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Foundation Sets Up Scholarship Fund In Honor Of Darryl Hunt

Darryl Hunt in 2014. WFDD file photo

A scholarship has been established in honor of the late Darryl Hunt, the man who spent nearly 19 years in prison before being exonerated in the death of a Winston-Salem newspaper editor.

The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation has established a $100,000 endowed scholarship fund in Hunt's name, to benefit people who were convicted of crimes and seeking higher education.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that starting in 2018, the fund will award a $1,000 scholarship to a Forsyth County resident who's been convicted of a crime and has served a jail or prison sentence. The money will help defray the cost of tuition and fees for students attending an accredited vocational or technical school, community college or university.

Hunt was convicted of killing Deborah Sykes in 1984, but DNA evidence led to another man who confessed to the killing. Following his release from prison, Hunt advocated for criminal justice reform and helped ex-offenders regain their footing.

He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in March 2016.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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