Njoki McElroy tells her story and others' as ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ teacher and author
Feature story on Njoki McElroy, who teaches in the Master of Liberal Studies program in ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½'s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
By SELWYN CRAWFORD
The Dallas Morning News
There is no doubt that Njoki McElroy, perhaps one of America's pre-eminent storytellers, has the gift of gab.
"In the first class I took with her, we all gave her the nickname – 'Queen Professor,' " says Pamela Gray Ventouras, a former student of McElroy's at ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ University. "She is not only regal in how she carries herself, but she is such a queen in her profession."Ìý
When McElroy does speak, listeners hang on every purpose-filled phrase, as if she were a beloved monarch.
"When she starts talking, people crane their necks to listen to the next word," said Jolyn Robichaux, a friend and contemporary. "That's a talent. That's a skill."
It's a skill that McElroy, who teaches interpretation of African-American literature, recently focused on her own life. She published her memoir, 1012 Natchez ... A Memoir of Grace, Hardship and Love, through Dallas' Brown Books.
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