One Million Dollars for Three State Schools

May 12, 2009

Bryan Jordan, CEO
First Horizon National Corporation
165 Madison
Memphis, TN 38103

Re: Kathy Cox One Million Dollar Charitable Winning

Dear Mr. Jordan:

As President of the Georgia Association of the Deaf, Inc. (GAD), I write this letter as an appeal to First Horizon National Corporation (First Horizon) to abandon its claim against the one million dollars won by Kathy Cox on the Fox television game show Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? The beneficiaries of these charitable winnings are the Georgia School for the Deaf, a Georgia Academy for the Blind, and an Atlanta Area School for the Deaf.

As an advocacy group for persons with hearing loss, it is important and relevant to the mission of GAD and to the greater community, to see this money reach the intended beneficiaries. As you are aware, these funds are now in jeopardy due to the recent bankruptcy filing by the Cox family. However, all creditors, with the exception of First Horizon, have abandoned their claims against the prize money. I would respectfully point out that, according to the source NowPublic, First Horizon, unlike other creditors, was the recipient of $866 million in public bailout funds. Therefore, on behalf of GAD and its membership, I implore you to likewise abandon First Horizons claim as well.

As background information, Kathy Cox was invited by the producers of Fox to be a celebrity contestant on the game show Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? Fox advertised the show under the theme, The Supermodel vs. The Superintendent, as Kathy is the State of Georgia Superintendent of Schools. The show aired on September 5, 2008. Kathy Cox made continual and consistent affirmations as to the purpose of the winnings and was continuously referred as the State Superintendent of Schools throughout the entire episode.

Given the chance to see the show, one could conclude only one thing - that the winnings were intended solely for the benefit of the three state schools through the foundation Go For It which Kathy intended to create. The foundation would enhance the academic lives of Georgias deaf and blind students by funding scholarships at the three state schools.

Kathy is an individual with a big heart. She genuinely cares about students with disabilities. As a testament to her character and good will, the host of the show asked Kathy at one point whether she had been to Switzerland and if not, the host suggested she go with the winnings. Kathys response, ...except Im giving it to the schools so the kids could go.

I, together with the support of our organizational Board, will stand behind Kathy Cox and support her goal to donate the winnings to those who are most in need. I truly applaud Kathys generosity. I hope you will reconsider and join us in honoring Kathys generosity by abandoning the claim against her gift.

Again, I implore you to abandon First Horizons claim against the winnings. Now that you are familiar with this unique set of circumstances, I am sure you will agree that it would hardly be noble on the part of First Horizon to deny Georgias deaf and blind children the benefit of this good fortune. Further, I believe it to be unfathomable that First Horizon would seek to benefit from such an inequitable windfall considering the pure intentions of this gift money.

I thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,


Christopher M. Patterson
Georgia Association of the Deaf President 2005 2009