Poplar Bluff native Linda Bloodworth Thomason honored by Mizzou

Poplar Bluff native and Emmy Award-winning creator, writer and producer Linda Bloodworth Thomason was one of four notable University of Missouri alumni recognized with the Jefferson Club Golden Quill Alumni Excellence Awards recently. Their names were unveiled on the Jesse Hall Notable Alumni Wall in the south entrance of the building.

Bloodworth Thomason

“I am most grateful and completely surprised that my name is being inscribed on the walls of Jesse Hall. It is truly an unexpected honor,” Bloodworth Thomason said. “And nobody would be more shocked than my Poplar Bluff girlfriends who attended the University of Missouri with me. I was not your model student and generally bought my textbooks during finals week. That’s how you know you’re probably a writer. This should be pure inspiration to all the aspiring, young scribes who are currently attending Mizzou.”

Torri Corcoran, head of the selection committee for the highest honor bestowed by the University of Missouri said, “Bloodworth Thomason will join other distinguished alumni on the wall including a Nobel Laureate; Cy Young Award winner; NFL Hall of Famers; Civil Rights leaders; Oscar, Emmy and Grammy award-winning actors, producers and singers; scientists; astronauts; business leaders and journalists.”

Other honorees during the April 26 ceremony were James Lee Burke, award-winning and best-selling author; Jackson V. Scholz, two-time Olympic gold medalist sprinter; and Gen. John A. Gordon, United States Air Force and undersecretary for the Department of Energy.

Shortly after graduating from MU, Bloodworth Thomason became a high school English teacher in Watts, California. While still teaching, she wrote her first script for “M*A*S*H,” which was nominated for an Emmy. She went on to create the landmark comedy series “Designing Women,” as well as the critically acclaimed “Evening Shade” and “Hearts Afire.” A multiple-time Emmy and Golden Globe nominee, Bloodworth Thomason is among television’s most prolific writers, having penned more than 375 scripts for television.

She also is an accomplished documentarian. Her first political film, for then candidate Bill Clinton, became the landmark political documentary, “The Man from Hope.” The 1996 Democratic Convention film for President Bill Clinton, “A Place Called America” followed with the 2000 Democratic Convention film for President Clinton, “Legacy;” as well as the introductory film for the Clinton Presidential Library. Bloodworth Thomason and her husband, television and film director Harry Thomason, served as the co-chairs of the 1992 Presidential Inaugural.

Bloodworth Thomason continues to tackle new challenges. Her first novel, “Liberating Paris,” was a New York Times Bestseller. In 2013, her first feature-length documentary, “Bridegroom,” won the Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary Film.

Bloodworth Thomason has received the Eleanor Roosevelt Freedom of Speech Award from Americans, the Lucy Award from Women in Film, the GLAAD Media Award, the GLSEN Lifetime Achievement Award, the Women’s Legal Defense Fund Annual Award and the Silver Satellite Award, the highest honor bestowed by Women in Radio and Television.

She established the Claudia Foundation in honor of her beloved mother, Claudia, and the Designing Women Foundation, which provides scholarships for educational and cultural opportunities for girls and women in Missouri and Arkansas. The foundation oversees the Charlie Classics Reading Program lead by educator and retired Poplar Bluff teacher Linda Surber.

The other winners include Burke, who is a New York Times bestselling mystery author. He has earned renown for his Robicheaux series. In 1988, James received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction. He has won two Edgar Awards for best mystery novel and earned the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Scholz originally planned to pursue a degree in agriculture but switched to journalism upon arriving at MU, where he also was an AAU champion track athlete. In 1920, he set an MU record in the 100-yard dash (9.6 seconds) that stood for nearly 50 years. While at Mizzou, he was noticed by the New York Athletic Club, which sponsored him in the Olympics. He won his first gold medal for the United States in the 1920 Olympics in Belgium as a member of the 4x100 relay team. He won a gold medal in the 200-meter dash in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. His loss to Harold Abrahams in the 100-meter dash in 1924 was portrayed in the movie “Chariots of Fire.” A prolific writer, Jackson authored more than 30 sports books for children that emphasized teamwork, sportsmanship and hard work.

After 32 years in the United States Air Force, Gordon retired with the rank of General in 2000. His roles with the Air Force included deputy director of Central Intelligence, director of operations for Air Force Space Command, commander of 90th Missile Wing and senior director for Policy on the National Security Council at the White House. Following his Air Force service, he was Undersecretary of the Department of Energy, where he established the National Nuclear Security Administration and was its first administrator. His final government job was assistant to the President and Homeland Security Adviser. In this capacity, he helped design the government response to terrorism until retiring in 2004.