{"id":6806,"date":"2020-09-10T16:40:36","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T20:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lewis\/?p=6806"},"modified":"2020-09-10T16:40:36","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T20:40:36","slug":"borden-audrey-poe-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lewis\/borden-audrey-poe-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Borden, Audrey Poe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audrey Poe Borden,<\/em><\/strong> who passed away September 18 at the age of 93, was a journalist, teacher, artist and story teller. A Memphian by birth, she travelled extensively as a young reporter, then married and raised a family in the New York suburbs, before moving back to Tennessee and living in Lewis County for the past half century. Charming, witty and in her day a great southern beauty, she was an independent, inspirational woman widely loved by the community, her students, her family \u2013 and her many pets. A graduate of Memphis State University in 1947, and regular contributor to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Audrey achieved a master\u2019s degree in 1950 from Columbia Journalism School in New York City and travelled across post-war Europe and the Middle East as a reporter for the Scripps Howard News Agency. With a plan to investigate the Sister Cities program, through which American towns were supporting reconstruction across a devastated continent, she remained in Europe for several years, spending particular time in Turkey and Yugoslavia. Audrey combined writing articles and producing radio programs with teaching English when funds got short. The experience was transformative, and so present were her memories that even until recently, she could still sing an entire folk song in Turkish language.\u00a0 Her most famous intrigue was to secure an interview with the Yugoslav communist leader, Marshal Tito. Tito had broken with the Soviet Union\u2019s Joseph Stalin and was promoting an independent, non-aligned course. Audrey travelled across Yugoslavia, writing articles about the population, their human struggles and their hopes. Finally, she discovered Tito\u2019s aunt, and lived with her for a couple of months, learning local customs and joining in dances wearing the local ethnic dress. Until one day, the aunt finally said, \u201cYou know, you really must meet my nephew . . .\u201d The extended article that resulted is more about the adventure of gaining the interview than politics and international affairs. The girls almost oversleep, and have to scramble to get dressed and meet the car. Tito is charmed by them, teases them and gives them a few general remarks about his world view before sending them off. Yet the madcap affair was perfectly captured by the headline: \u201cThe Man Who Said No to Stalin Says Yes to Audrey Poe\u201d. Returning to the U.S., Audrey met her future husband, the widower Arthur Borden, an attorney in New York, who had been seeking a Columbia University graduate to assist him on a research project. The article was never written, but this period, too, was transformative.\u00a0 Audrey cut a dash in the cultural, society and charity realms of New York City with her Delta drawl, fiery red hair and boundless enthusiasm. From the suburb of White Plains, Audrey raised Erica, Ross and Mark, and give birth to a further three children, Lindsay, Andrew and Anthony. Setting aside her professional career, she threw herself into the role \u2013 overseeing a rambling home, dedicating herself to school and charity committees, and hosting glittering parties with business, cultural and political personalities. Audrey had style \u2013 gleaned from her European travels \u2013 and loved candles and roaring fireplaces, so that on such evenings the entire house shimmered with flickering flame throughout.\u00a0As a mother, education remained her priority, and Audrey ensured that the children attended excellent schools, universities and graduate schools. She was as proud of these degrees as of her own. She retained her southern heritage, attending the Manhattan Church of Christ, and visiting Memphis. And she sustained and developed connections from her journalism days, receiving Tito on a visit to New York, catching Castro and Robert Kennedy for short interviews, and hosting at home Thomas Mboya, one of the founding fathers of Kenyan independence. With Audrey\u2019s urging, Arthur undertook the legal work on a pro bono basis to incorporate the registered charitable organization which hosted the African educational exchange program which first brought Barack Obama\u2019s father to America. These were times of social change, and Audrey simply did not believe the idea that one\u2019s skin color should make any difference \u2013 one way or another \u2013 to anyone\u2019s life chances. She supported Martin Luther King, Jr., and was distraught that her home town would be associated with his assassination. She volunteered for inner-city substance-abuse programs, and spent many hours on charity work in New York City. When a family from Memphis, the first black people to seek to move into the neighborhood, had difficulties buying the house next door because of local resistance, Audrey mobilized to help ensure they could complete the purchase.