Biography

 

Audrey Taylor Gonzalez is a woman who defies description. Born into a life of privilege, Gonzalez spends most of her time working with the poorest of the poor and with foster children. She works hard, plays hard. And she prays hard.

Born in Memphis in 1939, Gonzalez grew up on a horse farm in nearby Germantown, where she was a champion equestrian. A debutante, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing and literature from the elite Hollins University in Virginia, where she founded Sour Grapes humor magazine.

Upon graduation in 1961, wrote for The Commercial Appeal (interviewing Elvis Presley twice). The following year Gonzalez embarked on an African adventure, traveling the continent interviewing political leaders including Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah. There she met her first husband, Donald Pretorius, with whom she lived on a coffee plantation in Karatu Tanganyka for two years before they came to Memphis (they divorced in 1967). Gonzalez freelanced for The Commercial Appeal and magazines.

The 1970’s brought new opportunities for Gonzalez, who branched into theater and expanded her journalism career. Gonzalez scouted plays and actors for Joe Papp of New York Public Theater fame and for HAIR, produced by Michael Butler, even convincing Butler to grant the University of Memphis permission to produce the first amateur version of HAIR. Also during the 70’s Gonzalez worked for the Memphis Press Scimitar, interviewing the likes of Rosalyn Carter, Telly Savalas, Halston, Calvin Klein, an unknown designer named Ralph Lauren, and many others. From 1976-79, she aired the award-winning television news segment, “Ask Audrey,” on WKNO and hosted a radio talk show. She continued to freelance, including a 1976 article for Memphis Magazine in which Gonzalez visited 60 barbecue pits and rated their barbecue. Her well-received article spawned the first Memphis in May (MIM) International Barbecue Championship in 1978. Gonzalez was asked to judge the inaugural MIM championship and continues to this day judging barbecue at MIM and many other festivals throughout the region.

In 1984, she married Sergio Gonzalez, champion South American boxer and president of Basanez Soccer Team in Uruguay. The couple moved in 1986 to Montevideo, Uruguay, following the restoration of democracy there. Thus began Gonzalez’ South American adventure that would span two decades.

Gonzalez’ love of all things equestrian continued, and in 1994 she and her husband had the most winning racing stable, which was named to the top three in Uruguay for five years. Today, back in the states, Gonzalez is an investor in the first woman-owned professional bull riders (PBR) bucking bulls outfit, the Platinum Pistols Bucking Bulls, based in Decatur, Texas.

By the late 1980’s Gonzalez had become very involved with the Holy Trinity Cathedral (Anglican) in Montevideo. At that time in Uruguay, there was no assistance for the hungry and poor. To address this need, the cathedral initiated a soup kitchen, funded and operated by Gonzalez out of the church’s small basement. Shortly after starting her work with the homeless and street people who came to the soup kitchen, Gonzalez felt called to explore more deeply the possibility of ordained ministry. In 1995, after obtaining her certificate in theology from St. John’s College in Nottingham, England, Gonzalez became the first woman in the Southern Cone of South America to be ordained to Holy Orders. By the late 90’s she concentrated her ministry on the prisoners Com-Car prison (2,200 inmates) and maximum security Libertad prison (500 inmates).

Gonzales wanted to introduce the prisoners to options that would help them lead meaningful and productive lives upon release. She also wanted them to know what it was like to be treated like human beings and children of God. Gonzalez began the tradition of donating toys and candies to the prisoners so they would have gifts to present to their children on each of the major holidays – for many it was the first time they ever had anything to give their children. At Com-Car prison, Gonzalez founded a theater troupe, who performed El Hierro La Muerte (the Blacksmith and Death) written by a Uruguayan author. Gonzalez pushed authorities for permission for her band of unlikely thespians to perform a play in public. For first time in the history of Uruguay, a group of violent prisoners was allowed to leave their prison cells and perform in a distinguished public theater. The guests in the audience included dignitaries from the Ministry of the Interior, international embassies, the Uruguayan government and the prisoners’ personal friends and family members. Channel 10 named the Teatro Experimental Audrey Taylor, as her theater group was dubbed by the prisoners, as one of the three most important news stories of 2000. The successful Teatro has since expanded to other prisons and travels to other cities to perform.

