Martin Luther King Jr. expert to visit Lynchburg

Later this month, the Rev. Virgil Wood will return to Lynchburg as a symbol, a witness, an expert on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and a figure of local historical significance.

In the case of Pat Price, he’ll also be coming as a friend.

“I’ve known Virgil for years,” said Price, director of the Center for Community Development and Social Justice at Lynchburg College. “As soon as he found out who my grandfather was, we became close.”

Pat Walker, for whom Pat Price was named, operated a barbershop in downtown Lynchburg where the city’s civil rights leaders — including Wood, then pastor of Diamond Hill Baptist Church — often met in the evenings to discuss strategy.

Wood was one of the prime movers in the local integration movement, an outspoken irritant to those who preferred the social order not change. In 1963, he moved to Boston, where he directed the city’s chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (the group headed by King); earned a doctorate from Harvard; and walked the streets of inner-city Roxbury on the night King was assassinated, trying to convince angry residents not to burn their neighborhood down.

After a stint as a pastor in Providence, R.I., Wood now lives in a suburb of Houston, but revisits Lynchburg from time to time.

“We were talking,” Price said, “and realized that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the integration of Lynchburg schools, and I asked Virgil if he’d be willing to come here and speak, and he said, ‘Sure.’”

As usual, Wood will be talking about Martin Luther King — not as a worshipper, but a peer who has dug deeply into his mentor’s education, speaking style and motivation. On the evening of Jan. 16, he will be the keynote speaker at Lynchburg College’s Martin Luther King Commemoration Service, his talk titled: “Martin Luther King Jr., the Organic Speaker: Engagement at the Intersection of Theory and Practice.”

That morning, Wood will speak at the annual Martin Luther King Breakfast. His four days in Lynchburg will include time with students from Lynchburg College, E.C. Glass and Heritage high schools and the city’s middle schools, as well as an opportunity to interact with the community at large.

“He was especially pleased to be talking to students,” Price said.

Even at 80, Wood maintains a busy schedule — especially this time of year, when his status as an authority on Martin Luther King keeps him in demand as a speaker and interpreter of King’s words.

“He never seems to get tired,” Price said. “Even at his age he’s still out there working, traveling, speaking, trying to affect change. And the best thing is, he’s still optimistic.”