Blue Ridge Bookfest features author and war correspondent Joseph Galloway

From a press release:

Blue Ridge Bookfest features author and war correspondent Joseph Galloway

The Seventh Annual Blue Ridge Bookfest will be held on April 24-25, 2015, at Blue Ridge Community College Henderson County Campus. More than 45 authors and exhibitors will offer craft workshops and be available to meet and greet, discuss their work and sign books. Writers and aspiring writers will be able to meet authors one-on-one, attend free workshops and presentations on Friday and Saturday to hone craft, learn to promote sales of books or even write a play. Event goers may bring their own books or purchase books at the event from Malaprop’s.

The participating authors will represent a wide array of genres and include award winners, best-selling authors, renowned scholars and writers of fiction and non-fiction. A complete schedule and author bios are available at the Bookfest web site at http://www.blueridge.edu/blueridgebookfest.  Author Joseph L. Galloway, one of America’s premier war and foreign correspondents for half a century, and co-author of the non-fiction book We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young, will be the featured presenter. Mr. Galloway, a North Carolina resident, recently retired as the senior military correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers. Before that, he held an assignment as a special consultant to General Colin Powell at the State Department.

Galloway’s participation in Blue Ridge Bookfest will include a ticketed ($25) Reception and Book Signing on Friday evening beginning at 5:30 p.m. At 6:30 p.m., local author Bill Ramsey will interview Mr. Galloway followed by a question and answer session. On Saturday at 12:30 p.m., Mr. Galloway will be joined by other noted historians and authors for a panel discussion, “Examining the Legacy of the Vietnam War through Literature,” moderated by local author and military historian Nicholas Warr. Tickets for a box lunch during the panel discussion are available for $10. Tickets should be purchased before the events online at www.blueridgebookfest.org. All other aspects of the Bookfest are free to the public, except the events that are ticketed.

New this year, Blue Ridge Bookfest will present a private viewing of the movie We Were Soldiers at the Flat Rock Cinema (3.5 mi from the campus) on Saturday evening. Doors will open at 6:20 p.m. We Were Soldiers is a 2002 war film that dramatizes the Battle of Ia Drang on November 14, 1965. The film was directed by Randall Wallace and stars Mel Gibson. It is based on the book We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway, both of whom were involved in the battle. Attendees will see the box office hit, recognized as one of the best films to emerge from the Vietnam War era, and meet Joe Galloway, who will provide an introduction to the movie at 6:50 p.m. with the movie to follow at 7 p.m. Tickets for the movie event at Flat Rock Cinema are $25 and can be purchased online at www.blueridgebookfest.org.

Seats are limited for Blue Ridge Bookfest ticketed events and sell out early.