Staff reports
A Wake Tech instructor is embarking on a book-signing tour throughout North Carolina over the next few months.
Suzy Barile, who is also an award-winning writer and now a published author, has written “Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle and a Yankee General,” a work of non-fiction based on the intriguing lives of her great-great-grandparents, Ella Swain and Smith D. Atkins.
Barile says she had been told stories about the couple’s marriage and the response of the Swains’ southern neighbors.
“They were angry and closed their shutters as her wedding carriage passed by,” Barile said. When she found letters that her great-great grandmother had written, she was inspired to share the detailed story of the relationship behind the legend.
At Wake Technical Community College, Barile instructs students who want to hone their journalism and composition skills.
“Our students benefit from the expertise of instructors like [Barile] who are accomplished in their field,” Wake Tech president Dr. Stephen Scott said. “We’re proud to have such talent among us at Wake Tech.”
Book-signing schedule
A book signing at Wake Tech’s main campus is also scheduled for this spring.
Barile’s experience includes reporting for Triangle-area newspapers including The Cary News, Triangle Business Journal and the News and Observer. She has won awards from organizations such as the N.C. Press Association, the National Federation of Press Women and the N.C. Society of Historians
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