Billy Watkins worked as a sports writer, features writer and columnist for more than three decades at the Clarion Ledger in Jackson where he earned more than 50 national and regional awards.
Prior to that, Watkins was a sports writer and sports editor for seven years at The Meridian Star. He was three times selected by his peers Mississippi’s Sportswriter of the Year.
A lifelong Mississippian who grew up in Noxubee County, Watkins has written three books. His 2005 work, Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes, was named by the BBC one of the Top 10 books ever written on Apollo.
He earned a journalism degree from the University of Mississippi in 1975. In 2018, he received the prestigious Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence.