In 2000 Gonzalez published her novel, The Lolololo Tree, hailed as a fascinating blend of South American mysticism and innocence, and in 2001 published The Shady Places, a collection of sermons and essays in both Spanish and English. But prison ministry would continue to be her main work. Her novel “South of Everything” was released September 15, 2015 by SheWritesPress, and a part of proceeds will be given to Soulsville School.

She began making regular appearances on Uruguayan radio and television to fight for prisoners’ rights and for recognition of them as human beings.  Gonzalez established arts and crafts, horticulture classes, gardening, and computer training, personally funding computers for both prisons. Gonzalez also organized the first public arts and crafts exhibitions showcasing work of inmates from both prisons. With Gonzalez’ ongoing public advocacy for the prisoners, the community–and nation–took note. In 2001, she was named one of 12 Women of the Century in Uruguay and received the Promocion Humana Award for her work in Uruguay’s prisons and her work with the police department and the Minister of the Interior.

Gonzalez moved back to Memphis in 2004, though she maintained ties to Uruguay and continued to financially support many of her Uruguayan ministries, including the construction of a capilla (chapel) at Com-Car prison that would be a decade in the making.

Gonzalez found no shortage of needy and destitute in her hometown. She attached her deaconate to Calvary Episcopal Church, a downtown church known for its ministries to the homeless and soon joined the board of directors of the Calvary Street Ministry. She started healing services and a spiritual support group for those with AIDs. She became a volunteer parole officer for Juvenile Court, where she was quickly promoted to division chief of training, and conducted weekly GOALS classes to detainees. She was named to the board of directors of Reconation Academy, the girl’s incarceration area at Juvenile Court, where she also served as chaplain and taught poetry and knitting to the girls. On the cultural front, she sponsored Staxtacular, a benefit for Stax Music Academy’s youth mentoring and music programs that build on the legacy of Stax Records. In 2007 she received the prestigious Jefferson Award for her service.

In early 2008, Gonzalez was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent treatment in February, a circumstance that barely slowed her down.  In April, she departed for a trek in Nepal during which she ascended to the base camp of Mt. Everest and hung prayer flags made youngsters in her ministries, a feat that was documented in the Tennessee media. She also volunteered at Mother Teresa’s Home for the destitute and dying in Calcutta. Back in Memphis, she was named to the CASA board of directors and was promoted to assistant deputy chief in the Auxiliary Probation Officer program. Juvenile Court recognized her with its two highest awards: Probation Officer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.

Gonzalez had continued to write in the U.S., completing her novel, The Lolololo Tree, USA, in 2005, then focusing on poetry. She spent the bulk of 2009 in Montevideo, Uruguay, where she presented two books of poetry: Waiting for Rain and Hurgadores de le Vida, at the Bibliotheca Nacional. She also published her translation of a poem by Mario Benedetti, Uruguay’s prime poet and one of Latin America’s most important writers of the 20^th century. Gonzalez was also asked to read at a special tribute to Benedetti after his death that year, and she continues to this day translating his works into English. A highlight in 2009 was the long-awaited dedication of the Com-Car prison chapel initiated by Gonzalez.

Since returning to Memphis in 2010, Gonzalez has been named chairman of the Foster Care Review Board of Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court and has created a model program using volunteers.  To house this important work, she identified a deserted basement wing of the Juvenile Court building and spruced it up to make it functional. In October 2011, Juvenile Court inaugurated the Rev. Audrey Taylor Gonzalez Foster Care Review Center. In addition to her foster care work in Shelby County, she assists neighboring Tipton County with its foster care review board and CASA program. She serves on the Youth Violence Prevention Commission of Operation: Safe Community. Never losing her personal touch, Gonzalez has also made time to personally spend one-on-one time with individual teens through mentoring programs and through a ministry to teen girls bound over to adult trial.

In the first two months of 2012, Gonzalez has added several new endeavors to her already full plate. She became a member of the first Advisory Board for Stax-Soulsville, a member of the Commission on Missing and Exploited Children (COMEC) and is training with the Child Advocacy Center to help increase awareness of abused children. She is on the art purchase committee for the Brooks Museum of Art and inaugurated the planting of 200 cherry blossoms on the Mississippi River – a fundraiser for the Memphis Charitable Foundation.

