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Haddox, Freddie

Haglund, Richard

Halbert, Christy

Halbert, John

Halbert, Marjorie

Hall, Tom T.

Ham, Bob

Hammer, Randy

Hancock, M. Donald

Hankins, Caneta Skelley

Hannas, Warren F.

Harney, Sylvia

Harper, Virginia M.

Harris, Margaret Killiffer

Harris, Mike

Hartman, Mary Jane

Harvey, Alex

Harvey, Donald R.

Haun, Mildred Eunice

Hayworth, Lynne

Hechtkopf, Jacqueline

Heirich, Beverly

Henderson, Mindy B.

Hernandez, Betsy

Hicks, Robert

Hildreth, Denise

Hilliard, K. Mark

Hillin, Hank

Hines, Stephen W.

Holladay, Robert

Hood, Robin

Hooker, Henry

Hooper, Charles

Horne, Mark

Horton, Lucy Henderson

Hougland, Mason

Howard, Cate

Howell, Sarah

Huddleston, David M.

Hudgins, Helen Hawes

Hullett, Robert

Hurd, Heather Kemp

Husband, Elaine

Hussung, Raleigh McDonald 

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Haddox, Freddie   (1947- )
 

            Freddie Haddox grew up on his family’s farm on Coleman Road in Williamson County. After graduating from the old Natchez High School and a four-year stint in the navy, he studied medicine at Michigan State, where he helped finance his education with his first book of poetry. A twenty-year medical career with the navy sent him world wide, often as the only medical person on small ships or in isolated clinics. He returned to the farm to pursue courses at Vanderbilt Divinity School with intent to establish a ministry in community service. Two of his interests have been the Mamushi Nature Farm Initiatives which helps reduce hunger and Mamushi Books, a publishing service “to help people get worthy literature published when they have no other means of getting help.”

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Haglund, Richard
 

            Born in Washington, D.C., Richard Haglund grew up in Iowa, received his B.A. in physics from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and served in the army before earning a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from the University of North Carolina. Before moving to Brentwood to work at Vanderbilt University, he worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Haglund is a serious classical pianist and is active in the Mormon Church. In addition to the book cited below, he has published numerous articles in physics journals.

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Halbert, Christy (1980 - )

            Christy Halbert grew up in Williamson County and attended the county schools, where she gained recognition for her athletic achievements. She graduated from Western Kentucky University and in 1999 received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Kentucky. Her interest in boxing grew out of scholarly research on the topic, and she eventually became a certified amateur boxing coach and official. She is one of only two women nationally to have achieved the highest level of boxing coaching certification. She has served as Coach of U.S. teams at several international boxing events, including the first Women’s World Championships. In 2001 she founded the Boxing Resource Center, a club that teaches scientifically based boxing principles.

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Halbert, John (1942 - )

            John Halbert grew up in Arkansas, attended Ouachita Baptist University, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and the University of Arkansas. He taught sociology for several years. In 1979 he came to Williamson County and founded his own company, Impact Seminars, which assists businesses in leadership development. His books reflect his interest in the ways human interaction impacts organizations. I Could If I Wanted To is written and illustrated in the style of a children’s book, but its purpose is to help organizations show their appreciation to volunteers.  His book on management uses humor to assist managers in learning effective leadership techniques.

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Halbert, Marjorie (1946 - )

            A musician, Marjorie Halbert grew up in Arkansas and earned her master’s degree at Ouachita Baptist University. When she and her husband moved to Middle Tennessee in 1979, she began teaching at Belmont University. Halbert has taught voice and has been Director of Musical Theater at Belmont. She also became Minister of Music at Glendale Baptist Church in Nashville. She has given studio classes, workshops, and master classes in vocal performance and song interpretation.

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Hall, Tom T.
 

            Known around the world for his country music talent, Tom T. Hall is a native of Olive Hill, Kentucky. He attended Roanoke College in Virginia, where he studied journalism and American literature, with an emphasis on Mark Twain, Sinclair Lewis, and Ernest Hemingway. His first hit song was “Harper Valley PTA.” Hall published two books in the 1970s and continued to write after he moved to Williamson County, where he and his wife have contributed in many ways to the community.

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Ham, Bob
 

            Bob Ham was born in Virginia. In the early 1990s he lived in Williamson County where he was an auxiliary deputy with the sheriff’s department and served as foreman of the grand jury. He is the author of an ongoing series of adventure novels, the Overload Series, written for truck drivers.

