Christine Wicker

Christine Wicker was raised in Oklahoma, Texas and other parts of the South. Her mother’s grandfather was an itinerant Baptist preacher and her dad’s father was a Kentucky coal miner. She is the first journalist in her family. Upon hearing of her profession, her grandmother once comforted her by saying, “That’s all right. Just tell people you’re a waitress.”

During her 17 years at The Dallas Morning News, she was a feature writer, columnist and religion reporter. Her work took her from demonstrations in Nairobi to peace communes in Belfast. She slept in Mexican chicken shacks, trailed homeless people through Dallas alleys and tracked down East Germans who had worked for the Communist secret police. She covered Lady Diana’s funeral in England and Pope John II’s historic visit to Cuba.