- March 10, 2025
Ormond Beach author William Paul Lazarus tells the story of a modest civil rights leader unexpectedly thrust into a leadership role in his newest book from Arcadia Press, "Virginia's Civil Rights Hero: Curtis W. Harris Sr."
The book is scheduled for publication on Jan. 9, and follows Harris from his impoverished days to when he found himself in the spotlight as the president of his local NAACP chapter after the 1954 Supreme Court decision that outlawed separate but equal discrimination.
"Over the next 40 years, Rev. Harris was beaten, arrested multiple times, faced off against the KKK and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Harris’ efforts helped mute discrimination in Virginia, where racism was institutionalized and modeled throughout the country," a press release states. "The book explains the rise of racism in context with Harris’ struggles."
Harris later became the first Black mayor of Hopewell and an honored figure in the state. He died in 2017.
Lazarus has published 24 other fiction and nonfiction books, and holds an ABD in American Studies from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
