in the nation. C&IS has graduated more than 12,000 students and consistently ranks among the top 10 in number of doctoral degrees awarded and in most of its research programs.

For more information about the workshop, contact Dr. Ed Mullins, mullins@jn.ua.edu or 205/349-8592.