Book Talk at the Library of Virginia

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Opportunity Time, A Memoir by Governor Linwood Holton

Time: Noon–1 PM

FREE EVENT

Abner Linwood Holton’s election in 1969 as the first Republican governor in 
more than one hundred years was the culmination of his efforts to create a 
two-party democracy in Virginia. Opportunity Time is a disarmingly candid 
memoir that offers a behind-the-scenes account of his private and public life 
at a critical juncture in the political history of Virginia and the nation. Although 
a Republican politician, Governor Holton has long held appeal to constituents 
from both parties. His tenure led to the reformation of the structure of 
Virginia’s government and balanced the needs of environmental conservation 
with the need to develop key areas of the state. When the newly elected 
Holton escorted his children into an integrated Richmond public school in 1970, 
he delivered the coup-de-grace to the Byrd machine, a network of 
conservative Democrats who had flouted Brown v. Board of Education through 
their policy of Massive Resistance for more than a decade. Opportunity Time 
offers an insider’s perspective on Republican Party politics and race relations 
through the eyes of a groundbreaking politician. 

Linwood Holton served as the governor of Virginia from 1970 to 1974. He is a 
graduate of Washington & Lee University and Harvard Law School. He served 
on the Submarine Force in the United States Navy during World War II. After 
his governorship, he served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for 
Congressional Relations, the president of the Center for Innovation 
Technology, and a member of the Board of Directors for Amtrak. Holton is 
currently a director in the Richmond law firm McCandlish Holton, P.C.

The Library of Virginia is located at 800 East Broad Street in downtown 
Richmond.  Free parking is available underneath the building.

www.lva.virginia.gov 
804.692.3500

______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html