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Hammer, Randy (1955- )
 

            Randy Hammer grew up in East Tennessee and began his ministerial career while studying for a degree in philosophy, religion, and English at East Tennessee State University. He received a Master of Divinity degree from Memphis Theological Seminary and a Master’s degree in English from Tennessee State University. Hammer taught English at Columbia State Community College while serving as pastor of Grace Cumberland Presbyterian Church. After thirteen years in Williamson County, he accepted a call to a church in Albany, New York.

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Hancock, M. Donald
 

            M. Donald Hancock, a native of Texas, lived in Williamson County from 1979 until 1991. Professor of political science and director of the Center for European Studies at Vanderbilt University, he has published articles in the Wilson Quarterly and Comparative Politics and often writes for the American Political Science Association.  He has contributed articles on Germany and Scandinavia to The Encyclopedia of Democracy.

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Hankins, Caneta Skelley (1951- )
 

            The sixth generation of her family to live in Williamson County, Caneta Hankins has spent a lifetime preserving the culture and traditions of Middle Tennessee and helping others to appreciate them. Educated at Martin Methodist College and Middle Tennessee State University, she majored in both English and history, she then received a Masters degree in Historic Preservation. Now assistant director of the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University, she directs its “Tennessee Century Farms” program. Caneta writes articles for scholarly journals, books, and online sites. An active writer since the first grade, she chose a profession that requires writing on a daily basis for reports, building assessments, exhibit descriptions, and history.

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Hannas, Warren F.  (1924- )
 

            Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Warren F. Hannas became a resident of Thompson’s Station. He was an independent insurance agent for 20 years before he retired. He has been very active in the YMCA, particularly Men’s International, and a service club, where he conducted group studies on awareness and self-esteem. His book is the result of 15 years of study.

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Harney, Sylvia
 

            After growing up in a small Tennessee town and attending Belmont University, Sylvia Harney Widck became a wife, mother, and country comedienne who specialized in finding humor in everyday life. She began writing observations of life when at the age of eight, she developed her first comedy character, Aggie Mae. Later, as an adult, she was approached by a publisher who asked her to write a book of humor. She continues to write, but much of her time has been devoted to motivational speaking engagements across the country.

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Harper, Virginia M. (1956- )
 

            Virginia M. Harper lived the first seven years of her life in Chile where her family had the luxury of going to markets every day for fresh food. When they immigrated to the United States , the family fell into the typical American way of eating convenient, refined foods from the supermarket. By the time Virginia was eleven, she had developed digestive problems; at nineteen, she was diagnosed with a rare blood disease called Takayasu and suffered a stroke. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at twenty-two and treated with drugs. At twenty-three, she learned about macrobiotics which means eating locally grown organic foods. She quickly began to improve and found she could live a normal life without drugs or surgery. Harper founded The Ki of Life Foundation to help others with chronic diseases find assistance with healthy living. Drawing from her personal health experiences, she wrote her book.

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Harris, Margaret Killiffer (1904 – 1992)

Margaret Killiffer lived in Franklin as a child when her father was Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Later the family moved to Monterey, Tennessee, where the church had a mission. Her parents gave her both the analytical skills of education and the ability to love the good in the world. When she married Luther Harris, a young mountain farmer, she used these skills to encourage him both to appreciate the mountain life which was his heritage and to move his life to a position of helping others of his community as a state rehabilitation officer. Margaret Harris was able to love her life on the Cumberland Plateau and yet see it as an outsider might. In 1961 she asked a friend to help write about an old relative. The result was an account of one mountain woman’s life around which the authors clustered many oral histories from family and community in Overton County, Tennessee.

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Harris, Mike  (1948- )
 

            For several years, British illustrator Mike Harris worked full-time from his home studio on Fourth Avenue in Franklin. He was born and educated in Rochester, England , earning a degree from the Midway College of Design. Twenty years ago he came to America and finally settled in Franklin. His talent for humor led him to collaborate with friend Victoria Jackson in research on the Internet that developed into a book, which he illustrated.

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Hartman, Mary Jane (1923 - )
 

            A native of central Iowa, Mary Jane Hartman has been a public school music teacher and a teacher of private piano lessons. During her husband’s career on the General Board of the United Methodist Church, she planned and led a series of workshops in church music and on churchwomen’s issues. She has been a contributor to many denominational publications, including The Upper Room.

When radical orthopedic surgery made it necessary for Hartman to give up her music career, she found creative expression in writings that reflect her personal journey as she has learned to respond positively to life’s physical challenges. Hartman and her husband live in a retirement community in Franklin and enjoy reading, traveling, and collecting and refinishing antiques.

