BOONE—Tom Higgins, who has been called NASCAR’s storyteller, will talk about his sports writing career June 12 at Appalachian State University. Higgins wrote about motorsports for the Charlotte Observer for more than three decades.

Higgins’ talk is sponsored by Belk Library and Information Commons. The free event will begin at 4 p.m. in room 421. A reception will follow.

The fourth recipient of the Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence, Higgins was honored during NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony in January and featured in an exhibit at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.

The Burnsville native began his career as a sports writer in the late 1950s, covering sports for the Canton Enterprise after graduating from Brevard College, where he played baseball and basketball.

He later joined the Asheville Citizen-Times, and said in an interview with the paper that, “Once I got to Asheville and heard the clacking of those teletype machines and was part of the excitement of putting out a daily newspaper, I was hooked.”

His first auto race was at the Asheville Weaverville Speedway.

Higgins is the author of “Racing into the Past,” which covers the early years of NASCAR, “NASCAR Greatest Races: The 25 Most Thrilling Races in NASCAR History” and coauthor of “Junior Johnson: Brave in Life.”

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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