To Write: Flower Hill by Rosa Walston Latimer

Save Austin's Cemeteries proudly hosts an author talk on the story of Flower Hill, and its residents.

Rosa Walston Latimer is the award-winning author of  Austin’s Flower Hill Legacy: A Remarkable Family and a Sixth Street Wildscape published by The History Press and available in December, 2021. The book chronicles the history of three generations of the Smoot family whose essence lives on in familiar places such as Central Presbyterian Church (formerly the First Southern Presbyterian Church), the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, The Austin American-Statesman, the State Capitol, the University of Texas, and Austin and Travis High Schools.

Rosa is the 2020-21 Artist-in-Residence for the Flower Hill Foundation. She is also author of a series of books about the establishment of Harvey Houses along the Santa Fe Railroad in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Kansas. Harvey Houses of Kansas received a "Kansas Notable Book Award" in 2016. She is also the author of Spirit of Mercy on the West Texas Wind, the history of Our Lady of Mercy boarding school and convent in Martin County, Texas, scheduled to release this year. 

In addition to her writing career, Rosa is a writing coach and instructor. She regularly contributes to a national magazine, has edited both print and online newspapers, and was supervising director for a nationally syndicated children's television program. Rosa has taught memoir and non-fiction writing at the West Texas Writers' Academy at West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas, and for the national Story Circle Network. She regularly offers online workshops on how to write a family history.