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Harvey, Alex
 

            Alex Harvey was born in Brownsville, Tennessee, but lived for 15 years in Texas.  In recent years he has lived in Franklin. He has worn many hats—songwriter, screenwriter, producer, performer, and author. Harvey has written songs that have sold more than 70 million records, including “Delta Dawn” for Tanya Tucker and “Reuben James” for Kenny Rogers. While in Texas, he had a radio show entitled “True Tall Tales from No Place But Texas” that was broadcast over 130 stations. The show specialized in local history and folklore and was the inspiration for his two published books.

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Harvey, Donald R.  (1948- )
 

            After growing up in California, Don Harvey majored in history and met his wife while attending college in Oklahoma. He received his master’s degree in counseling from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Harvey has been clinical director for Christian Counseling Services of Nashville and director of the graduate marriage and family therapy program at Trevecca Nazarene University. He has also maintained a private practice.

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Haun, Mildred Eunice (1911–1966)
 

            Born in Hamblen County, Mildred Haun grew up in Haun Hollow, the Hoot Owl District of Cocke County and the setting for most of her stories. She attended Vanderbilt University and earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees, studying under Donald Davidson.  While attending Vanderbilt, she lived in Franklin with an aunt and uncle. In 1941, Haun published The Hawk’s Done Gone, her only book to be published during her lifetime.  After her death, Vanderbilt University Press reprinted the book, which greatly enhanced her literary reputation. Set in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, Haun's stories of Appalachian life capture the simplicity of the legends and ballads that still live in the rural hollows. 

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Hayworth, Lynne
 

            Lynne Hayworth published all three volumes of her romance trilogy in one year.  A resident of Brentwood, she is a medical textbook editor for Vanderbilt University and McGraw-Hill, the largest educational and professional publisher in the world.  A twelfth-generation native of Maine, she has traveled extensively in the Caribbean on behalf of a service agency and has served as director of communication for the Tennessee Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

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Hechtkopf, Jacqueline
 

            Jacqueline Hechtkopf (pseudonym: Jacqueline Jules) has published short fiction, articles, poetry, and essays in magazines. She has also been a book reviewer for local newspapers. Her first book for children, The Grey Striped Shirt, is the story of a young girl who discovers a concentration camp uniform in her grandparents’ closet.

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Heirich, Beverly
 

            Born in South Dakota, Beverly Heirich grew up in Seattle. She attended several colleges, receiving her M.A. from Regent University in Virginia. For several years she lived in Franklin, teaching communications at Columbia State and O’More School. She owned property near Leipers Fork on which she hoped someday to build a writers’ retreat. Heirich moved to Colorado to run a literary institute where she offered communications services and training. She was interested in teaching creative writing techniques in technical writing. She was also a conference speaker on “the non-traditional college student” and on “the ancient art of Christian meditation.” The latter topic relates to her book, a guide for meditation in which she pairs quotes from Fulton Sheen with scripture from Proverbs.

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Henderson, Mindy B. (1960- )
 

            After growing up in Nashville, Mindy Henderson graduated from Tennessee Tech University with a degree in business. Working in sales from her home has given her the opportunity to be with her two children. She and her mother collaborated to write accounts of what children have called their grandmothers and followed that with accounts of what children call their grandfathers.

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Hernandez, Betsy
 

            A native of Idaho, then a wife and mother in Williamson County, Betsy Hernandez and her husband owned Heartchild Productions. She became active in a ministry to the unchurched and collaborated with others to write music for it, including “Music Machine,” which went platinum, and “Bullfrogs and Butterflies.” She and her husband made a children’s music series called “Hide ’Em in Your Heart” with artist Steve Green, and they also produced a video series called “The Adventures of Prayer Bear,” both for Sparrow Records.

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Hicks, Robert
 

            Robert Hicks grew up in a small town in Southern Florida. In Middle Tennessee he has worked as a music publisher and developer/manager of both rock and country musicians. His contributions to Williamson County include his long-term commitment to the restoration of Historic Carnton Plantation and other work as "citizen architect." He has also served as president of the Williamson County Historical Society and the Tennessee Valley Preservation Alliance. He has been listed among the top one hundred collectors in America, his collection focusing on outsider art and regional material culture. His essays on southern material culture and regional history, as well as music, have appeared in many publications.

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Hildreth, Denise
 

            Denise Hildreth of Franklin is an author and an international speaker. She graduated from the School of Journalism at the University of South Carolina in 1992, and has been involved in numerous writing projects since then, including a #1 hit single, written with her husband, recording artist Jonathan Pierce.

