Friday, February 17, 2023 – The Bay Room at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco was packed for the all-day Writing for Hollywood Summit at the annual San Francisco Writers Conference. I was there on scholarship thanks to the Napa Valley branch of the California Writers Club. The audience was a mix of creatives. Some hadn’t…
Don your Western wear and watch a classic Western movie Owen Wister is said to have created the first romantic cowboy in 1902 with his best-selling novel The Virginian. The hero, known as “the Virginian”, was brave and honorable, tough but soft-spoken. The Virginian was portrayed on the big screen in 1929 by Gary Cooper,…
Thank you to Dennis and Sarah Koller for remembering Bill today and laying a wreath in his honor at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery in Arlington, Texas.
In 2011, Bill and I attended the USS LCI (Landing Craft, Infantry) National Association Reunion in Nashville, TN. At the reunion memorial service, Rev. Michael Gatton, Chaplain for the group, spoke about the “Lessons Learned from the Greatest Generation.” I was so moved by his remarks that I asked for permission to post them on…
Sunday, Sept 8 – Bill and I watched “Live at the Ryman”, a concert special celebrating the upcoming 8-part documentary by Ken Burns, Country Music, A Film by Ken Burns. The concert was two hours of one great song after another performed by a stellar line-up of country Western musicians. After the special, Bill reminisced…
Bill McGee shares a special memory… At sea, February 3-4, 2000 – As a member of the Navy League of the United States, Santa Barbara Council, I was invited to fly out to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), the United States Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Even for an old World War II salt like me,…
April 2019 – Taking time off this month from book marketing and writing to declutter, shred, re-file, re-prioritize … simply put: spring clean. (Photo: The Writer’s Circle)
WISHING YOU A COZY CHRISTMAS wherever you are! On Christmas Eve, we’ll be by the fireplace with Whiskey Sours, grateful to still have each other’s company. (Photo: Bill’s Christmas card from December 1948, Flying M.E., Washoe Valley, Nevada.)
WORKING FURIOUSLY on four interview scripts for “The Tony Kilgallin Show” on Napa Valley TV, Channel 28… Two in the can; two to go. (Image: Screenwriter Terry Robinson at the Flying M.E. dude ranch, Washoe Valley, Nevada, 1948. Caricature by Joan Allison)
The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville, Pacific War Turning Point wins the MILITARY WRITERS SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2018 SILVER MEDAL AWARD FOR HISTORY Nov 10, 2018 – Bill McGee was honored to be the recipient of the Military Writers Society of America Silver Medal Award for History. The Solomons Campaigns, 1942–1943 is…
On Armed Forces Day, Bill McGee Remembers His Dad’s Service in the Great War “Dad served in the 2nd Montana Infantry and trained at Fort Harrison, outside of Helena. Horses were needed in Europe to pull the heavy Howitzers through the mud. While the 2nd Montana was waiting for orders to go overseas, Dad –…
8 of the world’s great ballet companies; 6 performances; 24 ballets (4 ballets per program) … that was BALANCHINE: THE CITY CENTER YEARS, Oct 31 – Nov 4. Thanks to Bill’s caregiver, and his best friend of 50+ years, and his son – who each took a shift so Bill was left alone for only…
With the upcoming Balanchine Retrospective at New York City Center, here is my little Balanchine story… In 2000, Rodney Gustafson, artistic director of State Street Ballet, honored me with the opportunity to suggest an idea for a ballet. I proposed a suite of small ballets to songs sung by Frank Sinatra. I obtained permission from…
The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943 by William L. McGee has been designated as a 2018 awards finalist by the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA). The award category – Gold, Silver, or Bronze – will be announced at MWSA’s General Membership Conference on November 9, 2018 in Charleston, South Carolina. Sandra McGee, Bill’s publishing partner and wife,…
A big thank-you to the Military Writers Society of America for the May 2018 review of The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943… Click to read review Since its publication in 2001, The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943 has been repeatedly lauded as one of the most comprehensive books on all the campaigns fought in the Solomon Islands. “Enough gripping drama, heroism, and…
In the Southwest, I’ve heard eating posole on New Year’s Eve will bring good luck in the new year. Simmering on our stove … Johnny D. Boggs’s Pork Posole from the Western Writers of America Cookbook published this year. I’m posting today so you’ll have time to shop, prepare and enjoy this delicious soup/stew with a…
December 1949 – As the year was coming to a close, I decided it was time to trade in my Levis and boots for Brooks Brothers suits … I left my wrangler job on the Flying M.E. dude ranch in Nevada, and with my new bride in tow (who I met on the…
The U.S. Navy Armed Guard was a special service branch of the U.S. Navy responsible for defending U.S. and Allied merchant ships, their valuable cargo, and crews from attack by enemy aircraft, submarines, and surface ships. In World War II, nearly 145,000 men served in the Naval Armed Guard, including Gunner’s Mate and Bronze Star…
Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. The name Memorial Day was first used circa 1882, but did not become commonly used until after World War II. Memorial Day was declared the official name by Federal […]
New Release! Western Writers of America Cookbook With Bill McGee’s Award-Winning Chili and Sandra McGee’s Southwest Slaw This cookbook celebrates the Western tradition with more than 150 recipes, anecdotes, and stories from some of America’s most popular Western writers and personalities. There are recipes for drinks, appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, desserts, and fun…
For the seventh consecutive year, PACIFIC EXPRESS — THE CRITICAL ROLE OF MILITARY LOGISTICS IN WORLD WAR II, edited by William L. McGee with Sandra McGee, is on the Marine Corps Commandant’s Professional Reading List for Logistics. The books on the Commandant’s Professional Reading List are selected as most pertinent to critical thinking and professional development at…
To all of our fabulous fans and followers who read our blog posts, our facebook posts, our email blasts … and our books … as they say on Masterpiece Theatre, “Thank you!” Wishing you and yours a warm and wonderful Holiday Season! -Bill and Sandra (Photos: Bill with moose antlers in Alaska; Sandra with reindeer antlers.)
On 8 August 1942, the American public, starved for good war news for two months, read in their morning papers that on 7 August 1942, United States Marines landed on Guadalcanal and Tulagi, islands in the South Pacific of which few had ever heard. For the next year, hardly a day passed when Guadalcanal was…
“I would like to thank Bill McGee and his wife, Sandra, for their work over the years to preserve U.S. Navy Armed Guard and Merchant Marine history so people of future generations may read and see what both crews did in World War II. Without Bill and Sandra working together, and their interest, the Naval…
Bill and I attended the 74th Annual Seabee Ball on Saturday, February 20, 2016, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Bill has written extensively about the Seabees in his WWII military histories and is a Life Member of the Navy Seabee Veterans of America. We were honored to be invited to the VIP…