Homer Hickam will be featured speaker at Community Conversations, sponsored by Huntsville Library Foundation on Jan. 28. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – Best-selling author Homer Hickam will be featured speaker for the next “Community Conversations,” sponsored by Huntsville Library Foundation.

Located at 4905 Garth Road in Huntsville, Randolph School will host Community Conversations in Thurber Fine Arts Center on Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.

“The Foundation is delighted to host another community event where we can all be entertained and educated while benefiting the crucial services of our library system,” foundation board chair Christina Tabereaux said. “We’re especially pleased to showcase a local writer whose books are loved by readers around the world.”

Hickam will tell the “somewhat true story” of his parents and his mother’s alligator in his latest novel, “Carrying Albert Home.” “It’s a funny, sweet and sometimes tragic tale filled with the charm and warmth that made his ‘Rocket Boys’ memoir an international bestseller,” library director of communications Ann Marie Martin said.

“What strange forces of fate could send a man from West Virginia coal fields on a 1,000-mile road trip to Florida during the Great Depression with his wife Elsie, her pet alligator Albert and a rooster?” Martin asked. The answer: Homer Hickam.

Actor Buddy Ebsen, famous for “The Beverly Hillbillies,” gave the alligator to Elsie. Ebsen and Elsie had dated in Florida before she returned to West Virginia to marry Hickam’s father, also named Homer, Martin said.

Copies of “Carrying Albert Home” will be available for sale and signing at Community Conversations.

Founded in 1986, Huntsville Library Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization that advocates for the library and acquires resources to enhance the library’s value to the community. For information, visit huntsvillelibraryfoundation.org.

Proceeds will benefit programs and services of Huntsville-Madison County Public Library. Tickets are $25 and available at huntsvillelibraryfoundation.org/tickets or any library branch. Students will be admitted free with a valid ID.

For more information, call 256-532-2361, email amartin@hmcpl.org or visit hmcpl.org or Facebook/HMCPL. For more information about Hickam, visit homerhickam.com.