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Hilliard, K. Mark
 

            As the son of a missionary, Mark Hilliard grew up with cultural contacts and experiences beyond the usual, as do many missionary children. He attributes his interest in holistic wellness to his exposure to Native American beliefs and practices. At Middle Tennessee State University, he earned a doctorate in Higher Education and Wellness, the primary subject of his books. He has been Medical Director of the Tennessee branch of the American Cancer Society, a professor at Middle Tennessee State University, and finally President and CEO of O’More College of Design in Franklin, Tennessee. He is simultaneously an educator and a minister at Cherokee Church of Christ for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina. He does much of his writing in a mountain cabin near the Reservation.

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Hillin, Hank
 

            A retired FBI agent, Hank Hillin has many stories to tell from his twenty-six years of FBI work, from his private detective experiences, and from his interest in current events. Some of those stories and interests have made it into print. For five years he investigated Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton for the FBI and then stayed in Brentwood to set up a private agency.

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Hines, Stephen W.
 

            Stephen W. Hines grew up on a farm in eastern Kansas and graduated from the University of Kansas. He earned an M.A. degree from Ball State University. Hines worked for the Presbyterian Journal and the Asheville Citizen before moving to Nolensville in the Nashville area, where he worked as an editor with Thomas Nelson Publishers and Wolgemuth and Hyatt Publishers. He also worked as a project director for the American Association of State and Local History. He edited the work of Laura Ingalls Wilder and made it available to the public. Hines then expanded his interests to Louisa May Alcott and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He has found some of Louisa May Alcott’s Christmas stories for which he has written an introduction and done some editing.

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Holladay, Robert
 

            Bob Holladay was a member of the Williamson County Literary Committee from its inception, serving as its chairman and a major contributor to the first five Written Word bibliography publications. Descended from one of Nashville's first settlers and from an old Williamson County family, Bob Holladay was born and raised in Nashville and graduated from Vanderbilt University. He worked for various Williamson County publications including the Review Appeal and the Williamson Leader. He also worked in public relations for the City of Franklin, as News Editor for Williamson Homes and Lifestyles magazine, and freelanced for other publications. 

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Hood, Robin
 

            Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Robin Hood has received international acclaim for images that capture the beauty and diversity of America . Hood studied painting at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award by the school during its centennial celebration in 1986.  He was commissioned lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1969 and served as an information officer in Vietnam .  In 1971 Hood joined the staff of the Chattanooga Free Press and in 1977 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his riveting portrait of a legless Vietnam veteran as he pensively watched an Armed Forces Day Parade.  Hood was named director of media services for the State of Tennessee in 1980 and established Robin Hood Photography in 1985, producing images for corporate publications and national advertising campaigns. His work has been honored by The New York Art Directors Club, Communications Arts, and the Ad Federation.  Hood is co-founder and president of Parker Hood Press, a publisher of large format books for organizations and the retail market.  Collections of his work have been published in the United States and abroad.  He lives in Franklin with his wife and three daughters.

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Hooker, Henry
 

            A true Nashvillian, educated at Palmer, Montgomery Bell Academy, Oxford University, and Vanderbilt, Henry Hooker went away to Tulane to law school and then returned to enter the law firm of Hooker and Hooker on Union Street. He became involved in a variety of businesses as well.  At the time of his marriage, he became a horseman and went on to become the Master of the Cedar Knob Hounds in Fayetteville and since 1975, Master of the Hillsboro Hounds in Cornersville. Since 1990, he has also been chairman of the Iroquois Steeplechase which benefits the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. He lives in Franklin on Vaughn’s Gap Road near the steeplechase track.  In addition to fox hunting, Henry Hooker has fished for Atlantic salmon in Canada and Iceland , and Pacific salmon in Alaska, and has done much ocean and river fishing. He has gone quail hunting in Georgia and hunted driven red-legged partridge in Spain and grouse in Scotland .

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Hooper, Charles
 

            A Nashvillian who tried a variety of liberal education, Hooper settled on art and attended the Harris School of Commercial Art while announcing on public radio WPLN. Since then, he has spent a lifetime as a commercial artist. He has also found time to write two novels and says he finds the long form of fiction most compatible to his skills.

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Horne, Mark
 

Mark Horne has been a freelance writer in Franklin.  He has written two books with George Grant and several cover stories for evangelical magazines. 

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Horton, Lucy Henderson (1851–1947)
 

            Born in Williamson County, the daughter of Dr. Samuel Henderson, Lucy attended Tennessee Female College and “The Institute” in Franklin. In 1878 she married Henry Claiborne Horton and went with him to his home state of Alabama where they remained for the first 11 years of their marriage. After they returned to Franklin, she became a charter member of the Old Glory Chapter of the DAR and wrote several articles for publication.

