Embarking on its tenth season, the Savannah Book Festival Board of Directors has elected a new president, Dr. Mark Murphy. Rachel Young Fields and James Scavo also were elected as new directors serving a three-year term.
 
“It is a distinct honor to lead the Savannah Book Festival as we prepare for our tenth anniversary celebration,” Murphy said. “Over the past decade, our dedicated, hard-working board has exerted a tremendous effort to bring top-quality national and regional authors to Savannah.”
 
Dr. Murphy, a founding partner of The Center for Liver and Digestive Health, is well-known as both a physician and as a writer.  An honor graduate of the Medical College of Georgia, Murphy completed his Internal Medicine residency and Gastroenterology fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has also published two novels and writes a regular column for the Savannah Morning News.
 
Fields, a graduate of Winthrop University and the University of Georgia School of Law, is a partner at Hunter/Maclean.  Her practice concentrates in the areas of business litigation, appellate practice and intellectual property.
 
Scavo, a Georgia lawyer, has practiced for 40 years.  Weinstock & Scavo, P.C., based in Atlanta, enjoyed a national reputation for its Resort and Hospitality Group practices. In 2011, Scavo merged his practice group of 55 attorneys into Taylor English.  He maintains a professional presence in Atlanta and Savannah.
 
At its annual meeting, the Savannah Book Festival also named Jack Romanos as chair emeritus and Ann Higbee as chair. Other officers continuing their service are Willard Holland, treasurer; Beau Anders, assistant treasurer, and Jenny Long, secretary.