Maynard Eaton

Reigniting the spirit of the Miamis

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Maynard Eaton: IU faculty condemn state lawmakers, AG over abortion ban

“The constituents we represent have demanded that we give public voice to their outrage over Attorney General Todd Rokita’s scurrilous attacks on our colleague, Dr. Caitlin Bernard.” It was a stinging rebuke of Indiana’s Republican state legislators…

Princesses, poultry, and politics

The popular, weeklong Howard County Fair featured prize winning princesses, poultry, and politics. In effect the event amounts to the unofficial kickoff of the 2022 election season. Just ask Raleigh Brown, President of the State Board of College…

Harris has more to do at 82

For the revered Reba Harris’ 82nd birthday bash, a special Kokomo couple re-presented her gift that keeps on giving. That’s why philanthropists Patti and John O’Donnell joined some 75 others on June 30, giving their love, support, and best wishes to…

Reba Harris’ Memoir: ‘Living Life After the Fires of My Sorrow’

Reba Harris grew up with nothing. As a Black woman in north-central Indiana living through the nation’s struggles with race, society did everything it could to ensure she would be forgotten. Now, Harris is an author; with one book set for release…

Maynard Eaton: Juneteenth celebration organizers hopeful holiday can spur healing

Throughout history, Juneteenth has been known as Jubilee Day, Freedom Day, Liberation Day, Emancipation Day and now, for just the second year, a national holiday. Kokomo will celebrate it Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Studebaker Park behind…

Library dances to a different beat

Jayen Bougher is a 12-year-old trumpet player in the Bon Air Middle School band, but on June 7 he was learning to play the West African bell instrument (agogo) and African (djun djun) drums. He was one of a dozen or more youngsters and parents…

'Rejoice & Blossom'

J.C. Barnett III is a charismatic Kokomo persona known to put on a Steph Curry-like display with his sweet jump shot. Now his praised and pleasing, 7-piece abstract art collection is vividly on display in the front window and on the featured artist…

Maynard Report: A Memorial Day salute

Jerry Paul, 73, is a feisty and politically savvy veterans activist and cheerleader who now has a new signature salute to honor his fellow former Armed Forces members. It is his distinctive 2022 Dodge Ram 1500 design and tribute. The vehicle is a…

Jazz Brunch fundraiser held for Douglass School

Meet a 74- year-old Sarah-Jane Artis Purcell, a life-long Kokomo resident who attended the city’s historic Frederick Douglass School from first to third grade. Her brothers and sisters preceded her there. “I’ve always just loved Kokomo, and Douglass…

Maynard Eaton: 'Our hair, our story, my story' displays beauty of natural hair

Much like my contemporaries as a student at Hampton and Columbia universities in the 1970s, my hairstyle was an afro, as the lengthy locks were called and popularized by Black Power activists such as Angela Davis, Huey P. Newton and the Rev. Jesse…

Maynard Eaton: Delphi’s doyennes of style and culture

There is charisma, culture and class in the cornfields of Delphi, and three businesswomen captaining their professions from the Delphi Opera House building complex personify and exemplify that. Inger Cowan and Cynthia Lashley are co-owners of Empire…

Maynard Report: Kokomo embraces BobKats basketball

“Our motto with this team: This is about more than basketball.” – Coach Cliff Levingston Because of automobile production, Kokomo became known as the “City of Firsts.” Now the city’s first professional sports team, the Kokomo BobKats of The…

Maynard Eaton: Sharon Reed honored on National Prayer Day

It was the 71st National Day of Prayer, and Sharon Reed’s prayer was answered. As she requested in a previous Kokomo Tribune story, Reed, a quintessential community activist and religious leader, was awarded Kokomo’s Key to the City by Mayor Tyler…

Maynard Eaton: Sun King Kokomo on business and the bottom line

For Amanda Lewton, co-owner of Sun King Kokomo, beer brewing is a family tradition that she is continuing. “My family has been in the beer business for three generations,” she reveals. “My dad is well known across the country for beer, and my…

Maynard Eaton: A’Lelia Bundles continues to enhance Madam CJ Walker’s brand

A’Lelia Bundles personifies successful Indiana women. It’s in her blood. Bundles, an Indianapolis native, is an award-winning author, TV news producer and journalist known for her four books about her great-great-grandmother (via adoption), renowned…

Maynard Eaton: Black History Month spotlight on Sharon Reed

“I’ve done a lot of things on my corner” — Pastor Sharon Ann Reed “Welcome To My Dream,” reads the sign as you climb the stairs to enter the home of former Howard County Historical Society president Sharon Reed and her Esther’s Place Boutique. That…

Maynard Eaton: Black History Month spotlight on Eboni Griffin

“Yes, it is quite a career accomplishment, but it comes with a price.” — Eboni Griffin, senior broadcast producer at “Good Morning America.” It has not been a dream deferred. In fact, just the opposite. Eboni Griffin was determined to disprove her…

Maynard Eaton: 'It’s all about the memory and the work'

Thanks to the swagger and style of the historic 114-year-old Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority — coupled with the flair and flavor of their salmon pink and apple green colors — Indiana University Kokomo’s salute today to the late Martin Luther King Jr. will…

Maynard Eaton: Kokomo celebrates the life of Gospel artist Cathy Carson

She was so revered and so highly regarded as a Gospel artist and evangelist, the late Catherine Tobin-Carson was often described as a “queen” by family and friends. Sister Cathy, as she was popularly called, succumbed to COVID-19 on Wednesday…