Events

The Friends of Preston Library in concert with the VMI Academic Speakers Program featured a program with Allan Gurganus, Monday, April 18 at 1100 in the Turman Room of Preston Library. Mr. Gurganus read from his novel-in-progress, The Erotic History of a Country Baptist Church. A sizable audience of Friends members, cadets, and faculty attended the reading. Following the reading, Mr. Gurganus answered cadets and other audience questions about the selection he read and his writing in general. Mr. Gurganus’ book is about half-finished and he enjoyed the opportunity to read it before an audience. Mr. Gurganus became nationally known with the publication of his best-selling novel, Oldest Confederate Widow Tells All.

Among the most esteemed contemporary Southern writers, he has been called “the rightful heir to [William] Faulkner and [Eudora] Welty” and “a Mark Twain for our age.” Among his major awards are a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Refreshments will be served.

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Col. Muir makes a point.

The Friends of Preston Library hosted its spring program, Friday, April 8, at 3:00 p.m., in the Turman Room of Preston Library. Our featured speaker was

Col. Malcolm Muir. Col. Muir spoke on “‘Why Should We Have a Navy at All’?: Drawdown, Service Rivalries, and the Atomic Bomb in the Post-World War II Era.”

Col. Muir gave an engaging talk and highlighted the situation of the U S military after WW2–its enormous size, massive drawdown, and the resultant inter-service fights for priority and resources. Following the presentation, members of the audience asked a number of interesting questions.

Col. Muir holds the George J. Collins, Sr., Chair of Military History at VMI and heads the John A. Adams ’71 Center for Military History and Strategic Analysis. A recognized authority of military history, Col. Muir is an engaging speaker who has written on numerous areas of military history, especially the Cold War and naval warfare.

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