IN 2013 she was named by Governor Haslam a commissioner on the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, and she is committee chairman and on the executive committee of the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiatives (JDAI) working to direct juvenile delinquents to healthy programs rather than put in detention. In 2014 she was awarded the Volunteer of the Decade Award at Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court. She is a chaplain at Juvenile Court and was appointed to the County Mayor’s OJJC to oversee the court in a transition program required by the Department of Justice. She also was chairman of the DOJ’s request for an assessment of detention at Juvenile Court. Having gone through the FBI Citizens Academy, the Memphis Police Dept. Citizens Academy, the MPD Clergy Academy, and the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training for the Police Dept., she often does ride-alongs with her precinct (South Main), where she is their chaplain, and also a sponsor for the MPD Sports Team. She is a supporter of various charities and sports camps for youth and the Memphis Grizzlies and has been a ten-year sponsor of Staxtacular.

Mother to two daughters and one son, Gonzalez has seven grandchildren, all residing in Tennessee. During her free time, she enjoys traveling, mountain climbing, repelling down water-falls and mountain sides, zip-lining, knitting and needlepointing (she donated 125 needlepoint bears to St. Jude Grizzlies House); aerial yoga, gyrotonics, Pilates, reading theology and cooking.

Most recently she visited her favorite artist, the controversial and under house arrest Ai Weiwei in Beijing China and visited his installation at Alcatraz. She has been a collector of contemporary art since 1962. She writes a travel blog as she checks off her bucket list and spent a number of years as a barbecue judge (her survey published in City of Memphis Magazine 1976 was the instigator for the now enormous Memphis Barbecue Contest in Memphis in May), and she is an international flower design judge for WAFA, and a flower design and horticultural judge for the Garden Clubs of Uruguay and for the Memphis Garden Club.

 

Major Appointments

 

Deacon, Calvary Episcopal Church, Memphis, Tennessee (2004-2015, when she became a priest)

Chairman, Foster Care Review Board of Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court (2011-present)

Deputy Chief, Auxiliary Probation Officer Program, Memphis/Shelby County Juvenile Court, (2009-present as deputy chief; various roles since 2005)

Deacon, Holy Trinity Cathedral (Anglican) in Montevideo, Uruguay (1995-2002) (Priest as of 2015)

Commissioner for the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth (2012-2017)

Member of the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiatives for Juvenile Court since that was started.

Chaplain for the North Main Precinct, Memphis Police Dept., (2011 – Present)

Ordained one of first women priests in the Southern Cone of South America – Anglican-Episcopalian, Diocese of Uruguay (Nov 2015)

Member of the Anglican Compass Rose Society (2016- Present)
Board of directors of JIFF (Juvenile Intervention Faith-based Foundation) (2016- Present)
Court chaplain of Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court and chaplain-volunteer at Jail East and 201 Poplar Youth Pod  (2016 – Present)

Worked in Bridges’ AVP Program in Jail East and 201 Poplar (as volunteer) and started the “Surprise of the Month” speakers program at Juvenile Detention and 102 Poplar which have included Tony Allen, Mat Barnes, Phillip Ashley (the Chocolate Man), Mr. Ewing, Police Director Michael Rallings, and Joc Crawford.

Started the Cross-Fit weekly exercise for youth aged 18-25 in the Annex of 201 Poplar Jail – coordinating with Joc Crawford and James Lancaster, former star football players.

Represented Uruguay in the Organization of American States conference on religion in the Vatican with an audience with the Pope Francis.

Sponsored the Memphis Police Dept. Crisis Intervention Team program in Uruguay 2017 and is a CIT officer for the MPD.

New participant in Cease Fire Program and 901 Bloc Squad team in 2018.

 

Published Works

Sermons and Such, 1998

Various essays in Anglican Digest magazine, 2000 and 2001

The Lolololo Tree, novel hailed as a fascinating blend of South American mysticism and innocence, 2000

The Shady Places, a collection of sermons and essays in both Spanish and English, 2001

The Lolololo Tree, USA, 2005 (a different novel than the one published in Uruguay in 2000)

Waiting for Rain, 2009, a collection of poems presented at the Biblioteca Nacional, Uruguay

Hurgadores de le Vida, 2009, a collection of poems presented at the Biblioteca Nacional, Uruguay

South of Everything, a novel, published Sept. 15, 2015 by SheWritesPress, winner of three literary awards.

