Featured image for post: Library Friends Welcome Author, Columnist, and UNC-TV Host D. G. Martin for Fall Dinner/Lecture on October 3

Library Friends Welcome Author, Columnist, and UNC-TV Host D. G. Martin for Fall Dinner/Lecture on October 3

Deadline for reservations is Monday, Sept. 25.

WILSON, N.C. — September 15, 2017 — Author, columnist, and UNC-TV host D.G. Martin will regale the audience with wit and wisdom, couched in his delightful style of storytelling, as he joins the Barton College Friends of Hackney Library and the Friends of the Wilson County Public Library for their jointly-sponsored 2017 Fall Dinner and Program on Tuesday, October 3. The event will be held in Hardy Alumni Hall on the campus of Barton College.

The event will begin with a book signing and wine reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m., and the program immediately afterward.

Books by the author will be sold at the event during the book signing/wine reception prior to the program and following dinner; Martin will be on hand to sign books both times.

Admission to the event is $30 each for both Friends of Wilson County Public Library and Barton College Friends of Hackney Library members, and for Barton faculty/staff, students, and spouses. For all other guests, admission is $35 each.For more information about invitations for the dinner, please contact Luann Clark at (252) 399-6329, or email the Friends of Hackney Library at fohl@barton.edu. Space is limited, and reservations for the dinner must be received by Monday, Sept. 25.

David Grier “D.G.” Martin, Jr., was born in Atlanta but raised in Davidson, N.C., where his father served as president of Davidson College. Martin attended Davidson and played basketball under coach “Lefty” Driesell. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Army, eventually becoming a Green Beret. He attended Yale Law School after leaving active duty, and upon graduation, returned to North Carolina to practice law in Charlotte.

Martin has been described as a Renaissance man, to which his career and civic activities attest. He has been involved with public service and politics throughout his life. He has served as interim vice chancellor for development and university affairs at both UNC-Pembroke and North Carolina Central University, and as the Carolinas’ director of the trust for public land, and ran in two races for Congress in 1984 and 1986, as well as a hard-fought 1998 campaign for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate against John Edwards. Martin also has served in leadership roles at Davidson College, the YMCA, the United Way, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the North Carolina Bar Association.

Since 1999, Martin has hosted UNC-TV’s “North Carolina Bookwatch,” the state’s premier literary television series featuring interviews with North Carolina authors. In addition, he has participated in other UNC-TV productions, including segments of the popular “Our State” series, and the intriguing documentary, “The Search for Princess Charlotte.” Martin currently writes a weekly newspaper column, “One on One,” and is a frequent contributor to “Our State” magazine. In addition to his work in television and print, he is the host of “Who’s Talking,” a daily interview program on WCHL-1360, a Chapel Hill radio station.

Martin’s latest publishing endeavor is a book about the state’s local food joints, “North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries: A Traveler’s Guide to Local Restaurants, Diners, and Barbecue Joints” (UNC Press, October 2016). Martin, who spent years traveling the highways and byways of North Carolina, recounts more than 100 notable North Carolina eating establishments not far off the interstates, ranging from local barbecue joints to Mexican restaurants to Greek diners. He also introduces readers to the restaurants’ owners and the locals who frequent their establishments. According to novelist Charles Frazier, “I’ve had the good fortune to have D.G. as my personal guide to some of the fine eateries in this book. I’m grateful to him for introducing me not only to so many memorable meals but also to the many fine local people and places that I’ve come to treasure.” Bridgette Lacy of the “News & Observer,” notes, “Martin wants . . . us to take his guide and have our own adventures . . . He encourages readers to go a little out of their way to be greeted like an old friend at one of these places even if it’s your first visit.” Organized by interstate highways and the eating establishments located near each, the book provides a wealth of information not only about great places to eat throughout North Carolina but also about the local color and culture they reflect. And, in the “After Eating” section following each restaurant write-up, Martin recommends other nearby “don’t-miss” sites to explore.

This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of Hackney Library and the Friends of the Wilson County Public Library.

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