Kathryn J Hardy graduated from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, in 1977 with a B.F.A. in art education. Soon afterward, she followed her love of fashion, gaining notoriety as a fashion designer under the name Lenora Jackson, Ltd., and becoming the first noted Southern designer in the late 70s and early 80s. Her beautiful, unique designs were introduced and celebrated in the grand finale of the Atlanta Apparel Mart opening. Soon after, her designs were showcased in Palm Beach, Florida, at Bonwit Teller and D. Kylene Boutique on Worth Avenue. There, her reputation grew as she began designing couture for private clients and was honored with a fashion show at the Breakers as the youngest designer recognized on Worth Avenue at the time. On many occasions, her designs were featured in New York’s Women’s Wear Daily and in Glamour magazine. In 1984, Kathryn was nominated for the DuPont Designer Award at the Lincoln Center in New York City. After turning down an offer to work in New York City, Kathryn met and fell in love with her husband, successful businessman Ronald Hardy, and moved to Florida's Panhandle. She retired from her design business but kept her entrepreneurial spirit alive by developing a perfume line called Tursiops under the name of Vivian E. Inc. Her perfume line took off and was once distributed not only in resorts across the USA but also in Japan, Mexico, and throughout the Caribbean Islands.
Upon the sale of her husband’s businesses, Kathryn sold her business. They began traveling the world together, experiencing life through the eyes of many different people and cultures. Throughout the years, Kathryn began writing as an outlet for her continuous need to create. She successfully wrote several papers for the Emerald Coast Philosophical Group and published her first travel book, Twelve Days in Botswana Through the Eyes of a Traveler. After ten years of research and hundreds of hours of recorded interviews, Kathryn found the inspiration and motivation to write Johnny and Jazzbo, Dr. Johnny Savage and Otis Ikner’s story of adventures, trials, and tribulations during the 60s and 70s as they followed the road to being poor no more. This historical and adventurous true story, told through the eyes of two young Southern men- one black, one white will keep you in suspense all the way to the end.
