Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Kathlyn J Kirkwood is the author of Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round: the Story of an Everyday Activist and the Making of the Martin Luther King Holiday.

A retired college professor, Kathlyn focuses on writing for children and volunteering with under-priveleged 3rd and 4th grade students in the Nashville area. She has developed several innovative workshops that use trade books to help young people learn about the world beyond their immediate surroundings, and to inspire them with a love of reading.

This memoir-in-verse explores what it means to be an everyday activist and foot solider for racial justice, as Kathlyn recounts how she went from attending protests as a teenager to fighting as an adult for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, birthday to become a national holiday.