Betty Sullivan

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Biography

Betty was born at the Vicksburg Infirmary, a Civil War era hospital, in Vicksburg, Mississippi to Callie Louise Knight Sullivan and William Chapman Sullivan. She has one brother, William Stanley "Stan" Sullivan. Betty grew up living in a teacher's home on the campus of Culkin Academy High School where her parents worked as educators for 20 years. Subsequently, her parents worked at Warren Central High School until their retirement.

Betty and her mother, father, brother and daughter are graduates of the University of Mississippi ("Ole Miss"). Betty Louise Sullivan earned a doctorate in Linguistics from Columbia University in New York City where her studies continued between 1982 and 1992.

Betty was married to her daughter's father from 1975-1979. Records of the marriage and subsequent divorce at on file at the City of Oxford Court House, Oxford, Mississippi. Betty's daughter, Elizabeth "Liz" Louise, was born in Oxford, Mississippi on November 6, 1978 at the Lafayette County Hospital. Elizabeth has one daughter, Callie Louise, whose father is John Houston Herren. Callie was born on January 18, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Piedmont Hospital.

Following in her mother's footsteps, Betty was a teacher of English grammar, literature and drama for five years at Amanda Elzy High School in Greenwood, Mississippi; Holly Springs High School in Holly Springs, Mississippi; and Bishop Byrne High School in Whitehaven, Tennessee near Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. In 1980, Betty was fired from Bishop Byrne High School for being a lesbian. Subsequently, she was hired by The Commercial Appeal newspaper, launching her career in the newspaper business.

In 1980, Betty moved to Memphis, Tennessee where she lived with her aunt, Leone Comfort. In 1982 she moved to New York City accompanied by her daughter, Elizabeth, and her partner, Audrey Jane May. While in graduate school in New York, she worked for New York Newsday.

Betty lived in the Washington, D.C. Metro Area from 1986-1995. During those years she worked for USA Today and the Newspaper Association of America. She has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and other nations - including Canada, Mexico, France, England, Sweden, South Africa, Brazil, Japan and Malaysia - for the purpose of conducting seminars, conferences and lecture tours.

Academically, Betty's career focus has been the use of media by learners at all ages during the teaching and learning process in all disciplines. She has also studied British archeology and history with a particular interest in the Elizabethan era.

In 1995, Betty relocated to California where she worked for the San Francisco Chronicle and The New York Times College Program. She co-founded Use The News Foundation with newspaper colleagues Dr. Sherrye Dee Garrett and Dr. Edward DeRoche.

In 2011, Betty became co-publisher of the San Francisco Bay Times newspaper (sfbaytimes.com) with her partner Jennifer Viegas. Betty lived in San Francisco from 1995 through the time of this writing. The San Francisco Bay Times is an LGBT community newspaper founded in 1978 serving the Bay Area. Issue of this newspaper are preserved at the San Francisco Public Library.

Sources

• First-hand information. Entered by Betty Sullivan.