NATIONAL DAY OF THE COWBOY! Celebrate on Saturday, July 22, as we pay tribute to the iconic symbol of the American West. Owen Wister is said to have created the first romantic cowboy in 1902 with his best-selling novel, The Virginian. The “Virginian” was later portrayed on the big screen by Gary Cooper (1929) and Joel…
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.
Thanksgiving, 1985. For our first Thanksgiving in our new home in Incline Village, Nevada, Bill and I invited his ski cabin group to join us… a dozen San Francisco friends who’d been sharing a ski lease at Lake Tahoe for thirteen winters since 1972. Thanksgiving morning, Bill and I woke up to three feet of…
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…
August 2019 – Sandra Younts, president of Capital Co-op Consultants in Washington, D.C., is recognized in the broadcasting industry as a success story in broadcast co-op and vendor sales specialist. Sandra’s career path first crossed with Bill McGee’s in the 1970s. Bill was busy at the helm of his company, Broadcast Marketing Company, in…
“Bill, how would you like to make more money in a month selling Willys Jeeps than I bet you make in a year of cowboying?” July 2018 – Award-winning author William L. McGee opens his fifth memoir with the event in 1950 that changed the course of his life from cowboying in the West to…
Full cover spread Scheduled for release July 2019
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.)
“THE BROADCASTING YEARS, 1958-1989 by Bill McGee brings back great memories of co-workers and friends from a glorious past when I was in the business and when advertising and broadcasting in San Francisco were the center of my universe. . . . Considering I only got one mention in Bill’s book (the fragile ego takes yet…
Thank you to Michael Malone for his review in Broadcasting & Cable (see below)… As an aside, when Bill started in the broadcasting industry in 1958, Broadcasting (as the magazine was then called) was the go-to trade publication for people in the business and it’s still going strong today. REVIEW by Michael Malone William L. McGee has…
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…
“In the seventies, Bill McGee enticed me to be on the creative team for what turned out to be two highly-successful broadcast sales presentation films, Get It On! Get It On Radio Now!! and How To Make Effective Low-Cost Television Commercials. These films were the first of their kind in the industry and just one of Bill’s many innovative…
Available in Paperback and Kindle eBook editions Click here for more about the book
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…
Full cover spread Scheduled for release November 2019
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…