Published: September 21, 2008 12:58 am         

Gary Winkler official biographer for Lynndie England

CUMBERLAND — Gary Winkler has been named the official biographer for Lynndie England, the Fort Ashby, W.Va., Army reservist who be-came the face of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.

The infamous photos that aired on CBS’ “60 Minutes II” program in April 2004 catapulted the 21-year-old England into the halls of notoriety.

Black Larch Press announced that the author has been signed on to write the biography, although the publisher will be announced at a later date.

As a result of the scandal in Iraq, seven reservists connected with the 372nd Military Police Company were convicted in a military court on charges ranging from abuse to conspiracy. England was sentenced to 36 months in the Naval Brig at San Diego.

Winkler will explore the context of the event and why it was characterized by the Bush administration as the work of “a few bad apples.” The author will piece together a far more complex scenario, one in which others in the government played a role in devising a policy of torture that ran contrary to the Geneva Convention.

Released from parole and dishonorably discharged earlier this month, England is now home with her family in Fort Ashby.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1952, Winkler relocated to West Virginia with his family when he was 13.

Winkler has spent the better part of his career writing for regional newspapers and the Blue Ridge Country and Goldenseal magazines.

He has authored three books that draw on his experiences growing up on a farm along the South Branch of the Potomac River in West Virginia.

Winkler lives on a farm in Southwest Virginia, where he and his wife, Katrina Landon, raise rare breeds of sheep. The farm serves as headquarters for The Black Larch Press, Winkler’s own small press and publishing company.