20 GEORGE POCHEPTSOV
Born in the U.S. to Ukrainian parents, he is a self-taught painting prodigy who
attended Wrightsville Beach Elementary. He is said to have begun drawing at
17 months old. The press compares his abstract work to Picasso and Marc Chagall. He is
a Harvard grad, a philanthropist, and has had his work commissioned by Michael Jordan,
Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton and Celine Dion.
21 CATERINA JARBORO
Born on Church Street in 1898 as Katherine Lee Yarborough, she hurdled racial
barriers to become the first black female opera singer to perform a title role with
a formerly all-white company. Opera Wilmington celebrates this pioneer with the annual
Caterina Jarboro Memorial Recital.
22 ALGE CRUMPLER
Algernon Crumpler lettered in football and track at New Hanover High, winning
state titles in discus and shot put. He was an All-ACC tight end at UNC, and taken
by Atlanta in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft. He went on to play in the NFL for 10
seasons with the Falcons, Titans and Patriots. Crumpler now works as an analyst for the ACC
Network.
23 WILLIAM JOHN BENNETT
Known for serving as Secretary of Education under Ronald Reagan, Director of the
Office of National Drug Control Policy under George H.W. Bush, and for editing
the anthology “The Book of Virtues.” The cable news commentator and former syndicated
radio host has a home on Bald Head Island.
24 CLYDE EDGERTON
He is an author and creative writing professor at the University of North Carolina
Wilmington. He was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame in
2016. Three of his 10 novels have been adapted to film, with Edgerton in a cameo role in Killer
Diller.
25 AMY WRIGHT
Winner of 2017 CNN’s Hero of the Year Award for her advocacy of physically
and mentally challenged people. She is owner of Bitty and Beau’s, a local coffee
shop that employs disabled people. Her two youngest children, Bitty and Beau, have Down
syndrome and are the inspiration for the business.
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WBM october 2020