D.G. Martin died on December 9, 2025, at the age of eighty-five. Over the course of his life, Martin achieved success in many different endeavors. He was a star basketball player at Davidson College. He served as a Green Beret. He graduated from Yale Law School and practiced law in Charlotte for many years. He held several leadership positions with the University of North Carolina System, and he wrote a weekly column that ran in many North Carolina newspapers. Of his many accomplishments, however, the one that stands out for me was his long run as the host of North Carolina Bookwatch, a series that aired on PBS North Carolina.
D.G. Martin began hosting North Carolina Bookwatch in 1999, and he continued in this role through 2021 when the series finally came to an end. The series featured North Carolina writers in conversation with Martin. As a frequent viewer of the program, I enjoyed his informal, low-tech approach. He did research on the authors he featured and always carefully read their books beforehand, but he never peppered his guests with preset questions. His conversations with the authors seemed relaxed and nuanced in nature. While watching the program, I sometimes had a sense that I was eavesdropping on a conversation between two people who loved to tell stories.
Martin and his production team paid close attention to Charlotte’s literary scene, and North Carolina Bookwatch often featured Charlotte writers, such as Kathy Reichs and Tommy Tomlinson. Shortly after I started my Storied Charlotte blog, I received an email from Kathy Loebrich, the producer/director of the program, in which she told me that Martin and other members of their team appreciated my blog. As she put it, “We’re always glad to connect with our fellow bibliophiles—especially those working with writers & educators & bookstores to bolster the literary arts across the state. Your blog is neat! You’ve definitely got you finger on the literary pulse of Charlotte.” I saved her email because it helped me feel like I was connected to Martin and to the larger North Carolina literary community.
Even though D.G. Martin lived in Chapel Hill for the second half of his life, he lived and worked in the Charlotte area for many years. He had a longstanding interest in Charlotte’s writers, and he did much to promote writers with Charlotte connections. He will be missed in Storied Charlotte and beyond.