Kathryn T. Windham | Southern folklorist, 93

Kathryn Tucker Windham, 93, who wove a tapestry of Southern folklore, bucolic scenes, and ghost stories through books and commentaries on public radio, died Sunday at her home in Selma, Ala.

It was on the porch of her childhood home in Thomasville, Ala., that little Kathryn Tucker was imbued with family history, strange tales, and an eye for nature's quirks. Her father, James, a banker, was a gifted storyteller who regaled family and friends as Kathryn sat beside him.

Six of her books are based on her travels through Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia gathering ghost stories.

With a deliberate drawl, she offered reflections on Alabama Public Radio for more than two decades, starting in 1984. Between 1985 and 1987, her commentaries were also broadcast on All Things Considered on National Public Radio.

She was born in Selma and started her career as a police reporter at the Alabama Journal in Montgomery, an unusual job for a woman then. In 1943, she was hired by the Birmingham News. There she met reporter Amasa Windham, whom she married in 1946.

- N.Y. Times News Service