Horton Foote's Honorary Degree:

On March 20, 2006, Horton Foote recieved an honory degree from Carson-Newman University. Foote is the winner of two Academy Awards. He authored the famous film adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (1963) and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1992). He wrote the screenplay and original play for The Trip to Bountiful (1985) and he has written more than 50 original plays. His many rewards include a Pulitzer Prize for drama (1995), the Evelyn Burkey Award, the Laurel Award, Outer Critics Circle Special Achievement Award, an Emmy, the Gold Medal for Drama from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Lucille Lortel Award, and the National Medal of Art. President Clinton spoke of Foote's "tales of family, community, and the triumph of the human spirit."

The photographs below were provided courtesy of Mark Brown, Charles Key and Parker Leake. Thanks also go to Dr. Wood, whose scholarship on Horton Foote's work and his personal friendship with Foote forged the connections for this event to take place. Thanks also go to Ev Robertson for his hard work in getting the theater ready for Foote's plays and to First Baptist Church for providing a suitably grand location for the ceremony.

The chair of the English Department, Dr. Wood, stands and introduces Horton Foote (sitting to the right.) Mr. Foote kindly participated in a discussion panel with Dr. Wood, Dr. Robertson of the Theater Department, and members of the Cast of The Trip to Bountiful.

 

Mr. Foote responds to questions from the audience.

In addition to Mr. Foote's intellect and artistic ability, his sense of humor is another attribute that makes him a crowd-pleaser.

At the invocational ceremony, Dr. Wood introduces Horton by introducing his work--i.e., showing film clips from his most famous and important films.

President Netherton here hands over the honorary degree in First Baptist Church.

Dr. Wood congratulates Dr. Foote on his newly minted degree!

Of course, part of the fun of having an advanced degree is getting one of those nifty capes to go on the back of your academic gown.

 

Dr. Foote here expresses his thanks to Carson-Newman University. We are quite lucky to have him here!

Dr. Shawn O'Hare gets an autograph from Dr. Foote.

 

Autographs all around!

Dr. Foote here gives a grin. We can see the cast of the play sitting behind him--still in costume.
All in all, a very special day in Carson-Newman's history.

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