Written by: Sasha Steinberg
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STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University Libraries is hosting a special program this week honoring a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and best-selling crime novelist whose donated papers will be housed at the university's Mitchell Memorial Library.
Taking place Friday [Aug. 19] in the library's third-floor John Grisham Room, the 3 p.m. event celebrates Neely Tucker, a seventh-generation Mississippian and a Starkville Academy graduate who attended Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi.
In addition to correspondence, annotated galleys, manuscript copies of published works, and diaries, Tucker's donation to Mississippi State includes copies of his books in foreign languages, clippings of articles written by and about him and his family, and other materials used throughout his extensive career.
A 15-year staff writer for The Washington Post, Tucker has datelined stories from more than 60 countries or territories and more than 30 U.S. states. He currently is assigned to cover the 2016 U.S. Presidential campaign. A Holmes County native of Lexington, Tucker now resides near Washington, D.C., with his wife and their three children.
During Friday's program, Tucker will read from and sign copies of his family memoir, "Love in the Driest Season." Copies will be available for sale at the event, and refreshments also will be served.
Published in 2005, "Love in the Driest Season" (Broadway Books) tells the story of how Tucker's years as a foreign correspondent, particularly covering war and violent conflict, led to the adoption of his daughter Chipo from an AIDS-decimated orphanage in Zimbabwe.
Among other recognitions, the memoir was named one of the 25 Best Books of the Year by Publishers Weekly, the American Bookseller's Association and the New York City Public Library.
Published by Viking, Tucker's recent book, "Murder, D.C.: A Sully Carter Novel," was named one of the best three thrillers in 2015 by Daily Mail in London.
"Only the Hunted Run," the newest addition to his Sully Carter Novel series, is scheduled for release later this month by Viking. For more biographical information, visit www.neelytucker.com.
For additional information about Friday's campus program or the Neely Tucker donation, contact Jennifer McGillan, MSU Libraries manuscripts coordinator, at 662-325-3071 or jmcgillan@library.msstate.edu.
MSU is Mississippi's leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
About MSU Libraries
Mississippi State University Libraries is a premier research library providing its communities of users an ongoing, creative, technologically advanced library program that promotes new and emerging technologies while enhancing and inspiring teaching, research, and service of the highest caliber in an environment of free and open inquiry and with a commitment to excellence. For more information about MSU Libraries, please visit http://library.msstate.edu/ .
MSU, Mississippi's flagship research university, is online at www.msstate.edu.
