Jenney Egertson has always been a storyteller. Throughout her career, she’s brought her love of connection and writing to high school classrooms, corporate America, and nonprofit clients as a communications consultant.
Her first book, Before I Leave, won a 2019 Independent Publisher Book Award. In her newest book, Selma’s Mayor, she shares the incredible life story and leadership of George Evans, the mayor of Selma, Alabama, from 2008 – 2016.
Jenney’s nonfiction writing is committed to research, relationships, and personal experience. Her love for the craft and for people helps her to bring three-dimensional depth to the two-dimensional page.
Writing
George Evans honed his leadership skills during the heart of the civil rights movement and served as a beloved mayor of Selma, Alabama from 2008 – 2016. His legacy is rooted in love for his hometown and its residents, embodying the essential intersection between social justice and local politics in America.
In Selma’s Mayor, Jenney Egertson blurs the lines between biography and memoir, telling the story of a man who spent his life leading with values and kindness . . . and the author whose life he transformed.
How will George Evans’ story transform yours?
In July of 2000, Jenney Egertson met 80-year-old Maude Kelly. The following day, Jenney had an idea that felt more like a command: give Maude a voice. It was the first step toward a book that would share the stories of a group of women over 80 . . . a journey that would span decades in more ways than one.
As Jenney interviewed and wrote about her subjects in the years that followed, she learned about aging, parenting, facing adversity, navigating systemic racism and sexism, and accepting community. Her interviewees became her mentors and friends. In the end, these powerful relationships gave Jenney the courage she needed to reclaim a precious gift: her voice as both a woman and a writer.
Subscribe to Jenney's newsletter.
For more of Jenney’s writing and a free book excerpt download,
sign up for the newsletter here!
Is communication the problem?
Peace in a sorrow-filled summer
Greeting our different eras of life