Book talk on Norvel Lee from Eagle Rock an olympic gold medalist is Feb 8

A Book Talk for the forthcoming book, “Norvel,” by local author Ken Conklin, will be held at the Fincastle Library Meeting Room on Saturday, February 8, 2020, at 2 p.m.  The event is being sponsored by The Botetourt County Historical Society, Inc. and is free and open to the public.

The author, Ken Conklin, will present an overview on the remarkable life of Botetourt County native, Norvel Lee.

Norvel 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, Virginia.  After serving in WWII, 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 US 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.

Ken Conklin is a writer, technology industry consultant and the author of the forthcoming book, “Norvel.”

–Submitted by Judy Barnett and Botetourt County Historical Society. Photo courtesy of BCHS