\u00a0 Following a divorce, her affection for Tennessee brought her to reside in the farming community of Riverside. She took great pride in owning crop-producing land, and loved the nature and her many animals, the Buffalo River and the local Patton\u2019s general store \u2013 and the southern ways. It also allowed her to be closer to her parents, her beloved sister Lucile and brother-in-law Glenn Poague, her brother Col. Clarence Lee Poe, Sr. and sister-in-law Alma.\u00a0 Returning to her original profession, Audrey taught school, and studied for a further degree in special education, a particular passion. She was known for her positive, encouraging manner with all students. For many years, the Lewis County High School dining room was adorned by an enormous mural of panthers and other animals \u2013 an all-school project on which she deployed her considerable artistic talents. One of her favorite ventures was to organize a trip for the senior class one year to travel to Jamaica. While her mother was aging, Audrey commuted to Memphis to teach in an inner-city school there. A notable moment was a rap tune she worked up with the all-black class; sung to the raucous, rhythmic banging of desktops, the chorus ran: \u201cPresident! Anyone Can Be President!\u201d Her accomplishments as an educator were recognized in 1983 when Lewis County \u2013 on the initiative of a group of students \u2013 officially declared an \u201cAudrey Poe Borden Day\u201d.\u00a0 Throughout her life, Audrey believed in the power of words. The daughter of a Church of Christ preacher, she had a deep faith and believed above all in the Bible. Over the years, she attended the Riverside and the Hohenwald Churches of Christ. For her, Christianity, humanity and the natural world were all expressions of God\u2019s love, and she lived each day perceiving the best in everything \u2013 and in everyone. As she said, \u201cNature is so beautiful, I simply don\u2019t see how anyone could not believe in God.\u201d This optimistic attitude sometimes gave an almost other-worldly impression. She could seem unmindful of day-to-day struggles, which at periods in her life were significant. She was ever-positive about anyone she met, always completely trusting and convinced \u2013 however unrealistic \u2013 that everyone could achieve their highest potential.\u00a0 For Audrey, life was a blessing, and her greatest accomplishment was to find the best within it, within her own situation and within the people (and animals) she met on the way. Upon retirement, she enjoyed summer visits from her grandchildren, reprising her role by teaching them to paint, listening to her youngest grandson play guitar and talking over their school and sporting successes.\u00a0 As Audrey grew older, she was supported by a wonderful network of local carers and friends who enabled her to remain living independently on the farm up until a short illness. It was her positive spirit that motivated them to help her continue on this final adventure. And it was her enormous pride that she was able to do so, taking pleasure in the farm every day, discussing politics and listening to audio editions of The New York Times, spoiling her last dog, Lady, and sharing her endless tales. In recognition of her life, and her close friendship with her late neighbor Irene Patton \u2013 who for many decades ran the local country store with her husband Marvin \u2013 the Riverside community requested that the State of Tennessee name the historic \u201ctrain bridge\u201d over the Buffalo River in their honor. Signs at the location commemorating these two powerful, soulful women were installed just weeks ago.\u00a0 A funeral service will be held at the McDonald Funeral Home, on Saturday October 5, at 10 am,\u00a0with Rev. Lindsay Borden officiating. Interment will immediately follow at the Banks Cemetery in Riverside. A reception will follow at the fellowship building of the Riverside Church of Christ. Audrey Poe Borden, journalist and educator. born Memphis on May 15, 1926,\u00a0 died September 18, 2019 in Columbia. Parents: William Arthur and Ethel Lula (Mincey) Poe. Married Arthur Murray Borden, August 5, 1955 (divorced October 1975). Children: Erica, Ross, Mark, Lindsay, Andrew, Anthony. Grandchildren: Jessica, Tess, Meghan, Emma, Elliot, Stefanie, Maxine, Daniel.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Audrey Poe Borden, who passed away September 18 at the age of 93, was a journalist, teacher, artist and story teller. A Memphian by birth, she travelled extensively as a young reporter, then married and raised a family in the New York suburbs, before moving back to Tennessee and living in Lewis County for the past half century. Charming, witty…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[2289],"class_list":["post-6806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lewiscountyherald","tag-borden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lewis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lewis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lewis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lewis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lewis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lewis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lewis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lewis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/lewis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}