FLORENCE—Mayor Andrew Betterton and the Florence City Council announced today that the City of Florence will host the annual ceremony for the 2023 Walk of Honor Inductees at 10:00 a.m., on Friday, June 30, 2023, at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center. The Walk of Honor, located in the beautiful River Heritage Park, recognizes individuals of Florence and Lauderdale County who have achieved national or international acclaim. This is a means to give honor and perpetuate the name and achievements of deserving individuals, either current or former citizens, through a form of civic recognition. Areas of national or international accomplishment include, but are not limited to, the following: agriculture, art, athletics, business, education, government, humanities, literature, medicine, military, music, public service, religion, and science and technology.
The 2023 Inductees and their achievements are as follows:
CLAY BENNETT
(Plaque reads) Clay Bennett received both the Pulitzer
Prize for Editorial Cartooning and the National Journalism Award in 2002, followed by the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in 2007 and multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists in succeeding years.
Bio Summary for Media:
(Taken from Bennett’s online bio) The son of a career army officer, Bennett led a nomadic life, attending ten different schools before graduating in 1980 from the University of North Alabama with degrees in Art and History.
After brief stints as a staff artist at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Fayetteville (NC) Times, he went on to serve as the editorial cartoonist for the St. Petersburg Times (1981-1994) and The Christian Science Monitor (1997-2007), before joining the staff of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, where he currently draws five cartoons a week.
Recipient of The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 2002, Bennett has earned almost every honor his profession has to offer, including the Sigma Delta Chi Award, the National Journalism Award, the John Fischetti Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the Overseas Press Club
Award, the National Headliner Award, the Thomas Nast Award, the Berryman Award, the Ranan Lurie/United Nations Political Cartoon Award, and the Divisional Award for Editorial Cartoons by the National Cartoonists Society.
Past President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, Bennett is the husband of artist Cindy Procious and father of Matt, Ben and Sarah. His work is syndicated internationally by The Washington Post Writers Group.
ADMIRAL RICHARD JACKSON
(Plaque reads) In 1911, Admiral Richard H. Jackson commanded the Yangtze River Patrol during the Chinese Revolution. By 1926, he rose to the rank of Commander of the Battle Fleet. His eyewitness account of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor was included in the official Navy report.
(Taken from Jackson’s online bio) Born on May 10, 1866 on a plantation in northern Alabama, Richard Harrison Jackson was a tenth-generation descendant of Pocahontas. He was appointed by Alabama Congressman Joseph Wheeler to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1983. He retired from service in 1930 after serving as commander in chief of the Battle Fleet. He was promoted to four-star admiral rank on the retired list in 1942.
During a revolution in China in the early years of the 20th century, Admiral Jackson commanded gunboats of the Yangtze River Patrol. Later, he served aboard the torpedo boat Foote in the Spanish-American War and as a representative for the United States Navy in Paris during World War I. He became a rear admiral in 1921, commanded a battleship division in the Pacific and then, with the rank of vice admiral, took command of all battle ship divisions.
In retirement, Jackson resided in Pearl City, Hawaii, where, on December 7, 1941, he observed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor from his front doorstep. His eyewitness account was enclosed in the official after-action report sent to the Navy Department. At the time of his death, he was the oldest military officer in the United States.
ROBERT RAUSCH
(Plaque reads) As a photographer and designer, Robert Rausch received the Clio Award in 1996. In 2018, his works were selected as the best photographs by the New York Times. Exhibitions of his work have appeared in galleries in the United States and Europe.
Bio Summary for Media:
(Taken from Rausch’s bio) Though he was born on the west coast, Robert Rausch moved to the Shoals area in 1974 and again permanently in 1999. Always being proud of his hometown and Alabama, Robert has promoted the south and the Shoals in his work across the world.
Robert’s photography and design work are varied and have touched many lives by being featured in numerous national publications such as Southern Living, Elle, and Vogue. Additionally, he has been engaged in regional and multinational corporations such as Levi Strauss, Hilton Hotels, Whole Foods, and Pepsi Co. Robert has also photographed for the New York Times for the past fifteen years. His work has been voted best photography of the year for the magazine, and many of his photos have been included in the Times selection for the best twenty photos of the year.
Closer to home, Robert has helped shape the design aesthetic for Serenbe, a high profile sustainable conscious community outside of Atlanta, Georgia. He not only designed the identity for the community, but over the past twenty years, he has designed the fixtures that shape the community such as street lights, signs, benches, etc.
His passions, gentle spirit, and talent have allowed Robert to work with international clients like Hugh Jackman, Elton John, Paloma Picasso, Alex Haley, Elizabeth Dole, Anna Cox Chambers, and Charles Moore. Robert’s personal work has been included in exhibitions in Italy, Mexico, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
GERALD GORDON WILLIAMS
(Plaque reads) Dr. General G. Williams, recognized as an international leader in agronomy, devoted his life to alleviating poverty and world hunger through sound agricultural practices. After retirement from the TVA in 1980, he served the Heifer Project International in Cameroon.
Bio Summary for Media:
(Taken from Williams’ bio) Gerald Gordon Williams was born in south Texas to a sharecropper who was later devastated by the depression. As a child and young man, he worked the family farm plots, worked with 4-H and the Civilian Conservation Corps, and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Devoting his life to the alleviation of poverty and world hunger, Williams trained in agriculture, with degrees from Pepperdine College, UC Davis, and Purdue University. He believed in sound agricultural practices and community outreach locally, regionally nationally, and internationally. He worked in agriculture for Purdue, USDA, TVA, and Heifer Project International. Gerald Williams’ success resulted from his skills as a teacher, scientist, practitioner, and leader in agriculture and his appreciation of the basic goodness of people worldwide.
After receiving nominations from the public, the Walk of Honor Selection Committee chose these four inductees. These Inductees join the other individuals selected from previous years. A bronze plaque with a picture of each inductee, along with a brief inscription of their accomplishments, has been placed on the Walk of Honor monuments in the park. The public is invited to visit the site. More detailed information on these individuals is available in the Local History and Genealogy Department at the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library.
Media Release/City of Florence
