‘One Last Writing Lesson’: Late UA Instructor Keeps Teaching, Inspiring

By Deidre Stalnaker

Sylvia Brent Elliott once described herself as “unafraid, unthreatened and unstoppable.” More than a year after her death, that description still rings true, as her writing lives on in a textbook dedicated to her and her work.

Elliott, a former UA faculty and staff member and student, died in July 2005 after a short battle with cancer.

As a flight attendant and one of the first African- American high fashion models, Elliott traveled the world. Her Master of Fine Arts thesis was a memoir of stories about the 26 addresses she had before moving to Tuscaloosa.

A selection of her works was gathered and edited by her daughter, Samantha Elliott Briggs, and included in a special memorial edition of the writing textbook The World Is a Text by Jonathan Silverman and Dean Rader. Elliott’s son-in-law, Calvin Briggs, and daughter, Samantha, designed the front and back covers, respectively.

Samantha Elliott Briggs, a UA doctoral student and part-time faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences, also wrote an introduction to her mother. Dr. Karen Gardiner, associate director of the writing program at UA, wrote the introduction to the memorial textbook.

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