Contact: Maridith Geuder
Wayne Weidie, the Gulf Coast journalist who now is chief of staff to 4th District Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), visits Mississippi State Thursday [Feb. 13] as the latest Collins Lecturer.
Weidie, a 1963 political science graduate of the university, will speak at a 3 p.m. public program in the John Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library.
The Morris H. Collins Jr. Lecture Series is sponsored by MSU's John C. Stennis Institute of Government, the library's Congressional and Political Research Center and the student John Stennis-G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Association.
"The Collins Speaker Series brings to Mississippi State and the Golden Triangle area individuals who have made significant contributions to our state," said libraries dean Frances N. Coleman. "Wayne Weidie certainly meets those criteria."
Weidie is a Pascagoula High School graduate who also attended graduate school at Louisiana State University. Prior to becoming Taylor's chief of staff in 1990, he was editor of the Ocean Springs Record and a statewide political columnist.
The longtime journalist also served as a political analyst for WLOX-TV in Biloxi and for Mississippi Educational Television, and was a graduate fellow at the Millsaps College Institute of Politics. His professional papers are among those included in the MSU library's congressional and political collection.
"We're very fortunate to have Wayne Weidie be a part of this lecture series," said Stennis Institute executive director Marty Wiseman. "He has great insight into the world of state and national politics and will have many keen observations to share with the audience on Thursday."
For more information, telephone (662) 325-0812 or 325-3328.