Widener
University’s Pennsylvania Military College Museum to Host Discussion and
Book-Signing Event for African American History Month with 1962 PMC Alumnus
Louis Horner, Author of “Who Will Water the Flowers?”
CHESTER, Pa. – Louis Horner, a 1962
graduate of Pennsylvania Military College, Widener University’s predecessor
institution, wrote about his time at PMC and life as an African American during
a turbulent time in U.S. history in the new book “Who Will Water the Flowers?”
Horner will discuss the book and sign copies at a special African American
History Month event presented by Widener University’s Pennsylvania Military
College Museum. The event takes place on Widener’s Main Campus in Chester in
the Wolfgram Memorial Library Drost Room on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 1:30 p.m.
Horner has a long track record of
overcoming adversity to enjoy a full life beyond what he says his racial and
working-class background might have predicted. He was the first African
American to participate in Little League Baseball in Stratford, Conn. in 1951,
the first African American class president at his school from 1955 to 1956, the
first African American accepted in and to graduate from the now-defunct
Peekskill Military Academy in Peekskill, N.Y. from 1957 to 1958, and the first
African American to play varsity baseball and basketball at PMC from 1958 to
1962.
By sharing his life journey in “Who
Will Water the Flowers?”, published by Dog Ear Publishing Company, Horner
provokes readers to think about their own views of friendship, opportunity and
race relations in America. He dedicates much of the text to examining the
friendships he forged, beginning with those built at PMC.
After graduating from PMC in 1962,
Horner was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.
He spent time as a human resource manager with Digital Equipment Corporation
out of Springfield, Mass. He received a presidential citation from President
Ronald Reagan in 1985 for designing a computer enrichment program that served
several thousand children nationwide. Horner retired from Digital Equipment
Corporation in 1993 to start a promotional marketing company with clients from
major educational institutions and several Fortune 500 companies. After 10
years of continued growth and a changing environment, he retired from industry
in 2003. He says that a “startling spiritual experience” left him with a sense
of urgency to share his life story through “Who Will Water the Flowers?”
Horner currently resides in Mashpee,
Mass. He has returned to Widener University’s campus previously to be honored
as the April 2009 Outstanding Alumnus of the Year and to throw out the first
pitch of the alumni baseball game during Homecoming Weekend in 2011.
Registration is encouraged, but not
required for the Feb. 27 book-signing event. To register, for more information
or to pre-order a book, contact Ronald Romanowicz, PMC ’68, at rromanowicz@pennsylvaniamilitarycollege.org.
The event is free to the public.
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