American Book Fest, based in Los Angeles and Phoenix, has announced the winners and finalists of 2024 American Legacy Book Awards. Over 500 winners and finalists were announced in more than 100 categories with thousands of entries from around the world.
“Captain of the Tides Gunner Morgan” by Charlie Morgan with Jacque Armstrong Hillman, won in military fiction. Morgan and Hillman grew up in Somerville, Tenn. and are long-time friends. The book also won the Military Writers Society of America 2021 national bronze medal.
Gunner Morgan, 1865-1959, was lead diver on the USS Maine after it exploded and sank on Feb. 15, 1898, in Havana Harbor, with more than 260 men killed. Morgan reported to the Naval Board of Inquiry that the cause was a mine in Havana Harbor. He was called “The Man Who Started the Spanish-American War.” His grandson, Charles Morgan, had his grandfather’s old sea chest filled with his Navy records dating from 1881 forward. He asked Jacque Hillman to write a historical novel about his grandfather’s amazing life and heroic military service.
“Hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine” by Dr. Dennis Renshaw, a retired United Methodist minister from Beech Bluff, won national finalist in nonfiction: inspirational. Dr. Dennis Renshaw’s solo hike at age 66 over 2,186 miles through hazardous mountains into steep valleys through every kind of terrain and weather imaginable turned into a 5 1/2 month- adventure. He is a man accustomed to adventures. At age 15, he climbed Mt. Damavand, Iran, elevation 18.406 feet. He felt God’s presence in unique ways as he trekked across the 14 states to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
“Why Can’t Mother Vote? Joseph Hanover and the Unfinished Business of Democracy” by Bill Haltom, retired Memphis attorney, won national finalist for best book design in nonfiction. Bill Haltom, an award-winning writer, is the author of nine books and has been a newspaper and magazine humor columnist for over 25 years. He has served as chair of the editorial boards for four magazines, including the ABA Journal, the flagship publication of the American Bar Association. Bill lives and writes In Memphis and Monteagle, Tennessee.
The HillHelen Group LLC, based in Tennessee and Arizona, published all three books. Jacque Hillman is senior editor and CEO of the company.
www.hillhelengrouppublishers.com hillhelengroup@gmail.com
HillHelen Group Publishers 