1970s Champions

Libby Childress

Libby Childress, age 14, sponsored by the Winston-Salem Journal & Sentinel, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “croissant.”

Libby married and became Libby Childress Poot. She attended Wake Forest University and moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Jonathan Knisely

Jonathan Knisely, age 12, sponsored by the Philadelphia Bulletin, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “shalloon.”

Jonathan went to Yale University. He later became an associate professor at the Yale University School of Medicine and a radiation oncologist.

Robin Kral

Robin Kral, age 14, sponsored by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “macerate.”

Robin received a degree in biology for Texas Tech University and an MBA from the University of Utah. He later became associate director, venture development for UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and vice president of licensing and intellectual property for Reata Pharmaceuticals.

Barrie Trinkle

Barrie Trinkle, age 13, sponsored by the Fort Worth Press, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “vouchsafe.”

Barrie has been a Bee Word Panelist since 1997 and was one of the very first employees ever hired at Amazon. After graduating from MIT, Barrie spent more than a decade at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory before joining Amazon from 1996-2001.

Julie Ann Junkin

Julie Ann Junkin, age 12, sponsored by the Birmingham Post-Herald, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “hydrophyte.”

Julie married and became Julie Junkin Bedsole. She became a nurse and then an elementary school teacher.

Hugh Tosteson García

Hugh Tosteson García, age 14, sponsored by The San Juan Star, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “incisor.”

Hugh earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania. His career has spanned job titles that include FEMA reservist, staff historian, field technician and archaeological researcher.

Tim Kneale

Tim Kneale, age 13, sponsored by the Syracuse Herald-Journal-American, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “narcolepsy.”

Tim graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and became a chemical engineer.

John Paola

John Paola, age 13, sponsored by The Pittsburgh Press, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “cambist”.

John attended Michigan State and Ohio State universities before becoming a veterinarian.

Peg McCarthy

Peg McCarthy, age 13, sponsored by The Topeka Daily Capital, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “deification.”

Peg became a National Merit Scholar and a U.S. Presidential Scholar en route to earning a B.A. in English from Yale University. Then she worked as a copy editor at the former Albuquerque Tribune. She later earned her M.A. and Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from the University of Kansas.

Katie Kerwin

Katie Kerwin, age 13, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain News, won the $1,000 prize by correctly spelling the word “maculature.”

Katie married and became Katie Kerwin McCrimmon. She was an analyst for the Bee on ESPN in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She was a writer for Solutions Health Policy in Denver.