Book Talk To Focus On Botetourt Gold Medalist

FINCASTLE — A Book Talk for the forthcoming book, “Norvel,” by local author Ken Conklin, will be held at the Fincastle Library Meeting Room on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 2 p.m.  
The event is being sponsored by the Botetourt County Historical Society and is free and open to the public. Conklin will present an overview on the remarkable life of Botetourt County native, Norvel Lee.
Lee was born in northern Botetourt County in 1924.  His family lived near Gala where he attended a segregated elementary school in Eagle Rock and graduated high school at the Academy Hill School for Negroes in Fincastle.  
After serving in World War II, he attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., earning a bachelor’s degree. While at Howard, Lee was a member of the 1948 and 1952 U.S. Olympic teams, winning the Gold Medal in 1952.  
He also challenged a Jim Crow law that was in effect at the time. 
Later he received several graduate degrees in education and became a senior officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.  
His lasting legacy can be found in the tireless contributions that Lee and his wife, Leslie Jackson Lee, made advocating educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth.
Conklin is a writer, technology industry consultant and the author of the forthcoming book, “Norvel.”