The Drawl - Southern Miss Alumni Association

Bre t t Fav r e
Upon his retirement after 17 years in the NFL, Brett Favre held
virtually all the career passing marks in the league’s record books.
Among the records held by Favre are most career touchdowns
(442) and passing yards (61,655). He is the NFL’s only threetime
most valuable player, and in 2007 was selected as Sports
Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year.
Ted Ja c k s o n ’84
Ted Jackson, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist for The
Times-Picayune, has covered assignments ranging from swampdwelling
Cajuns to Pope John Paul II’s tour of the United States.
He has produced an essay on life in the Desire housing project, a
successful crack cocaine rehabilitation facility, and several stories
on the city’s homeless population. Jackson also photographed a
comprehensive look at the collapse of the world’s fisheries, a series
that won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Eve ly n Ga n d y
Evelyn Gandy, who died in 2007, was the first woman in
Mississippi to serve as a state representative, assistant attorney
general, commissioner of public welfare, state treasurer,
commissioner of insurance and lieutenant governor. Her many
honors included the Margaret Brent Award from the American Bar
Association and the Lindy Boggs Women in Public Service Award.
Nan Ke l l e y ’88
Hattiesburg native Nan Kelley has become a fixture on one of the
most popular and longest running shows in all of entertainment,
“The Grand Ole Opry.” She is the television host of “Opry Live”
and a regular personality on the Great American Country
television network. The former Miss Mississippi also hosts
GAC’s weekly fan-voted “Top 20 Country Countdown.”
Gary Gr u b b s ’72
Movie and television actor Gary Grubbs has acted in such films as
Oliver Stone’s “JFK” and Clint Eastwood’s “Honkytonk Man.” He
has worked with such established stars as Kevin Costner, Meryl
Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Jack Nicholson. In recent years,
Grubbs has devoted much of his time to writing, has successfully
sold two pilot scripts to CBS-TV and starred in a recurring role on
“Will and Grace.”
Kat h l e e n Ko c h
Kathleen Koch is a CNN general assignment correspondent based
in Washington, D.C., specializing in aviation reporting and serving
as back-up correspondent at the Pentagon and the White House.
In 2005 and 2006, Koch provided moving reports from the Gulf
Coast during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Her
reports were featured in “CNN Presents: Saving My Town – The
Fight for Bay Saint Louis,” a special that looked at the progress of
Koch’s hometown in Mississippi six months after Katrina.
Ray Gu y ’78
The first pure punter ever taken in the first round of the NFL
draft, Ray Guy played 14 seasons for the Oakland/Los Angeles
Raiders. He earned a selection to the Pro Bowl seven times, was
a three-time leading NFL punter, and played in 22 post-season
games, including three wins in Super Bowls. Guy’s talents have
earned him several honors, including being a member of the NFL’s
75th Anniversary All Time Team and being the first pure punter to
be a finalist for selection to the NFL Hall of Fame.
Mar g a r e t Lo e s c h ’68
From November 1998 until November 2001, Margaret Loesch
served first as president and CEO of the Odyssey Network and,
subsequently, became the founding president and CEO of Crown
Media United States LLC. Prior to that, she was the founding
president and key architect of Fox Children’s Network (FOX
Kids). One of the most successful and respected executives in
the television industry and an Emmy Award-winning producer,
Loesch is now co-CEO of the Hatchery LLC, a kids and family
entertainment company.
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