Lyon College Convocation speaker series to feature author Garrard Conley
BATESVILLE, Arkansas – Lyon College will continue its annual Convocation speaker series with a presentation titled “The Novel ‘All the World Beside’: Researching Historical Fiction” by author and Lyon College alumnus Garrard Conley on Thursday, April 4, at 4 p.m. in the Nucor Auditorium in the Lyon Business and Economics Building on the Lyon College campus at 2300 Highland Rd., Batesville.
The free event is open to the public
Conley is The New York Times bestselling author of the memoir “Boy Erased” (Riverhead/Penguin 2016) and the novel “All the World Beside” (Riverhead/Penguin 2024), as well as the creator and co-producer of the podcast “UnErased: The History of Con
His work has been published by The New York Times, Oxford American, Time and Virginia Quarterly Review, among others. Conley is a graduate of Brooklyn College’s Master of Fine Arts program, where he was a Truman Capote Fellow specializing in fiction. He currently serves as an assistant professor of creative writing at Kennesaw State University.
Cathy Drew is a lifelong resident of the region that she loves to promote. She was born in downtown Batesville in the late ’60s, located in one of the eight counties she now enjoys encouraging people to visit.
Drew became associated with the Ozark Gateway Region in 1990 while working at the ad agency (The Media Market Inc.). The agency handled marketing for the regional association, where she and her co-workers produced an annual tabloid publication. She began working as the Ozark Gateway Region director in June 2000.
After Drew became director, she took the region to the next level by helping the tourism organization create a new website and moved it from the old newspaper paper tabloid publication to a color magazine format. She helped open a visitor center for the Ozark Gateway, allowing visitors to pick up information from the entire state 24/7. Over the years, Drew has helped the organization meet new marketing goals, such as in- and out-of-state marketing, assuring that all 100,000 copies of their magazines are distributed each year.
In 2016, she assisted in creating the first Ozark Gateway Region Golf Classic. The tournament continues to grow each year, allowing the organization to expand its co-op program and helping each county have dedicated promotion. Drew stays busy at Ozark Gateway as the ad sales manager, magazine editor, day-to-day office operations, trade show representative, and magazine distribution representative, all while ensuring that the region is represented all over Arkansas and southern Missouri.
Drew was featured in several local and statewide publications over the years, as well as the 1997 cover of the Ozark Gateway Region tabloid, along with her then 4-year-old son, Jon. She has received several awards, such as the Batesville Rotarian of the Year in 2010 and a three-time Paul Harris Fellow.
She also has served as an Independence County election commissioner for several years. She now serves as their co-election coordinator, helping with behind-the-scenes management of voting equipment, day-to-day election deadlines, and poll worker training.
Drew serves on the Arkansas Travel Council Board of Directors, is Batesville Rotary Club Past President, and is the Rotary Clubs’ current publicity chair.
In March of 2018, Drew was honored with induction into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame for her many years of dedicated service to the tourism industry.