ASU alumna Sara Richardson to hold book signing Feb. 13

Feb. 5, 2010 -- ASU alumna Sara Richardson of Hot Springs, who graduated from Arkansas State University- Jonesboro in 2001, has had her new book, “Jake,” published by Llumina Press and will appear at a book signing at Barnes and Noble Booksellers, 3000 East Highland Drive, at Jonesboro’s Mall at Turtle Creek, on Saturday, Feb. 13, from 1-4 p.m.

Richardson, originally from Booneville, was raised on a chicken farm. Her love of writing started at age thirteen, when she finished her first novel. After graduating as valedictorian from high school, she received a full scholarship to ASU, where she majored in math and minored in journalism. After graduating from ASU magna cum laude in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in education, she moved to Texas and started her teaching career in math, English, American Sign Language and journalism. Currently, she is teaching seventh and eighth grade math in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Her new book, “Jake,” is described by her publisher as “a wonderful story of friendship, love and hope.” A full description can be found at the website http://www.llumina.com/store/jake.htm.

At ASU, Richardson was an honors student, served on the yearbook staff, and was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta honorary society. She enjoyed her years at ASU. “I lived in Arkansas Hall for the first two years,” she says. “I have fond memories of Dr. Bishop because he wouldn't accept less than 100% from me. He always made me do more. I also have fond memories of Dr. Jack Zibluk for the same reasons. He made me redo my photos until they were perfect. I've always been a highly driven person, so I really enjoyed the professors that made me put in extra effort.”

To offset the stress of academics, Richardson says she also took physical education classes. She recalls, “I particularly liked the dance classes, and I'm sure I took every one. I took a lot of classes just for fun.”

She worked her way through school and found it enhanced her student life. “I worked at the Waffle House for four years, and that was the most fun I had in college. I love the Waffle House. I enjoyed the food so much that I proposed marriage to the cook!  I had never had a job before, so I did it for fun. I did a documentary for one of Dr. Jack Zibluk's photo class called ‘24 hours at the Waffle House.’”

Richardson began writing as an adolescent. “When I was 13, I wrote “The Trials of Becoming a Teenage Girl.” It was just a story about regular teenage girl things: friends, school, crushes,” she says. “I still have the manuscript in a drawer. It was 113 pages, handwritten, and back then, I thought that was a major accomplishment. I still do actually, because I teach seventh and eighth grade and hear them complain all the time about having to write a five-paragraph essay.” 

After graduation from ASU, Richardson moved to Texas where she began her teaching career. An ASU professor had told her she would be good at teaching, and Richardson says she chose math “because I thought it would be easy.”

However, she admits that journalism, in which she minored, was her real passion. “All I wanted was to do the yearbook and newspaper in a school and maybe teach a few math classes. In high school, I was the editor of the yearbook and newspaper,” she says. The high school yearbook she edited won the Columbian Scholastic Press Association Gold Crown, the nation’s highest honor in the field. As a senior, she was named editor of the year by the Arkansas High School Press Association.

Her new book, “Jake,” concerns a young woman who is faced with a difficult choice when confronted with a serious illness, asking the question of how a person cures a "dying soul.”

Richardson’s book signing on Saturday, Feb. 13, will take place at Barnes and Noble, 3000 East Highland Drive, at Jonesboro’s Mall at Turtle Creek. The following Monday, she plans to visit the Cooper Alumni Center on the ASU campus to present a copy of her book to the ASU Alumni Association.

For details, contact Dr. Nancy Hendricks (nhendricks@astate.edu), director, Alumni Publications, at (870) 972-2451.
--Dr. Nancy Hendricks
 

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