Author James Wells in conversation with Dr. Ora Wells

WHEN: Thursday, August 7th at 6:30pm

WHERE: Mary C. Jenkins Community Center at 221 Mills Ave, Brevard, NC

Highland Books is excited to host an event for author James Wells in conversation with Dr. Ora Wells on Thursday, August 7th at 6:30pm.

James Wells unveils his investigative memoir titled Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew, revealing the truth about his father’s still classified and CIA-covered up death in Vietnam almost six decades ago.

“Using my father’s 400-plus letters my mother kept to learn about the man I never got to know and corroborating their content with layers of deep archival and field research across two continents, I resurrect my father’s life, starting with events from his teenage years and ending with his mysterious death twenty-three years later.”

JAMES B. WELLS is a retired criminology and criminal justice professor in the School of Justice Studies in the College of Justice, Safety, and Military Science at Eastern Kentucky University, and is the recipient of the 2025 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences John Howard Award, an award given intermittently, upon significant demand, to recognize an individual who has made significant and sustained contributions to the practice of corrections. A former carpenter, soldier, and correctional officer in a super-maximum-security prison and later as a researcher/planner assisting architects in prison design, he has multiple degrees, including an M.S. in Criminal Justice, a Ph.D. in Research, and an MFA in Creative Writing. He’s authored or co-authored over sixty-five books, chapters, articles, and essays, as well as over a hundred and fifty research reports for various local, state, and federal agencies. Recent essays from his research and memoir work appear or are forthcoming in Collateral Journal, About Place Journal, Wild Roof Journal, Military Experience and the Arts, The Wrath-Bearing Tree, Shift, Proud to be: Writing by American Warriors, Trajectory Journal, and From Pen to Page III: More Writings from the Bluegrass Writers Coalition. His investigative memoir about his father’s still CIA-classified death in Vietnam in 1965, titled Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew, will be released on Father’s Day weekend, 2025. Links to publications, presentations, trailers, social media, blog, and other information can be found at https://jamesbwells.com. James enjoys spending much of his leisure time with his spouse on their Lexington, Kentucky farm located on the palisades of the Kentucky River, where he is an organic gardener and beekeeper.

This event is FREE and open to the public. Book signing will follow the discussion.