Walter Pryor: This Leaves Me Okay

Legacies & Lunch May 2026

Walter Pryor will be joined in conversation by Martie North to discuss his reflective memoir This Leaves Me Okay, exploring the Arkansas Black rural experience.

This Leaves Me Okay explores the lesser-known Arkansas Black rural experience through the eyes of a grandson as he reflects upon the life of his grandmother Lucille “Mama Ceal” Hatch Eldridge. Mama Ceal wrote to her grandson Walter Pryor weekly for nearly thirty years, from his boyhood until she died at eighty. Pryor weaves in his grandmother’s stories as a live-in maid raising other people’s children, as well as the societal struggles she and others encountered in rural Arkansas. 

This Leaves Me Okay will be for sale at the program, courtesy of Pyramid Art, Books, & Custom Framing, and there will be a signing to follow the talk.

We are excited to offer a lunch including a sandwich, chips, a cookie, and a drink to in-person attendees in 2026, courtesy of the CALS Foundation. Meals are limited and will be offered on a first-come first-served basis. We cannot accommodate dietary restrictions or allergies, and registration does not guarantee lunch will be available. 
 
Walter Pryor serves as Southern Bancorp’s Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel. Pryor was raised in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and currently resides in Chicago. He is a graduate of Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, where he studied political science, and he earned his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington DC. He has served on the Hendrix College Board of Trustees since 2012 and is also on the boards of American InterContinental University and Washington Children’s Foundation.  
 
Martie North serves as Huntington Bank's Senior Vice President of Community Development and Engagement for Emerging Markets. Martie is a graduate of Harding University and has a Bachelor of Science; has had certifications in Homeownership and Community Lending; is a graduate of Leadership Greater Little Rock and has completed graduate work in Community Economic Development at the University of Central Arkansas. Throughout her professional and volunteer career, Martie has successfully impacted hundreds of communities and thousands of lives across the United States. She has served several financial institutions across the state of Arkansas and recently served on the Central Arkansas Library System's Capital Campaign Committee. She was named an Arkansas 250 Most Influential Leader by Arkansas Business in 2020.

Legacies & Lunch is a hybrid program offering participants the opportunity to attend either in person or virtually via Zoom. To participate in person, join us at - NEW LOCATION - Darragh Center, 5th Floor, CALS Main Library (with elevator access). Parking is available in the surface lot or the CALS Parking Deck which you can access from Rock Street. Parking will be validated. To participate virtually, register for the webinar using the button above. 

All abilities are welcome. To request ASL interpretation or other accommodations, call 501.918.3069 or email hzbinden@cals.org 7 business weekdays before a program.

This program will be live-streamed to YouTube and the recording will be available immediately following the event.

Legacies & Lunch is a free monthly program of CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies about Arkansas-related topics.

Past Legacies & Lunch Events