Contact: Melissa Reifert
March 2, 2007

Virginia Senator Jim Webb and Author Jeff Biggers to be Featured at 31st John Fox, Jr. Festival

Local aspiring writers and area literary buffs, as well as those who just enjoy a good book, should mark Wednesday, March 21 on their calendars.  This particular day is special because the 31st Annual John Fox, Jr. Literary Festival will be held on March 21 in Big Stone Gap, a town known for its famous authors and support for the arts. 

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Goodloe Center, located in Phillips-Taylor Hall on the campus of Mountain Empire Community College.  It will feature readings by Virginia Senator Jim Webb, who will appear live from Washington, D.C. via interactive television, and renowned writer Jeff Biggers.  The program will provide an opportunity for questions and answers.

Webb, author of Born Fighting, is also a screenwriter, journalist, and lawyer. He served as Secretary of the Navy from 1987-1988, and was elected to his first term in the United States Senate in 2006.  He has written six best-selling novels, taught literature at the Naval Academy, and traveled worldwide as a journalist. 

First in his class of 243 at the Marine Corps Officer’s Basic School in Quantico, Virginia, Webb served with the Fifth Marine Regiment in Vietnam, where as a rifle platoon and company commander he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts. 

Among his many other awards for community service and professional excellence are the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the Medal of Honor Society’s Patriot Award, the American Legion National Commander’s Public Service Award, and the VFW’s Media Service Award.  He was also a fall 1992 Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, and his PBS coverage of the U.S. Marines in Beirut earned him an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 

The book, Born Fighting, tells the remarkable story of how the Scots-Irish and their fighting faith in America has shaped our nation. Webb is descended principally from the Scots-Irish settlers who came to this country from Northern Ireland in the 18th century and became pioneers in the mountains of Southwest Virginia.  In Born Fighting, his insights deepen the understanding, not only of this unique people, but also of America’s past and present.

Biggers has worked as a writer, educator, radio correspondent, and community organizer across the United States, Europe, India, and Mexico. His award-winning stories have appeared on National Public Radio (NPR), Public Radio International, and in scores of travel, literary, and music magazines, and national and foreign newspapers.

He has been a commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition and for Pacific News Service national syndication.  He currently serves as a contributing editor to The Bloomsbury Review, and is a member of the PEN American Center, an organization that works to advance literature, to defend free expression, and to foster international literary fellowship. 

In the 1990s, as part of his work to develop literacy and literary programs in rural, reservation, and neglected communities in the American Southwest, he founded the Northern Arizona Book Festival.  His work has received numerous honors, including an American Book Award, a Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Journalism, a Field Foundation Fellowship, and an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship. 

With humor, intelligence, and clarity, his groundbreaking work in United States of Appalachia shows how a remarkable procession of innovators from the hills of Appalachia have defined and shaped America.  The book discusses how some of the most quintessential and daring American innovations, rebellions, and social movements have emerged from an area that is often stereotyped.

For more information about the festival, call the MECC Foundation at (276) 523-2400, extension 466.

Virginia Senator Jim Webb will appear live from Washington, D.C. via interactive television at the 31st Annual John Fox, Jr. Festival.  The event will take place on March 21 at 10 a.m. in the Goodloe Center on the campus of Mountain Empire Community College.

Renowned author Jeff Biggers will attend the 31st Annual John Fox, Jr. Festival on March 21.  The event will take place at 10 a.m. in the Goodloe Center on the campus of Mountain Empire Community College.

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