Gov. Mike Easley and first lady Mary Easley presented North Carolina Awards to seven people on Wednesday in Durham.
The annual awards, created by the General Assembly in 1961, are the highest civilian honor bestowed by the state and recognize individuals for their contributions to the arts, public service and science. The winners were selected from citizen nominations.
Former Gov. James E. Holshouser Jr. was one of the recipients.
"Holshouser, who lives in Southern Pines, became the first Republican governor of North Carolina in the 20th century when he was elected in 1972," said the Fayetteville Observer. "During his tenure, the state university system was consolidated under the board of governors. After leaving office, Holshouser was elected to the board, where he still serves as member emeritus."
Another Fayetteville-related winner was Roy Parker Jr., who writes a military history column for the Observer.
"Parker, who writes the Military History column for the Observer’s weekly Military section, has been covering news in North Carolina for more than 50 years. He served as the Washington correspondent for The News & Observer of Raleigh from 1963 to 1972.
"Following that job, he returned to North Carolina as the press secretary for Hargrove 'Skipper' Bowles’ gubernatorial campaign. After that, Parker became the first editor of The Fayetteville Times in 1973," wrote the Observer.
The other winners of North Carolina Awards were:
-Thomas K. Hearn Jr., of Winston-Salem, who served as president of Wake Forest University for 22 years.
-Charles Sanders, a retired Glaxo chief executive, recently finished a one-year term as the first chairman of the North Carolina Education Lottery Commission.
-Artist William Williams of New York, a Fayetteville native who has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and two awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, was honored along with writer Emily Herring Wilson of Winston-Salem, whose poetry, nonfiction writings and university teachings have examined the importance of women.
-Writer Michael Parker, an English professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, also was honored. Parker has written novels such as “Hello Down There” and “Virginia Lovers” and more than 20 short stories, according to the Observer.
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