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Hougland, Mason (1888-1959)
 

            Known for helping to found several of the great horse organizations in Middle Tennessee, Mason Hougland moved to Williamson County from the Midwest. He attended the University of Chicago before “wildcatting” for oil in Wyoming and Texas. During this western time, he hunted bear, coyote, and panther and played cowboy polo with Will Rogers. During World War I he served with the U.S. Cavalry at Fort Riley, Kansas.     He settled in Brentwood on Old Smyna Road when he came to Nashville to start the Spur Oil Company and become a respected business leader. He founded the Hillsboro Hounds in 1932 and served as Master of the Fox Hounds and also Huntsman. Farmers in the area around his land agreed to have the Hunt panel some of their wire fences so that the horses could safely hunt over the land. He also founded and held the first year of races on Green Pastures, his own farm, for the Iroquois Steeplechase in 1941.  Very few copies of his books remain. In addition to his book on fox hunting, his wife published after his death his hunting diaries.

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Howard, Cate
 

            Cate Howard grew up in Alexander City, Alabama. She earned a degree in drama from Judson College and a degree in children’s theater from the University of Georgia.  Working in theater, television, and early childhood education led Howard to become a storyteller. For many years she performed as a storyteller and puppeteer. She moved to Franklin in 1996. Howard has spent many vacations working in Central America at archeological sites.

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Howell, Sarah  (1929-1995)
 

            Born in Birmingham Alabama, Sarah Howell earned a home economics degree from the University of Louisville and an M.S. from the University of Tennessee. She taught private art classes and displayed her fiber and clay art forms at several galleries.  She was a past president of the Nashville Artists Guild and a member of the Tennessee Artist-Craftsman’s Association and the American Crafts Council. Howell worked as a therapeutic dietitian at hospitals and retirement homes and as a home economist. She considered stewardship of time and her home as her top priorities. Howell lived in Franklin.

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Huddleston, David M.
 

 When one of David Huddleston’s children wanted to play soccer, the father found himself coaching a team of six-year-olds. Not only did he lack coaching experience, but he had never played or even seen a soccer game. He was given no guidance by the group that recruited him. Many books, videos, and soccer practices later, he researched and wrote a book for beginning coaches that would fill the need he had experienced. Huddleston came to Brentwood in 1997.

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Hudgins, Helen Hawes
 

            Helen Hawes Hudgins was born in Tiptonville, Kentucky, the great great granddaughter of an early Kentucky pioneer. Educated in Washington, D.C., she moved to Franklin with her husband, Ward Hudgins, an attorney, in 1939. A songwriter for Acuff-Rose Publishers and a member of ASCAP, Hudgins has written songs for Eddy Arnold, Joni James, Ray Price, the Osmond Brothers, Bob Wills, the Texas Playboys, and Kirk McGee. She has been a member of many historical societies, including the DAR, UDC, and the Kentucky Historical Society. 

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Hullett, Robert
 

 Bobby Hullett was born in Nashville and has lived in Williamson County since 1979. He spent 7 years in private and public education before moving back into the corporate business environment. Bobby holds a BBA in Marketing and a Masters in Education Supervision and Administration. He is also an active entrepreneur. Ethics Everyday is his first published work in a series currently in production. EE was created to serve not only as a metacognitive reflection tool to discover why we think the way we think, but as a device to reset and calibrate our moral compasses. Bobby resides in Brentwood.

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Hurd, Heather Kemp
 

            Heather Hurd grew up in Williamson County and graduated from Battle Ground Academy, after which she majored in marketing and business at the University of Maryland. Married to a fellow Franklinite, her life has been totally focused on family. She and her brother both work with their father, Cecil Kemp, in the family business, The Wisdom Company, through which they hope to help others and to leave a legacy for their children.

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Husband, Elaine
 

            Elaine Husband is an author and illustrator from Franklin. She has taught art in several private schools and given private lessons to adults and children.

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Hussung, Raleigh McDonald
 

            Raleigh Hussung grew up in Atlanta but came to Vanderbilt, married, moved to Brentwood, and has been enjoying her house, family, gardening, needlepoint, and especially cooking ever since. She is descended from James Bell, one of the earliest settlers in Brentwood. She has won several regional awards for cooking and has two recipes in Southern Living. Hussung began to feel the need to write down “all the things I have been told.” Her lively cookbook is the result, passing on the knowledge of generations of cooks and family love.

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