Kelly Durham may not have been born in Clemson, but he’s just about as close to a Clemson native as they come. He spent the majority of his childhood in Clemson — his family moved here when he was 8 years old — and both of his parents worked for the University. His father, Harry Durham, served as associate vice president for university relations, and his late mother, Ina Durham, worked as the information desk supervisor in the University Union.
When it came time to choose a college, Durham didn’t think twice about where he wanted to go.
“Local kids seem to fall into one of two camps — those who can’t wait to get away and those who don’t want to go anywhere else. I was in that second camp,” he said. “I didn’t even apply anywhere else. I had grown up around Clemson students, thinking they were just the pinnacle of humanity. I just wanted to be a part of that.”
So Durham enrolled at Clemson, graduating in 1980 with a degree in political science. Because he was a member of Army ROTC, he also graduated with a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. After graduating, he spent four years on active duty. Most of that time was spent in Germany, where he served on the front lines of the Cold War.
He didn’t immediately deploy after graduation, however. He had about nine months between his graduation day and his deployment, so he turned to a friend, Joe Turner, for a job in the meantime. Turner was working for IPTAY, so he hired Durham to help out in the mail room, with filing, and “whatever else they needed done,” he said.
After his military service was completed, Durham took a job in government service for a year, but he knew that wasn’t what he wanted to do. He heard that Turner was looking for a business partner, so he decided to come back to Clemson and go into business with Turner. He spent the next 29 years with First Sun Management Corporation, which owned and operated 47 Wendy’s restaurants across the region. Durham managed the marketing and advertising side of the company until he decided to retire and sold his share of the company to Turner.
These days, Durham spends his time traveling with his wife Yvonne and writing. He has published 14 historical novels, all of which are available on Amazon. Most of his novels are set during World War II.
“I grew up in a world that was created by what happened in World War II. I would read about the war and what people went through, but you would never know from looking at those guys and talking to them that they had participated in this cataclysmic event that changed the world,” he said. “I was fascinated by this concept that the entire world could be at war.”
Durham said he has especially enjoyed reading historical fiction and one evening, sitting on his back deck, he decided to try his hand at writing his own novel. He’s been researching and writing books ever since.
Durhman’s other passion has been giving back to Clemson. He has served on just about every volunteer leadership board available — the Board of Visitors, the Clemson University Foundation Board, the Clemson Corps Board, just to name a few. He was instrumental in establishing the Scroll of Honor Memorial, which memorializes the 498 Clemson alumni who gave their lives during military service, and in 2012 he was recognized with the Clemson Alumni Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Clemson Alumni Association.
He currently serves as the chair of the Libraries Campaign Cabinet, helping lead Libraries’ fundraising for the Fiercely Forward capital campaign. He and his wife Yvonne also recently gave a generous gift to the Libraries that allowed Special Collections and Archives to hire a military heritage archivist to help preserve and document Clemson’s military heritage through expanding its collections of original documents and artifacts and recording oral histories.
Durham said his work on the Scroll of Honor strengthened his interest in Clemson’s military history, and while recognizing and remembering those 498 alumni is extremely important, “there’s a lot more to the story of Clemson’s military history.”
At the end of the day, Durham said he is proud to give back to support the “best community in the whole world.”
“Yvonne and I both believe that we should share our good fortune. We have been richly blessed in so many ways, and we give back to a variety of organizations and causes,” he said. “We both believe that education is the key to unlocking potential and a better future, and giving back to the Libraries is a great way to impact everybody on campus. From faculty and staff to graduate students and undergraduates, the library is here to provide everyone with the resources and support they need to be successful.
“When you look at the metrics of the students who matriculate at Clemson, they improve every year, and they are top tier. The results are impressive — our freshmen retention rates and six-year graduation rates are well above the national averages. The library plays a part in all of that.”
