Wilford Kale, a local author and former member of the James City County Board of Supervisors, was recently honored with a gold medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards.
Kale won the award for his book “A Very Virginia Christmas,” which received a gold medal in the Holiday Book Division. The annual awards honor the year’s best independently published books in a broad range of subjects and reward authors and publishers who “take chances and break new ground,” according to a press release.
“Kale has compiled the best Virginia Christmas stories and traditions, from wartime and peace, from times of need and times of feasting and merriment, into one handsome volume,” according to the release.
“Kale’s readable storytelling style, and that of his contributors, will always bring a smile to the faces of adults and children alike interested in stories of the Christmas season.”
Kale received the award at a ceremony on May 29.
“This is a very, very nice honor, and I’m thrilled,” Kale says. “It tends to validate my prior book efforts over the past years.”
Since 1990, Kale has been the author, co-author or editor for 10 books, including the popular “Hark Upon the Gale: An Illustrated History of The College of William & Mary,” which was first published in 1985 and has since been released in an updated edition.
A second edition of “A Very Virginia Christmas” will be published this winter.
