KNOXVILLE — The East Tennessee Veterans Memorial Association, the University of Tennessee Center for the Study of War and Society and the East Tennessee Historical Society will host a panel discussion on “How to Write Your Memoirs” Sept. 23.
The discussion will be held at 4 p.m. in the East Tennessee Historical Society.
Veterans and veterans’ relatives who would like to learn more about writing memoirs are invited to attend.
Dr. Kurt Piehler, UT assistant professor of history and director of the UT Center for the Study of War and Society, will moderate the panel.
Piehler served as director of the Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II from 1994 to 1998, during which time he recorded more than 200 World War II veterans’ oral histories.
The panel discussion will include information on the writing and publishing processes, as well as testimonials from U.S. Air Force Lt. Colonel Alexander Jefferson and Dr. Lewis Carlson, co-authors of the World War II memoirs “Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and POW.”
Carlson, who has written several books on POWs, met Jefferson at a POW panel. They decided to co-author a book after Carlson saw Jefferson’s sketches of the German prison camp he was held in for nine months during World War II.
The book features the illustrations Jefferson created after his plane was shot down and he was captured. Carlson provides background on Jefferson and his unit.
Nick McCall, who authored the story of his father-s wartime experiences, also will speak.
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Contact:
Cynthia Tinker (865-974-0128)