On June 25 I had the pleasure of giving a talk and reading from The Angel of Mons: AWorld War I Legend sponsored by the National Winston Churchill Museum at Westminster College, in Fulton, Missouri. I explained why I picked Churchill as a character and then how I discovered connections betweenhim and the legend of the angel. . Naturally, I am deeply interested in Churchill. This is the reason he is a character in the book.

My beloved Sarah Barker and I read Chapter 16, “The Angel of Mons, Winston Churchill, And his Aunt, Lady Janey Campbell” and Chapter 1, “The Sun Gaily Passed”. In The Angle of Mons Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty, in command of theBritish Navy. He will also be a character in my novel about the Battle of Bellicourt Tunnel. At that time he served the War Council as Minister of Munitions.

I am happy that the college president, the museum director and staff, and community folks attended the reading. Plus, friends from Columbia and Kansas City came, too. We all had a good time.

This was my third visit to the Churchill Museum. It is especially well done. The story of the museum, Churchill’s connection to Westminster College— His “Sinews of Peace” speech in 1946 (“an ‘Iron Curtain‘ has descended across the continent”)—and the Wren-designed Church of Saint Mary, Aldermanbury are well worth a side trip. 

Fulton is sixteen miles east of Columbia, Missouri. You don’t have to worry about crowds and long waits in line.