FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Frank Griffin will sign his book, “Touched By Fire,” on Thursday, Feb. 4, from 4 to 6 p.m., at Page & Palette, 32 S. Section St. in Fairhope.

Griffin’s story is that of an ordinary young man caught up in extraordinary events.

Griffin came back to Alabama 45 years ago, accompanied by a sheriff’s deputy. He was about to serve two years for a theft he did not commit.

He served his time, earned a pardon, moved to Texas and lived the life of a solid citizen; he left his past behind.

But the past he was leaving would not let go. Griffin was born into the tumult of history, and up until he’d turned 21 history hadn’t leave him alone.

In 1954 Griffin’s father witnessed the murder of Alabama Attorney General-elect Albert Patterson, then was killed after testifying to what he saw.

Less than a decade later Griffin saw Lee Harvey Oswald fleeing the scene after the murder of Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit. Remembering his father’s fate, he walked away.

In the years between the two assassinations Griffin worked in the circus, ran moonshine, and became a U.S. Marine. At different times he found himself in Florida, Oklahoma, and on a U.S. Navy ship off Cuba’s coast.

With a foreword by former Alabama Gov. John Patterson, Griffin’s book, “Touched By Fire,” recounts an impoverished boyhood in the South after World War II.

Born into a family of Southern migrant workers, Griffin grew up picking cotton, and grabbing what little education he could.

His life ran in strange parallels with the more public career of John Patterson, so much so that a newspaper article about their first meeting was headlined “Bound by Blood.”

Griffin’s father had witnessed Patterson’s father’s death. The former governor was the last man to talk to Griffin’s father alive.

Griffin ran Alabama moonshine while John Patterson was attorney general. As governor Patterson became friends with JFK, and signed off on the participation of the Alabama Air National Guard in the Bay of Pigs.

Griffin’s ship sailed beneath the Alabama bombers. Two years later he was in Dallas when Kennedy was killed.

Yet Patterson and Griffin never met until 2003. That year they exchanged letters, then visited.

Since then they have become fast friends. Patterson has encouraged Griffin’s book project, contributing the foreword.

Former Columbus  Ledger-Enquirer city editor Harry Franklin has called the book a “remarkable story.”

Famed crime novelist, Ace Atkins, has praised it as “a true American tragedy.” In Atkins’s last novel, “Wicked City,” one of the leading characters is based on Griffin’s murdered father.

“Touched By Fire” is history through the eyes of an American everyman. It is a story that teaches us the heroism of survival and hope. It is a lesson we could all use in these difficult times.

For more information on the booksigning, call (251) 928-5295.