Festival born after books banned in Madison schools
Booklovers gathered Sunday afternoon at Revalation Vineyards in Madison County for “No Book Left Behind: Celebrating Our Freedom to Read,” a community festival triggered by the banning in Madison schools of some books or excerpts, including ones about the Vietnam War.
In January 2023, the Madison County School Board banned 22 books from local public schools. Subsequently 12 passages in a few textbooks used by the public schools were banned from educational use by teachers.
The bans “went viral,” event organizer Cynthia Taylor said during the festival. “It’s not something we wanted to be known for — as a county that banned books.”
Taylor said well-known authors such as Stephen King and Margaret Atwood, among others, had spoken out against the book banning, and a piece aired on NPR as the bans became a national story.
Three school board members still in office who voted in favor of the banning — Charlie Sheads, Nita Collier and Christopher Wingate — are not seeking reelection.
“We organized this festival in response to these events — to promote literacy and ensure that everyone has access to a diverse range of books and ideas,” Taylor said.
The festival included a reading of “Ambush,” an autobiographical sketch by Vietnam veteran Tim O’Brien which was among the banned passages. Culpeper resident Charles Jameson read the story, himself a Vietnam veteran who served in 1970-71 with the 11th Armored Cavalry Artillery, 5th Infantry Division, and with the 101st Airborne on the Laotian border.
Clifford W. Haury, a University of Virginia adjunct professor who served in the U.S. Army in 1970-71, read excerpts from a speech in which Martin Luther King Jr. protested the Vietnam War, which also had been banned by the school board.
A personal account of his Marine Corps unit’s participation in what became known as the Cam Ne incident was read by Clark B. Hall, a member of Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines in 1965. The Marines had followed orders to burn the homes of civilians. Hall’s commanding officer ordered the then 18-year-old to represent the Marine Corps and be interviewed by CBS news correspondent Morley Safer, a controversial broadcast that also was used in a Ken Burns documentary on the war.
Answering questions from the festival audience, the veterans discussed how young people should be taught about the Vietnam War, and the difficult moral and ethical dilemmas they had encountered.
Several area authors also were highlighted during the festival, including Andi Cumbo, Jeffrey Dale Lofton, Nashae Jones, and Jen Poteet. In addition, Andrew Evans, author of “The Black Penguin” and a travel writer for National Geographic, discussed his work.
Featured community organizations and vendors included the Madison County Library, Madison Literacy Council, MADSafe, NAACP Culpeper, and Hundred Acre Books, a Culpeper book store. Food was provided by Cuba Mex Food Truck.
