The Alexandria Festival of the Book was held on Saturday, March 14, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Old Town, Alexandria. The event was a collaboration between the church and Virginia Humanities and featured award-winning authors and distinguished moderators.

In attendance were Tim Rose (“George Washington and Alexandria: A Founding Friendship”), Ricardo A. Herrera (“Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778”), Cassandra A. Good (“First Family: George Washington’s Heirs and the Making of America”), J. Dean Norton (“The General in the Garden: George Washington’s Landscape at Mount Vernon”), Bryan J. Zygmont (“Portraiture and Politics in New York City, 1790-1825: Gilbert Stuart, John Vanderlyn, John Trumbell and John Wesley Jarvis”), Larrie D. Ferreiro (“Brothers in Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It”), Donna Lucey (“Sargent’s Women: Four Lives Behind the Canvas”), Henry Wiencek (“Stan and Gus: Art, Ador and the Friendship That Built the Gilded Age”), Kirk Curnutt (“F. Scott Fitzgerald: 100 Years after Gatsby”) and Deborah W. Parker (“Becoming Belle da Costa Greene”).

There were four panels of speakers titled: “George Washington and His Legacies”, “Views on the Period”, “The Gilded Age” and “The Jazz Age”. All panels featured authors who had written books in their respective topics. During each of the panels, the authors shared research and stories from their books and engaged in a Question and Answer session with the well attended audience.

Author and Alexandria resident Tim Rose, shared thoughts on George Washington’s experiences in Alexandria during the 18th century, in his book “George Washington and Alexandria: A Founding Friendship.”

Rose shared that he was first inspired to write about George Washington during his time in the military.

“When I was in the Marine Corps, I started learning more about his background as a military officer,” said Rose. “Then when I moved to Alexandria with my wife, I was walking around and seeing all the connections to Washington here, I started to think there was a story about this network of people, this hometown that he had.”

In his book, Rose expands on the story of how the city of Alexandria was founded and how both Alexandria and its residents became part of Washington’s personal and work life.

One historical event of George Washington’s work life that high school students cover in history is the Revolutionary War. Rose says that a key takeaway for high school students is the rugged determination. Rose describes, “It really takes a strong will to endure all of that … Just how things [like] getting necessities like food, water, transportation [and] logistics [was very difficult].”

Rose encourages aspiring high school authors to read and use free resources to learn more about a topic. “Start reading as much as you can, that’s it. If you’re interested in writing about it, go to the source material and just start reading, reading, reading.”