Tulsa writer Connie Cronley will speak at noon on Saturday, April 13 during the Author Meet-and-Greet at the Tahlequah Public Library, 120 S. College.
Cronley’s book, “A Life on Fire: Oklahoma’s Kate Barnard,” was named the best book of the year in 2022 by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
The event, sponsored by the Friends of the Tahlequah Public Library, will feature 20 local and regional published authors who will display, discuss, and offer for sale books that span a range of genres, including historical fiction, true histories, poetry, photography, spiritual awakening, and children’s literature. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the library’s Carnegie Room. The event is free and open to the public.
In addition to Cronley, participating writers will include R. E. “Eddie” Glenn, Regina McLemore, David Christopher Jennings, Erynn Crittenden, James W. McDonough, Candace Thompson, Shirley Pettengill, Kris Carrerow, Eileen Hobbs, Nila Adair, Timothy Gilliam, Donna Welch Jones, Brian Conway, Mark Darrah, Eli Camp, Betty Ridge, Harold C. Aldridge, Jr., Elizabeth Peterson, and Regina Cross.
Cronley has published three books of essays and co-authored the memoir of the late Edward Perkins, a career Foreign Service officer who was the United States’ first black ambassador assigned to South Africa during apartheid. She is a columnist with TulsaPeople and does a monthly KOTV book review.
An Oklahoma native and enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, Cronley wrote about Kate Barnard, a “fiery political reformer and a fearless activist on behalf of the weak and helpless,” at the urging of her late friend and mentor, renowned Oklahoma historian Angie Debo.
“I believe Kate Barnard is the most important woman in Oklahoma history,” Cronley said.
Barnard was the first woman elected to state office in Oklahoma, a popular social reformer whose work was destroyed by graft and corruption. Years before the F.B.I. arrived in the Osage Nation to investigate the deaths of headright owners as recounted in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Barnard’s office inspected and reported egregious misconduct involving Indian properties.
“Dr. Debo wrote about Kate in her trailblazing Indian history ‘And Still the Waters Run.’ My research spanned almost 50 years,” Cronley said. “It feels good to keep my promise to Dr. Debo.”
