About Clo
Clorisa Phillips is a writer, historian, and lover of object-inspired stories. After graduating from William & Mary and earning advanced degrees and a doctoral research award at the University of Virginia, Clo had a long career in higher education with leadership roles in public, international, and private arenas. Now retired, she explores family narratives, to reveal overlooked or commonly unknown facets of life. Her recent essays have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The New York Times. Clo is also writing a book about her family’s history in the South Georgia pinelands.
At age 18, Clo landed at college with a love of history, but as the daughter of self-made parents who weathered the Depression, she studied government because it was more “practical.” Today, she’s rekindled her passion for history, but with a twist. Clo researches and writes about intersections of historical moments and individual narratives, while urging and helping others to do the same.
Clo’s home in Charlottesville, which she shares with husband Alec Horniman, is full of curated family collections. Her life is enriched by a daughter, as well as two stepchildren and two step-grandchildren. Clo is a lifelong pianist, avid reader, and fervent researcher. She also loves cats, and cats will settle for nothing less from her.
Clo augments her writing and storytelling through membership in the Georgia Historical Society, National Council on Public History, and Military Writers Society of America; her governance role in the William & Mary Society of 1918; participation in a federally funded study of dementia caregivers; and Non-Verbal Learning Disability (NVLD) advocacy.
A Childhood Shaped by the Army and Public Service
Storytelling for the greater good is a natural progression from Clo’s and her family’s commitment to public service. Clo’s father served 30 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a distinguished senior officer; in his subsequent 14-year civilian career, he was the financial strategist behind the transformation of Madison College into James Madison University. Her mother served every community in which their family lived; Clo writes about her mother’s selfless volunteer work in “Redefining Heroes.”