 

Education

Bachelor of Arts Degree in creative writing and literature from Hollins University in Virginia, 1961

Master’s Degree in theater from the University of Memphis, 1972

Master’s Degree in art history from the University of Memphis, 1982

Certificate in Theology from St. John’s College in Nottingham, England, 1995

Pursuing Master’s Degree of Fine Art in poetry from the University of Memphis

In 2006-2007, Gonzalez was accepted to and attended a number of prestigious poetry/writers workshops: Squaw Valley, Calif.; Napa Valley, Calif.; Bread Loaf, Middlebury, Vt.; San Miguel de Allende Poetry Festival, Mexico; St. Petersburg, Russia and the Palm Beach Poetry Festival.

In 2009, her book of Spanish poetry was launched at the Biblioteca Nacional in Uruguay. She also read one of her translations of poetry of Mario Benedetti at a memorial after his death in 2009.

 

Awards

1999 – the Direccion Nacional de Carceles Premio para Promocion Humana, a special award from Uruguay’s Minister of the Interior Guillermo Stirling honoring her life-changing work with prisoners.

2001 – Gonzalez was named one of 12 Women of the Century in Uruguay; Nominated for the Woman of the Year Award in Social Outreach; Promocion Humana Award for her work in Uruguay’s prisons as well as for her work with the police department and the Minister of the Interior.

2005 – Outstanding Service to the Juvenile Court; Volunteer of the Year at the Calvary Street Ministry.

2006   – GOAL Volunteer of the Year at Juvenile Court

2007  – prestigious Jefferson Award for her volunteer work.

2008  – Juvenile Court recognized her with its two highest awards: Probation Officer of the Year (the Jessie Bishop Award) and the Volunteer of the Year for Juvenile Court (the Jeaune Wood Award).

2010  – CASA of Tipton County established an award honoring her as a founding board member

2010 and 2011  – Outstanding Service Award for Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court

2011 – Humanitarian Award from the Tennessee Juvenile Court Services Association, the Special Service Award by Judge Curtis Person of Juvenile Court and the first Foster Care Review Board Volunteer of the Year Award.
2014  – Juvenile Court Volunteer of the Decade.

2014  – Recognition Certificate by the Governor of Tennessee for her dedication to the Foster Care Review Boards in Shelby, and for suggesting the first annual meeting of Foster Care Chairmen from around the state, thanks to DCS Commissioner Jim Henry.

2015  – Completed the minimum miles to receive the treasured certificate for the Camino del Santiago Compostela

2016 – Honored by the Grizzlies Basketball Team’s Exist to Assist at a game in April

2016 – Presented with Honorary Badge by Memphis Police Department

2016 – Became a trained facilitator for AVP (Against Violence in Prisons) (Bridges program)

2016 – Audience in Rome, Italy at the Vatican with Pope Francis.

2016 – Gave Invocation at the Celebration of our New Police Director Michael Rallings and at the Kick-Off Luncheon for the Memphis Grizzlies

2018 – Opening Prayer at the Juvenile Court Awards Ceremony, and many other events.

2016 – Her novel, South of Everything won the following awards: ForeWord Reviews’ IndieFab Book of the Year “Editor’s Choice Award”, the International Book Award in “Religious Fiction” Category, and the Independent Publisher Awards Bronze in “Best Regional Fiction South.”

2018 – A subject in the book Viejas Bravas, a composite  of seven older women (she was youngest at 78) interviewed by seven “periodistas” from the daily newspaper Observador in Uruguay.

2018 – Married Roberto Pierri Fernandez in Carmelo Uruguay where they have a home and a gymnasium for Krav Maga self-defense training from Israel and where she does weekly Eucharists at the British Hospital in a chapel given for her use since about 2001. And has been priest for the English speaking community in Holy Trinity Cathedral in Montevideo, Uruguay, where she was ordained both times.