Meet a Member: Sallie Rose Hollis

I became acquainted with the writing of Sallie Rose Hollis when she entered the at-large competition of the 2018 NFPW professional communications contest. She is a freelance columnist for the Ruston Daily Leader in Louisiana. She has a nice writing style and I enjoy her perspective. I’m hoping to meet her in person next June, when the Louisiana affiliate hosts the NFPW conference. I hope you enjoy getting to know this unique and unbelievable NFPW member.

Name:  Sallie Rose Hollis 

City and State:  Ruston, Louisiana

Affiliate and any leadership positions:  Louisiana; past affiliate secretary

Sallie Rose Hollis

Years a member of NFPW:  I was a member for decades while teaching journalism at Louisiana Tech University.  Then when I retired in 2008, I dropped out for a few years. Now that I am a freelance newspaper columnist, I have re-upped.

Tell us a little about you:

I’m a North Louisiana native, born and raised in Union Parish. I was named after both my grandmothers, so I like to use both names in my byline. I attended Louisiana Tech, majoring in journalism, and ended up teaching there for 34 years.  While there, I also served in the university News Bureau, eventually becoming assistant director.  I now have a biweekly column that I began about two years ago in the Ruston Daily Leader, “The Journey.”  It combines slice of life, nostalgia and inspiration.

My husband is the talented artist Hooshang Khorasani. 

Sallie Rose Hollis helping sort cans for a food drive with members of Zeta Rho chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha.

I belong to several groups: Piney Hills Harmony Chorus of Sweet Adelines. We sing four-part a cappella harmony.  (I’m assistant director for showmanship and visual expression, and baritone section leader.) Epsilon Sigma Alpha service group.  (I’m the outgoing president of the local Zeta Rho chapter. Our main philanthropic project is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.)   Of course, I serve as the PR/marketing chair for both these groups, as well as for my husband’s art business. Most importantly, I’m a Christian and am involved with the worldwide Bible Study Fellowship; plus, I teach online at World English Institute, which uses the Bible as the foundation for its lessons.

Any career advice you would give?  Don’t give up easily. When I began teaching, I was terrified and also not very proficient.  But I hung in there and think that, in time, I did grow into the job.

Which talent would you most like to have?  

Hmmm … The ability to keep my house clean. That is, other than being a really nice, loving person at all times.

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?  I’m there. It’s here.

What book are you reading?  

“Building Bridges in Marriage Communication” by Bill Stewart.  Recently finished “The Dragon Slayer: Reflections on the Saving of the World” by Jim McGuiggan.  I read more non-fiction than fiction. “The Other Einstein” by Marie Benedict is on my to-read list – a gift from my home-ec-teacher-turned-author sister, Dianne Hollis Lundy.  “Sister” has written her autobiography, “The Girl from Nip ‘n’ Tuck” and a collection of short stories, “Summerfield,” with its sequel soon to follow.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?  

I had polio when I was 3 years old. 

Why is your affiliate and NFPW important to you?  

They offer a place to be united with like-minded people; they provide avenues to continue your education; they supply a means of having your work assessed and receiving awards when it is deemed top-quality.

Way to follow you on a website, twitter, Facebook, etc.:  

Facebook – Sallie Rose Hollis; blog – https://journeyingwithsallierose.blogspot.com (mainly an anthology of my columns).

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Meet a Member: Karen Rowley

Karen Rowley is dedicated NFPW member who enjoys working behind the scenes to make things happen. She did an excellent job managing the NFPW high school communications contest for several years and is completing a two-year term as NFPW protocol director. She is always willing to step up and help when someone needs help. She is another unique and unbelievable NFPW member I am honored to call a friend.

Karen Rowley at the 2014 NCAA Final Four tournament in Arlington, Texas

Name: Karen Rowley

City and State: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Affiliate and any leadership positions: Louisiana Press Women; president, treasurer, state contest director. Current NFPW protocol director and former NFPW high school contest director.

Years a member of NFPW: 14

Tell us a little about you.

I’m the oldest of six children – four of whom were born in upstate New York, which is where my parents were born and raised. We likely would have stayed in New York if my father hadn’t been drafted by the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and sent to Montgomery, Alabama, for two years. That small taste of the South was enough to make my mother decide she was tired of the snow and the cold and stuffing small children into snowsuits. We ultimately ended up in Macon, Georgia, where my father set up his medical practice.

I graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and spent the next 20 years working for newspapers in North Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. When I got tired of the grind, I went back to school at Louisiana State University and earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in media and public affairs. That let me shift gears a little and go to work as a researcher for a nonprofit, non-partisan public policy group. Now I work for the state of Louisiana in the same capacity at the Legislative Auditor’s Office.

I’ve never lost my love for journalism, though, and I’ve been able to keep a hand in by teaching at LSU’s school of mass communication and by doing some freelance writing and editing.

Any career advice you would give? 

Never turn down a chance to learn a new skill – you never know when it might come in handy.

Which talent would you most like to have? 

I’d like to be able to draw and paint. I have a lot of admiration for people who can do that.

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?  

I’d divide my time. I’d spend summers and early fall in the Central New York/Finger Lakes region, and winters and spring along the Gulf Coast.

An avid reader, Karen Rowley shows the books she is currently reading.

What book are you reading?

I’m actually reading three books right now. It’s a bad habit I learned from my father, who was a voracious reader. He was always reading several books at once. I’m reading “Turning Angel” by Greg Iles, which is the second in his series about a native son of Natchez, Mississippi, who returns home and finds himself involved in solving various crimes; “A History of the World in 12 Maps” by Jerry Brotton; and “The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism” by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

I played the violin – badly – as a child. I don’t play anymore, but I still appreciate the beauty of the music. And at the other end of the spectrum, I’m a big college basketball fan. That comes from four years at UNC, where basketball rules, and from the opportunity to attend several NCAA Final Four tournaments. The last one I went to was in 2014 in Arlington, Texas.

Why is your affiliate and NFPW important to you?  

They give me hope for the future of journalism; they keep me attuned to how the industry is changing; and they provide a built-in support network.

Way to follow you on a website, Twitter, Facebook, etc.:  

I’m on LinkedIn and on Twitter at @KRowley2012.