Stephen F. Austin State University

Educational epiphanies will be discussed at the Stephen F. Austin State University Regents Lecture at 11 a.m. Feb. 8 in the Wright Music Building's Cole Concert Hall.

Dr. Francis E. Abernethy, Regents Professor of English, will deliver the address.

"My topic concerns three epiphanies that I have experienced here at SFA," said Abernethy, who retired in 1997 after teaching at SFA for 32 years. "An epiphany is a sudden intellectual revelation, a manifestation of an idea that forever changes one's way of living and seeing life. Our university is the ideal setting for the discovery of these new and exciting ideas, and these concepts will affect society as students carry them out into their professional worlds."

In addition to the distinction of Regents Professor, Abernethy was named professor emeritus and earned the SFA Alumni Association's Distinguished Professor Award in 1979 and the university's distinguished professor award in 1970.

Abernethy is executive secretary-editor emeritus of the Texas Folklore Society, which has been headquartered at SFA since Abernethy began serving in that position in 1971. Association headquarters had previously been located in Austin, and former leaders included Texas author J. Frank Dobie.

The Nacogdoches High School graduate has published poetry, short stories, a folk music book, a book of legends titled "Legends of Texas' Heroic Age," and a history of the Texas Folklore Society in three volumes. He is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters.

Abernethy holds degrees, including a doctorate in Renaissance Literature, from SFA and Louisiana State University. A World War II veteran, Abernethy explored the caves of Mexico and the Yucatan for more than 20 years and at one time held the Western Hemisphere record for the deepest descent into a cave – rappelling 360 feet into the Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexico.

Abernethy plays bass fiddle with the East Texas String Ensemble, a group that represented the U.S. State Department on tours of Central America and performed at the inaugural Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio in 1971. He was instrumental in the creation of the LaNana Creek Trail, which stretches from downtown Nacogdoches to East Austin Street.

There is no admission charge for the lecture, and a light lunch will be served. For more information, call (936) 468-2605.