Grace Toney Edwards Guest Editor of the Pancake Section

Abstract

Grace Toney Edwards Guest Editor of the Pancake Section George Brosi Grace Toney Edwards, the guest editor for the Breece D'J Pancake section of this magazine, is uniquely qualified on many levels for this task. She was a friend of Breece Pancake when they were both in graduate school in English at the University of Virginia. She is also widely respected for her knowledge of literature in general and that of the Appalachian South in particular. She co-edited the "Appalachian Literature" section of the Encyclopedia of Appalachia. Her expertise in the field of Appalachian Studies is indicated not only by the fact that she is the lead co-editor of A Handbook to Appalachia: An Introduction to the Region, but also that in 1988, she was elected President of the Appalachian Studies Conference. In 1999 she was awarded the Cratis D. Williams/James Brown Distinguished Scholar and Service Award by that same body, an honor that was especially gratifying because it is named, in part, for Dr. Cratis Williams, her professor while she was studying at Appalachian State University. A native of Rutherford County, North Carolina, Grace Edwards received both her bachelors and her masters from Appalachian State and her doctorate from the University of Virginia. She began teaching at Radford University in Radford, Virginia, in 1980 and three years later began directing the Highland Summer Conference. Each summer since, this program has brought outstanding regional authors to campus for a two-week program and inspired a generation of Appalachian enthusiasts. Edwards was named chair of the Radford English Department in 1992, and in 1994 she founded their Appalachian Regional Studies Center which she directed until she was designated Professor Emeritus last year. Edwards is presently a Principal Associate in CGJC Enterprises, Research and Education Consultants of Christiansburg, Virginia, a firm created by her and her husband, John C. Nemeth, a scientist. For this issue, Grace Edwards has worked tirelessly for over a year, traveling twice to Charlottesville, Virginia, three times to Staunton, Virginia, and to Morgantown, Fairmont, and Milton in West Virginia. She has sent out well over 250 e-mails, written numerous letters, had many conversations, and has pored over a multitude of manuscripts in this arduous but very rewarding process. [End Page 124] Copyright © 2012 Berea College