The Reynolds Homestead and the Patrick County Historical Society will host its bi-monthly History Around Us program at noon on Wednesday, Aug. 7 at the Reynolds Homestead. The hourlong learning program features award-winning journalist, author and editor A.D. Hopkins.
Hopkins, who grew up in Patrick County, has worked for newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, and Las Vegas, Nev., where he was inducted into the Nevada Press Association’s Newspaper Hall of Fame.
His debut novel, “The Boys Who Woke Up Early,” is set in a fictionalized rural western Virginia county during the volatile social times of 1959. It was an era when racism and class division were the norms, but the need for change was beginning to make itself felt, even in the midst of Appalachia.
Hopkins draws from his own life as a student coming of age in and around Stuart, as he brings to life Stony Shelor, a high school junior. Shelor teams up with a new boy in town, and their adventures as aspiring detectives lead them to artifice and turbulence.
Bring a bagged lunch and spend the lunch hour at the Reynolds Homestead in Critz. Drinks are provided. Hopkins will have books available for purchase and will be happy to sign them.
The monthly meeting of the Reynolds Homestead volunteers is held following the talk, and all who are interested are invited to stay.