Granby residents, Bill Hamilton, and his wife, Penny, attended the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame Induction Gala on Sept. 11 in Denver. The gala honored 12 new hall of fame inductees, including Bill. The new inductees authored books on topics ranging from animal rights to science fiction.

Bill was honored by the hall of fame for his 40-year career writing as a newspaper columnist, which included 19 years as a featured columnist for USA Today. He has also written four espionage novels that he co-authored with his wife. His novels are partly inspired from his time serving in the Vietnam and Cold wars.

He is also a laureate of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame. He was awarded more than 20 Air Medals and has earned a Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit, four Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart, according to his biography on the hall of fame’s website.

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“To be inducted into the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame was a great honor,” Bill stated in an email to Sky-Hi News. “But, I was also honored by the supporters who sat at our table.”

Bill went on to mention the authors, journalists, veterans, leaders and publishers that sat at his table like the former publisher of Wings West Magazine, Babette Andre, and Joe McGowan, the AP reporter who first put a spotlight on Mother Teresa and was the first to interview Fidel Castro after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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“Best of all, was to have Penny, my beautiful wife of over 51 years, and already a laureate of the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame, at my side,” he said.

Bill added that he told attendees the night of the ceremony that if he could live his life over again he would dedicate it to teaching children how to “read, read and read some more.”

The other authors inducted at the ceremony include: Jeanne Abrams, Temple Grandin, Peter Heller, Kathleen O’Neal Gear, Mary Kelly, Patricia Limerick, Thomas Jacob Noel, Linda Wommack and Philip Yancey. There were also two legacy authors that were honored posthumously – songwriter and performer, John Denver, and poet Abelardo Lalo Delgado.

The Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame recognizes outstanding authors with ties to Colorado. It inducts new authors biannually. Nominations will open in 2025.

For more information about the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame visit, ColoradoAuthorsHallofFame.org.

Tara Alatorre is the editor of Sky-Hi News. You can reach her at 970-557-6031 or talatorre@skyhinews.com.