Buies Creek, N.C.-John Drescher, executive editor and senior vice president of the Raleigh “News & Observer” will discuss the state of the newspaper today at Campbell University’s annual Friends of the Library dinner, Friday, Sept. 25, at 6 p.m. in the Alumni Room of Marshbanks Dining Hall. Reservations are required.
Founded in 1972, the Friends of the Library promote the interest of the library as well as the mission of Campbell University. The group also purchases needed materials such as the new audio book collection and the first online book catalogue. Membership in the Friends of the Library is open to the community.
A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University, Drescher boasts an extensive newspaper background. From 1983-1986, he honed his skills as a reporter for “The News & Observer,” covering state and local government. He followed this experience with a 12-year stint at “The Charolotte Observer” as a state capitol reporter and also as editor for government, metro, regional, and front-page sections of the paper.
In 2000, he was named managing editor of “The State” newspaper in Columbia, S.C. Two years later, he became managing editor of “The News & Observer,” rising to the position of executive editor in 2007, only the seventh person to hold the position since the paper was founded in 1894.
Drescher’s book, “Triumph of Good Will: How Terry Sanford Beat a Champion of Segregation and Reshaped the South,” was published in 2000 by the University Press of Mississippi. He and his wife Deanna have three daughters.
Reservations to the Friends of the Library dinner may be made by calling Linda Martin at 910.893.1469 or e-mailing her at [email protected]/* */. Dinner prices are $12 for guests and $5 for students. Members are admitted free.
Photo Copy: John Drescher, executive editor of “The News & Observer will be the featured speaker at Campbell University’s annual Friends of the Library dinner.