Background
Oliver, Eloise Kitty Dolores was born in December 1947 in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Daughter of Roy Hurschel and Terotha Elizabeth Leeks.
( A telling memoir by an exciting new voice, Multicolored...)
A telling memoir by an exciting new voice, Multicolored Memories of a Black Southern Girl explores journalist Kitty Oliver's coming of age as she makes the crossing from an all-black to a predominantly white world. Born and raised in an all-black area of Jacksonville, Florida, Oliver was one of the first African American freshmen to enter the University of Florida. Though she chronicles the strains of her transition from Jim Crow to desegregation, this book is much more than a memoir of the turbulent sixties. It is an upbeat journal of self-discovery in the aftermath of that decade, a look at one woman's coming to terms with living an integrated life in America. With humor, poignancy, and lyrical language (reminiscent at times of another Florida writer, Zora Neale Hurston), Oliver shares her passage from the "old world" to the new -- an immigrant's journey indicative of the American experience. Blending past and present, she searches for roots from the Gullah or "Geechee" culture of South Carolina to the urban streets of northern Florida to the multicultural mix of South Florida's diverse ethnic cultures, serving up family stories with large helpings of southern "folktalk," food, and music along the way.
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educator writer Ethnic diversity consultant
Oliver, Eloise Kitty Dolores was born in December 1947 in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Daughter of Roy Hurschel and Terotha Elizabeth Leeks.
Bachelor in English, University Florida, 1969. Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Florida International University, 1994.
Staff writer, columnist Miami Herald, Broward County, Florida, 1971—1990. President Kitty O. Enterprises, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, since 1989. Assistant to president for diversity concerns Nova Southeastern University, 1992—1994.
Visiting instructor, lecturer Florida International University, N. Miami, 1994—1996. Visiting assistant professor Florida Atlantic University, Fort Lauderdale, 1995—1997, print media coordinator university relations, 1992—1999, professor, writer in residence, 1992—1999, professor, since 2005. Writer-in-residence African American Research Library., Fort Lauderdale, since 2005.
( A telling memoir by an exciting new voice, Multicolored...)
Founder Kitty Oliver Minority scholar award University Florida, Gainesville, 1988, chair engineering advisory committee, 1995-1996. Minority and youth chair for Leadership Broward programs Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, 1989-1990, 91-92. Humanitarian award for race relations, Urban League, 2000.
Member National League of America Pen Women, Oral History Association.
Married Richard Calvin Oliver, January 26, 1968 (divorced September 1989). Children: Kali Rita, Brian Kyle.