Partnerships

Sandra Clark was elected at age 22 to represent North Knox County at the TN Constitution Convention of 1971. She was elected in 1972 and 1974 to the Tennessee House of Representatives from District 16. Along the way, she had a hand in creating Alliance Press Inc., Real Pro Real Estate, and a few others that didn’t fare so well. Clark published the Halls Shopper from 1971-2017 and published Knox TN Today from May 2017-June 2024. She continues to write for KnoxTNToday.

Susan Espiritu is a lifelong Tennessean, born and raised in Knoxville with a short stint in Hawaii where she met her husband of now 51 years, Charlie. Susan taught in Knox County schools for over twenty years and served as principal of two schools for a combined 16 years. She was honored in 2012 as Principal of the Year representing Tennessee in Washington, D.C. and more recently inducted into the University of Tennessee’s Educators Hall of Honor. After retirement, her love of writing led to a connection with Sandra Clark and KnoxTNToday evolving into a dream retirement of managing and now owning the online news in Clark’s semi-retirement. Susan’s down time is spent with her two daughters and son who have blessed her with nine grandchildren and one great grandson.

Marvin West has lasting credentials. He was sports editor of the student newspaper at the University of Tennessee in 1954. In what was then considered progress, he became sports editor and then managing editor of the Knoxville News-Sentinel. He went to Washington as national sports editor of Scripps-Howard News Service. He organized and directed coverage of World Series baseball, Final Four basketball, Super Bowls, Masters golf and seven Olympics. In Washington as in Knoxville, West was promoted to managing editor. He oversaw a staff of 90 and edited a daily news wire. Scripps had 410 newspaper and radio station customers. West was inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writers’ Hall of Fame. He is a member of four other halls and was named a “Distinguished American” by the National Football Foundation. Vol athletes chose him as an honorary letterman. In semi-retirement, he wrote four books and a few hundred columns for MexConnect. Marvin and Sarah had a winter home in Mexico for more than two decades. The Wests, married 71 years, live in Union County, on Norris Lake. Sandra Clark interrupted his budding career as a bass fisherman and recruited him for The Shopper. He followed her to KnoxTNToday and continues to cover Vols sports in his weekly column.

Tom King has been a writer and professional journalist since 1969 and was the Editor & President of two daily Scripps Howard newspapers in El Paso, TX and Redding, CA. He worked for Scripps Howard for 35 years. He is a graduate of Georgia Southern University, earning a B.A. degree in English with minors in Journalism, Spanish and Speech and played intercollegiate tennis there.

He writes a weekly Our Town Hero column for KnoxTNToday covering stories about our best local first responders and military personnel. King’s knowledge and understanding of emergency first responders and what, why and how they do their jobs began when he was a U.S. Army Military Policeman (MP). They are Our Town Heroes! In 2024 he was honored to receive an East Tennessee SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists) 2024 Golden Press Card first-place award in the category of Feature Reporting (Digital Only). He was honored for his story about the passing of Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Grant Gouldie and the impact on his widow and family. King was a member of Rotary for 36 years in Texas, California and Tennessee.

Maria M. Cornelius has worked in media in Knoxville since 1988. She has written about the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team since 1998 and is the author of The Final Season: The Perseverance of Pat Summitt. A freelance sportswriter, she covers all Lady Vols sports for Knox TN Today. Cornelius serves as president of the East Tennessee chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and also is a full-time senior editor and writer for MoxCar Marketing + Communications. She was named the 2020 recipient of the Mel Greenberg Media Award by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), which is presented annually to someone who has best displayed a commitment to women’s basketball and to advancing the role of the media in the women’s game. She most recently won first place in the Digital Only Sports Reporting at the 2025 Golden Press Awards and another first place in July 2025 in the online category by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TWSA).

Melanie Staten spent many years in Washington, D.C., working on Capitol Hill as a press secretary, at the White House as deputy assistant press secretary and at the Chamber of Commerce of the U.S as director of legislative and political issues. She was a general assignment reporter at WBAL- Baltimore and worked ten years as a reporter for a Manassas, Virginia newspaper. She was director of public relations for Westminster at Lake Ridge in Lake Ridge, Virginia. After moving to Knoxville, she became director of communications for the Amputee Coalition of America and later director of communications for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. She is publicity chair for the UT Arboretum Society and a board member of the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists. She was a performer and manager for the Front Page Follies. Melanie is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Communications. Melanie recently won second place in 2025 Golden Press Awards All Media Best Digital Content category.

Beth Kinnane is a Fountain City native and graduate of Knoxville Central High School. An English major at the University of Tennessee, she was a reporter for The Knoxville Journal in the last two years of its existence. In her other life, she’s a thoroughbred pedigree and bloodstock consultant. She writes a weekly column on local history of the Knoxville area. Beth recently won second place in 2025 Golden Press Awards All Media Best Digital Content category.

Jan Loveday Dickens is an educator and historian who grew up in East Knox County, where she again resides. A graduate of the University of Tennessee and Carson-Newman University, she has worked and taught at regional universities, as well as local schools. Jan is author of Forgotten in the Fork, a book about the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston Rivers.

Jan’s favorite pastimes include camping with loved ones, playing in flowerbed dirt, creating artworks and enjoying outdoor adventures involving research about local history.

The focus for KnoxTNToday articles is the history of the Fork, the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston Rivers, all the way to the Jefferson and Sevier County lines.

Linda Sullivan will usually be found reading a book. Her belief that everyone can love reading as much as she does if they find the right story led to the weekly column, The Book Whisperer. When not absorbed in the latest bestseller, Linda is researching new recipes, traveling to locales she’s read about or cheering on the VOLS with her family and friends. She grew up in Blountville, Tennessee and is most proud of her son, Miller and daughter Grace. Linda lives with her husband, JD and a tuxedo kitty named Sinatra in the Halls Crossroads community. Linda, The Book Whisperer can be found @thebookwhisperertn on Instagram.

Mary Pom Claiborne grew up in the heart of Bearden, surrounded by farms and creeks tailor-made for childhood adventures. What began as a love of exploring nature briefly gave way to teenage trips to the newly built West Town Mall—but nature ultimately won out, inspiring a lifelong passion for hiking, gardening, and all kinds of outdoor merriment.

A proud English major from Hollins University, Mary Pom found her perfect fit at the Knox County Public Library, where she has spent over 20 years as Assistant Director for Marketing, Communications, and Development. She still fangirls over authors, books, and local history.

She now lives in Fountain City with her husband and their dog.

Mary Pom provides Our Town Readers local updates on everything ‘library’ and ‘reading’ related in our town.

Charlie Barnett M.D. has an impressive medical history beginning with a twenty-one-year private practice with Summit Medical Group and multiple stints as a hospitalist in numerous hospitals from Tennessee to Haiti. He is currently serving as a hospitalist at Fort Loudon Medical Center in Lenoir City. Dr. Barnett patented Stik-Guard, a device for prevention of accidental needle sticks along with several medical software copyrights. Dr. Barnett is a contributor at KnoxTNToday for a weekly column, DocTalk, providing his expertise on the latest medical research focusing on disease treatments/cures and lifestyle choices for disease prevention.