The other day, the Library of Congress chose East Boothbay writer Richard Ford as the winner of their annual prize for American Fiction.

In case you are not a fan of literary awards, it is a big deal, one that places him in a group of writers like Annie Proulx, E.L. Doctorow, Phillip Roth and Toni Morrison.

In announcing the honor, The Library of Congress called him one of the most elegant writers of his generation. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, said in a statement that Ford was a “luminous storyteller” and “eloquent” writer.

Over his long career, he has created a body of work that earned him a shelf-full of significant awards including both the Pulitzer and the PEN/Faulkner for his novel, “Independence Day.”

I wondered if the literary superstar might want to chat with his local paper. He said this afternoon would be a good time.

Wearing a T-shirt from Conley’s Garden Center, he greeted me with a wry smile, offered me a glass of iced tea and showed me to a seat at the end of a long, and very rustic table.

I wondered why this famed author, whose work has been translated into 35 languages, chose Boothbay as his home.

“It is completely captivating,” he said looking out the window at Linekin Bay.

Then he explained he had been staying in Belfast looking for a quiet place to write, a place far away from the eternal party that seemed to take place outside his other residence in New Orleans.

After visiting some 50 homes, his real estate agent mentioned she had one more, but it was sort of out of her area, in Boothbay. He had never been to there but, why not, and they drove down the coast.

As he tells it, he looked at the house, fell in love, and phoned his wife. If she wanted to see the house before he bought it, she should fly up right away. She did, and they did. It was November 1999.

Ford said the LOC award is unique because the nation’s library gives it. And, he said, libraries have a special place in his heart. In news stories about the award, he praised all libraries and singled out two, the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library and Damariscotta’s Skidompha Library.

“One reason we are happy living here is that the (local) library is thriving,” he said. The community supports it, and so do the city fathers. “For me, the library is the quiet epicenter of a community. It is a place that is sort of a community center, a place where kids can feel safe.”

Growing up in Jackson, Mississippi, the local library was a place of refuge, a place where he was first exposed to literature. It was a welcoming place where he could read and page through books with pictures.

What did he read? He answered with a grin: “Freddie, the Pig.” (Freddie is a barnyard character central to a series of classic children’s works.)

“It was the first place where I realized there was a place set aside as a repository for books and reading,” he said.

It was also the first time he realized it was a public place for white people – only.

“I realized something was wrong. Some things you just don’t understand. “They pay taxes (to support the library) too.”

But he said he was not brave enough to buck the segregationist system. When he graduated from high school, he couldn’t wait to leave. Years later, he smiled as he recalled the thrill of taking a passenger train to East Lansing, Michigan to attend Michigan State. There he studied literature and met Kristina. They were married in 1968.

As he struggled to build a career, his wife earned a Ph.D. in urban planning and became the city planner for New Orleans. In 2004, a new mayor was elected, and he fired her. For the record, that new mayor now resides in federal prison.

Since the Fords' relocating to Boothbay, Kristina has been active in civic affairs including serving as chair of the Boothbay planning board and now as a member of the town’s board of selectmen.

In addition to his writing and European journalism projects, Ford, an avid bird hunter and recovering Harley-Davidson rider, has served as a writing teacher at several universities. He currently holds an endowed chair at Columbia University’s Masters of Fine Arts program where he says he teaches people who want to write, how to read.

He recently completed another book of short stories and is working on another novel, featuring his longtime protagonist, Frank Bascombe.

Despite his world reputation, this major American novelist calls Boothbay his home.

“I live here because I like it,” he said.