Jennie Miller Helderman
Jennie Miller Helderman
Jennie Miller Helderman championed women’s and children’s issues from the grassroots to national levels, beginning with a call to a crisis center that led to the first women’s shelter in her hometown. She helped add a forensics component to a children’s advocacy center; chaired the boards of a statewide advocacy organization and later Alabama’s Department of Human Resources, (DHR). Charged with oversight of all the state’s social programs, DHR saw 5,200 clients per month. Jennie worked with a national organization to develop personal safety and leadership training for women. Jennie has taught school in rural Alabama, worked in a congressional office, and been photographer on an archeological research team at Pompeii. She is also a Pushcart Prize nominee who writes both fiction and nonfiction. Helderman was presented with Alumnae Achievement Award in 2012, the highest honor given by Kappa Kappa Gamma, based on her work as an author and community leader. As the Sycamore Grows is her third book and the updated and revised version was named one of the Best 100 Indie Books of 2023 by the editors of Kirkus Reviews after being awarded its prestigious starred review. When she originally self-published the book won numerous accolades including three 2011 Reader Views Literary Awards from among publications from small, independent and academic presses: 1st in Memoir/Biography; first overall categories in 14-state Southeast Region; second in Narrative Nonfiction. The book also took second in Women’s Issues awarded by International Book Awards 2011 from among books of all publishers in 44 countries; second in Women’s Issues awarded by USA Best Books 2011; voted 2011 Bonus Book of the Year by a network of 525 book clubs in the U.S. and 11 other countries; and was nominated for 2011 Best Nonfiction Book of the Year by Southern Independent Booksellers Association. The journalist revisited Ginger and her story because the need for such stories is stronger than ever in the wake of Covid-19. Her fifth book, a memoir, has a Fall 2023 publication date. An Alabama native, Jennie is a resident of Atlanta.
