For immediate release:

Paris, Tenn. It was a stellar assemblage, the first seven to be inducted into the Henry County High School Speech and Drama Wall of Fame Saturday night.

It includes a two-time Tony winner, Emmy winners and even an Oscar winner, broadcasters, and songwriters. It is remarkable that such a luminous crew should come from a rural Western Tennessee high school, but they all have one thing in common: the talent and inspiration of their Speech and Drama instructor, Linda Wilson Miller.  All credit Miller's tireless activity, working early and late hours and weekends, for their successes.  Miller, who has been the Speech and Theater Teacher, Speech Coach and Thespian Advisor for 40 years, welcomed the full house and said it was High School Principal Lennis McFerren who suggested the creation of a Speech and Theater Wall of Fame.  "He was so impressed with our outstanding graduates, he suggested that we begin a Wall of Fame, and here we are," she said. Miller also thanked other county organizations such as the the Paris-Henry Co. Arts Council, Lee Academy for the Arts and the city of Paris' Children's Theater Program for doing so much to keep the arts live in the local area.

The seven to be be inducted were:

--Cherry Jones, a two-time Best Actress Tony Winner and Emmy winner for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama. A 1974 HCHS graduate, Jones began her career as a theater and Broadway actress, seguing into movies. She now portrays President Allison Taylor on the hit television series '24'.

--Summer Crocket Moore, an award-winning actress who has worked on the New York stage and on television series such as "Law And Order Criminal Intent" and "Kings". She can be seen in many national and international commercial campaigns, totalling 700 in her career so far. She is a 1994 HCHS graduate.  Ms. Moore has the honor of being the youngest inductee to the Wall of Fame thus far.

--Douglas Rogers is an art director and is best known as the Art Director for Dream Works' Academy-Award winning blockbuster, "Shrek". He currently is working as production designer for Disney's "Rapunzel", due for release next year. Before his success with movies, he designed at regional theaters around the United States and Broadway. He is a 1978 HCHS graduate.

--Bart Herbison is a songwriter who began his career working as a reporter and radio announcer. He also was a staff member for both former Tennessee Gov. Ned Ray McWherter and U.S. Rep. Bob Clement. A 1975 HCHS graduate, he left politics for Music Row and is currently Executive Director of the National Songwriters Association.

--Daisie Wheeler Boettner was the first female from Tennessee to graduate from West Point and is Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at West Point. A 1977 HCHS graduate, she earned awards in national speech contests.

--Ronnie "Night Train" Lane is a broadcaster who has broken ground and won acclaim nationally. While at Q-105 in Tampa, he was honored as the only black country music programmer in the top 25 market in the U.S. He also co-hosted a radio sports show for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A 1974 graduate of HCHS, he is known for his colorful commentary.

--Tammy Lyn Plantinga began her career with WTVF-News Channel 5 as an unpaid intern and is now an Emmy-award winning Station Manager for Channel 5. Under her leadership, NewsChannel5.com has become the Number 1 news website in the U.S.

All of the inductees were present for the ceremony except Ms. Moore, who sent a video from New York accepting the honor, as she is currently working on the Off-Broadway show "In the Daylight".