In my own words

I was born in a rural, six-bed hospital in Haleyville, Alabama on January 10, 1948. Most of the people who reside in the community referred to the hospital as a place you go to be born or die. Luckily, for me, it was the former. My dad was an engineer at Alabama Power when I was born and later in his career became the Senior Executive Vice President for Power Generation. My mother was a stay-at-home mom and shopper extraordinaire. When I was 5 years old my family moved to Birmingham, Alabama, and I have considered that my home ever since.

I have loved sports as long as I can remember. After school, we would race home, change from our school clothes, and return to the playground where there was always a game going on. I also played in organized leagues for baseball and basketball. Those were my favorite times. I attended Shades Valley High School which, at the time was the largest school in Alabama and recognized for its high academic standards. In my senior year, I applied and was accepted into Honors English. The class was taught by Dena Mackey who was nearing the end of her career, but was a highly respected teacher among those in the English Department. She loved her English and commanded us to love it too.

Every Monday, she gave us a topic upon which to write and on Friday, we were expected to deliver our paper to her. For some reason, I always found a way to find a humorous slant to the topic and though my work graded well, she always frowned when she returned my paper. At the end of the school year, she said, “Neal Whitt stand up!” I did immediately. She continued, “I am giving you an A, just like I did last semester, but if you would write about something serious rather than those funny pieces, you could write a book someday.” I have thought about that day my entire life, and although I have had some serious ideas in the back of my head, I have had little time to reduce them to writing.