Columbus Day Author's Forum

On October 11 we will be hosting an author’s forum with three highly acclaimed WWII historians. All three authors have been speakers at the museum for past events.

James D. Hornfischer’s next book, Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, will be published by Bantam Books on January 25, 2011.

Hornfischer is the author of two other acclaimed works of World War II naval history: The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour and Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR’s Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors, both published by Bantam.

Hornfischer’s writing career has grown out of a lifelong interest in the Pacific war. He has appeared on television on the History Channel, Fox News Channel’s “War Stories with Oliver North” and C-SPAN’s “BookTV.” A frequent speaker on the subject of the war in the Pacific, the U.S. Navy, and the experience of America’s sailors in World War II, he frequently addresses veterans organizations, youth and civic groups, and professional naval organizations on the inspiring stories found in his books.

A native of Massachusetts and a graduate of Colgate University and the University of Texas School of Law, Hornfischer is a member of the Naval Order of the United States, the Navy League, and was appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry as an “Admiral in the Texas Navy.” A former New York book editor, Hornfischer is president of the literary agency Hornfischer Literary Management, located in Austin, Texas, where he lives with his wife and their three children.

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John Wukovits’ most recent book, Admiral “Bull” Halsey: The Life and Wars of the Navy’s Most Controversial Commander, was published in July of 2010 by Palgrave Macmillan.

Wukovits has authored five other books, including American Commando; One Square Mile of Hell: The Battle for Tarawa; Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island; Eisenhower: A Biography (part of the “Great Generals” series); and Devotion to Duty: A Biography of Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague. His writing has also appeared in more than 25 magazines, including WWII History and American History.

When he was still in grade school, Wukovits read a book on the Battle of the Coral Sea and has been hooked ever since. Oliver North interviewed his as his chief historian for an episode of “War Stories with Oliver North” dealing with Wake Island. He was also the main historical consultant and on-air commentator for the History Channel’s ten-part series, Pacific: The Lost Evidence which re-airs frequently.

Wukovits earned his BA in history from Notre Dame and his MA in American History from Michigan State University. In 2005 he retired from teaching junior high school History and Language Arts. He is currently working on a book about the USS Samuel B. Roberts.

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Bill Sloan is the author of a dozen books, most recently Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 – The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War. A former investigative reporter at the Dallas Times Herald, where he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, Sloan lives in Dallas.