It was just after lunch Friday, March 5, and Timothy A. Dixon was staring at the floor and shuffling his feet in a Carroll Community College classroom.

Off to the side in the front of the room, Bernie Jones, a member of the college foundation Board of Directors, introduced the next guest speaker for an author's book talk at the 13th annual Random House Book Fair, held at Carroll Community College.

As Jones finished his introduction, Dixon looked up and paused for a moment as if he suddenly realized that he was the person who was introduced in glowing and fond terms.

He had written a book about his father, the "first, and only, black state treasurer in the state of Maryland," said Tim with shy pride.

Richard Dixon was born April 17, 1938.

"Maryland's First Black State Treasurer" is the book about a famous Carroll County resident; and it's a book local historians have looked forward to for many years.

"He was born the fourth child of six in his family. When he was born, the country was still moving through the Depression era," said Tim.

"He coped with hand-me-down schoolbooks in what was, then, a segregated Carroll County public school system. He attended an all-black school from the time he was in the first grade in 1944 to the time he graduated from Robert Moton High School in 1956.

"He went on to college at a historically black college in Baltimore, Morgan State."

Tim said that after his father graduated from college in 1960, he served in the Army for about eight years, including service in Vietnam, during which he earned a Bronze Star.

Richard Dixon returned from the war to begin a career in finance as the "first black person to work as a stock broker in the Baltimore office of Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith," writes his son.

It was the beginning of a lifetime of firsts for Mr. Dixon in the service of his first love: Carroll County.

He went on to serve on the Carroll County Board of Education from 1970 to 1978. He was then elected a State Delegate from Carroll County to the General Assembly from 1982 to 1996, then State Treasurer from 1996 until 2002 when he retired for health reasons.

Today, Richard Dixon remains retired, but retains a legacy that spans a different world he helped forge.

"He went from raising chickens and hogs in his backyard to investing billions of dollars for the state of Maryland," Tim noted, placing his hand on a stack of freshly printed books.

"Whatever he became," said Tim, "is a result of his Carroll County education."

For more information about Tim Dixon's book, go to www.marylandsfirstblacktreasurer.com.

When he is not reading Tim Dixon's book, Kevin Dayhoff may be reached at kevindayhoff@gmail.com.

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